Local pesticide ban overturned

^{© PierreDesrosiers}

A Maryland County Circuit court overturned the county’s pesticide ban on lawn and garden pesticide use on private property.

Judge Terrence McGann ruled in favor of the professional landscape community stating the ban “flouts decades of State primacy in ensuring safe and proper pesticide use, undermines the State’s system of comprehensive and uniform product approval and regulation, and prohibits products and conduct that have been affirmatively approved and licensed by the State.”

The decision sets an important precedent regarding pesticide use and regulation in the state.

The NALP, in a press release, stated that the opinion soundly reinforces the premise that pesticides are highly regulated at the federal and state levels and that public health and safety is not served by adding a third layer of regulation.

Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment (RISE) president Aaron Hobbs said, “We are gratified that the Court agreed that the County’s ban on the use of State- and EPA-approved pesticides on private land is preempted by Maryland state law, which already provides uniform and comprehensive regulation of pesticide use across the state.”