March 26, 2015

Council Committee to Hold Second Work Session on Pesticides Bill

Council Bill 52-14 that would ban certain pesticides from being applied to lawns and certain County-owned properties has drawn a lot of attention from the community since it was introduced last October. Two public hearings on the bill held earlier this year each had more than 300 attendees.

On March 30, the Transportation, Infrastructure, Energy & Environment Committee, which is chaired by Roger Berliner and includes Councilmembers Nancy Floreen and Tom Hucker, will meet in the Third Floor Hearing Room of the Council Office Building at 100 Maryland Ave. in Rockville to continue the discussion begun by the committee in its previous session held on March 16.

The session will allow the committee to talk with pollinator and Chesapeake Bay watershed health experts, turf management experts, and public- and private-sector landscaping professionals.

Chief sponsor of the bill is Council President George Leventhal. Councilmembers Marc EIrich, Nancy Floreen, Nancy Navarro and Hans Riemer are co-sponsors.

Collectively, the two worksessions should give the committee the information it needs to answer the questions of whether there is a need to further regulate pesticides, why a need exists (if it exists) and how best to meet that need.

See more about the bill, including the committee’s information packet.

Read the County Executive’s testimony.