Rhode Island § 23-25-39 - Pesticide Control

§ 23-25-39. Report on lawn care pesticide use.

(a) The department of environmental management shall report to the governor, the speaker of the house and the president of the senate on or before November 1, 2007, with regard to:

(1) Health risks, especially in children, associated with lawn care pesticides, as such risks have been established in the literature, based on the best available scientific information and health data studies;

(2) Currently recognized best practices for the use and/or control of lawn care pesticides at schools and child daycare facilities;

(3) How other jurisdictions have managed lawn care pesticides used at school facilities, including school facilities that have two (2) or more of the following functions at the same location, child daycare facilities, preschools, elementary and secondary schools;

(4) What Rhode Island schools are currently doing to manage, decrease or eliminate the use of lawn care pesticides on school grounds and to implement alternative methods of pest management in lawn care;

(5) A recommended lawn care pesticide use and control program for public and private child daycare centers, preschools and elementary schools located in Rhode Island; and

(6) The enforcement activities required to implement the lawn care use and control program and the fiscal impact this program may have on state agencies and school departments.

(b) The department of environmental management shall establish a working group, including, but not limited to: the department of health, the department of elementary and secondary education and the association of school committees, to assist with the report required in subsection (a). The department of health and the department of elementary and secondary education are hereby authorized and directed to cooperate with the department of environmental management in the preparation of the report required by this section.