Ren S1396 to be S1397, add S1396, Pub Health L; amd S33-0303, En Con L
 
Prohibits the use of pesticides at children's overnight or summer day camps; provides an exception where emergency application is approved by local or state officials.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
 
BILL NUMBER: A129
SPONSOR: Paulin (MS)
 
TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the public health law and the environ-
mental conservation law, in relation to prohibiting the use of pesti-
cides at children's overnight or summer day camp
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL: To extend New York State's school
anti-pesticide laws to children's overnight and summer day camps. This
act will ensure that no children's overnight or summer day camp applies
pesticide to any playground, turf; athletic or playing field.
 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends the public health law by renumbering section 1396 as
section 1397 and by adding a new section 1396. Section 1396 defines
"pesticide" as set forth in subdivision thirty-five of section 33-0101
of the environmental conservation law. Additionally pesticide alterna-
tives which are not included in the definition of "pesticide" are list-
ed. The section also provides that no camp, as defined in subdivisions
one and two of section 1392 of the public health law, shall apply pesti-
cide to any playground, turf, athletic or playing fields except when a
need for emergency application .of a pesticide has been established.
Property on publicly-owned or publicly-leased property in a city of more
than one million is exempt from this regulation. This section also
provides that the commissioner shall have the power to exempt from this
section any children's overnight camp or summer day camp to the extent
that it is not practicable to use pesticide alternatives.
Section 2 amends subdivision 7 of section 33-0303 of the environmental
conservation law, to extend the existing provisions related to, guidance
on pesticide alternatives to summer camps.
Section 3 provides the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION: New York State has already enacted anti-pesticide laws
for public and nonpublic schools. As the American Academy of Pediatrics
reported on November 26, 2012, "childhood exposure to pesticides is
associated with pediatric cancers, decreased cognitive functions and
behavioral problems." The National Academy of Sciences also reported
that 39% of all neurobehavioral disorders in children are caused by
toxic exposures in the environment and that another 25% are cause by
interactions between the environmental factors and genetics.
Anti-pesticide legislation does not currently apply to children's over-
night or summer day camps, where children play and spend time, exactly
as they do in school. This bill with ensure that children can play in a
safe and chemical-free environment, while taking into consideration
emergency situations, in which the use of pesticide is determined as
necessary by the competent authority for public safety reasons.
The bill contains an exemption for camps held on lands owned or leased
by cities of more than a million people, such as New York City. Addi-
tionally, the bill gives the power to the health commissioner to exempt
camps to the extent that it is not practicable to use pesticide alterna-
tives (e.g. camps operated on land which they do not fully control or
maintain).
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: A.4841 of 2013 and 2014, passed the assem-
bly in 2013 and 2014. Same as S.5288, referred to health.
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: None to the State.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE: This act shall take effect on the one hundred eight-
ieth day after it shall have become a law.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
129
2015-2016 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY(Prefiled)
January 7, 2015
___________
Introduced by M. of A. PAULIN, GALEF, CLARK, ENGLEBRIGHT, QUART,
ROBERTS, ZEBROWSKI, COOK, ABINANTI, ROSENTHAL, COLTON -- Multi-Spon-
sored by -- M. of A. GOTTFRIED, LUPARDO, PERRY, RIVERA, ROBINSON,
SCARBOROUGH -- read once and referred to the Committee on Health
AN ACT to amend the public health law and the environmental conservation
law, in relation to prohibiting the use of pesticides at children's
overnight or summer day camp
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 1396 of the public health law is renumbered section
2 1397 and a new section 1396 is added to read as follows:
3 § 1396. Pesticide alternatives. 1. For purposes of this section
4 "pesticide" shall have the same meaning as set forth in subdivision
5 thirty-five of section 33-0101 of the environmental conservation law,
6 provided however that it shall not include:
7 (a) the application of anti-microbial pesticides and anti-microbial
8 products as defined by FIFRA in 7 U.S.C. Section 136 (mm) and 136 q (h)
9 (2);
10 (b) the use of an aerosol product with a directed spray, in containers
11 of eighteen fluid ounces or less, when used to protect individuals from
12 an imminent threat from stinging and biting insects, including venomous
13 spiders, bees, wasps and hornets;
14 (c) the use of non-volatile insect or rodent bait in a tamper resist-
15 ant container;
16 (d) the application of a pesticide classified by the United States
17 Environmental Protection Agency as an exempt material under 40 CFR Part
18 152.25;
19 (e) the use of boric acid and disodium octaborate tetrahydrate; or
20 (f) the use of horticultural soap and oils that do not contain
21 synthetic pesticides or synergists.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00112-01-5
A. 129 2
1 2. No camp defined in subdivisions one and two of section thirteen
2 hundred ninety-two of this article shall apply pesticide to any play-
3 grounds, turf, athletic or playing fields, other than those on public-
4 ly-owned or publicly-leased property in a city of more than one million,
5 except that an emergency application of a pesticide may be made as
6 determined by the county health department or for a county not having a
7 health department, such authority as the county legislature shall desig-
8 nate, the commissioner or his or her designee or the commissioner of
9 environmental conservation or his or her designee.
10 3. The commissioner shall have the power to exempt from this section
11 any camp defined in subdivisions one and two of section thirteen hundred
12 ninety-two of this article to the extent that it is not practicable to
13 use pesticide alternatives as defined in subdivision one of this
14 section.
15 § 2. Subdivision 7 of section 33-0303 of the environmental conserva-
16 tion law, as added by chapter 85 of the laws of 2010, is amended to read
17 as follows:
18 7. The commissioner, in consultation with the commissioner of educa-
19 tion and the commissioner of health, shall develop guidance on pesticide
20 alternatives to facilitate compliance with section four hundred nine-k
21 of the education law [and], three hundred ninety-g of the social
22 services law and thirteen hundred ninety-six of the public health law.
23 § 3. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
24 it shall have become a law. Effective immediately the department of
25 health and the department of environmental conservation may promulgate
26 any rule or regulation necessary for the timely implementation of this
27 act on its effective date.