Rhode Island May Ban Pesticides At Schools

Title 45 of Rhode Islands General Laws has been amended to restrict use of pesticides for lawns and turf around schools and day care centers.

Rhode Island has a new law pending in their general assembly concerning pesticide use for cosmetic lawn and turf care. The application of lawn care pesticides shall be prohibited on the grounds of any public or private school, from pre-K to grade twelve, and any child or group day care center, except to eliminate an immediate threat to human health. As guided by the EPA, this will not include pesticide use on lawn and turf for the purpose of protection of the public health from pests, including, but not limited to, mosquitoes, ticks and stinging insects.

Editor's Note:

We want to thank Ms. Goodwin for her letter, and apologize for our inaccurate report of this pending legislation. The corrected article appears above.

This article is quite inaccurate. There is a bill in the RI State Legislature that would ban toxic lawn pesticides (not all pesticides) on the grounds of (not nearby) schools and day care centers. However, it has only recently been introduced, has had one hearing before a State Senate Committee, and is definitely not in effect at this time. Work is progressing on this legislation, but legislative action is not very likely before next session.

Liberty Goodwin, Director
Toxics Information Project (TIP)
Providence, RI