Maybe your next door neighbors have their lawn or trees maintained by a landscape service. Or there's a farm or orchard near your home. You've wondered about the pesticides that are applied outdoors and want to know in advance when these chemicals are used.
You have the right to know. Maine law assures you that right in three ways:
- the non-agricultural notification registry,
- the notification registry for aerial or air-carrier applications, or
- self-initiated request for notification.
Non-Agricultural Pesticide Notification Registry
This registry is a list of Maine residents who wish to be contacted by commercial and at-home applicators prior to the use of pesticides. This registry best serves urban and suburban residents who otherwise have no means of knowing in advance when pesticides are applied on neighboring lawns, in landscapes, or around structures.
For an annual fee of $20.00 (the fee may be waived in cases of financial hardship—Application for Fee Waiver [PDF]), residents' names and addresses are distributed to licensed commercial applicators. Once on the list, residents can expect applicators to provide pretreatment notification via telephone, personal contact, or mail. Such communication must occur between six hours and 14 days ahead of outdoor pesticide use within 250 feet of a registrant's property.
At-home applicators treating their own property can be required to notify registrants, too, if desired—but first you need to alert them of your wishes using a Board-supplied form.
To receive an application so you can be listed on the next registry, contact the BPC by phone 207-287-2731, e-mail pesticides@maine.gov, or download the Pesticide Notification Registry Application [PDF]. The deadline is December 31 to be included on the registry for the following year.
Notification Registry for Aerial and Air-Carrier Pesticide Applications
This registry is for people who want to know about pesticide applications made near their property by aircraft, airblast sprayers, or mist blowers. To participate, you need to sign up using the Board’s web-based signup page by March 15 to be included for that year. If you do not have Internet access, you can request a printed form from the Board’s office which you can complete mail in. Once you are on the registry, you remain on it until you request to have your name removed.
Once on the aerial or air-carrier notification registry, participants can expect to receive 24-hour advance notice of applicable pesticide applications made within 1,320 feet (one-quarter mile) of their property.
Go to registry form.
Self-initiated Request for Notification
If you live or work within 500 feet of any outdoor site treated with pesticides—including agricultural land—you are entitled to receive information about pesticide applications. This law exists to enable you to obtain basic information from your neighbor applicator, such as what pesticides are applied and—if you request it—a forewarning as to when they are applied.
Under this option, the right to information begins with you; you must ask your neighbor to notify you. That request may be made in any fashion so long as the applicator is aware of your name, address, phone number, and—of course—your interest in being notified. And be as specific as possible about what you are requesting. That way there's less chance of misunderstanding your needs. Making a request in person is your best means of communicating; after all, you are neighbors.
The request should be made to the person responsible for management of the land on which a pesticide application takes place. If you are uncertain as to who should receive the request, contact the land owner directly. Your town or municipal office keeps names and addresses of land owners in the local tax records.
Thereafter, the law says your neighbor must make sure you are notified before pesticides are used. At no cost to you! In all likelihood the applicator was not aware of your concerns or maybe didn't know you were a neighbor!
Once the applicator, land manager, or land owner receives your request for notification, you can expect to be informed. The timing of this notification must be agreed upon both by you and your neighbor.
Good for You and Your Neighbor
Whichever of the three means of notification you choose, you will find that communications between pesticide users and you prevent the most common aggravation between neighbors: the element of surprise. Communication informs the applicator to stop pesticides from drifting onto your property as required by law. And, you can take measures to protect yourself and your family from unintended or accidental exposure by closing windows, taking clothes off the laundry line, or keeping children and pets indoors.
Registry Distribution
The registry is distributed to all commercial master-level applicators in Maine. The list is also available to anyone upon request. For more information contact Henry Jennings, director, at 207-287-2731 or henry.jennings@maine.gov.
For a copy of the regulation that assures your right to notification, call the BPC at 207-287-2731 or download Chapter 28: Notification Provisions for Outdoor Pesticide Applications [WORD]. The Notification Registry for Aerial and Air-Carrier Pesticide Applications is part of the new law, LD 1293 [PDF], that went into effect on September 12, 2009.
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