AUGUSTA - The Maine House of Representatives gave initial approval Wednesday to a bill sponsored by Rep. Laurie Osher, D-Orono, that would amend the membership requirements of the Board of Pesticides Control (BPC) to better equip the board to serve its stated mandate and the interests of Mainers more broadly.
LD 1159, as amended, brings membership requirements back into compliance with the board's mission to minimize reliance on pesticides to control targeted pest populations. The bill specifies that the member who is a scientist from the University of Maine must have experience in integrated pest management with certain relevant specifications. It also requires that one of the board members appointed to represent the public may not have a financial interest in activities regulated by the board.
"Without these clear membership requirements, the BPC's impact on our communities has shifted," said Osher. "To citizens who expected Maine to better regulate and ultimately reduce the use of synthetic organic pesticides, the BPC is seen as having been 'captured' by the industry that it regulates. The change proposed in this bill will make it more likely that Maine's pesticide use will be reduced so that both public health and the environment are better protected."
The measure now faces votes in Senate.
Osher is serving her first term in the Maine House of Representatives as a member of the Joint Standing Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry. She represents a portion of Orono.
Contact:
Jackie Merrill [Osher], c. 812-1111