§ 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.