ÿþ<img src='smalllogo.gif' alt='Logo' /><br/><h1>Burnaby Pesticide Bylaw</h1><p>The Labour Environmental Alliance Society (LEAS) has applauded the action of Burnaby City Council in taking an historic step to protect public health and the environment by regulating pesticide use. The council voted unanimously February 18 to draft a leading-edge bylaw to control the use of cosmetic pesticides and also agreed to forward a resolution to the Union of B.C. Municipalities urging the province to ban toxic cosmetic pesticides throughout the province. </p>

<p>Burnaby will also be asking the provincial minister of the environment to amend existing legislation so that local governments would be authorized to regulate cosmetic pesticide use on all private lands, including non-residential properties.</p>

<p>&ldquo;History was made here tonight,&rdquo; LEAS executive director Mae Burrows said Monday following the council meeting. &ldquo;This is the first time in B.C. that a municipal council has called on the provincial government to protect public health by restricting cosmetic pesticide use across the province, including non-residential private lands. </p>

<p>&ldquo;The proposed bylaw provisions are also excellent, especially because they don&rsquo;t allow &lsquo;pay-and-spray&rsquo; permits that have undermined the effectiveness of pesticide bylaws in some other municipalities,&rdquo; she said. In some municipalities where pesticide bylaws exist, pesticide applicator companies are allowed to pay a fee and obtain permits that authorize them to use pesticide</p>

<p>Burrows, who is a resident of Burnaby, has made numerous representations over the past several years to Burnaby Council and the council&rsquo;s environment committee, urging adoption of a pesticide bylaw. The Canadian Cancer Society and the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, as well as the Byrne Creek Streamkeepers have also pressed the council to endorse a bylaw.</p>

<p>A survey conducted by the city last fall found 75 per cent of respondents favoured a pesticide bylaw.</p>

<p>City councilors acknowledged at the February 18 meeting that the health concerns over pesticide use raised by health and environmental groups were the key factor in their support of a bylaw. Many of the herbicides&nbsp; and insecticides used on residential properties, including 2,4-D and dichlorvos, are listed as possible human carcinogens by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. </p>

<p>While a bylaw in legal form has not yet been passed, the February 17 vote instructed staff to draft a bylaw and outlined its specific provisions, which include prohibiting the use of cosmetic pesticides on residential properties, except to control infestations. The term &ldquo;infestation&rdquo; is to be defined in the bylaw preparation process.</p>

<p>Once a bylaw is drafted, it will provide for a one-year phase-in period as well as a public education program, covering sustainable landscape management and alternatives to pesticide use.</p>

<p>Burnaby will also be asking B.C. Environment Minister Barry Penner to amend the provincial statute known as the Spheres of Concurrent Jurisdictions &mdash; Environment and Wildlife Regulation so that the City of Burnaby and other local governments would have the authority to establish regulations governing cosmetic use on all private lands.</p>

<p>One of the key parts of the Feb. 18 vote was the decision to send a resolution to the UBCM calling on the province to enact a province-wide ban on the use of cosmetic pesticides. Although many cities and municipalities across the province have pesticide bylaws, they have no authority to regulate pesticide sales. As a result, most home and garden stores still sell products that contain ingredients prohibited under the bylaw and news media have found some store staff encouraging homeowners to ignore their local bylaws when purchasing pesticide products.</p>

<p>Currently, Quebec is the only province that regulates cosmetic pesticide use through its Pesticide Code, which states that&nbsp; consumer products containing certain prohibited ingredients, including 2,4-D, cannot be sold anywhere in the province. But the provincial government in Ontario is expected to introduce a ban in that province this year and Prince Edward Island has established a legislative committee to consider its own ban.<br/>

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<p>Quebec is also the province where the first-ever municipal pesticide bylaw was passed in 1991 by councilors in Hudson, Quebec. Pesticide spraying companies initially challenged the bylaw in court, but it was finally upheld by the Supreme Court of Canada after a 10-year legal battle. Since then, more than 135 municipalities across the country have adopted pesticide bylaws.<br/>

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<br/><br/><br/><small>http://leas.ca/Burnaby-Pesticide-Bylaw.htm <br/>Updated: February 22, 2008</small>