{"id":40217,"date":"2025-11-12T00:01:53","date_gmt":"2025-11-12T05:01:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/?p=40217"},"modified":"2025-11-12T09:09:32","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T14:09:32","slug":"community-votes-down-ballot-initiative-to-repeal-local-pesticide-restrictions-in-maine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2025\/11\/community-votes-down-ballot-initiative-to-repeal-local-pesticide-restrictions-in-maine\/","title":{"rendered":"Community Votes Down Ballot Initiative To Repeal Local Pesticide Restrictions in Maine"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Beyond Pesticides<\/em>, November 12, 2025) A ballot initiative to repeal a local ordinance in Maine that bans most uses of lawn chemicals was rejected by the voters<\/a> last week by a 10-point margin. The voters of Falmouth, Maine, 55% to 45%, upheld an updated ordinance that was passed by the town council in February 2025 to protect the community\u2019s health and the coastal environment from petrochemical pesticides and fertilizers, sending a strong message that ecological land management in conformance with organic standards is the responsible path, given pesticide-related health threats, biodiversity decline, and the climate crisis. The ordinance being challenged by the ballot initiative updated a 2020 rule with more stringent criteria and restrictions and the goal of ensuring a holistic approach to land management.<\/p>\n

Maine has become the bellwether nationwide for communities seeking to eliminate the use of petrochemical pesticides and fertilizers on public and private property, including parks, playing fields, open spaces, and yards. When applied, pesticides move off the target site through drift, volatilization, runoff, and leaching, creating community-wide poisoning and contamination. However, unlike Maine and five other states, most state laws preempt local jurisdictions from restricting pesticides. These states have adopted preemption language at the behest of the chemical industry after the Supreme Court in Wisconsin v. Mortier<\/a><\/em> (1991) (see court decision<\/a>) upheld the right of local jurisdictions to restrict pesticides under federal pesticide law.\u00a0Public and environmental health advocates are calling for the reversal of state preemption laws so that communities can decide whether to regulate pesticides and fertilizers more stringently than their state in order to protect their residents, consistent with planetary and human health.<\/p>\n

Falmouth Ordinance<\/h2>\n

Several years after the adoption of the original lawn care ordinance<\/a> in Falmouth, Maine (2020), the town\u2019s Conservation Commission studied the issues, the Town Council held hearings, and public input was collected, leading to the town\u2019s adoption of a stronger ordinance<\/a> in effective date that was later extended to 2026. See here<\/a> for the testimony of Jay Feldman, executive director of Beyond Pesticides, delivered to the town council of Falmouth at an April 2024, hearing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The 2025 ordinance maintains the same core purpose of the original ordinance,\u00a0however, it extends the ordinance\u2019s restrictions to all potential pesticide and fertilizer users, including residents, commercial groups, and licensed applicators\u2014the original ordinance just covered commercial applicators. The definitions section expanded to include over 20 new or significantly revised definitions, including commercial agriculture, commercial horticulture, EPA, golf course, golf course playing surfaces, Integrated Pest Management (IPM), invasive species, lawn, natural, organic, or \u201cnon-synthetic\u201d matter, natural turf, neonicotinoid pesticide, Organic Landscape Management, person, pests of significant public health importance, public utility, retailer, storm drain, substance, synthetic matter, and water body.<\/p>\n

The original ordinance only required commercial pesticide and fertilizer applicators to register annually between February and January of the next calendar year, whereas the new version broadens this registration requirement to any compensated service for pesticides and fertilizers. There is also an additional requirement to include a copy of a State of Maine Commercial Master Pesticide applicator license; the effect of this is a broader reach to include use areas by public utilities. In the new ordinance, retail pesticide users must label permitted products and display signage.<\/p>\n

The original ordinance referenced organic federal law for the definitions of natural, organic, or \u201cnon-synthetic\u201d substances without any explicit details; the new ordinance is explicit in restricting substances allowed for use to those identified on the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances as created under the Organic Foods Production Act <\/em>(OFPA) and updated by the National Organic Standards Board. Synthetic substances are banned under OFPA unless they are listed on the National List. Neonicotinoid insecticides are specifically prohibited for outdoor use under the new ordinance, which is also the case under OFPA\u2019s allowed and prohibited list.<\/p>\n

Regarding fertilizer use and restrictions, the original ordinance had a ban on outdoor applications between December 1 and March 31; the fertilizer restrictions in the amended ordinance have additional detail, including the following provisions:<\/p>\n