Pesticide Phase-Out Legislation Introduced in NYC- Residents Urged to Contact City Council

Pesticide phase-out legislation has been introduced into the New York City Council (Int 915), sponsored by Victor Robles, June Eisland, Jerome X. O'Donovan, Steven Fiala, Pedro Espada, Steven De Brienza, Kathryn Freed, and John Sabini.

The first step in passing this legislation is to acquire funding for the research proposed by Barry Commoner of the Center for Biology of Natural Systems (CBNS) of Queens College, which will study how New York City is using pesticides on municipally owned property, such as schools, prisons, parks, streets, public housing, and municipal buildings. The study would require $240,000. The New York City Council Health Committee is slated to vote on the budget tomorrow, June 6, and needs to be pressured to pass the funding through!

Please contact Speaker Peter Vallone tomorrow morning at (212) 788-7100 and ask him to see that the CBNS study of pesticide use is placed in the budget. If you don't live in New York City, you can say that you are interested because New York's leadership can help your city. Please contact members of the Council today and let them know how you feel about the CBNS study funding.

New York City Council Health Committee: (212-) 788-7100
Victor Robles (Chair), District 34, Brooklyn
Martin Povman, District 24, Queens
Joel Rivera, District 15, Bronx
Una Clarke, District 40, Brooklyn
Pedro Espada, District 17, Bronx
Julia Harrison, District 20, Queens
Philip Reed, District 8, Manhattan
Christine Quinn, District 3, Manhattan
James Oddo, District 50, Staten Island