Notification Rights

Pesticides are toxic substances that can drift away from where they are applied and put sensitive populations – such as children, the elderly and people with asthma – at risk. If there is accidental exposure due to drift, people do not know where to call for help for treatment of illness because they do not know what pesticides were applied.

Oregon Department of Forestry requires logging companies and their herbicide applicators to file notification of a spray operation. The current law is minimally helpful in that it does allow for the following:

• A land owner with water rights is entitled to be notified of a spray operation upstream of their water source for no charge
• Anyone may pay $5 per square mile and receive spray notification for that particular identified area.

Many weaknesses exist in the current notification law, among them:

• A spray notification does not have to provide the date, product, emergency response information, or information about the toxicity of the chemicals.
• Oregonians cannot access notification data electronically.

Pesticide Application Notification Reform

OTA proposes a bill that would require written notification for all agricultural and forestry pesticide applications to those individuals located one-half mile from an application site.

1. The operator of the property submit written notification to all at-risk individuals, including farm workers, residences, businesses, schools and school district offices (both in session and not in session), day care centers, labor camps, hospitals, health clinics and nursing homes, within one-half (1/2) of a mile from the application site.
2. The written notification must be received by the at-risk individuals at least 72 hours before the pesticide application.
3. Written notifications must also be referenced on an electronically searchable database that residents, business owners, physicians, emergency responders, public health officials, etc. can go to for archival data on the notification;
4. Written notifications include:

• contact information for the applicator, license #, and responsible party;
• phone numbers for local emergency services during and after office hours,
• description of the pesticide product(s) being applied;
• toxicity of the product (acute poison, carcinogen, neurotoxin, reproductive toxin, neurotoxic cholinesterase inhibitors, etc);
• identification number of the product(s)
• active ingredients in the product(s);
• date and time period of day the product(s) will be used giving no more than a 7-day time window;
• who is the on-site responsible party during the spray operation;
• dosage/per acre (or other unit of land) for each product(s)
• description of buffer zones in effect

OTA proposes that a way to cover the costs of notification would be to increase the cost of permits for using pesticides containing carcinogens, reproductive or developmental toxicants, and cholinesterase inhibitors. This should provide an economic incentive to use less of these kinds of pesticides.

What OTA is Doing

Oregon Toxics Alliance is working with doctors, state legislators, concerned citizens and various health and environmental organizations to protect the rights and health of rural residents. Click here for an update on the campaign.

What You Can Do

Take Action!