HUDSON COUNTY – Environmental activists have made State Sen. Sandy Cunningham the target of a statewide lobbying effort today to pressure her to support the Safe Child Playing Field Act (S-2610).
If passed and signed into law, the measure would ban the use of most pesticides from school playgrounds, municipal parks, and daycare centers.
The measure would affect both public and private facilities. Similar pieces of legislation have passed in other states, including New York.
Garden State environmentalists support the current version of S-2610, which was introduced by state senators Shirley K. Turner and Sen. Robert M. Gordon.
Companies from the pesticide industry, however, have complained that the bill’s language was crafted without their input. They also argue that reducing pesticide use will lead to parks and playgrounds that will be overrun with weeds and bugs. The industry wants amendments added to the legislation that would make it less restrictive than does the current draft.
The Senate Environment Committee passed the legislation in February, but the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, of which Cunningham is a member, must still vote on it. The Budget and Appropriations Committee is scheduled to review the legislation tomorrow, on June 16.
Environmental activists say that Cunningham missed the vote on the Safe Child Playing Field Act the last time it came up before the Budget and Appropriations Committee. They are now trying to pressure her to vote the bill out of committee in its current draft, without industry-backed amendments.
There is a companion bill under consideration in the state Assembly, A-3782, which has been referred to the Environment and Solid Waste Committee. – E. Assata Wright