If you want a say on the proposed regulation to ban pesticides used for “cosmetic” purposes in Ontario Province, Canada, you have until Dec. 22 to make your feelings known.

On Nov. 7, the regulation to implement the Cosmetic Pesticides Ban Act, 2008 was filed with the Ministry of the Environment. The regulation, if approved, could go into effect as early as this coming spring.

To this point, more than 100 villages and cities in Canada, many of them in Ontario Province, have banned the use of common chemical lawn care products for use on public, commercial and homeowner properties. If the measure passes, Ontario will join Quebec in instituting province-wide bans.  Several other Canadian provinces are being pressured by activist groups to implement similar bans.

Exceptions to the ban include pesticides used for agriculture, forestry, golf courses and “the promotion of public health or safety.”

Pesticides can be used on a golf course as long as it is fully accredited in Integrated Pest Management (IPM) within three years after it's registered by an approved IPM accreditation body. The course must prepare annual reports on pesticide use explaining how they will be minimized the follow year.

Other exemptions include the use of pesticides

•    to control invasive species,

•    maintaining sports fields of national or international sporting events

•    maintaining specialty turf used for lawn bowling, cricket, lawn tennis and croquet,

•    if their use is integral to structural exterminations.

The regulation also stipulates that certain biopesticides and naturally occurring pesticides can be used but would require the posting of green signs by licensed exterminators.

The Cosmetic Pesticides Ban Act, 2008 was passed in the Ontario legislature on June 18, 2008. The Act amends the Pesticides Act to prohibit the use and sale of pesticides that may be used for cosmetic purposes. The ban is part of the government's toxic reduction plan in Ontario.

If you are interested in commenting on this proposal, send your comments to: Robert Bilyea, Senior Policy Advisor, Ministry of the Environment, Planning Division, Strategic Policy Branch, 135 St. Clair Ave., East, Floor 11, Toronto, Ontario, M4V 1P5.

Or click here to visit the Web site of the proposed regulation, view a list of banned products or to comment.