Message to EPA: Time to Stop Persistent Herbicides!
Recently Green Mountain Compost, owned and operated by Chittenden County Solid Waste District, Williston, Vermont, suffered a devastating discovery—something in their compost was causing garden plants to contort and wither! The culprit? A couple of pernicious, persistent herbicides called clopyralid and picloram.
We are calling on the EPA to add a “compostability test” to its registration requirements, and to set a compostability standard for all chemicals that could potentially end up in a composting facility.
We are further urging EPA to (1) immediately initiate a Special Review Process for all herbicides that are pyridine-based compounds and act by mimicking plant growth hormones (auxins), and (2) impose a moratorium on the use and sale of these herbicides pending the conclusion of the Special Review Process.
Read More FAQ and additional resources
Protect Michigan’s Yard Debris Landfill Ban
Michigan HB 4569 and SB 314 would seriously weaken the state’s longstanding ban on landfill disposal of segregated yard trimmings by exempting landfills with gas recovery systems.
MICHIGAN RESIDENTS: CLICK HERE TO SEND A MESSAGE TO YOUR MICHIGAN STATE REPRESENTATIVES AND SENATORS URGING THEM TO OPPOSE HB 4569 AND SB 314.
These bills will hurt the composting industry in Michigan and increase pollution from waste. Read more on why these bills should be rejected. Also visit the Michigan Recycling Council’s Composting Policy web site for its position statement and analysis on why these exemption bills should be defeated.
To sign on to the USCC letter to the Michigan House/Senate Committee on Energy & Technology, please send an email to USCC Legislative & Environmental Affairs Committee Chair, Brenda Platt at bplatt@ilsr.org.
USCC Opposes the Weakening of Yard Debris Bans
Attempts by state legislatures to repeal long-standing bans on the disposal of leaves and other yard debris in landfills returned to Georgia and Michigan last legislative session. While the Michigan attempt was turned back, Georgia will now allow yard trimmings into the 12 landfills that use landfill gas collection.
We fully expect these fights to continue in the future. To fight these repeals, we are taking a two-pronged approach. First and foremost we work with groups within the affected states to lobby the legislatures and rally their supporters, because each state’s needs are unique and the issues and strategies are different. At the same time we are raising national awareness on these issues and why they are shortsighted and misguided.
If you see similar issues arise in other states, please alert our Legislative and Environmental Affairs Committee Chair, Brenda Platt, at bplatt@ilsr.org, or 202-898-1610 x 230. Please support our work to fight these landfill ban repeals! These battles cost money, and some of these landfill ban opponents have deep pockets. We hope you will take the opportunity to contribute to the Save the Yard Debris Ban Fund by using one of the buttons at the bottom of this page (which lets you use Paypal or a credit card) or by calling us at 631-737-4931.
