AUGUSTA – Rep. Vicki Doudera, D-Camden, introduced legislation before the Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Committee on Tuesday that would increase penalties for use violations of herbicides and pesticides.

Doudera was compelled to pursue the legislation after learning of the poisoning of a Camden resident’s trees by a neighbor in 2022, according to a news release from the Maine Legislature House Democratic Office. The incident made national news and revealed weaknesses in the way the state assesses penalties for those who knowingly abuse pesticides, the release said.

“I first waded into the world of pesticides in my second term, when I sponsored successful legislation to ban chlorpyrifos in 2021, and learned that the penalties for misuse are minor — especially for someone who can afford to own harbor view property in Camden,” said Doudera. “When this poisoning happened in 2022, I resolved to help improve our state’s response to intentional abusers of these chemicals and my determination was strengthened when we discovered that the herbicide in question, tebuthiuron, had leached into the harbor and Laite Beach.”

Doudera consulted with the Maine Board of Pesticides Control to draft LD 1697, An Act to Increase Penalties to Deter Violations of the Laws Regarding Improper Pesticide Use, which would increase the penalties for the improper and off-label use of pesticides.

The bill also directs the Board, which is under the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, to restrict pesticides with the active ingredient tebuthiuron and clarify the monetary penalties for pesticide use violations — establishing restoration of property and vegetation as an aspect of those penalties. Additionally, the measure would enable civil claims to be brought forward when contaminants migrate beyond where they were originally applied to separately owned property.

Penalty increases would include a change from $1,500 for a civil violation to maximum fines of $25,000 for the first offense and $50,000 for those who have been shown to have benefited from the use violation. They also include a jump from $4,000 to a $75,000 maximum penalty for repeat offenders within a four-year period and $150,000 for those who have been shown to be both repeat offenders within a four-year period and to have benefited substantially. 

Tebuthiuron is a broad-spectrum herbicide used in airports, highways, and midwestern pastures to kill woody plants and oaks. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency considers tebuthiuron to have a great potential for groundwater contamination, due to its high water solubility, low adsorption to soil particles and high persistence in soil.

Camden town officials, the Maine Board of Pesticides Control, and the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association all testified in support of the legislation.

“Due to the malintent and egregious nature and use of the herbicide, the Townspeople of Camden and its elected officials were shocked and appalled at the small fine that was assessed by the State Board of Pesticides Control,” testified Camden’s Planning and Development Director, Jeremy Martin, at the April 29 public hearing on the bill held by the Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry.

“The Town understood that the Board of Pesticide Control’s fines were based on the penalties provided for in State statute, but we also understand that it is high time that the State revisit these penalties and make them appropriate based on the egregious, inappropriate, off-label use of these toxic substances,” said Martin.

Rockport has recently uncovered a tree poisoning case that is eerily similar, the release said.

“I wish that what happened in Camden was an isolated incident, but this kind of behavior has happened — and will continue to happen — in other parts of Maine as well. Clearly we need to strengthen our penalties to protect our environment and private property,” Doudera testified. “My hope is that this bill will deter greedy actors for whom our current fines are just a slap on the wrist, and empower Maine’s Bureau of Pesticides Control to have more control and discretion to act.”

A work session on the bill will be scheduled in the coming days.

Doudera is serving her fourth term in the Maine House and represents the communities of Camden and Rockport. She is House chair of the Legislature’s Environment and Natural Resources Committee and serves on the Maine Climate Council’s Natural and Working Lands Subcommittee.