Bill > S547

This bill establishes a comprehensive, ecologically-based mosquito management program in Massachusetts to protect public health by creating a Mosquito Management Board responsible for developing and overseeing a statewide Integrated Pest Management mosquito-borne disease management plan. The board will consist of representatives from various state departments and external stakeholders, including experts in conservation, pollinator protection, and pest control. The plan prioritizes preventative measures and ecological strategies, emphasizing source reduction (eliminating mosquito breeding sites) over chemical interventions, and strictly limits the use of pesticides. Specifically, larvicides will only be used in locations with disease-bearing mosquitoes, and adulticides will be a last resort, applied only when disease risk is high and other methods have been exhausted. The bill prohibits aerial pesticide applications and the use of PFAS or other fluorinated compounds in mosquito control. The board will provide statewide education, conduct surveillance, and allow municipalities and landowners to opt out of treatments except during declared public health emergencies. The legislation also makes several minor technical amendments to existing law, primarily removing references to "state reclamation" and replacing them with more specific terminology related to mosquito management.

Agriculture and Natural Resources

https://malegislature.gov/Bills/194/S547