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Somerville delays effective ban on plants treated with neonicotinoids to 2028 after debate
Summary
After a lengthy debate balancing pollinator protection and procurement realities, the committee amended the mayoral proposal to move the prohibition on sourcing neonicotinoid-treated plants from Jan. 1, 2026 to Jan. 1, 2028 and recommended the amendment for approval.
Director Luisa Oliveira, head of Public Space & Urban Forestry, asked the committee to remove the ordinance’s sunset clause because the city’s planting projects rely on suppliers that commonly use neonicotinoids; she warned that large projects (for example, the Somerville Junction Park and planned street-tree plantings) require thousands of plants and that wholesale supply of neonic-free stock at that scale is limited. Oliveira said requiring only neonic-free sources as of Jan.…
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