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Ordinance committee backs ban on second‑generation anticoagulant rodenticides on city property, urges state action
Summary
The committee voted March 24 to recommend an ordinance banning second‑generation anticoagulant rodenticides ("escars") on city‑owned property and unanimously backed a resolution urging the Massachusetts Legislature to pass companion bills; the committee requested legal drafting and a Board of Health transition plan and set a July 1, 2026 effective date for the municipal ban.
The Holyoke Ordinance Committee on March 24 recommended that the city adopt an ordinance prohibiting second‑generation anticoagulant rodenticides (commonly called "escars") on city‑owned property and also voted to send a resolution to the full council expressing support for Massachusetts legislation (Senate Bill 2721 and House Bill 965) to restrict these products statewide.
Chair Meg McGrath Smith framed the local ordinance as the action the city can take under current state law and said the committee used a draft modeled on another municipality as a template. The proposed local policy would ban escars on city‑owned buildings,…
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