On Aug. 20, 2024, the National Association of Landscape Professionals hosted over 50 scientists from EPA’s Office of Pesticide Programs and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at NALP’s annual Advocacy Field Trip event. This year it was held at the Manassas branch office of Virginia Green Lawn Care and at the Northern Fauquier Community Park in Marshall, Virginia. The goal of the event was to educate attendees on how the lawn care industry operates and uses products registered by the federal government.
Bob Mann, senior director of regulatory and technical affairs for NALP, says this event is part of an ongoing dialogue with these regulatory agencies.
Mann says these field trips are also an opportunity for government scientists to expand their perspectives.
“EPA recognizes that you can’t simply sit in an office cubicle,” Mann says. “You have to have that insight into how things are actually done out in the field.”
The past two advocacy field trips have been hosted at Weed Man franchisor Brandon Sheppard’s residence, but Mann says they wanted to switch it up and keep the event novel to attendees.
“What we don’t want to do is we don’t want to be boring,” Mann says. “We don’t want to be repetitive.”
This year’s theme was about emerging technologies in lawn care.
“What we’re trying to do is show what the concepts are, both from member companies and from our suppliers, how we can be more environmentally conscious and take into account elements of sustainability in the services that we provide to our customers,” Mann says.
NALP member companies, including Virginia Green, Weed Man, TruGreen, King Green, and Lawn Doctor, all participated in this event to help educate the EPA scientists. Suppliers Steel Green and Optix Technologies also participated in the field trip.
One technology they demonstrated to attendees was the usage of GPS technology on a ride-on application machine that provides very precise data on where the machine was making an application on a customer’s property. Mann says that based on the policy landscape, he expects lawn care operators to be more accountable for exactly where, what and how much lawn care products are applied.
“We want to show you state of the art, that we are listening to what the EPA is telling us,” Mann says. “We are listening to the EPA’s concerns and we’re coming up with solutions that will satisfy that.”
The event featured different stations that included everything from what a mixing and filling operation looks like to the personal protective equipment that technicians wear when applying the products.
Mann adds that another reason these field trips are important is they provide an opportunity to connect with new scientists as previous ones move into other roles or industries. He says as things come up in the future, rather than making assumptions, these EPA scientists will know who to call on in the lawn care industry.
“It’s the availability of good, hard data, insight and experience that leads to better policy,” Mann says.
Mann says it is critical to continue to have these conversations with the EPA because regulations are not a static topic. Just since last year’s event, several documents have been released that have serious policy implications.
For instance, Mann says with the Endangered Species Act, the EPA tries to create different policies, but a lot of its focus is on the agricultural uses of pesticides.
“Our job in the non-agricultural space is to read, understand and interpret everything that’s going on through the lens of non-agricultural users,” Mann says. “We try to anticipate their concerns and what they may think is the proper course of action, and then speak to that.”
For others who want to get involved with these advocacy efforts, Mann encourages NALP members to get involved with the governance of the association by participating in different councils and committees.
“We want you to participate, and as you begin to participate, these opportunities will pop up,” Mann says. “Don’t sit in the background. Become involved with the association.”
