Mass. Environment Panel Hears Plea to Expand Local Rat Poison Bans Statewide

BOSTON — March 4, 2026 — Massachusetts environment panel fields push to ban wildlife-killing rat poisons, revise beach rules. The Joint Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, co-chaired by Representative Christine P. Barber and Senator Rebecca L. Rausch, heard testimony March 4 on 19 filed home rule petitions — with 14 more on spring town meeting warrants — seeking municipal bans on second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides, the class of poison advocates say is found in 100 percent of red-tailed hawks tested in Massachusetts. Senator Michael O. Moore testified in support of Senate 2877, authorizing Grafton's town-meeting-approved ban, noting veterinary treatment for a poisoned pet can exceed $2,000. The lone opponent, Molly Moran of the New England Pest Management Association, argued regulation should stay with the state Department of Agricultural Resources, which has a scientific review underway. Representative Kenneth P. Sweezey separately pressed a package of three bills — H5139, H5140, and H5141 — to update 33-year-old state shorebird guidelines that he says now block traditional recreational access on Duxbury Beach and coastlines statewide.