MDAR Aerial Spray Map FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions about aerial pesticide applications that target adult mosquitoes with the goal of reducing levels of Eastern equine encephalitis

If you are not in the spray area, you can contact your local Mosquito Control District to determine if other control options are available to you. If your town/city is not in a Mosquito Control District, you should contact your local Board of Health.

1. When will I be able to see a map of what was sprayed?
   The map showing where spraying has been completed is posted as soon as possible on the day following the spray. Aerial spraying takes place between dusk and dawn, (approximately 8pm-4am, depending on the time of year), and once the data are transferred from the planes, it takes several hours to process the map and publish it to the website, with a goal of getting the map online by 11am the next day.
2. What area is being sprayed tonight/When will my location be sprayed?
   Our goal is to reduce levels of EEE in the fastest and most efficient way possible, however we may need to adjust to changing weather conditions, or technical or mechanical issues that come up. Because of this, we can only say that on each night of a spray event, anyone within the entire red-bordered spray area could be subject to spraying— unless they were sprayed on a previous night. Check the spray map the following day to determine whether your location was sprayed.
3. What time of day does aerial spraying occur?
   Aerial spraying is conducted between dusk and dawn, when the mosquitoes that spread EEE are most active. While the actual start time of aerial operations will vary based on weather and other factors, spraying does not start before dusk, and is completed by dawn. Planes may be in the air shortly before dusk or after dawn, in order to perform scouting operations or to travel to a specific spraying location, but sprayers are not turned on except between dusk and dawn.

   Please note that dusk and dawn times change over the course of the season (see this chart from MDPH), with dusk starting earlier in the evening each week, and dawn occurring later in the morning. We will make every effort to post the exact window for spraying each evening on the MDAR Spray Map website.

4. Why is my location not in the spray area? What if I want my property to be sprayed?
   The aerial spray zone is designed to target areas that EEE activity originates from, and is determined by the Department of Public Health, with input from several state agencies, including the Department of Agricultural Resources, the Department of Fish and Game (Division of Fisheries and Wildlife), and the Department of Environmental Protection. There are several reasons why your location may not be in the current spray area, including:
   • Your location has been determined not to have the type of habitat that the mosquitoes carrying EEE originate from
   • Your location is in the buffer that is set between the coast and the aerial spray zone
   • You may be located near rare/endangered species habitat

   If you are not in the spray area, you can (contact your local Mosquito Control District) to determine if other control options are available to you. If your town/city is not in a Mosquito Control District, you should contact your local Board of Health.

5. What if I filed an exclusion request for my property and/or I do not want to be sprayed?

   In the event of a certification of a public health hazard or an emergency situation requiring immediate application of pesticides by aircraft or other approved method, the Mass. Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR) and the State Reclamation and Mosquito Control Board (SRB) may waive or alter any or all of these provisions pursuant to 333 CMR 13.03. This includes a waiver of all requests for exclusions or opt outs made to MDAR or the SRB.

   To submit an exclusion request that would cover non-emergency wide-area applications of pesticide, visit this page. Exclusion requests need to be submitted annually.

6. What if my question was not answered?
   • For questions about health issues, air conditioning or windows, koi ponds, gardening, and other related topics, check this DPH fact sheet
   • If you are a beekeeper, please see this FAQ from the MDAR Apiary Program
   • If your question has still not been answered, contact us. Please note that during an aerial spray, it may take 2-3 days for us to get back to you