1     
PEST CONTROL LICENSING AMENDMENTS

2     
2018 GENERAL SESSION

3     
STATE OF UTAH

4     
Chief Sponsor: Scott H. Chew

5     
Senate Sponsor: Don L. Ipson

6     Cosponsor:
7     Gregory H. Hughes


8     

9     LONG TITLE
10     General Description:
11          This bill modifies provisions of the Utah Pesticide Control Act.
12     Highlighted Provisions:
13          This bill:
14          ▸     defines terms;
15          ▸     modifies the requirements for obtaining a business registration certificate for a
16     pesticide applicator business; and
17          ▸     makes technical changes.
18     Money Appropriated in this Bill:
19          None
20     Other Special Clauses:
21          None
22     Utah Code Sections Affected:
23     AMENDS:
24          4-14-102, as renumbered and amended by Laws of Utah 2017, Chapter 345
25          4-14-111, as renumbered and amended by Laws of Utah 2017, Chapter 345
26     

27     Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
28          Section 1. Section 4-14-102 is amended to read:
29          4-14-102. Definitions.
30          As used in this chapter:
31          (1) "Active ingredient" means an ingredient that:
32          (a) prevents, destroys, repels, controls, or mitigates pests; or
33          (b) acts as a plant regulator, defoliant, or desiccant.
34          (2) "Adulterated pesticide" means a pesticide with a strength or purity that is below the
35     standard of quality expressed on the label under which the pesticide is offered for sale.
36          (3) "Animal" means all vertebrate or invertebrate species.
37          (4) "Beneficial insect" means an insect that is:
38          (a) an effective pollinator of plants;
39          (b) a parasite or predator of pests; or
40          (c) otherwise beneficial.
41          (5) "Certified applicator" means an individual who is licensed by the department to
42     apply:
43          (a) a restricted use pesticide; or
44          (b) a general use pesticide for hire or in exchange for compensation.
45          (6) "Certified qualified applicator" means a certified applicator who is eligible to act as
46     a qualifying party.
47          [(5)] (7) "Defoliant" means a substance or mixture intended to cause leaves or foliage
48     to drop from a plant, with or without causing abscission.
49          [(6)] (8) "Desiccant" means a substance or mixture intended to artificially accelerate
50     the drying of plant or animal tissue.
51          [(7)] (9) "Distribute" means to offer for sale, sell, barter, ship, deliver for shipment,
52     receive, deliver, or offer to deliver pesticides in this state.
53          [(8)] (10) "Environment" means all living plants and animals, water, air, land, and the
54     interrelationships that exist between them.
55          [(9)] (11) (a) "Equipment" means any type of ground, water, or aerial equipment or
56     contrivance using motorized, mechanical, or pressurized power to apply a pesticide.
57          (b) "Equipment" does not mean any pressurized hand-sized household apparatus used
58     to apply a pesticide or any equipment or contrivance used to apply a pesticide that is dependent
59     solely upon energy expelled by the person making the pesticide application.
60          [(10)] (12) "EPA" means the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
61          [(11)] (13) "FIFRA" means the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act.
62          [(12)] (14) (a) "Fungus" means a nonchlorophyll-bearing thallophyte or a
63     nonchlorophyll-bearing plant of an order lower than mosses and liverworts, including rust,
64     smut, mildew, mold, yeast, and bacteria.
65          (b) "Fungus" does not include fungus existing on or in:
66          (i) a living person or other animal; or
67          (ii) processed food, beverages, or pharmaceuticals.
68          (15) "Herbicide" means a substance that is toxic to plants and is used to control or
69     eliminate unwanted vegetation.
70          [(13)] (16) "Insect" means an invertebrate animal generally having a more or less
71     obviously segmented body:
72          (a) usually belonging to the Class Insecta, comprising six-legged, usually winged
73     forms, including beetles, bugs, bees, and flies; and
74          (b) allied classes of arthropods that are wingless usually having more than six legs,
75     including spiders, mites, ticks, centipedes, and wood lice.
76          [(14)] (17) "Label" means any written, printed, or graphic matter on, or attached to, a
77     pesticide or a container or wrapper of a pesticide.
78          [(15)] (18) (a) "Labeling" means all labels and all other written, printed, or graphic
79     matter:
80          (i) accompanying a pesticide or equipment; or
81          (ii) to which reference is made on the label or in literature accompanying a pesticide or
82     equipment.
83          (b) "Labeling" does not include any written, printed, or graphic matter created by the
84     EPA, the United States Departments of Agriculture or Interior, the United States Department of
85     Health, Education, and Welfare, state experimental stations, state agricultural colleges, and
86     other federal or state institutions or agencies authorized by law to conduct research in the field
87     of pesticides.
88          [(16)] (19) "Land" means land, water, air, and plants, animals, structures, buildings,
89     contrivances, and machinery appurtenant or situated thereon, whether fixed or mobile,
90     including any used for transportation.
91          [(17)] (20) "Misbranded" means any label or labeling that is false or misleading or that
92     does not strictly comport with the label and labeling requirements set forth in Section
93     4-14-104.
94          [(18)] (21) "Misuse" means use of any pesticide in a manner inconsistent with the
95     pesticide's label or labeling.
96          [(19)] (22) "Nematode" means invertebrate animals of the Phylum Nemathelminthes
97     and Class Nematoda, including unsegmented round worms with elongated, fusiform, or saclike
98     bodies covered with cuticle, also known as nemas or eelworms.
99          (23) "Ornamental and turf pest control" means the use of a pesticide to control
100     ornamental and turf pests in the maintenance and protection of ornamental trees, shrubs,
101     flowers, or turf.
102          [(20)] (24) (a) "Pest" means:
103          (i) any insect, rodent, nematode, fungus, weed; or
104          (ii) any other form of terrestrial or aquatic plant or animal life, virus, bacteria, or other
105     microorganism that is injurious to health or to the environment or that the department declares
106     to be a pest.
107          (b) "Pest" does not include:
108          (i) viruses, bacteria, or other microorganisms on or in a living person or other living
109     animal; or
110          (ii) protected wildlife species identified in Section 23-13-2 that are regulated by the
111     Division of Wildlife Resources in accordance with Sections 23-14-1 through 23-14-3.
112          [(21)] (25) "Pesticide" means any:
113          (a) substance or mixture of substances, including a living organism, that is intended to
114     prevent, destroy, control, repel, attract, or mitigate any insect, rodent, nematode, snail, slug,
115     fungus, weed, or other form of plant or animal life that is normally considered to be a pest or
116     that the commissioner declares to be a pest;
117          (b) any substance or mixture of substances intended to be used as a plant regulator,
118     defoliant, or desiccant;
119          (c) any spray adjuvant, such as a wetting agent, spreading agent, deposit builder,
120     adhesive, or emulsifying agent with deflocculating properties of its own used with a pesticide
121     to aid the pesticide's application or effect; and
122          (d) any other substance designated by the department by rule.
123          [(22)] (26) "Pesticide applicator" is a person who:
124          (a) applies or supervises the application of a pesticide; and
125          (b) is required by this chapter to have a license.
126          [(23)] (27) (a) "Pesticide applicator business" means an entity that:
127          (i) is authorized to do business in this state; and
128          (ii) offers pesticide application services.
129          (b) "Pesticide applicator business" does not include an individual licensed agricultural
130     applicator who may work for hire.
131          [(24)] (28) "Pesticide dealer" means any person who distributes restricted use
132     pesticides.
133          [(25)] (29) (a) "Plant regulator" means any substance or mixture intended, through
134     physiological action, to accelerate or retard the rate of growth or rate of maturation, or
135     otherwise alter the behavior of ornamental or crop plants.
136          (b) "Plant regulator" does not include plant nutrients, trace elements, nutritional
137     chemicals, plant inoculants, or soil amendments.
138          (30) "Qualifying party" means a certified qualified applicator who is the owner or
139     employee of a pesticide applicator business and who is registered with the department as the
140     individual responsible for ensuring the training, equipping, and supervision of all pesticide
141     applicators who work for the pesticide applicator business.
142          [(26)] (31) "Restricted use pesticide" means:
143          (a) a pesticide, including a highly toxic pesticide, that is a serious hazard to beneficial
144     insects, animals, or land; or
145          (b) any pesticide or pesticide use restricted by the administrator of EPA or by the
146     commissioner.
147          (32) "Spot treatment" means the limited application of an herbicide to an area that is no
148     more than 5% of the potential treatment area or one-twentieth of an acre, whichever is smaller,
149     using equipment that is designed to contain no more than five gallons of mixture.
150          [(27)] (33) "Weed" means any plant that grows where not wanted.
151          [(28)] (34) "Wildlife" means all living things that are neither human, domesticated, nor
152     pests.
153          Section 2. Section 4-14-111 is amended to read:
154          4-14-111. Registration required for a pesticide business.
155          (1) A pesticide applicator business shall register with the department by:
156          (a) submitting an application on a form provided by the department;
157          (b) paying the registration fee; and
158          (c) certifying that the business is in compliance with this chapter and departmental
159     rules authorized by this chapter.
160          (2) (a) By following the procedures and requirements of Section 63J-1-504, the
161     department shall establish a registration fee based on the number of pesticide applicators
162     employed by the pesticide applicator business.
163          (b) (i) Notwithstanding Section 63J-1-504, the department shall deposit the fees as
164     dedicated credits and may only use the fees to administer and enforce this chapter.
165          (ii) The Legislature may annually designate the revenue generated from the fee as
166     nonlapsing in an appropriations act.
167          (3) The department shall issue a business registration certificate to a pesticide
168     applicator business if the individual or entity:
169          (a) has complied with the requirements of this section;
170          (b) has shown evidence of competence in the pesticide profession and meets the
171     certification requirements established by rule;
172          (c) provides evidence that the owner or qualifying party is a certified applicator;
173          (d) provides evidence that the owner or qualifying party:
174          (i) has been a certified applicator for at least two years out of the 10 years immediately
175     before the date of the application for a business registration certificate is received by the
176     department; or
177          (ii) holds an associate degree or higher in horticulture, agricultural sciences, biological
178     sciences, pest management, or a related field;
179          [(c)] (e) demonstrates good character;
180          [(d)] (f) has no outstanding infractions and owes no money to the department; and
181          [(e)] (g) pays the licensing fee established by the department.
182          (4) A registration certificate expires on December 31 of the second calendar year after
183     the calendar year in which the registration certificate is issued.
184          (5) (a) The department may suspend a registration certificate if the pesticide applicator
185     business violates this chapter or any rules authorized by it.
186          (b) A pesticide applicator business whose registration certificate has been suspended
187     may apply to the department for reinstatement of the registration certificate by demonstrating
188     compliance with this chapter and rules authorized by this chapter.
189          (6) A pesticide applicator business shall:
190          (a) only employ a pesticide applicator who has received a license from the department,
191     as required by Section 4-14-103; and
192          (b) ensure that all employees comply with this chapter and the rules authorized by this
193     chapter.
194          (7) An individual or entity applying for a business registration certificate does not have
195     to meet the requirements of Subsection (3)(d) if the individual's or entity's sole use of
196     pesticides is limited to:
197          (a) providing ornamental and turf pest control spot treatment services; and
198          (b) herbicides with labels that contain the signal word "caution" or "warning."