SB 27: "An Act relating to pesticide use; relating to program receipts collected by the Department of Environmental Conservation for registrations and licenses relating to pesticides; and providing for an effective date."
00 SENATE BILL NO. 27 01 "An Act relating to pesticide use; relating to program receipts collected by the 02 Department of Environmental Conservation for registrations and licenses relating to 03 pesticides; and providing for an effective date." 04 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 05 * Section 1. AS 37.05.146(c) is amended by adding a new paragraph to read: 06 (77) receipts of the Department of Environmental Conservation under 07 AS 44.46.025(e) and AS 46.03.320(b). 08 * Sec. 2. AS 44.46.025 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 09 (e) The department may charge a registration fee of $150 for a pesticide label 10 for a pesticide product registered for use in the state. 11 * Sec. 3. AS 46.03.320(b) is amended to read: 12 (b) The department may provide by regulation for the licensing of private 13 applicators of restricted-use pesticides and for persons engaged in the custom, 14 commercial, or contract spraying or application of pesticides and broadcast chemicals.
01 The license must specify each category of use that is authorized for the person 02 holding the license. A person engaged in the custom, commercial, or contract 03 spraying or application of pesticides and broadcast chemicals may, by regulation, be 04 required to secure a surety bond or liability insurance. The department shall 05 establish and collect a fee for a license issued under this subsection. The fee shall 06 be $25 times the number of years for which the license is valid when issued, 07 regardless of how many categories of use are authorized under the license. The 08 department shall review the licensing fee every two years and recommend 09 changes in the fee to the legislature when considered appropriate. 10 * Sec. 4. AS 46.03 is amended by adding a new section to read: 11 Sec. 46.03.325. Notice of commercial pesticide spraying. (a) A person who 12 engages in the business of applying pesticides shall give written notice as provided in 13 this section every time that the person is going to spray a pesticide out of doors unless 14 the spraying is covered by the notice provisions of AS 46.03.330. 15 (b) The notice required under this section shall be posted 16 (1) on the property to be sprayed and on each residence and each 17 commercial building with a different owner or manager within one-quarter mile of the 18 site where the spraying will occur if the residence or commercial building is located 19 on property that is contiguous to the property to be sprayed; 20 (2) at least 48 hours before the spraying and not more than 72 hours 21 before the spraying; and 22 (3) in a manner that is reasonably calculated to provide actual notice to 23 the persons living or doing business on property contiguous to the property to be 24 sprayed. 25 (c) The notice required under this section must include 26 (1) the trade name of each pesticide; 27 (2) the chemical name, to the extent available, of the principal active 28 ingredients in each pesticide; 29 (3) the exact date and approximate time that the pesticide will be 30 sprayed; 31 (4) the name, address, and telephone number of the person doing the
01 spraying; 02 (5) a warning that the pesticide is or may be harmful; and 03 (6) a statement of recommended precautions. 04 (d) The department shall provide samples of the notice required under this 05 section. Substantial compliance with the sample notices constitutes compliance with 06 this section. 07 * Sec. 5. AS 46.03 is amended by adding new sections to article 5 to read: 08 Sec. 46.03.335. Pesticide tracking system. (a) The department shall 09 establish and implement a pesticide use tracking system. In developing the system, 10 the department shall ensure that, to the extent practicable, the data submission process 11 uses existing record-keeping requirements, automates the reporting system, and 12 encourages electronic submission of data. The department shall strive for a system 13 that is efficient and cost-effective and that reveals the location and extent of pesticide 14 use to the extent practicable. 15 (b) The department may establish regulations for the submission and 16 dissemination of accurate data for the tracking system, including regulations 17 (1) for data submission timing, which may differ for different 18 categories of pesticide applicators; 19 (2) regarding which pesticides are subject to the reporting 20 requirements of this section, based in part on the frequency of pesticide application; in 21 adopting regulations under this paragraph, the department shall seek and consider 22 advice from the Pesticide Advisory Board; the department may not include sanitizers 23 or disinfectants within the reporting requirements of this section; and 24 (3) regarding how location information is to be submitted and reported, 25 which may differ for different categories of pesticide applicators; the department shall 26 require at least enough specificity about the location of pesticide applications so that 27 aggregation of the data into hydrological units, as defined by the United States 28 Geological Survey, is enabled. 29 (c) The system established under this section must require all licensed custom, 30 commercial, or contract pesticide applicators in the state to report to the department 31 the following information pertaining to the professional use of the pesticides that the
01 department has determined are subject to the reporting requirements of this section: 02 (1) pesticide product name and United States Environmental Protection 03 Agency registration number; 04 (2) total amount of product applied; 05 (3) identification number assigned to the reporting entity by the 06 department; 07 (4) size in acres or square feet of the area treated; 08 (5) application rate in volume or weight of product for each area 09 treated; 10 (6) location of application; 11 (7) date of application; 12 (8) application method, including equipment, device, or apparatus 13 used; and 14 (9) target organism. 15 (d) The department may conduct a statistically valid household pesticide use 16 survey to acquire data that would complement information received under (c) of this 17 section. 18 (e) A licensed custom, commercial, or contract pesticide applicator shall retain 19 the records upon which the information submitted under (c) of this section is based for 20 three years after submitting the report to the department. 21 (f) In addition to other civil or criminal penalties that may be applicable, the 22 department may impose a civil penalty on a licensed custom, commercial, or contract 23 pesticide applicator who fails to comply with a reporting requirement established 24 under this section. The penalty may be up to $1,000 for the first failure to comply and 25 up to $2,000 for a second or subsequent failure to comply. 26 Sec. 46.03.340. Availability of information to the public. (a) The data in 27 the tracking system developed under AS 46.03.335 shall be made accessible by the 28 department to the general public through the Internet and shall be available from the 29 department on disk and in printed format upon request. The department shall 30 aggregate the data released under this section so that the anonymity of specific 31 pesticide applicators and their clients is protected. The database shall be made
01 accessible in a way that reasonably provides the public with understandable and useful 02 information about the use of pesticides at local, regional, and state levels. The 03 department shall ensure that pesticide use information in the database is accessible to 04 researchers, pesticide users, workers, government agencies, and the public in a timely 05 and user-friendly manner. 06 (b) On or before June 30 of each year, the department shall publish an annual 07 report, available to the public, that includes 08 (1) a detailed summary of the information reported to the department 09 under AS 46.03.335; 10 (2) an analysis of the data, including known reasons for any increases 11 or decreases in pesticide use over time and within categories such as pesticide type, 12 applicator type, and hydrological unit; and 13 (3) a description of the improvements made in the database or data 14 collection process during the fiscal year that have made the information in the 15 database more accessible to the public or have integrated the database with other 16 information or databases maintained by the department. 17 Sec. 46.03.345. Pesticide Advisory Board. (a) There is established a 18 Pesticide Advisory Board consisting of seven members appointed by the governor to 19 staggered three-year terms as follows: 20 (1) one member who is a pesticide applicator or pesticide dealer who is 21 required to be licensed by the department; 22 (2) one member who is not employed by or the agent of a licensed 23 pesticide applicator or pesticide dealer and who has demonstrable expertise in fisheries 24 biology or fish toxicology; 25 (3) one member who is not employed by or the agent of a licensed 26 pesticide applicator or pesticide dealer and who has demonstrable expertise in wildlife 27 biology or wildlife toxicology; 28 (4) one member who is employed by or is an agent of a public water 29 supplier; 30 (5) one member who is an agent or specialist with the cooperative 31 extension service, University of Alaska;
01 (6) one member who is not employed by or the agent of a licensed 02 pesticide applicator or pesticide dealer and who has some expertise in public health 03 issues, particularly children's health issues; and 04 (7) one public member. 05 (b) The Pesticide Advisory Board shall 06 (1) advise the department on the development and implementation of 07 the pesticide use tracking system required under AS 46.03.335, including advice on 08 ways to make it as easy as practicable for persons to comply with the reporting 09 requirements of AS 46.03.335; 10 (2) advise the department on the development and implementation of 11 research and information-gathering mechanisms related to household use of pesticides, 12 especially the location of intended use, purpose, and amounts; 13 (3) recommend to the department methods for increasing public 14 awareness of less toxic alternatives to pesticides; 15 (4) solicit public input on, and recommend to the department, ways to 16 improve the reporting and enforcement process and on ways to improve the 17 accessibility and utility of the data generated by the tracking system; 18 (5) recommend to the department ways to address the problem of 19 persistent organic pollutants in the state; and 20 (6) recommend to all state agencies and the University of Alaska ways 21 in which they could modify their practices with regard to pest control so that 22 prevention of pest populations is emphasized through structural and procedural 23 modifications that reduce the potential habitat of pests, pesticides will be used as a last 24 resort, the least hazardous pesticide will be used when pesticide use is needed, and 25 pesticide use will be targeted to areas that are not accessible to people, especially 26 children. 27 (c) A member appointed under this section is eligible for reappointment, but a 28 member may not serve for more than two consecutive terms. If there is a vacancy, the 29 governor shall make an appointment to become immediately effective for the 30 unexpired term. A member serves at the pleasure of the governor. 31 (d) The Pesticide Advisory Board shall select one of its members as chair and
01 another as vice-chair for the terms and with the duties and powers considered 02 necessary by the board for the performance of the functions of the Pesticide Advisory 03 Board. 04 (e) A majority of the members of the Pesticide Advisory Board constitutes a 05 quorum for the transaction of business. The Pesticide Advisory Board shall meet at a 06 place and time determined by the board. The board may also meet at other times and 07 places specified by the call of the chair or of a majority of the members of the board. 08 (f) Notwithstanding AS 39.20.180, a member of the Pesticide Advisory Board 09 is not entitled to reimbursement of transportation expenses and payment of per diem 10 allowances. 11 Sec. 46.03.350. Technical assistance. (a) In order to develop and implement 12 the pesticide use tracking system required under AS 46.03.335, the department and the 13 Pesticide Advisory Board may request technical assistance from a public or private 14 agency with expertise in the subject matter. 15 (b) The department may develop a program to provide technical assistance to 16 pesticide applicators who are required to report under AS 46.03.335. The department 17 may develop and provide computer software to licensed pesticide applicators to 18 facilitate reporting for the tracking system. 19 Sec. 46.03.355. Department's use of the tracking system. The department 20 shall use the pesticide use database developed under AS 46.03.335 in carrying out the 21 department's responsibilities for the protection of water quality, other environmental 22 protection, worker health and safety programs, public health protection programs, 23 pesticide-related illness surveillance programs, risk assessments, and pest management 24 research and control programs. The department shall cooperate with and advise other 25 state agencies concerning their programs that may be affected by the use of pesticides. 26 * Sec. 6. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 27 read: 28 REGULATIONS. The Department of Environmental Conservation may proceed to 29 develop and adopt regulations to implement this Act. The regulations take effect under 30 AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act), but not before January 1, 2004. 31 * Sec. 7. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to
01 read: 02 REPORT. The Pesticide Advisory Board shall submit a report to the governor by 03 January 1, 2006, concerning the board's recommendations for action related to its areas of 04 jurisdiction under AS 46.03.345(b). The board shall notify the legislature that the report is 05 available. 06 * Sec. 8. Except as provided in sec. 9 of this Act, this Act takes effect January 1, 2004. 07 * Sec. 9. Section 6 of this Act takes effect immediately under AS 01.10.070(c).