Rep. Norm Thurston — Voting Record

Bill

Number

H.B. 413 Second Substitute (2018GS)

Sponsor

Rep. Chew, S.

Final action

Governor Signed 3/26/2018

Outcome

Became law — signed by Gov. Gary R. Herbert

Summary

What it does

• This bill:
• defines terms;
• modifies the requirements for obtaining a business registration certificate for a pesticide applicator business; and
• makes technical changes.

Every vote on this bill

Bill text

PEST CONTROL LICENSING AMENDMENTS
GENERAL SESSION
STATE OF UTAH
Chief Sponsor: Scott H. Chew
Senate Sponsor: 
Don L. Ipson
Cosponsor:
Gregory H. Hughes
LONG TITLE
General Description:
This bill modifies provisions of the Utah Pesticide Control Act.
Highlighted Provisions:
This bill:
▸ defines terms;
▸ modifies the requirements for obtaining a business registration certificate for a
pesticide applicator business; and
▸ makes technical changes.
Money Appropriated in this Bill:
None
Other Special Clauses:
None
Utah Code Sections Affected:
AMENDS:
4-14-102
, as renumbered and amended by Laws of Utah 2017, Chapter 345
4-14-111
, as renumbered and amended by Laws of Utah 2017, Chapter 345
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
Section 1. Section 
4-14-102
 is amended to read:
4-14-102.
Definitions.
As used in this chapter:
(1) "Active ingredient" means an ingredient that:
(a) prevents, destroys, repels, controls, or mitigates pests; or
(b) acts as a plant regulator, defoliant, or desiccant.
(2) "Adulterated pesticide" means a pesticide with a strength or purity that is below the
standard of quality expressed on the label under which the pesticide is offered for sale.
(3) "Animal" means all vertebrate or invertebrate species.
(4) "Beneficial insect" means an insect that is:
(a) an effective pollinator of plants;
(b) a parasite or predator of pests; or
(c) otherwise beneficial.
(5) "Certified applicator" means an individual who is licensed by the department to
apply:
(a) a restricted use pesticide; or
(b) a general use pesticide for hire or in exchange for compensation.
(6) "Certified qualified applicator" means a certified applicator who is eligible to act as
a qualifying party.
[
(5)
] 
(7)
 "Defoliant" means a substance or mixture intended to cause leaves or foliage
to drop from a plant, with or without causing abscission.
[
(6)
] 
(8)
 "Desiccant" means a substance or mixture intended to artificially accelerate
the drying of plant or animal tissue.
[
(7)
] 
(9)
 "Distribute" means to offer for sale, sell, barter, ship, deliver for shipment,
receive, deliver, or offer to deliver pesticides in this state.
[
(8)
] 
(10)
 "Environment" means all living plants and animals, water, air, land, and the
interrelationships that exist between them.
[
(9)
] 
(11)
 (a) "Equipment" means any type of ground, water, or aerial equipment or
contrivance using motorized, mechanical, or pressurized power to apply a pesticide.
(b) "Equipment" does not mean any pressurized hand-sized household apparatus used
to apply a pesticide or any equipment or contrivance used to apply a pesticide that is dependent
solely upon energy expelled by the person making the pesticide application.
[
(10)
] 
(12)
 "EPA" means the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
[
(11)
] 
(13)
 "FIFRA" means the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act.
[
(12)
] 
(14)
 (a) "Fungus" means a nonchlorophyll-bearing thallophyte or a
nonchlorophyll-bearing plant of an order lower than mosses and liverworts, including rust,
smut, mildew, mold, yeast, and bacteria.
(b) "Fungus" does not include fungus existing on or in:
(i) a living person or other animal; or
(ii) processed food, beverages, or pharmaceuticals.
(15) "Herbicide" means a substance that is toxic to plants and is used to control or
eliminate unwanted vegetation.
[
(13)
] 
(16)
 "Insect" means an invertebrate animal generally having a more or less
obviously segmented body:
(a) usually belonging to the Class Insecta, comprising six-legged, usually winged
forms, including beetles, bugs, bees, and flies; and
(b) allied classes of arthropods that are wingless usually having more than six legs,
including spiders, mites, ticks, centipedes, and wood lice.
[
(14)
] 
(17)
 "Label" means any written, printed, or graphic matter on, or attached to, a
pesticide or a container or wrapper of a pesticide.
[
(15)
] 
(18)
 (a) "Labeling" means all labels and all other written, printed, or graphic
matter:
(i) accompanying a pesticide or equipment; or
(ii) to which reference is made on the label or in literature accompanying a pesticide or
equipment.
(b) "Labeling" does not include any written, printed, or graphic matter created by the
EPA, the United States Departments of Agriculture or Interior, the United States Department of
Health, Education, and Welfare, state experimental stations, state agricultural colleges, and
other federal or state institutions or agencies authorized by law to conduct research in the field
of pesticides.
[
(16)
] 
(19)
 "Land" means land, water, air, and plants, animals, structures, buildings,
contrivances, and machinery appurtenant or situated thereon, whether fixed or mobile,
including any used for transportation.
[
(17)
] 
(20)
 "Misbranded" means any label or labeling that is false or misleading or that
does not strictly comport with the label and labeling requirements set forth in Section
4-14-104
.
[
(18)
] 
(21)
 "Misuse" means use of any pesticide in a manner inconsistent with the
pesticide's label or labeling.
[
(19)
] 
(22)
 "Nematode" means invertebrate animals of the Phylum Nemathelminthes
and Class Nematoda, including unsegmented round worms with elongated, fusiform, or saclike
bodies covered with cuticle, also known as nemas or eelworms.
(23) "Ornamental and turf pest control" means the use of a pesticide to control
ornamental and turf pests in the maintenance and protection of ornamental trees, shrubs,
flowers, or turf.
[
(20)
] 
(24)
 (a) "Pest" means:
(i) any insect, rodent, nematode, fungus, weed; or
(ii) any other form of terrestrial or aquatic plant or animal life, virus, bacteria, or other
microorganism that is injurious to health or to the environment or that the department declares
to be a pest.
(b) "Pest" does not include:
(i) viruses, bacteria, or other microorganisms on or in a living person or other living
animal; or
(ii) protected wildlife species identified in Section 
23-13-2
 that are regulated by the
Division of Wildlife Resources in accordance with Sections 
23-14-1
 through 
23-14-3
.
[
(21)
] 
(25)
 "Pesticide" means any:
(a) substance or mixture of substances, including a living organism, that is intended to
prevent, destroy, control, repel, attract, or mitigate any insect, rodent, nematode, snail, slug,
fungus, weed, or other form of plant or animal life that is normally considered to be a pest or
that the commissioner declares to be a pest;
(b) any substance or mixture of substances intended to be used as a plant regulator,
defoliant, or desiccant;
(c) any spray adjuvant, such as a wetting agent, spreading agent, deposit builder,
adhesive, or emulsifying agent with deflocculating properties of its own used with a pesticide
to aid the pesticide's application or effect; and
(d) any other substance designated by the department by rule.
[
(22)
] 
(26)
 "Pesticide applicator" is a person who:
(a) applies or supervises the application of a pesticide; and
(b) is required by this chapter to have a license.
[
(23)
] 
(27)
 (a) "Pesticide applicator business" means an entity that:
(i) is authorized to do business in this state; and
(ii) offers pesticide application services.
(b) "Pesticide applicator business" does not include an individual licensed agricultural
applicator who may work for hire.
[
(24)
] 
(28)
 "Pesticide dealer" means any person who distributes restricted use
pesticides.
[
(25)
] 
(29)
 (a) "Plant regulator" means any substance or mixture intended, through
physiological action, to accelerate or retard the rate of growth or rate of maturation, or
otherwise alter the behavior of ornamental or crop plants.
(b) "Plant regulator" does not include plant nutrients, trace elements, nutritional
chemicals, plant inoculants, or soil amendments.
(30) "Qualifying party" means a certified qualified applicator who is the owner or
employee of a pesticide applicator business and who is registered with the department as the
individual responsible for ensuring the training, equipping, and supervision of all pesticide
applicators who work for the pesticide applicator business.
[
(26)
] 
(31)
 "Restricted use pesticide" means:
(a) a pesticide, including a highly toxic pesticide, that is a serious hazard to beneficial
insects, animals, or land; or
(b) any pesticide or pesticide use restricted by the administrator of EPA or by the
commissioner.
(32) "Spot treatment" means the limited application of an herbicide to an area that is no
more than 5% of the potential treatment area or one-twentieth of an acre, whichever is smaller,
using equipment that is designed to contain no more than five gallons of mixture.
[
(27)
] 
(33)
 "Weed" means any plant that grows where not wanted.
[
(28)
] 
(34)
 "Wildlife" means all living things that are neither human, domesticated, nor
pests.
Section 2. Section 
4-14-111
 is amended to read:
4-14-111.
Registration required for a pesticide business.
(1) A pesticide applicator business shall register with the department by:
(a) submitting an application on a form provided by the department;
(b) paying the registration fee; and
(c) certifying that the business is in compliance with this chapter and departmental
rules authorized by this chapter.
(2) (a) By following the procedures and requirements of Section 
63J-1-504
, the
department shall establish a registration fee based on the number of pesticide applicators
employed by the pesticide applicator business.
(b) (i) Notwithstanding Section 
63J-1-504
, the department shall deposit the fees as
dedicated credits and may only use the fees to administer and enforce this chapter.
(ii) The Legislature may annually designate the revenue generated from the fee as
nonlapsing in an appropriations act.
(3) The department shall issue a business registration certificate to a pesticide
applicator business if the individual or entity:
(a) has complied with the requirements of this section;
(b) has shown evidence of competence in the pesticide profession and meets the
certification requirements established by rule;
(c) provides evidence that the owner or qualifying party is a certified applicator;
(d) provides evidence that the owner or qualifying party:
(i) has been a certified applicator for at least two years out of the 10 years immediately
before the date of the application for a business registration certificate is received by the
department; or
(ii) holds an associate degree or higher in horticulture, agricultural sciences, biological
sciences, pest management, or a related field;
[
(c)
] 
(e)
 demonstrates good character;
[
(d)
] 
(f)
 has no outstanding infractions and owes no money to the department; and
[
(e)
] 
(g)
 pays the licensing fee established by the department.
(4) A registration certificate expires on December 31 of the second calendar year after
the calendar year in which the registration certificate is issued.
(5) (a) The department may suspend a registration certificate if the pesticide applicator
business violates this chapter or any rules authorized by it.
(b) A pesticide applicator business whose registration certificate has been suspended
may apply to the department for reinstatement of the registration certificate by demonstrating
compliance with this chapter and rules authorized by this chapter.
(6) A pesticide applicator business shall:
(a) only employ a pesticide applicator who has received a license from the department,
as required by Section 
4-14-103
; and
(b) ensure that all employees comply with this chapter and the rules authorized by this
chapter.
(7) An individual or entity applying for a business registration certificate does not have
to meet the requirements of Subsection (3)(d) if the individual's or entity's sole use of
pesticides is limited to:
(a) providing ornamental and turf pest control spot treatment services; and
(b) herbicides with labels that contain the signal word "caution" or "warning."