2022 -- S 2299

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LC004697

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2022

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO HEALTH AND SAFETY -- PESTICIDE CONTROL

     

     Introduced By: Senators Miller, Sosnowski, Valverde, Archambault, Coyne, Euer,
DiMario, and Kallman

     Date Introduced: February 15, 2022

     Referred To: Senate Environment & Agriculture

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

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     SECTION 1. Section 23-25-4 of the General Laws in Chapter 23-25 entitled "Pesticide

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Control" is hereby amended to read as follows:

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     23-25-4. Definitions.

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     As used in this chapter:

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     (1) "Active ingredient" means any ingredient which will prevent, destroy, repel, control, or

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mitigate pests, or which will act as a plant regulator, defoliant, or desiccant.

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     (2) "Adulterated" applies to any pesticide if its strength or purity falls below the professed

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standards of quality as expressed on its labeling under which it is sold, or if any substance has been

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substituted wholly or in part for the pesticide, or if any valuable constituent of the pesticide has

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been wholly or in part abstracted.

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     (3) "Agricultural commodity" means any plant, or part of plant, or animal, or animal

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product, produced by a person (including farmers, ranchers, vineyardists, plant propagators,

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Christmas tree growers, aquaculturists, floriculturists, orchardists, foresters, or other comparable

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persons) primarily for sale, consumption, propagation, or other use by humans or animals.

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     (4) "Animal" means all vertebrate and invertebrate species, including, but not limited to,

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man and other mammals, birds, fish, and shellfish.

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     (5) "Beneficial insects" means those insects which, during their life cycle, are effective

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pollinators of plants, are parasites or predators of pests, or are otherwise beneficial.

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     (6) "Board" means the pesticide advisory board as provided for under § 23-25.2-3.

 

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     (7) "Defoliant" means any substance or mixture of substances intended for causing the

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leaves or foliage to drop from a plant with or without causing abscission.

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     (8) "Desiccant" means any substance or mixture of substances intended for artificially

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accelerating the drying of plant tissue.

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     (9) "Device" means any instrument or contrivance (other than a firearm) which is intended

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for trapping, destroying, repelling, or mitigating any pest or any other form of plant or animal life

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(other than humans and other than bacteria, virus, or other micro-organism on or in living humans

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or other living animals) but not including equipment used for the application of pesticides when

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sold separately from it.

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     (10) "Director" means the director of environmental management.

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     (11) "Distribute" means to offer for sale, hold for sale, sell, barter, ship, deliver for

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shipment, or receive and (having so received) deliver or offer to deliver pesticides in this state.

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     (12) "Environment" includes water, air, land, and all plants and humans and other living

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animals in it, and the interrelationships which exist among these.

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     (13) "EPA" means the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

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     (14) "FIFRA" means the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, 7 U.S.C. §

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136 et seq., and other legislation supplementary to it and amendatory of it.

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     (15) "Fungi" means all nonchlorophyll-bearing thallophytes (that is, all nonchlorophyll-

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bearing plants of a lower order than mosses and liverworts) as, for example, rusts, smuts, mildews,

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molds, yeasts, and bacteria, except those in or on living humans or other living animals, and except

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those in or on processed food, beverages, or pharmaceuticals.

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     (16) "Highly toxic pesticide" means any pesticide determined to be a highly toxic pesticide

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under the authority of § 25(c)(2) of FIFRA, 7 U.S.C. § 136w(c)(2), or by the director under § 23-

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25-9(a)(2).

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     (17) "Imminent hazard" means a situation which exists when the continued use of a

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pesticide during the time required for cancellation proceedings pursuant to § 23-25-8 would likely

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result in unreasonable adverse effects on the environment or will involve unreasonable hazard to

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the survival of a species declared endangered by the secretary of the interior under 16 U.S.C. §

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1531 et seq.

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     (18) "Inert ingredient" means an ingredient which is not an active ingredient.

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     (19) "Ingredient statement" means:

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     (i) Statement of the name and percentage of each active ingredient together with the total

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percentage of the inert ingredients in the pesticide; and

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     (ii) When the pesticide contains arsenic in any form, the ingredient statement shall also

 

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include percentages of total and water soluble arsenic, each calculated as elemental arsenic.

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     (20) "Insect" means any of the numerous small invertebrate animals generally having the

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body more or less obviously segmented, for the most part belonging to the class insecta, comprising

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six (6) legged, usually winged forms, as for example, moths, beetles, bugs, bees, flies, and their

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immature stages, and to other allied classes of anthropods whose members are wingless and usually

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have more than six (6) legs, as for example, spiders, mites, ticks, centipedes, and wood lice.

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     (21) "Integrated Pest Management (IPM)" refers to a method of pest control that uses a

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systems approach to reduce pest damage to tolerable levels through a variety of techniques,

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including natural predators and parasites, genetically resistant hosts, environmental modifications

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and, when necessary and appropriate, chemical pesticides. IPM strategies rely upon nonchemical

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defenses first and chemical pesticides second.

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     (22) "Label" means the written, printed, or graphic matter on, or attached to, the pesticide

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or device or any of its containers or wrappers.

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     (23) "Labeling" means the label and all other written, printed, or graphic matter:

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     (i) Accompanying the pesticide or device at any time; or

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     (ii) To which reference is made on the label or in literature accompanying the pesticide or

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device, except to current official publications of EPA, the United States Departments of Agriculture

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and Interior, and the department of health and human services; state experiment stations; state

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agricultural colleges; and other federal or state institutions or agencies authorized by law to conduct

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research in the field of pesticides.

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     (24) "Land" means all land and water areas, including airspace, all plants, animals,

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structures, buildings, contrivances, and machinery appurtenant to it or situated on it, fixed or

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mobile, including any used for transportation.

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     (25) "Nematode" means invertebrate animals of the phylum Nemathelminthes and class

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Nematoda, that is, unsegmented round worms with elongated, fusiform, or sac-like bodies covered

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with cuticle, and inhabiting soil, water, plants, or plant parts; may also be called nemas or eelworms.

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     (26) "Neonicotinoids" means any of a class of systemic water soluble insecticides related

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to nicotine that affect the central nervous system of insects by selectively binding to the

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postsynaptic nicotinic receptors of insects thereby causing paralysis and death. Neonicotinoids

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include, but are not limited to:

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     (i) Imidacloprid;

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     (ii) Acetamiprid;

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     (iii) Clothianidin;

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     (iv) Nitenpyram;

 

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     (v) Nithiazine;

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     (vi) Thiacloprid;

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     (vii) Thiamethoxam; and

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     (viii) Dinotefuran.

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     (26)(27) "Plant regulator" means any substance or mixture of substances intended, through

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physiological action, for accelerating or retarding the rate of growth or rate of maturation, or for

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altering the behavior of plants or the produce of these but shall not include substances to the extent

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that they are intended as plant nutrients, trace elements, nutritional chemicals, plant inoculants, and

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soil amendments. Also, the term "plant regulator" is not required to include any of those nutrient

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mixtures or soil amendments as are commonly known as vitamin-hormone horticultural products,

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intended for improvement, maintenance, survival, health, and propagation of plants, are not for pest

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destruction and are nontoxic and nonpoisonous in the undiluted packaged concentration.

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     (27)(28) "Permit" means a written certificate, issued by the director, authorizing the

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purchase, possession, and/or use of certain pesticides or pesticide uses defined in subdivisions (34)

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and (35) of this section.

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     (28)(29) "Person" means any individual, partnership, association, fiduciary, corporation,

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governmental entity, or any organized group of persons whether incorporated or not.

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     (29)(30) "Pest" means:

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     (i) Any insect, rodent, nematode, fungus, or weed; and

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     (ii) Any other form of terrestrial or aquatic plant or animal life or virus, bacteria, or other

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micro-organism (except viruses, bacteria, or other micro-organisms on or in living humans or other

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living animals) which the director declares to be a pest under § 23-25-9(a)(1).

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     (30)(31) "Pesticide" means:

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     (i) Any substance or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying, repelling,

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or mitigating any pest; and

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     (ii) Any substance or mixture of substances intended for use as a plant regulator, defoliant,

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or desiccant.

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     (31)(32) "Pesticide dealer" means any person who distributes within the state any pesticide

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product classified for restricted use by EPA or limited use by the director.

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     (32)(33)(i) "Private applicator" means any person who uses or supervises the use of any

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pesticide for purposes of producing any agricultural commodity on land owned or rented by him or

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her or his or her employer or (if applied without compensation other than trading of personal

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services between producers of agricultural commodities) on land of another person.

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     (ii) "Certified private applicator" means any private applicator who is certified under § 23-

 

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25-14 as authorized to purchase, acquire, apply, or supervise the application of any pesticide

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classified for restricted use by EPA or limited use by the director.

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     (iii) "Commercial applicator" means any person (whether or not that person is a private

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applicator with respect to some uses), including employees of any federal, state, county or

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municipal agency, department, office, division, section, bureau, board, or commission, who applies

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or supervises the application of any pesticide for any purpose or on any property other than as

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provided by the definition of "private applicator".

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     (iv) "Certified commercial applicator" means any commercial applicator who is certified

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under § 23-25-13 as authorized to purchase, acquire, apply, or supervise the application of a

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pesticide classified for restricted use by EPA or limited use by the director.

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     (v) "Licensed commercial applicator" means any commercial applicator who is licensed

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under § 23-25-12 as authorized to use or supervise the use of any pesticide not classified for

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restricted use by EPA or limited use by the director on land not owned or rented by him or her.

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     (33)(34) "Protect health and the environment" means protection against any unreasonable

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adverse effects on the environment.

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     (34)(35) "Registrant" means a person who has registered any pesticide pursuant to the

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provisions of this chapter.

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     (35)(36) "Restricted use pesticide" means a pesticide or pesticide use that is classified for

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restricted use by the administrator of EPA, or under § 23-25-6(h).

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     (36)(37) "State limited use pesticide" means any pesticide or pesticide use which, when

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used as directed or in accordance with a widespread and commonly recognized practice, the director

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determines, subsequent to a hearing, requires additional restrictions to prevent unreasonable

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adverse effects on the environment including humans, land, beneficial insects, animals, crops, and

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wildlife, other than pests.

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     (37)(38) "Under the direct supervision" means that on-site supervision of any pesticide

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application by an appropriately certified or licensed applicator who is responsible for the

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application and is capable of dealing with emergency situations which might occur.

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     (38)(39) "Unreasonable adverse effects on the environment" means any unreasonable risk

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to humans or the environment, taking into account the economic, social, and environmental costs

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and benefits of the use of any pesticide.

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     (39)(40) "Weed" means any plant which grows where not wanted.

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     (40)(41) "Wildlife" means all living things that are neither human nor, as defined in this

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chapter, pests, including but not limited to mammals, birds, and aquatic life.

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     SECTION 2. Chapter 23-25 of the General Laws entitled "Pesticide Control" is hereby

 

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amended by adding thereto the following section:

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     23-25-40. Neonicotinoids restricted.

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     (a) All pesticides registered in the state that contain one or more neonicotinoids and are

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labelled as approved for outdoor use are hereby immediately classified as state limited use

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pesticide. Such pesticides shall not be:

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     (1) Sold or distributed to any person other than a certified applicator;

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     (2) Used or applied by any person other than a certified applicator or any person working

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under the direct supervision of a certified applicator;

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     (3) Applied, except in the course of academic research, to any linden or basswood tree; or

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     (4) Applied, except in the course of academic research, to any plant when such plant bears

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blossoms.

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     (b) This section does not apply to:

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     (1) Pet or veterinary care products used for preventing, destroying, repelling, or mitigating

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fleas, mites, ticks, heartworms, or other insects or organisms when applied to or administered to

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companion animals, livestock, or captive wild animals, regardless of whether the application or

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administration occurs indoors or outdoors;

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     (2) Personal care products used for preventing, destroying, repelling, or mitigating lice or

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bedbugs;

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     (3) Indoor pest control products used for preventing, destroying, repelling, or mitigating

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insects indoors and registered in this state only for indoor use;

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     (4) Products used for controlling wood-destroying pests in and around homes and other

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human-made structures, in accordance with the label; or

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     (5) An article or substance treated with, or containing, a neonicotinoid to protect the article

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or substance itself (for example, seeds treated with a neonicotinoid to protect the seeds or wood

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products treated to protect the wood against insect infestation), if the neonicotinoid is registered for

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such use.

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     (c) Nothing in this section shall prohibit the director from further restricting or regulating

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neonicotinoids pursuant to § 23-25-9.

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     SECTION 3. This act shall take effect on January 1, 2024.

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LC004697

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO HEALTH AND SAFETY -- PESTICIDE CONTROL

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     This act would restrict the use of neonicotinoids which are a class of insecticides.

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     This act would take effect on January 1, 2024.

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LC004697

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