Substitute House Bill No. 5530
          Substitute House Bill No. 5530

              PUBLIC ACT NO. 98-171


AN ACT CONCERNING  APPLICATION  OF  PESTICIDES  TO
CERTAIN TOBACCO CROPLAND.


    Be it enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of
Representatives in General Assembly convened:
    Section 1. Subsection (e) of section 22a-54 of
the general statutes,  as  amended by section 6 of
public act 97-289,  is  repealed and the following
is substituted in lieu thereof:
    (e) The following  provisions shall govern the
certification of aircraft applicators:
    (1) No person  shall  apply, offer to apply or
cause to be applied any pesticide or fertilizer by
aircraft without a certificate or permit issued in
accordance with the provisions of this subsection.
    (2) Upon application  of  any person qualified
to fly an  aircraft,  the commissioner may issue a
certificate for the  application  of pesticides or
fertilizers  by  aircraft.  Application  for  said
certificate shall be  on  forms  provided  by  the
commissioner and shall  be  accompanied  by  a fee
established  by the  commissioner  by  regulations
adopted  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of
chapter 54 provided the fee shall be not less than
twenty-five dollars.
    (3) The commissioner may issue a permit to the
owner of any  crop or land, or to a representative
designated  by  such  owner,  for  application  of
pesticides or fertilizers  by a certified aircraft
applicator. Application for  said  permit shall be
on forms provided by the commissioner and shall be
accompanied   by  a   fee   established   by   the
commissioner by regulations  adopted in accordance
with the provisions of chapter 54 provided the fee
shall  be  not   less   than   ten   dollars.  The
commissioner may waive  the  application  form and
fee requirements imposed  pursuant  to regulations
adopted  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of
chapter 54 in  circumstances  where application of
broad spectrum chemical pesticides from the air is
necessary to control  specific  vectors  of  human
disease which pose  an  imminent  threat to public
health. The commissioner may require inspection of
the crop or  area  and  its immediate environs and
approval as follows:
    (A)  For  agricultural  crops,  nurseries  and
orchards,  by  the  director  of  the  Connecticut
Agricultural Experiment Station;
    (B) For rodent  control, woodland spraying and
mosquito control spraying, by the commissioner;
    (C) For control  of  vectors of human disease,
by the Commissioner of Public Health.
    (4) The commissioner  shall designate the kind
and amount of  pesticides  permitted  for  use  by
aircraft.  Permits  for   aircraft   spraying   in
congested areas shall  be  issued  only  with  the
approval  of  the   director   of  health  of  the
municipality  in which  the  operation  is  to  be
conducted  except  in   circumstances   where  the
commissioner determines that  the  application  of
broad spectrum chemical pesticides from the air is
necessary to control  specific  vectors  of  human
disease which pose  an  imminent  threat to public
health.
    (5) The commissioner,  with  the advice of the
Commissioner  of Transportation,  may  adopt  such
regulations  as  he   deems   necessary   for  the
protection of public  health,  aquatic  and animal
life and public and private property, governing:
    (A) The type of aircraft to be used;
    (B) The hours  during which aircraft may be so
used;
    (C)  The wind  and  weather  conditions  under
which  aircraft  spraying   or   dusting   may  be
performed;
    (D)  The  minimum   area   on  which  aircraft
spraying or dusting may be done; and
    (E)  The  amount   of   public  liability  and
property damage insurance  to  be  carried  by the
aircraft applicator.
    (6)  NO  PERSON   MAY   APPLY   PESTICIDES  OR
FUNGICIDES BY AIRCRAFT  OR BY MISTING-TYPE DEVICES
TO SHADE TOBACCO  CROPS  WITHIN THREE HUNDRED FEET
OF AN INHABITED  RESIDENTIAL  BUILDING FOR WHICH A
CERTIFICATE  OF  OCCUPANCY  WAS  ISSUED  PRIOR  TO
JANUARY 1, 1997, WITHOUT THE WRITTEN PERMISSION OF
THE  OWNER  OF   SUCH   BUILDING,   EXCEPT   SPRAY
APPLICATIONS  MAY  BE   ADMINISTERED   WITHIN  THE
CONFINES OF THE  NETTING.  THIS  SUBDIVISION SHALL
NOT  APPLY TO  AN  APPLICATION  OF  PESTICIDES  OR
FUNGICIDES  TO  LAND   WHICH  WAS  POLED  FOR  THE
CULTIVATION OF SHADE  TOBACCO  BETWEEN  JANUARY 1,
1994, AND JANUARY 1, 1997.
    Sec. 2. This  act  shall  take effect from its
passage.

Approved June 4, 1998