AN ACT CONCERNING NOTICE OF PESTICIDE APPLICATIONS AT PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND AUTHORIZING THE USE OF CERTAIN MICROBIALS.

AN ACT CONCERNING NOTICE OF PESTICIDE APPLICATIONS AT PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND AUTHORIZING THE USE OF CERTAIN MICROBIALS.

This bill makes several changes to the law's requirements for pesticide, including lawn care pesticide, applications on (1) municipal playgrounds; (2) school grounds; and (3) state agency, department, or institution properties. Among other things, it:

1. absent a human health emergency, (a) requires that only certified applicators apply pesticide on municipal playgrounds and (b) bans applying lawn care pesticides on these grounds (§ 4);

2. requires electronic public notice of municipal playground applications (§ 4);

3. replaces postal notice of applications of pesticide on school grounds with electronic notice to the parents and guardians who register for it (§ 1);

4. establishes additional notice requirements for a school that applies pesticide including posting certain information on or through a website, social media, or alert system and in a handbook or manual (§§ 1 & 2);

5. exempts certain products from the existing ban on nonemergency application of lawn care pesticide on the grounds of public or private preschools or schools with students in grade eight or lower (§ 3); and

6. requires the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) commissioner, in consultation with the Department of Public Health (DPH) commissioner, to adopt regulations on pesticide application record retention by state agencies, departments, and institutions (§ 5).

The bill also makes technical and conforming changes, including (1) adding the target pest to the information schools using integrated pest management (IPM) must provide when notifying parents about pesticide applications, making it consistent with the information schools without IPM must provide (see BACKGROUND) and (2) removing an unnecessary reference to day care center statutes.

*Senate Amendment “A” replaces the original bill (File 543) which primarily (1) required posting the additional notice of school ground pesticide applications online, on a school's front entrance, and on certain bulletin boards and (2) exempted certain products from the definition of lawn care pesticide.

EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2015, except the provisions exempting certain products from the ban on applying lawn care pesticide on school grounds and requiring regulations on state pesticide application records are effective upon passage.

The bill's restrictions on pesticide and lawn care pesticide application on municipal playgrounds apply to outdoor areas designated, dedicated, and customarily used for playing by children. This includes areas with a swing set, slide, climbing structure, playset, or device or object that children play on. The bill specifies that it does not apply to (1) fields or open space used primarily for sporting activities and (2) playgrounds on school premises.

The restrictions apply to areas owned or controlled by a town, city, borough, consolidated town and city, or consolidated town and borough.

Under the bill, only DEEP-certified pesticide applicators may apply pesticide on municipal playgrounds, except in an emergency (see BACKGROUND). Anyone may apply pesticide in an emergency to eliminate an immediate human health threat, such as from mosquitoes, ticks, or stinging insects, if:

1. the executive head of the municipal department responsible for the playground's maintenance or his or her designee (the “controlling authority”) finds the application is necessary,

2. he or she decides it is impractical to obtain a certified applicator, and

3. the application does not involve a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)- or DEEP-restricted use pesticide.

For purposes of applying pesticide on municipal playgrounds, a “pesticide” is a fungicide used on plants, an insecticide, an herbicide, or a rodenticide, but not a sanitizer, disinfectant, antimicrobial agent, or pesticide bait.

The bill bans applying lawn care pesticide on municipal playgrounds, absent a human health emergency.

For an emergency lawn care pesticide application to occur under the bill, there must be an immediate threat, such as from mosquitoes, ticks, or stinging insects. The controlling authority must determine the application is necessary, and the application cannot involve an EPA- or DEEP-restricted use pesticide.

For these applications, a “lawn care pesticide” is an EPA-registered pesticide that is labeled according to federal law for use in lawns, gardens, and ornamental sites or areas. It does not include:

1. EPA-registered microbial or biochemical pesticides,

2. horticultural soaps or oils registered with EPA and without any synthetic pesticide or synergist (enhancer of pesticide properties), and

3. certain pesticides classified by EPA as exempt material (see BACKGROUND).

Under the bill, a “microbial pesticide” is a pesticide with a microorganism as the active ingredient, and a “biochemical pesticide” is a naturally occurring substance that controls pests by nontoxic means.

The bill requires public notice of pesticide or lawn care pesticide applications on municipal playgrounds. For a pesticide application, advance public notice must be given, if the emergency situation permits it, at least 24 hours before the application. But if the controlling authority determines an emergency application of pesticide or lawn care pesticide is needed, notice must be given as soon as practicable.

The bill requires the notice to be made by the controlling authority within existing budgetary resources. The notice must be posted on the municipality's website and include the:

Under the bill, the controlling authority must keep a copy of each notice for five years from the pesticide application date. All copies must be available to the public.

Current law prohibits the use of lawn care pesticide on the grounds of preschools and schools with students in grade eight or lower, absent a human health emergency. For purposes of school ground applications, a “lawn care pesticide” is a pesticide (1) registered by EPA and (2) labeled according to federal law for use in lawns, gardens, and ornamental sites or areas.

The bill exempts from this definition the same three types of products as are exempt for applications on municipal playgrounds (i.e., microbial or biochemical pesticides, horticultural soaps or oils, and certain EPA-exempt materials, see above), thus allowing their application on the grounds of these schools.

By law, schools, other than regional agricultural science and technology education centers, must provide certain information of pesticide applications directly to the parents and guardians who register to receive it. For schools without IPM plans, this notice must currently be sent by mail. Under the bill, it must be sent electronically. The information in the notice includes such things as the pesticide's active ingredient, the date and location of application, and the person who may be contacted for more information. Existing law, unchanged by the bill, requires schools with IPM plans to send the information by any means practicable.

The bill requires each local or regional board of education to indicate on its website's homepage how parents may register for prior notice of pesticide applications.

Under the bill, for schools with or without IPM plans, beginning October 1, 2015, each local or regional board of education must also, at least 24 hours before applying pesticide in any school building or on school grounds, post the direct notice required under existing law (see above) either on or through the:

1. homepage of the website of the school where the application will occur or, if there is no website, the homepage of the website of the board of education, and

2. school's or board of education's primary social media account.

Under the bill, “social media” is an electronic medium where users create and view user-generated content, such as uploaded or downloaded videos or photographs, blogs, video blogs, podcasts, or instant messages.

For schools without IPM plans, the online and social media notice requirements must be made at the same time as the electronic notification to registered parents and guardians when there are emergency applications to address human health threats.

The bill requires a board of education, by March 15 each year, to send through its or its schools' electronic mail notification or alert systems or services (1) the notice required to be sent directly to parents or guardians before a pesticide application (see above) for all applications made since January 1 of the same year and (2) a list of the notices for applications made between March 15 and December 31 of the previous year. A board of education must also include the electronic mail notification in the applicable parent handbook or manual, as long as reprinting the handbook or manual is unnecessary.

The bill specifies a school or board of education is not required to develop or use a website, social media account, or electronic mail notification or alert system that is not already in use or existence as of October 1, 2015.

By law, the DEEP commissioner, in consultation with the DPH commissioner, must adopt regulations on pesticide application by state agencies, departments, or institutions. Current law requires the regulations to include IPM methods to reduce pesticide use. The bill specifies that this requirement applies if the DEEP commissioner provides pertinent model pest control management plans.

The bill also requires the DEEP commissioner to adopt regulations on pesticide application record retention by each agency, department, or institution that applies pesticide or implements an IPM program. The records must at least include the:

1. reason for pesticide use,

2. location of pesticide application,

3. application frequency at each location,

4. EPA toxicity category and carcinogenic classification, and

5. application cost.

Under the Connecticut Pesticide Control Act (CGS § 22a-46 et seq.), anyone who uses or supervises the use of a restricted use pesticide in the state must have a private or commercial certificate or permit unless the use is directly supervised by a certified applicator.

By law, IPM is the use of all available pest control techniques, including judicious pesticide use, when needed, to maintain a pest population at or below an acceptable level, while decreasing pesticide use (CGS §§ 10-231a and 22a-47).

Certain pesticides and pesticide classes are exempt from regulation under the federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act. They include:

1. pheromones and similar compounds used in pheromone traps,

2. preservatives for biological specimens (e.g., embalming fluids),

3. products consisting of food to attract pests,

4. natural cedar,

5. minimum-risk pesticides (i.e., those containing certain active ingredients), and

6. treated articles or substances (40 CFR 152.25).

sHB 6897, File 184, favorably reported by the Children's Committee, contains a similar provision exempting certain products from the definition of lawn care pesticide.

sSB 1063, Files 559 and 765, favorably reported by the Environment and Planning and Development committees contain similar provisions exempting certain products from the definition of lawn care pesticide and restricting pesticide use on municipal playgrounds.

sHB 6035, File 518, favorably reported by the Environment Committee also contains a similar provision exempting certain products from the definition of lawn care pesticide.