The petitioner is requesting that the Board of Agriculture and Consumer Services amend the regulation to require the revocation of the business license of any person who applies any pesticide or herbicide on property without written permission from the property owner and without notification to the property owner that includes the material safety data sheet. The petitioner is also requesting that the Board of Agriculture and Consumer Services amend the regulation to include provisions regarding the restoration of property and environmental cleanup.

The Board of Agriculture and Consumer Services denied the petitioner’s request for rulemaking for the following reasons:

1.         The revocation of the license of anyone who fails to obtain written permission from the property owner in advance of a pesticide application or fails to provide the property owner with the Material Data Safety Sheet for the pesticide product(s) being applied would constitute an exceedingly severe penalty for the violation of the proposed requirements which the agency believes to be excessively burdensome and impractical to implement or comply.

2.         Enforcing a written permission requirement would be extremely onerous on the agency and would divert existing staff and limited resources away from essential inspections and investigations.

3.         The Pesticide Control Act is not the proper mechanism to mandate the environmental remediation or restitution sought in the petition, as other legal means exist to pursue such remedies.