West Virginia Code 19-16A-19 – Pesticide accidents; incidents or loss
(a) Any person claiming damages for a pesticide application shall file with the commissioner, on a form provided by the commissioner, a written statement claiming that he or she has been damaged. This report must be filed within sixty days after the date that damages occurred. If a growing crop is alleged to have been damaged, the report must be filed prior to the time that twenty-five percent of the crop has been harvested. The statement shall contain, but not be limited to, the name of the person allegedly responsible for the application of said pesticide, the name of the owner or lessee of the land on which the crop is grown and for which damage is alleged to have occurred and the date on which the alleged damage occurred. The commissioner shall, upon receipt of the statement, notify the licensee and the owner or lessee of the land or other person who may be charged with the responsibility of the damages claimed and furnish copies of statements as requested. The commissioner shall inspect damages whenever possible and when he or she determines that the complaint has sufficient merit he or she shall make the information available to the person claiming damage and to the person who is alleged to have caused the damage.
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 19-16A-19
- Commissioner: means the commissioner of agriculture of the State of West Virginia and his or her duly authorized representatives. See West Virginia Code 19-16A-3
- Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Land: means all land and water areas, including airspace and all plants, animals, structures, buildings, contrivances and machinery, appurtenant thereto or situated thereon, fixed or mobile, including any used for transportation. See West Virginia Code 19-16A-3
- Permit: means a written certificate, issued by the commissioner authorizing the use of certain restricted use pesticides or state restricted use pesticides. See West Virginia Code 19-16A-3
- Person: means any individual, partnership, association, fiduciary, corporation or any organized group of persons whether incorporated or not. See West Virginia Code 19-16A-3
- Pesticide: means any substance or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying, repelling or mitigating any undesirable insects, rodents, nematodes, fungi, weeds and other forms of plant or animal life or viruses, except viruses on or in living man or other animals or which the commissioner may declare to be a pest and any substance or mixture of substances intended for use as a plant regulator, defoliant, desiccant or herbicide. See West Virginia Code 19-16A-3
(b) The filing of the report or the failure to file a report need not be alleged in any complaint which is filed in a court of law, and the failure to file the report may not be considered a bar to the maintenance of any criminal or civil action.
(c) The failure to file a report is not a violation of the provisions of this article. However, if the person failing to file a report is the only one injured from such use or application of a pesticide by others, the commissioner may, when in the public interest, refuse to hold a hearing for the denial, suspension or revocation of a license or permit issued under this article until a report is filed.
(d) Where damage is alleged to have occurred, the claimant shall permit the commissioner, the licensee and his or her representative, such as bondsman or insurer, to observe within reasonable hours the lands or nontarget organism alleged to have been damaged in order that the damage may be examined. Failure of the claimant to permit the observation and examination of the damaged lands automatically bars the claim against the licensee.