West Virginia Code 19-16A-4 – Powers and duties of the commissioner

The commissioner of agriculture has the power and duty to carry out the provisions of this article and is authorized to:

Terms Used In West Virginia Code 19-16A-4

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
Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
Pest: means any insect, rodent, nematode, fungus, weed or any other form of terrestrial or aquatic plant or animal life or virus, bacteria or other microorganism (except viruses, bacteria or other microorganisms on or in living man or other living animals) which is declared to be a pest by the commissioner. 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
Private applicator: means a certified applicator who uses or supervises the use of any pesticide which is classified for restricted use for purposes of producing any agricultural commodity on property owned or rented by him or her or his or her employer or if applied without compensation other than trading of personal services between producers of agricultural commodities on property of another person. See West Virginia Code 19-16A-3
Registered technician: means an individual who renders services similar to those of a certified commercial applicator, but who has not completed all the training or time in service requirements to be eligible for examination as a commercial applicator and is limited to application of general use pesticides. See West Virginia Code 19-16A-3
State: when applied to a part of the United States and not restricted by the context, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories, and the words "United States" also include the said district and territories. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10

(a) Delegate to employees of the Department of Agriculture the authority vested in the commissioner by virtue of the provisions of this article;

(b) Cooperate, receive grants in aid and enter into agreements with any other agency of the state, the United States Department of Agriculture, United States environmental protection agency or any other federal agency or any other state or agency thereof for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this article;

(d) Require that pesticides used in this state are adequately tested and are safe for use under local conditions;

(e) Require that individuals who sell, store, dispose or apply pesticides are adequately trained and observe appropriate safety practices;

(f) Promulgate rules pursuant to chapter twenty-nine-a of this code, including, but not limited to, the following:

(1) Licensing of businesses that sell, store, recommend for use, mix or apply pesticides;

(2) Registration of pesticides for manufacture, distribution, sale, storage or use in this state;

(3) Requiring reporting and recordkeeping related to licensing and registration;

(4) Establishing training, testing and standards for certification of commercial application, public application, registered technician and private applicator;

(5) Revoking, suspending or denying licenses, registration and certification or certificate or permits;

(6) Creating advisory committees made up of both pesticide industry representatives and consumers as considered necessary to implement this article;

(7) Establishing a fee structure for licenses, registration and certificate to defray the costs of implementing this article;

(8) Classifying or subclassifying certificate or certificates to be issued under this article. The classification may include, but not be limited to, agricultural, forest, ornamental, aquatic, right-of-way, industrial, institutional, structural or health-related pest control;

(9) Restricting or prohibiting the sale or use and disposal of any pesticide, pesticide container or residue which is extremely hazardous;

(10) Coordinating and supporting pesticide monitoring programs;

(11) Developing a program for registration of persons with health sensitivity to pesticide drift;

(12) Establishing guidelines and requirements, as deemed necessary, for licenses, certificate holders and permittees for the identification of pests and their methods of inspection of property to determine the presence of pests;

(13) Establishing procedures for reporting spills, accidents or incidents; and

(14) Such other rules necessary or convenient to carry out the purpose of this article;

(g) Design and conduct an appropriate educational program on the use of pesticides and the necessity for care when applying the same; and

(h) Only after consultation with the state Board of Education, division of human services for child welfare, representatives from the environmental community, and representatives of school and daycare employees, by July 1, 1995, promulgate emergency rules, pursuant to article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code, establishing an integrated pest management program. The emergency and legislative rules for the program established in this subsection shall include, but are not limited to, the following:

(1) The use of least hazardous materials;

(2) That pesticides shall only be applied when monitoring indicates that pest infestations are present;

(3) That students and school and daycare employees, except school, Board of Education or daycare employees that are certified applicators, shall not be present during application and provide for appropriate reentry times, except that pesticides may be applied to a localized area of infestation when students or school and daycare employees are present if the infestation causes an imminent threat of bodily harm;

(4) A definition of pesticides; and

(5) A system for prior notification to parents and school and daycare employees.

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