AN
ACT Relating to structural pest inspections; amending RCW 15.58.030, 15.58.150,
15.58.233, 15.58.040, and 15.58.210; adding new sections to chapter 15.58 RCW;
prescribing penalties; and providing an effective date.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE
LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec.
1. RCW
15.58.030 and 1992 c 170 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
As
used in this chapter the words and phrases defined in this section shall have
the meanings indicated unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
(1)
"Active ingredient" means any ingredient which will prevent, destroy,
repel, control, or mitigate pests, or which will act as a plant regulator,
defoliant, desiccant, or spray adjuvant.
(2)
"Antidote" means the most practical immediate treatment in case of
poisoning and includes first aid treatment.
(3)
"Arthropod" means any invertebrate animal that belongs to the phylum
arthropoda, which in addition to insects, includes allied classes whose members
are wingless and usually have more than six legs; for example, spiders, mites,
ticks, centipedes, and isopod crustaceans.
(4)
"Defoliant" means any substance or mixture of substances intended to
cause the leaves or foliage to drop from a plant with or without causing abscission.
(5)
"Department" means the Washington state department of agriculture.
(6)
"Desiccant" means any substance or mixture of substances intended to
artificially accelerate the drying of plant tissues.
(7)
"Device" means any instrument or contrivance intended to trap,
destroy, control, repel, or mitigate pests, or to destroy, control, repel or
mitigate fungi, nematodes, or such other pests, as may be designated by the
director, but not including equipment used for the application of pesticides when
sold separately from the pesticides.
(8)
"Director" means the director of the department or a duly authorized
representative.
(9)
"Distribute" means to offer for sale, hold for sale, sell, barter, or
supply pesticides in this state.
(10)
"EPA" means the United States environmental protection agency.
(11)
"EPA restricted use pesticide" means any pesticide with restricted
uses as classified for restricted use by the administrator, EPA.
(12)
"FIFRA" means the federal insecticide, fungicide, and rodenticide act
as amended (61 Stat. 163, 7 U.S.C. Sec. 136 et seq.).
(13)
"Fungi" means all nonchlorophyll‑bearing thallophytes (all
nonchlorophyll‑bearing plants of a lower order than mosses and
liverworts); for example, rusts, smuts, mildews, molds, yeasts, and bacteria,
except those on or in living persons or other animals.
(14)
"Fungicide" means any substance or mixture of substances intended to
prevent, destroy, repel, or mitigate any fungi.
(15)
"Herbicide" means any substance or mixture of substances intended to
prevent, destroy, repel, or mitigate any weed.
(16)
"Inert ingredient" means an ingredient which is not an active
ingredient.
(17)
"Ingredient statement" means a statement of the name and percentage
of each active ingredient together with the total percentage of the inert
ingredients in the pesticide, and when the pesticide contains arsenic in any
form, the ingredient statement shall also include percentages of total and
water soluble arsenic, each calculated as elemental arsenic. In the case of a
spray adjuvant the ingredient statement need contain only the names of the
principal functioning agents and the total percentage of the constituents
ineffective as spray adjuvants. If more than three functioning agents are
present, only the three principal ones need by named.
(18)
"Insect" means any of the numerous small invertebrate animals whose
bodies are more or less obviously segmented, and which for the most part belong
to the class insecta, comprising six‑legged, usually winged forms, for
example, beetles, bugs, bees, flies, and to other allied classes of arthropods
whose members are wingless and usually have more than six legs, for example,
spiders, mites, ticks, centipedes, and isopod crustaceans.
(19)
"Insecticide" means any substance or mixture of substances intended
to prevent, destroy, repel, or mitigate any insects which may be present in any
environment whatsoever.
(20)
"Inspection control number" means a number obtained from the
department that is recorded on wood destroying organism inspection reports
issued by a structural pest inspector in conjunction with the transfer,
exchange, or refinancing of any structure.
(21)
"Label" means the written, printed, or graphic matter on, or attached
to, the pesticide, device, or immediate container, and the outside container or
wrapper of the retail package.
(((21)))
(22) "Labeling" means all labels and other written, printed,
or graphic matter:
(a)
Upon the pesticide, device, or any of its containers or wrappers;
(b)
Accompanying the pesticide, or referring to it in any other media used to
disseminate information to the public; and
(c)
To which reference is made on the label or in literature accompanying or
referring to the pesticide or device except when accurate nonmisleading
reference is made to current official publications of the department, United
States departments of agriculture; interior; education; health and human
services; state agricultural colleges; and other similar federal or state
institutions or agencies authorized by law to conduct research in the field of
pesticides.
(((22)))
(23) "Land" means all land and water areas, including airspace
and all plants, animals, structures, buildings, devices and contrivances,
appurtenant thereto or situated thereon, fixed or mobile, including any used
for transportation.
(((23)))
(24) "Master license system" means the mechanism established
by chapter 19.02 RCW by which master licenses, endorsed for individual state‑issued
licenses, are issued and renewed using a master application and a master
license expiration date common to each renewable license endorsement.
(((24)))
(25) "Nematocide" means any substance or mixture of substances
intended to prevent, destroy, repel, or mitigate nematodes.
(((25)))
(26) "Nematode" means any invertebrate animal of the phylum
nemathelminthes and class nematoda, that is, unsegmented round worms with
elongated, fusiform, or saclike bodies covered with cuticle, and inhabiting
soil, water, plants or plant parts, may also be called nemas or eelworms.
(((26)))
(27) "Person" means any individual, partnership, association,
corporation, or organized group of persons whether or not incorporated.
(((27)))
(28) "Pest" means, but is not limited to, any insect, rodent,
nematode, snail, slug, weed and any form of plant or animal life or virus,
except virus on or in a living person or other animal, which is normally
considered to be a pest or which the director may declare to be a pest.
(((28)))
(29) "Pest control consultant" means any individual who acts
as a structural pest ((control)) inspector, who sells or offers for sale
at other than a licensed pesticide dealer outlet or location where they are
employed, or who offers or supplies technical advice, supervision, or aid, or
makes recommendations to the user of:
(a)
Highly toxic pesticides, as determined under RCW 15.58.040;
(b)
EPA restricted use pesticides or restricted use pesticides which are restricted
by rule to distribution by licensed pesticide dealers only; or
(c)
Any other pesticide except those pesticides which are labeled and intended for
home and garden use only.
(((29)))
(30) "Pesticide" means, but is not limited to:
(a)
Any substance or mixture of substances intended to prevent, destroy, control,
repel, or mitigate any insect, rodent, snail, slug, fungus, weed, and any other
form of plant or animal life or virus, except virus on or in a living person or
other animal which is normally considered to be a pest or which the director
may declare to be a pest;
(b)
Any substance or mixture of substances intended to be used as a plant
regulator, defoliant or desiccant; and
(c)
Any spray adjuvant.
(((30)))
(31) "Pesticide advisory board" means the pesticide advisory
board as provided for in the Washington pesticide application act.
(((31)))
(32) "Pesticide dealer" means any person who distributes any
of the following pesticides:
(a)
Highly toxic pesticides, as determined under RCW 15.58.040;
(b)
EPA restricted use pesticides or restricted use pesticides which are restricted
by rule to distribution by licensed pesticide dealers only; or
(c)
Any other pesticide except those pesticides which are labeled and intended for
home and garden use only.
(((32)))
(33) "Pesticide dealer manager" means the owner or other
individual supervising pesticide distribution at one outlet holding a pesticide
dealer license.
(((33)))
(34) "Plant regulator" means any substance or mixture of
substances intended through physiological action, to accelerate or retard the rate
of growth or maturation, or to otherwise alter the behavior of ornamental or
crop plants or their produce, but shall not include substances insofar as they
are intended to be used as plant nutrients, trace elements, nutritional
chemicals, plant inoculants, or soil amendments.
(((34)))
(35) "Registrant" means the person registering any pesticide
under the provisions of this chapter.
(((35)))
(36) "Restricted use pesticide" means any pesticide or device
which, when used as directed or in accordance with a widespread and commonly
recognized practice, the director determines, subsequent to a hearing, requires
additional restrictions for that use to prevent unreasonable adverse effects on
the environment including people, lands, beneficial insects, animals, crops,
and wildlife, other than pests.
(((36)))
(37) "Rodenticide" means any substance or mixture of
substances intended to prevent, destroy, repel, or mitigate rodents, or any
other vertebrate animal which the director may declare by rule to be a pest.
(((37)))
(38) "Spray adjuvant" means any wetting agent, spreading
agent, deposit builder, adhesive, emulsifying agent, deflocculating agent,
water modifier, or similar agent with or without toxic properties of its own,
intended to be used with any other pesticide as an aid to the application or to
the effect of the pesticide, and which is in a package or container separate
from that of the pesticide with which it is to be used.
(((38)))
(39) "Special local needs registration" means a registration
issued by the director pursuant to provisions of section 24(c) of FIFRA.
(((39)))
(40) "Structural pest ((control)) inspector" means any
individual who performs the service of inspecting a building for wood destroying
organisms, their damage, or conditions conducive to their infestation.
(((40)))
(41) "Unreasonable adverse effects on the environment" means
any unreasonable risk to people or the environment taking into account the
economic, social, and environmental costs and benefits of the use of any
pesticide, or as otherwise determined by the director.
(((41)))
(42) "Weed" means any plant which grows where not wanted.
(43)
"Wood destroying organism inspection report" means any written
document that reports or comments on the presence or absence of wood destroying
organisms, their damage, and/or conducive conditions leading to the
establishment of such organisms.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 2. A
new section is added to chapter 15.58 RCW to read as follows:
It
is unlawful for any person to issue a wood destroying organism inspection
report, prepared in conjunction with the transfer, exchange, or refinancing of
any structure, without recording a unique inspection control number on the wood
destroying organism inspection report. All wood destroying organism inspection
reports completed by the same inspector, relating to a single transfer,
exchange, or refinance, shall bear the same unique inspection control number.
The responsibility to record the unique inspection control number on the report
under this section lies solely with the person issuing the wood destroying
organism inspection report.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 3. A
new section is added to chapter 15.58 RCW to read as follows:
(1)
The director shall not issue a license to any person who intends to act as a
structural pest inspector until the person has furnished evidence of financial
responsibility.
(2)
Evidence of financial responsibility shall consist of either a surety bond or
an errors and omissions insurance policy or certification thereof, protecting
persons who may suffer legal damages as a result of actions by the structural
pest inspector. The director shall not accept a surety bond or insurance policy
except from authorized insurers in this state.
(3)
Evidence of financial responsibility shall be supplied to the department on a
financial responsibility insurance certificate or surety bond form.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 4. A new
section is added to chapter 15.58 RCW to read as follows:
(1)
The following requirements apply to the amount of surety bond or insurance
required for structural pest inspectors.
(a)
The amount of the surety bond or errors and omissions insurance, as provided
for in section 3 of this act, shall be not less than twenty-five thousand
dollars and fifty thousand dollars respectively. The surety bond or insurance
policy shall be maintained at not less than the required sum at all times
during the licensed period.
(b)
The director shall be notified ten days before any reduction of insurance
coverage at the request of the applicant or cancellation of the surety bond or
insurance by the surety or insurer and by the insured.
(c)
The total and aggregate of the surety and insurer for all claims is limited to
the face of the surety bond or insurance policy. The director may accept a
surety bond or insurance policy in the proper sum that has a deductible clause
in an amount not exceeding five thousand dollars for the total amount of surety
bond or insurance required by this section. If the applicant has not satisfied
the requirement of the deductible amount in any prior legal claim the
deductible clause shall not be accepted by the director unless the applicant furnishes
the director with a surety bond or insurance policy which shall satisfy the
amount of the deductible as to all claims that may arise.
(2)
Insurance policies must be written on an occurrence basis.
(3)
Insurance policies shall have a minimum three-year occurrence clause.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 5. A
new section is added to chapter 15.58 RCW to read as follows:
Whenever a structural pest inspector's surety bond or insurance
policy is reduced below the requirements of section 4 of this act, or whenever
the person has failed to provide evidence of financial responsibility as
required by section 3 of this act by the expiration date of the previous surety
bond or insurance policy, the director shall immediately suspend the person's
structural pest inspector license until the person's surety bond or insurance
policy again meets the requirements of section 4 of this act.
Sec.
6. RCW
15.58.150 and 1991 c 264 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:
(1)
It is unlawful for any person to distribute within the state or deliver for
transportation or transport in intrastate commerce or between points within
this state through any point outside this state any of the following:
(a)
Any pesticide which has not been registered pursuant to the provisions of this
chapter;
(b)
Any pesticide if any of the claims made for it or any of the directions for its
use or other labeling differs from the representations made in connection with
its registration, or if the composition of a pesticide differs from its
composition as represented in connection with its registration: PROVIDED, That
at the discretion of the director, a change in the labeling or formula of a
pesticide may be made within a registration period without requiring
reregistration of the product;
(c)
Any pesticide unless it is in the registrant's or the manufacturer's unbroken
immediate container and there is affixed to such container, and to the outside
container or wrapper of the retail package, if there is one through which the
required information on the immediate container cannot be clearly read, a label
bearing the information required in this chapter and the rules adopted under
this chapter;
(d)
Any pesticide including arsenicals, fluorides, fluosilicates, and/or any other
white powdered pesticides unless they have been distinctly denatured as to
color, taste, odor, or form if so required by rule;
(e)
Any pesticide which is adulterated or misbranded, or any device which is
misbranded;
(f)
Any pesticide in containers, violating rules adopted pursuant to RCW
15.58.040(2)(f) or pesticides found in containers which are unsafe due to
damage.
(2)
It shall be unlawful:
(a)
To sell or deliver any pesticide to any person who is required by law or rules
promulgated under such law to be certified, licensed, or have a permit to use
or purchase the pesticide unless such person or the person's agent, to whom
sale or delivery is made, has a valid certification, license, or permit to use
or purchase the kind and quantity of such pesticide sold or delivered:
PROVIDED, That, subject to conditions established by the director, such permit
may be obtained immediately prior to sale or delivery from any person
designated by the director;
(b)
For any person to detach, alter, deface or destroy, wholly or in part, any
label or labeling provided for in this chapter or rules adopted under this
chapter, or to add any substance to, or take any substance from, a pesticide in
a manner that may defeat the purpose of this chapter or the rules adopted
thereunder;
(c)
For any person to use or cause to be used any pesticide contrary to label
directions or to regulations of the director if those regulations differ from
or further restrict the label directions: PROVIDED, The compliance to the term
"contrary to label directions" is enforced by the director consistent
with the intent of this chapter;
(d)
For any person to use for his or her own advantage or to reveal, other than to
the director or proper officials or employees of the state, or to the courts of
the state in response to a subpoena, or to physicians, or in emergencies to
pharmacists and other qualified persons for use in the preparation of
antidotes, any information relative to formulas of products acquired by
authority of RCW 15.58.060;
(e)
For any person to make false, misleading, or erroneous statements or reports
concerning any pest during or after a pest inspection or to fail to comply with
criteria established by rule for structural pest ((control))
inspections;
(f)
For any person to make false, misleading, or erroneous statements or reports in
connection with any pesticide complaint or investigation;
(g)
For any person to advertise that the person is a licensed structural pest
inspector without having a valid pest control consultant license in the
category of structural pest inspector.
Sec.
7. RCW
15.58.233 and 1997 c 242 s 10 are each amended to read as follows:
(1)
The director may renew any license issued under this chapter subject to the
recertification standards identified in subsection (2) of this section or an
examination requiring new knowledge that may be required to apply pesticides.
(2)
Except as provided in subsection (3) of this section, all individuals licensed
under this chapter shall meet the recertification standards identified in (a)
or (b) of this subsection, every five years, in order to qualify for continuing
licensure.
(a)
((Licensed pesticide applicators)) Individuals licensed under this
chapter may qualify for continued licensure through accumulation of
recertification credits. Individuals licensed under this chapter shall
accumulate a minimum of forty department-approved credits every five years with
no more than fifteen credits allowed per year.
(b)
((Licensed pesticide applicators)) Individuals licensed under this
chapter may qualify for continued licensure through meeting the examination
requirements necessary to become licensed in those areas in which the licensee
operates.
(3)
At the termination of a licensee's five-year recertification period, the
director may waive the recertification requirements if the licensee can
demonstrate that he or she is meeting comparable recertification standards
through another state or jurisdiction or through a federal environmental
protection agency-approved government agency plan.
Sec.
8. RCW
15.58.040 and 1997 c 242 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
(1)
The director shall administer and enforce the provisions of this chapter and
rules adopted under this chapter. All the authority and requirements provided
for in chapter 34.05 RCW (Administrative Procedure Act) and chapter 42.30 RCW
shall apply to this chapter in the adoption of rules including those requiring
due notice and a hearing for the adoption of permanent rules.
(2)
The director is authorized to adopt appropriate rules for carrying out the
purpose and provisions of this chapter, including but not limited to rules
providing for:
(a)
Declaring as a pest any form of plant or animal life or virus which is
injurious to plants, people, animals (domestic or otherwise), land, articles,
or substances;
(b)
Determining that certain pesticides are highly toxic to people. For the
purpose of this chapter, highly toxic pesticide means any pesticide that
conforms to the criteria in 40 C.F.R. Sec. 156.10 for toxicity category I due
to oral inhalation or dermal toxicity. The director shall publish a list of
all pesticides, determined to be highly toxic, by their common or generic name
and their trade or brand name if practical. Such list shall be kept current
and shall, upon request, be made available to any interested party;
(c)
Determining standards for denaturing pesticides by color, taste, odor, or form;
(d)
The collection and examination of samples of pesticides or devices;
(e)
The safe handling, transportation, storage, display, distribution, and disposal
of pesticides and their containers;
(f)
Restricting or prohibiting the use of certain types of containers or packages
for specific pesticides. These restrictions may apply to type of construction,
strength, and/or size to alleviate danger of spillage, breakage, misuse, or any
other hazard to the public. The director shall be guided by federal
regulations concerning pesticide containers;
(g)
Procedures in making of pesticide recommendations;
(h)
Adopting a list of restricted use pesticides for the state or for designated
areas within the state if the director determines that such pesticides may
require rules restricting or prohibiting their distribution or use. The
director may include in the rule the time and conditions of distribution or use
of such restricted use pesticides and may, if it is found necessary to carry
out the purpose and provisions of this chapter, require that any or all
restricted use pesticides shall be purchased, possessed, or used only under
permit of the director and under the director's direct supervision in certain
areas and/or under certain conditions or in certain quantities or
concentrations. The director may require all persons issued such permits to
maintain records as to the use of all the restricted use pesticides;
(i)
Label requirements of all pesticides required to be registered under provisions
of this chapter;
(j)
Regulating the labeling of devices;
(k)
The establishment of criteria governing the conduct of a structural pest ((control))
inspection; and
(l)
Declaring crops, when grown to produce seed specifically for crop reproduction
purposes, to be nonfood and/or nonfeed sites of pesticide application. The
director may include in the rule any restrictions or conditions regarding: (i)
The application of pesticides to the designated crops; and (ii) the disposition
of any portion of the treated crop.
(3)
For the purpose of uniformity and to avoid confusion endangering the public
health and welfare the director may adopt rules in conformity with the primary
pesticide standards, particularly as to labeling, established by the United
States environmental protection agency or any other federal agency.
Sec.
9. RCW
15.58.210 and 1997 c 242 s 6 are each amended to read as follows:
(1)
Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, no individual may perform
services as a pest control consultant without obtaining a license from the
director. The license shall expire annually on a date set by rule by the
director. Except as provided in subsection (3) of this section, no individual
may act as a structural pest ((control)) inspector without first
obtaining from the director a pest control consultant license in the special
category of structural pest ((control)) inspector. Application for a
license shall be on a form prescribed by the director and shall be accompanied
by a fee of forty-five dollars.
(2)
The following are exempt from the licensing requirements of subsection (1) of
this section when acting within the authorities of their existing licenses
issued under chapter 17.21 RCW: Licensed commercial pesticide applicators and
operators; licensed private‑commercial applicators; and licensed
demonstration and research applicators. The following are also exempt from the
licensing requirements of subsection (1) of this section: Employees of
federal, state, county, or municipal agencies when acting in their official
governmental capacities; and pesticide dealer managers and employees working
under the direct supervision of the pesticide dealer manager and only at a
licensed pesticide dealer's outlet.
(3)
The following are exempt from the structural pest ((control)) inspector
licensing requirement: Individuals inspecting for damage caused by wood
destroying organisms if such inspections are solely for the purpose of: (a)
Repairing or making specific recommendations for the repair of such damage, or
(b) assessing a monetary value for the structure inspected. Individuals
performing wood destroying organism inspections that incorporate but are not
limited to the activities described in (a) or (b) of this subsection are not
exempt from the structural pest ((control)) inspector licensing
requirement.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. This
act takes effect July 1, 2000.
