AN
ACT Relating to the duties of the commission on pesticide registration; and
amending RCW 15.92.090, 15.92.095, and 15.92.100.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE
LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec.
1. RCW
15.92.090 and 1995 c 390 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
(1)
A commission on pesticide registration is established. The commission shall be
composed of twelve voting members appointed by the governor as follows:
(a)
Eight members from the following segments of the state's agricultural industry
as nominated by a state-wide private agricultural association or agricultural
commodity commission formed under Title 15 RCW: (i) The tree fruit industry;
(ii) hop growers; (iii) potato growers; (iv) wheat growers; (v) vegetable and
seed growers; (vi) berry growers; (vii) wine grape growers; and (viii) the
nursery and landscape industry. Although members are appointed from various
segments of the agriculture industry, they are appointed to represent and
advance the interests of the industry as a whole.
(b)
One member from each of the following: (i) Forest protection industry; (ii)
food processors; (iii) agricultural chemical industry; and (iv) professional
pesticide applicators. One member shall be appointed for each such segment of
the industry and shall be nominated by a state-wide, private association of
that segment of the industry. The representative of the agricultural chemical
industry shall be involved in the manufacture of agricultural crop protection
products.
The
following shall be ex officio, nonvoting members of the commission: The
coordinator of the interregional project number four at Washington State
University; the director of the department of ecology or the director's
designee; the director of the department of agriculture or the director's
designee; the director of the department of labor and industries or the
director's designee; and the secretary of the department of health or the
secretary's designee.
(2)
Each voting member of the commission shall serve a term of three years.
However, the first appointments in the first year shall be made by the governor
for one, two, and three-year terms so that, in subsequent years, approximately
one-third of the voting members shall be appointed each year. The governor
shall assign the initial one, two, and three-year terms to members by lot. A
vacancy shall be filled by appointment for the unexpired term in the same
manner provided for an appointment to the full term. No member of the
commission may be removed by the governor during his or her term of office
unless for cause of incapacity, incompetence, neglect of duty, or malfeasance
in office. Each member of the commission shall receive travel expenses in
accordance with RCW 43.03.050 and 43.03.060 for attending meetings of the
commission and for performing special duties, in the way of official commission
business, specifically assigned to the person by the commission. The voting
members of the commission serve without compensation from the state other than
such travel expenses.
(3)
Nominations for the initial appointments to the commission under subsection (1)
of this section shall be submitted by September 1, 1995. The governor shall
make initial appointments to the commission by October 15, 1995.
(4)
The commission shall elect a chair from among its voting members each calendar
year. After its original organizational meeting, the commission shall meet at
the call of the chair. A majority of the voting members of the commission
constitutes a quorum and an official action of the commission may be taken by a
majority vote of the ((voting members)) quorum.
Sec.
2. RCW
15.92.095 and 1995 c 390 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
(1)
((The following apply)) This subsection applies to the use of ((state
moneys appropriated to Washington State University specifically and expressly
for studies or activities regarding the registration of pesticides)) state
appropriations made to or legislatively intended for the commission on
pesticide registration and to any other moneys appropriated by the state and
received by the commission on pesticide registration:
(a)
The moneys may not be expended without the express approval of the commission
on pesticide registration;
(b)
The moneys may be used for: (i) Evaluations, studies, or investigations
approved by the commission on pesticide registration regarding the registration
or reregistration of pesticides for minor crops or minor uses or regarding the
availability of pesticides for emergency uses. These evaluations, studies, or
investigations may be conducted by the food and environmental quality
laboratory or may be secured by the commission from other qualified
laboratories, researchers, or contractors by contract, which contracts may
include, but are not limited to, those purchasing the use of proprietary
information; (ii) evaluations, studies, or investigations approved by the
commission regarding research, implementation, and demonstration of any aspect
of integrated pest management and pesticide resistance management programs;
(iii) the tracking system described in RCW 15.92.060; and (((iii))) (iv)
the support of the commission on pesticide registration and its activities; and
(c)
Not less than twenty-five percent of such moneys shall be dedicated to studies
or investigations concerning the registration or use of pesticides for crops
that are not among the top twenty agricultural commodities in production value
produced in the state, as determined annually by the Washington agricultural
statistics service.
(2)
The commission on pesticide registration shall establish priorities to guide it
in approving the use of moneys for evaluations, studies, and investigations
under this section. Each biennium, the commission shall prepare a contingency
plan for providing funding for laboratory studies or investigations that are
necessary to pesticide registrations or related processes that will address
emergency conditions for agricultural crops that are not generally predicted at
the beginning of the biennium.
Sec.
3. RCW
15.92.100 and 1995 c 390 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:
The
commission on pesticide registration shall:
(1)
Provide guidance to the food and environmental quality laboratory established
in RCW 15.92.050 regarding the laboratory's studies, investigations, and
evaluations concerning the registration of pesticides for use in this state for
minor crops and minor uses and concerning the availability of pesticides for
emergency uses;
(2)
Encourage agricultural organizations to assist in providing funding, in-kind
services, or materials for laboratory studies and investigations concerning the
registration of pesticides and research, implementation, and demonstration
of any aspect of integrated pest management and pesticide resistance management
programs for minor crops and minor uses that would benefit the
organizations;
(3)
Provide guidance to the laboratory regarding a program for: Tracking the
availability of effective pesticides for minor crops, minor uses, and emergency
uses; providing this information to organizations of agricultural producers;
and maintaining close contact between the laboratory, the department of
agriculture, and organizations of agricultural producers regarding the need for
research to support the registration of pesticides for minor crops and minor
uses and the availability of pesticides for emergency uses;
(4)
Ensure that the activities of the commission and the laboratory are coordinated
with the activities of other laboratories in the Pacific Northwest, the United
States department of agriculture, and the United States environmental
protection agency to maximize the effectiveness of regional efforts to assist
in the registration of pesticides for minor crops and minor uses and in
providing for the availability of pesticides for emergency uses for the region
and the state; and
(5)
Ensure that prior to approving any residue study that there is written
confirmation of registrant support and willingness or ability to add the given
minor crop to its label including any restrictions or guidelines the registrant
intends to impose.
