HOUSE BILL REPORT

HB 2521

As Reported by House Committee On:

Agriculture & Ecology

Title:  An act relating to registering pesticides.

Brief Description:  Registering pesticides.

Sponsors:  Representatives Linville, Schoesler, McIntire, Santos, Jackley, Kenney, Miloscia, Chase, Upthegrove, Lovick and Wood.

Brief History:

Committee Activity:

Agriculture & Ecology:  2/1/02, 2/1/02 [DP].

Brief Summary of Bill

$Provides for a two‑year registration period for pesticides and alters the registration fees and late registration fees accordingly.

$Staggers the initial registration periods of pesticides currently registered with the state.

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE & ECOLOGY

Majority Report:  Do pass. Signed by 12 members: Representatives Linville, Chair; Hunt, Vice Chair; Schoesler, Ranking Minority Member; Chandler, Cooper, Delvin, Dunshee, Grant, Holmquist, Kirby, Roach and Sump.

Staff:  Kenneth Hirst (786‑7105).

Background:

The registration and use of pesticides is regulated at the national level by the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act.   In general, a pesticide cannot be sold or distributed within the United States unless it has been registered with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).   The "pesticides" regulated in this manner encompass herbicides, insecticides, and similar chemicals that control pests.  (7 U.S.C. Sec. 136 et seq.)  At the state level, pesticides sold or distributed within the state must be registered annually under the Washington Pesticide Control Act, Chapter 15.58 RCW.  The registration fee is $145 for each pesticide registered.  A registrant may elect to register a pesticide for two years by pre‑paying the fee for both years.  (RCW 15.58.050.) 

In 1999, the Legislature changed from an annual to a two‑year registration program for commercial fertilizers.  (Chapter 383, Laws of 1999.)

Summary of  Bill:

Beginning January 1, 2003, the state's program for registering pesticides is changed from an annual registration program to a two‑year registration program.  However, a portion of the initial registrations (those by registrants whose names begin with the letters O through Z) under this program are for one year and the remaining are for two years to provide staggered registration periods for products currently registered.  The two‑year registration fee is $290.  If a person who has registered one pesticide registers an additional pesticide during the second year of the registration period for the first pesticide, the additional registration is to expire with the first and the fee for that one year of registration is $145.  If a registration is renewed, but not before the registration expires, the late renewal fee is increased to $50 (from $25).

Appropriation:  None.

Fiscal Note: Requested.

Effective Date: The bill takes effect 90 days after the session in which the bill is enacted, except, Section 2, which provides for staggering the initial registrations under the two year registration program, takes effect January 1, 2003 and expires January 1, 2004; and Section 3, which provides for subsequent two year registrations, takes effect January 1, 2004.   

Testimony For:  The bill simply cuts the paperwork required of registrants and the department.  The bill will provide a faster turn‑around on standard registrations, allowing more concentration on specialty registrations.

Testimony Against: None.

Testified:  Testified For: Heather Hansen, Friends of Farms and Forests; and Leslie Emerick, Department of Agriculture.