Sec. 22a-45d. (Formerly Sec. 19a-94a). Contingency plan for controlling mosquito 

infestation. The Commissioner of Environmental Protection, in consultation with the 

Commissioners of Public Health and Agriculture, shall establish a contingency plan, within 

available appropriations, for the spraying of larvicide to control mosquitoes in the event of an 

outbreak of infectious disease in any human or animal population due to mosquito infestation. 

 (P.A. 94-191; P.A. 95-257, S. 12, 21, 58.)

 History: P.A. 95-257 replaced Commissioner and Department of Public Health and 

Addiction Services with Commissioner and Department of Public Health, effective July 1, 1995; 

Sec. 19a-94a transferred to Sec. 22a-45d in 1999.

Sec. 22a-54. Pesticide applicators, certification, classification, notice, fees; reciprocity; 

financial responsibility; aircraft, tree, public employee applicators. (a) No individual shall 

use or supervise the use of any restricted use pesticide within this state at any time without a 

private or commercial certificate or permit issued in accordance with the provisions of this 

section, unless the use is under the direct supervision of a certified applicator; provided, any 

pesticide classified for restricted use by the administrator of the United States Environmental 

Protection Agency shall be used only by a certified applicator or under the direct supervision of a 

certified applicator. The commissioner shall have exclusive authority in the regulation of 

pesticide spraying, including, but not limited to, practices and procedures prior to and during any 

spraying, except as provided in section 22a-66z. The commissioner may by regulations adopted 

in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54 establish procedures for municipalities to 

designate watercourses or other sources of water which applicators may draw upon for pesticide 

spraying. 

 (b) There shall be two classifications for commercial applicators, supervisory and 

operational. Supervisory certification shall be required for commercial applicators who are 

responsible for deciding whether or not pesticides are to be employed, how they are to be mixed, 

where they are to be employed, what pesticides are to be used, the dosages and timing involved 

in the pesticide use and the methods of application and precautions to be taken in the use of such 

pesticides. Operational certification shall be required for commercial applicators who actively 

use pesticides in other than a supervisory capacity. 

 (c) The following provisions shall govern the certification of applicators: 

 (1) No person shall engage in commercial application of pesticides within this state at any 

time without a certificate issued in accordance with the provisions of this section. No person 

shall engage in the private application of restricted use pesticides without a certificate issued in 

accordance with the provisions of this section. Application for such certificate shall be made to 

the commissioner and shall contain such information regarding the applicant's qualifications and 

proposed operations and other relevant matters including, but not limited to, a knowledge of 

integrated pest management and the role of honey bees in agriculture, pesticides that are 

especially toxic to honey bees, and methods of application which minimize damage to honey 
bees, as the commissioner may require. 

 (2) The commissioner shall require the applicant to demonstrate, upon examination, that he 

possesses adequate knowledge concerning the proper use and application of pesticides and the 

dangers involved and precautions to be taken in connection with their application. 

 (3) If the commissioner finds that the applicant is competent with respect to the use and 

handling of a pesticide or pesticides or a class or classes of pesticides, he shall certify the 

applicant to perform application within this state of such pesticide or pesticides or class or 

classes of pesticides. The certification shall be valid for five years and may be renewed by the 

commissioner with or without further examination. The commissioner may establish regulations 

for applicator certification so that one-fifth of the certificates expires each year. The 

commissioner may certify an applicator for less than five years and prorate the registration fee 

accordingly to implement the regulations established pursuant to this subsection. The certificate 

may restrict the applicant to the use of a certain type or types of equipment or materials, if the 

commissioner finds that the applicant is qualified to use only such type or types of equipment or 

materials. 

 (4) If the commissioner finds that the applicant is not competent with respect to the use and 

handling of a pesticide or pesticides or a class or classes of pesticides, the commissioner shall 

refuse to issue the applicant a certificate. The commissioner shall inform the applicant of the 

refusal in writing, giving the reasons for such refusal. Any person aggrieved by such a decision 

to deny certification may, within thirty days from date of issuance of such denial, request a 

hearing before the commissioner, which hearing shall be conducted in accordance with chapter 

54. 

 (5) The commissioner may certify without examination any nonresident who is certified in 

another state under a law which provides substantially similar qualifications for certification and 

which grants similar privileges of certification without examination to residents of this state 

certified under the provisions of this section. 

 (d) When establishing standards for certification, the commissioner shall establish separate 

standards for supervisory and operational certificates for commercial applicators and separate 

standards for private applicators. 

 (e) The following provisions shall govern the certification of aircraft applicators: 

 (1) No person shall apply, offer to apply or cause to be applied any pesticide or fertilizer by 

aircraft without a certificate or permit issued in accordance with the provisions of this 

subsection. 

 (2) Upon application of any person qualified to fly an aircraft, the commissioner may issue a 

certificate for the application of pesticides or fertilizers by aircraft. Application for said 

certificate shall be on forms provided by the commissioner and shall be accompanied by a fee of 

fifty dollars. 
 (3) The commissioner may issue a permit to the owner of any crop or land, or to a 

representative designated by such owner, for application of pesticides or fertilizers by a certified 

aircraft applicator. Application for said permit shall be on forms provided by the commissioner 

and shall be accompanied by a fee established by the commissioner by regulations adopted in 

accordance with the provisions of chapter 54 provided the fee shall be not less than ten dollars. 

The commissioner may waive the application form and fee requirements imposed pursuant to 

regulations adopted in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54 in circumstances where 

application of broad spectrum chemical pesticides from the air is necessary to control specific 

vectors of human disease which pose an imminent threat to public health. The commissioner 

may require inspection of the crop or area and its immediate environs and approval as follows: 

 (A) For agricultural crops, nurseries and orchards, by the director of the Connecticut 

Agricultural Experiment Station; 

 (B) For rodent control, woodland spraying and mosquito control spraying, by the 

commissioner; 

 (C) For control of vectors of human disease, by the Commissioner of Public Health. 

 (4) The commissioner shall designate the kind and amount of pesticides permitted for use by 

aircraft. Permits for aircraft spraying in congested areas shall be issued only with the approval of 

the director of health of the municipality in which the operation is to be conducted except in 

circumstances where the commissioner determines that the application of broad spectrum 

chemical pesticides from the air is necessary to control specific vectors of human disease which 

pose an imminent threat to public health. 

 (5) The commissioner, with the advice of the Commissioner of Transportation, may adopt 

such regulations as he deems necessary for the protection of public health, aquatic and animal 

life and public and private property, governing: 

 (A) The type of aircraft to be used; 

 (B) The hours during which aircraft may be so used; 

 (C) The wind and weather conditions under which aircraft spraying or dusting may be 

performed; 

 (D) The minimum area on which aircraft spraying or dusting may be done; and 

 (E) The amount of public liability and property damage insurance to be carried by the aircraft 

applicator. 

 (6) No person may apply pesticides or fungicides by aircraft or by misting-type devices to 

shade tobacco crops within three hundred feet of an inhabited residential building for which a 

certificate of occupancy was issued prior to January 1, 1997, without the written permission of 

the owner of such building, except spray applications may be administered within the confines of 
the netting. This subdivision shall not apply to an application of pesticides or fungicides to land 

which was poled for the cultivation of shade tobacco between January 1, 1994, and January 1, 

1997. 

 (f) The commissioner may by regulation prescribe fees for applicants to defray the cost of 

administering examinations and assisting in carrying out the purposes of section 22a-451, except 

the fees for certification and renewal of a certification shall be as follows: (1) For supervisory 

certification as a commercial applicator, two hundred twenty-five dollars; (2) for operational 

certification as a commercial applicator, forty dollars, and (3) for certification as a private 

applicator, fifty dollars. A federal, state or municipal employee who applies pesticides solely as 

part of his employment shall be exempt from payment of a fee. Any certificate issued to a 

federal, state or municipal employee for which a fee has not been paid shall be void if the holder 

leaves government employment. The fees collected in accordance with this section shall be 

deposited in the General Fund. 

 (g) The commissioner may require any person engaged in the commercial or aircraft 

application of pesticides to furnish proof of financial responsibility to satisfy claims for damages 

on account of any physical injuries suffered by any person or damage to property by reason of 

any act or omission on the part of the applicator, or the agents or employees of the applicator. 

The Commissioner of Environmental Protection in consultation with the Insurance 

Commissioner shall determine the amount, character and form of financial responsibility. No 

person shall engage in the aircraft application of pesticides or fertilizers until the Insurance 

Commissioner has reviewed and approved such applicator's proof of financial responsibility. 

 (h) The commissioner shall prescribe standards for certification of arborists, as defined in 

subsection (a) of section 23-61a, with respect to the application of pesticides. The standards shall 

provide that in order to be certified, an individual shall be competent with respect to the use and 

handling of the pesticide or class of pesticides covered by such individual's application. The 

commissioner may designate as his agent the Tree Protection Examining Board for the 

administration of any standards or examinations prescribed by the commissioner pursuant to this 

section. 

 (i) Federal, state and municipal employees who use or supervise the use of restricted or 

permit use pesticides shall be certified in conformance with this section. 

 (j) The commissioner may require the display of a decal or other evidence, indicating that a 

commercial applicator has met the requirements of this part, in a prominent place on any licensed 

vehicle used in the applicator's spraying operations. A fee may be charged to the certified 

applicator by the commissioner to cover the cost of the decals or other evidence. 

 (P.A. 73-540, S. 6, 28; P.A. 75-551, S. 3-6; P.A. 77-206, S. 11; 77-529, S. 9-14; 77-614, S. 

323, 610; P.A. 82-158, S. 1, 6; P.A. 83-108, S. 1; 83-193; 83-587, S. 45, 46, 73, 96; P.A. 85-407, 

S. 5, 9; P.A. 86-364, S. 2; P.A. 88-247, S. 8, 12; P.A. 91-369, S. 8, 36; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 91-12, 

S. 36, 55; P.A. 92-162, S. 3, 25; P.A. 93-381, S. 9, 39; P.A. 95-208, S. 2, 13; 95-257, S. 12, 21, 

58; P.A. 97-289, S. 6, 9; P.A. 98-171, S. 1, 2; June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-6, S. 110, 111.)
 History: P.A. 75-551 amended Subsec. (a) to prohibit use of pesticide without a license 

unless use is under direct supervision of a certified applicator, amended Subsec. (c)(3) to allow 

commissioner to establish licensure guidelines and to prorate fees for licenses issued for less than 

five years, amended Subsec. (h) to clarify nature of "standards for commercial tree workers" and 

amended Subsec. (i) to require licensure in conformity with Sec. 22a-54 rather than in 

conformity with "standards for operational licenses for commercial applicators"; P.A. 77-206 

substituted "arborists" for "commercial tree workers" in Subsec. (h); P.A. 77-529 amended 

Subsec. (a) to delete provisions empowering commissioner to prescribe licensing standards for 

private, commercial and aircraft applicators and detailing the nature of such standards, to refer to 

private or commercial certificates or permits rather than to licenses and to add proviso re 

pesticides classified for restricted use, rephrased Subsecs. (b), (c), (f) and (h) to conform to 

changes made in Subsec. (a) and for clarity, added provision re appeals in Subsec. (c)(4) and 

added Subsec. (j) re decals; P.A. 77-614 substituted commissioner of health services for 

commissioner of health in Subsec. (e)(3)(iii), effective January 1, 1979; P.A. 82-158 substituted 

references to certificates and certification for references to licenses and licensure and made other 

technical corrections; P.A. 83-108 amended Subsec. (g) by replacing provision authorizing 

environmental protection commissioner to determine nature of proof of financial responsibility 

with provision including insurance commissioner in determination process and adding provision 

prohibiting the aircraft application of pesticides until the commissioner of insurance has 

approved proof of financial responsibility; P.A. 83-193 amended Subsec. (a) by giving the 

commissioner exclusive authority in the regulation of pesticide spraying; P.A. 83-587 made 

technical changes in Subsecs. (b), (g) and (j); P.A. 85-407 amended Subsec. (f) by adding 

provisions authorizing regulations concerning Sec. 22a-451 and requiring fees to be deposited in 

the emergency spill response fund; P.A. 86-364 amended Subsec. (f) by deleting reference to use 

of fees to defray the cost of processing applications for certification and establishing fee schedule 

for certification and renewal of various types of certification; P.A. 88-247 amended Subsec. 

(c)(1) to authorize that applicants be tested for knowledge of integrated pest management; P.A. 

91-369 amended Subsec. (f) to delete changes in the amount of the fees which would have taken 

effect after December 31, 1991; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 91-12 in Subsec. (e)(2) and (3) established a 

fee for a certificate to apply pesticides; P.A. 92-162 amended Subsec. (e) to make crop 

inspections prior to issuance of permits under this section discretionary rather than mandatory; 

P.A. 93-381 replaced commissioner of health services with commissioner of public health and 

addiction services, effective July 1, 1993; P.A. 95-208 amended Subsec. (f) to require that fees 

collected in accordance with section be deposited in General Fund, rather than Emergency Spill 

Response Fund and deleted provision authorizing commissioner to expend up to 5% of such fees 

for administrative expenses related to collection of such fees, effective July 1, 1995; P.A. 95-257 

replaced Commissioner and Department of Public Health and Addiction Services with 

Commissioner and Department of Public Health, effective July 1, 1995; P.A. 97-289 amended 

Subsec. (e)(3) and (4) to allow for expedited approval of aerial spraying of pesticides in cases of 

threat to public health, effective July 1, 1997; P.A. 98-171 added Subsec. (e)(6) re application of 

pesticides to certain tobacco cropland, effective June 4, 1998; June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-6 

amended Subsec. (e)(2) to change application fee for certificate of application of pesticides by 

aircraft from not less than $25 to $50 and to delete language re establishment of fees by 

regulation and amended Subsec. (f) to change fee for supervisory certification as a commercial 

applicator from $150 to $225, fee for operational certification as a commercial applicator from 

$20 to $40, and fee for certification as a private applicator from $25 to $50, effective August 20, 
2003.

 See chapter 54 re uniform administrative procedure. 

 See Sec. 7-148 re municipal powers, generally. 

 See Sec. 22-11a for definition of "integrated pest management".

 

Sec. 22a-45b. (Formerly Sec. 19a-93). Elimination of mosquito-breeding places by 

Commissioner of Environmental Protection. The Commissioner of Environmental Protection 

may make regulations and orders concerning the elimination of mosquitoes and mosquitobreeding places, and said commissioner or his agent may enter upon any land, tidal wetland, 

inland wetland or watercourse to ascertain if mosquitoes breed thereon or to survey, drain, fill or 

otherwise treat, or make any excavation or structure necessary to eliminate mosquito breeding on 

such land. When funds have been provided by appropriation by the state for the elimination of 

mosquitoes or mosquito-breeding places, said commissioner may conduct or cause the 

conducting of such work provided no filling, draining, excavation, installation or erection of any 

structure, or any other permanent alteration of private property shall be conducted without the 

consent of the landowner on whose property such work is to be conducted. The commissioner 

may take and hold, by purchase, condemnation or otherwise, any real property or interest in real 

property as he determines is necessary to abate a threat of disease to humans or animals from 

insect vectors. Whenever the commissioner is unable to agree with the owner of any such 

property as to the compensation to be paid for the taking thereof, the commissioner may bring 

condemnation proceedings in accordance with the procedure provided by part I of chapter 835 

for condemnation by municipal corporations generally. In such case, the court may permit 

immediate possession of such property by the commissioner in accordance with the procedure 

provided by said part I of chapter 835. 

 (1949 Rev., S. 3859; 1971, P.A. 870, S. 51; P.A. 76-436, S. 277, 681; P.A. 77-614, S. 323, 

610; P.A. 78-280, S. 1, 127; P.A. 93-381, S. 9, 39; P.A. 95-257, S. 12, 21, 58; P.A. 97-289, S. 1, 

9.)

 History: 1971 act replaced superior court with court of common pleas, effective September 1, 

1971, except that courts with cases pending retain jurisdiction unless pending matters deemed 

transferable; P.A. 76-436 replaced court of common pleas with superior court and added 

reference to judicial districts, effective July 1, 1978; P.A. 77-614 replaced commissioner of 

health with commissioner of health services, effective January 1, 1979; P.A. 78-280 removed 

references to counties; Sec. 19-50 transferred to Sec. 19a-93 in 1983; P.A. 93-381 replaced 

commissioner of health services with commissioner of public health and addiction services, 

effective July 1, 1993; P.A. 95-257 replaced Commissioner and Department of Public Health and 

Addiction Services with Commissioner and Department of Public Health, effective July 1, 1995; 

P.A. 97-289 transferred responsibility for mosquito control under this section from the 

Commissioner of Public Health to the Commissioner of Environmental Protection, deleted 

former provisions re notice of mosquito control activities and assessment of damages and 
provided requirement for consent of landowner, and authorization to acquire property for 

mosquito control, effective July 1, 1997; Sec. 19a-93 transferred to Sec. 22a-45b in 1999.

 See Sec. 19a-213 re duties of local health authorities re mosquito-breeding places.

 

 Sec. 22a-45c. (Formerly Sec. 19a-94). Maintenance of drained land by Commissioner of 

Environmental Protection. When any work has been conducted in accordance with section 

22a-45b that is subject to the approval of the Commissioner of Environmental Protection, said 

commissioner shall keep the same in repair and free from obstruction or otherwise treat such 

areas so as to make such work effective. Said commissioner may appoint one or more agents to 

supervise the work done under the provisions of this section and section 22a-45b, who may 

exercise the authority granted to said commissioner. The expenses of said commissioner and said 

agents in carrying out the provisions of this section and section 22a-45b shall be paid from funds 

provided by appropriations by the state for such purpose. The Comptroller may advance to said 

commissioner such amounts, within the appropriations therefor, as are necessary to meet the 

current expenses for work authorized under the provisions of this section and section 22a-45b. 

Any person obstructing the work of examining, surveying or ditching or otherwise treating such 

mosquito-breeding areas, or obstructing any ditch, canal or drain, or the natural outlet of any 

marsh-forming and mosquito-breeding areas, shall be fined not more than one hundred dollars or 

imprisoned not more than ninety days or both. 

 (1949 Rev., S. 3860; P.A. 77-614, S. 323, 610; P.A. 93-381, S. 9, 39; P.A. 95-257, S. 12, 21, 

58; P.A. 97-289, S. 2, 9.)

 History: P.A. 77-614 replaced commissioner of health with commissioner of health services, 

effective January 1, 1979; Sec. 19-51 transferred to Sec. 19a-94 in 1983; P.A. 93-381 replaced 

commissioner of health services with commissioner of public health and addiction services, 

effective July 1, 1993; P.A. 95-257 replaced Commissioner and Department of Public Health and 

Addiction Services with Commissioner and Department of Public Health, effective July 1, 1995; 

P.A. 97-289 transferred responsibility for mosquito control under this section from the 

Commissioner of Public Health to the Commissioner of Environmental Protection, deleted 

provisions re construction or repair of tide gates and funds provided by voluntary contributions, 

and made technical changes, effective July 1, 1997; Sec. 19a-94 transferred to Sec. 22a-45c in 

1999.