DAN MORALES 

AI-TORSEY GENERAL 

QBffice of the !Tlttotnep General 

%tatt of Oxas 

May 12.1993 

Mr. Benny M. Mathis, Jr. 

ExedveDirector 

Struotural Pest Control Board 

9101 Burnet had, Suite 201 

Austin, Texas 78758 

DearMr.Mathk 

opinion No. DM-221 

Be: whether provisions of the Cii of 

Gmanille regukion of pesticides ordinance 

arepreunptedbythestructumlPestCoIltro1 

Act, V.T.C.S. able 1356 (IQ51 1) 

Gn behalf of the Strucwal Pest Control Board (tbe”board”), you ask whether 

provisions of the Cii of GreenvUe reguhion of pesticides ordimmc+ Cii of GreuwiUe 

Grdinanw No. 92-083 (the “ordimnce”), are preeqed by the St~ctud Pest Control 

Aot, V.T.C.S. art. 1356 (the “act*).l The act extenhly q&es the business of 

stmolural pest control, by lkeming persons engaged in the business, see V.T.C.S. art. 

13Sb-6.Qg 4,4B. 4C. 9. auting fbrth limited exceptions to the gamral requimm that 

only~cmsedpcnonsrmyrpph/pestiddesandothapestcontrolrgents,id.~~5, ll,and 

,qmmiq the wnditions under which pesticides and other agents may be rqplicd. id. 

85 4G. 4I-I. A first-time violation of any section of the act conshtes aclassc 

misdemeanor. Id. 0 1OA A repeat violation is a Class B misdemeanor. Id. Section 11A 

of the act provides that “[t]he Structural Pest Control Board is the sole authority in this 

rtateforli#nsingparonr~inthebusinessofmucburlpestcontrol.” 

Theordhnceappeal%tobeanatwpttoraducethekvalsofpouutaatsinthe 

Ci of we’s wasta water. Cii of Greem6Ue Chdhoce No. 92-083, preamble 

(codEed as City of Greehlle Code of Gniiwcq Chapter 4.5 4.800). It requires retail 

vendors of pesticides to attach educationsI mate& to pesticide products which are 

available for sale, and to display iaformation about the proper use and disposal of pesticide 

produots. Cii of GreewiUe Code of Grdhmcq Chapter 4. 5 4.802. It also requk 

professional pesticide applicators to dhmhate educational material supplied by the city 

to customers at the time of application, and to file reports with the ci@s Water Utilities 

Dqwbnent. Id. 54.803. Inadditi on, it requires owners of “omlti-occupancy dwelling 

to not@ occupants of an indoor application of pesticides no later than 24 hours prior to 

the application, to die educational material supplied by the city, and to tie reports 

witb the ci@s Water Utilities Department. Id. 8 4.804. Violation of the ordinance 

cmstitutes a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not to exceed S2,OOO.OO. Cii of 

Greemdle ordinance No. 92-083,s 4. 

p. 1157 
Mr. Benny M. Mathis, Jr. - Page 2 On-221) 

TheCiiofGmenviUeisahome-rulecity. TbeTexasConsthution~sucb 

cities all the power of self-govemmart not CJqmsfL denied thun by the legislature. Tar. 

Const. art. XI, 5 5; D&as Merchanfs d Cwcedtmaire’s A&I v. Ci@ of Lkikzr, No. 

D-2159, slip op. at 3 (Tex. April 7.1993). Tbe Texas Consthution prohiits a home-rule 

city 8om anforcing any legiskion inconsistun with state laws or the state consthution. 

Tex.Const.rrt.Xl,~S;DailasMerchaur’s&C~ kwmire’sAss’n. slip op. at 3 (citing 

Ciq ofBrook&? Vil&ge v. Comeau, 633 S.W.26 790,7% (TexJ, cert. tied, 459 U.S. 

1087 (1982)). The Texas Supreme Court baa instructed that, in dammining whether an 

ordkncaiatbtallykmskmntwithatatelawonthesamesubjectmattcr,cnurtsmust 

raLto~thetwoinawrythatwillleavebothin~ifpo~le. Ci@of 

Rickvdmn v. Reqomible Dog Owners qf T-, 794 S.W.2d 17. 19 (Tex. 1990). 

“[Tlhemere~~thelegislanrrrharclllctedakw~garubjectdoesnotmeM 

the complete subject matter is completely preempted.” Id. Moreova. it is well 

established~“iftheLegi~~~topnanpta~bjectmatta~y 

eacompessedbythebrolrdpowarofahomanrlecity.it~dosowithumni~le 

clarity.” Dab Merchmfs & (%messiovaaire’s Ash, slip op. at 4 (citing Civ of 

smhwtrr v. Geron, 380 S.W.2d 550.552 (Tex. 1964)). 

First,you~~theCityof~emay”define[a]multi-occupancy 

atrucWefbrpmposesofprovidingnotiwinamanner different gorn the statutory 

deSnitionof~in[aection4Boftheact].* Inarelatedquestion,youaskif’the 

CityofGnarvilk~lthePtthoritytorequina24-hournotiaofpesticiderpplication.” 

We address these questions together. 

Notice of tmabnem isgovemedbyaection4G0ftheac&whichsats8xthdiff~ 

nquiranarxsfornsidential~uaitswithl~thanfiveudwithfiveormorerental 

units. ForMindoOrtreMnaaataresidentialrmtalpropatywithlesstbanfive~ 

units, an applicator is requid to leave a “past control b&mnation sheet” in the residence 

atthetimeofcachtmatmem. V.T.C.S. art. 135b-6, 5 4G(c). No notice is raqukd. Id. 

For indoor treatmmts atresidentialrentalproperdeswithfiveormornrentalunits,work 

places, and other ktitutions such as hospitals and schools, 48 hour’s notice is re@rad. 

Id. §4G(d)-(f). Theo&anca,ontheotherhand,requhesownersof”muhiocarpancy 

dwallb@ to not@ occupants ofan indoor application of pesticides no later than 24 hours 

prior to the appliuation. Ci of GmenviUe Code of %knce~, 8 4.894. “Multi- 

-pulcy smuxums”arede!kdas”dwellingswhichhousemoretbanonefamilylhdng 

,A& which includes but is not limited to duplexes, apartments, hotels, motels, nursing 

homes, etc.” Id. 5 4.801. 

p. 1158 
bfr. &my M. Mathis, Jr. - Page 3 (DM-221) 

Cleuly,theordiMn&24-hournoticersquinmmtistILtauyinconsiotentwiththe 

noticerequkwwsetforthinseuion4Goftheact. Theordina~erequirrs24-hour 

noticeiaromerrsidmtialrrntalpropaties~~~requiresnoaoti~at~.3 In 

other instmx, the ordinance requkes 24-hour notice whae the act requkes 48-hour 

notice. It is not possible to consme the act and the ordinance’s notice provisions in 

harmony. ‘Ikefore, we conclude that the Cii of Gree&le ordinance’s ootice provisions 

arepreemptedbytheactandarethereforevoid. 

N~youulrwhethatheCityofGreenvilemayrequirethe~onof 

educational outteds. The ordbmcc requires retail vendors and professional pesticide 

appticators to dkmioate educational material supplied by the city. Id. Qp 4.802,4.803. 

Apywpointout,thelarequirrspasons~eagageiathebu~of~controlto 

distribute “pest control information sheets” developed and approved by the board. 

V.T.C.S. art. 139.6, 54G. We do not believe, however, that the act preempts the 

ordhocds require~~wts regadng the dissemination of educational mate-rial. The act 

does not even purport to regulate retail vendors of pesticides. Although the act does 

nquirrpasonswho~einthebusinessofpestcontroltodisslrminatepestcontrol 

inforouuion shea developed by the board, we do not believe it is inconsistent with tbis 

provision to require professional pesticide applicators to also disseminate additional 

educatiooal out&al supplied by the city.4 

You also ask whether the act prohiiits the Cii of Me %om enacting 

additional local requirements specifically directed at ‘professional pesticide applicators’,” 

and if “the Cii of Greeklie b] the authority to require monthly or quarterly pesticide 

application reports from persons specifically requkl to be licensed by the State of Texas 

as pesticide applicators.” We address these related questions together. 

As noted above, section 1 IA of the act provides that “[t]he Structural Pest Control 

Boardisthe~leauthorityiathisstateforliansing~mgagcdintbebusinessof 

structural pest control.” We believe that section 11A clearly establishes the le8islaturek 

intent to limit the power of home-rule cities with respect to the ticensure of persons 

engaged io the business of pest control, and to preempt any local kensing requirunaus. 

The act, however, does not necessarily preclude a city from imposing additional 

p. 1159 
Mr.hIIOyM.hhthi&Jr. - P8@ 4 (DM-221) 

Ieqmmaaonpenonsengagedinthebwinessofpestwotro~providedtheydooot 

wostiMelicwsingrequircments Forexmple,wedonotbelievctbttbeordhmc& 

requinmntthrt~~~~delpplicrtonlubmitarrrinnportstotbeW~ 

UtilitiesDcputmentmmmtsto~alicenaing~ Noristbisreqkmmt 

. . lllmasmwitllanyoftheacrsothaplwisi~. Tim&e,ititaot~bytbe 

act. 

SUMMARY 

Thecityof- Jwdtiyof~~~ 

pfOViSiOIISnevdingWtiW~irrconmrtan 

pempted by the Strudud Pest Control Act, V.T.C.S. article 

135b-6 (the ‘act’). Theodioanwprovisionsregrrdiagthe 

. . 

-on of educational mamials and llzqlhg prof&onal 

pesticideappliwtorstosuhmitcertainreportsareoot~ 

withtheact. 

DAN MORALES 

Anomey General ofTtxas 

WILL PRYOR 

F~AsismAttorncyGeneral 

MARYKELLER 

DeputyAttomcyGeneralibrLitigation 

RENEAHIcxs 

State Solicitor 

MADELEINE B. JOHNSON 

chair, opioion committee 

p. 1160