An Act To Simplify and Enhance Pest Control Notification
Maine Legislature, Session 125, LD 1041
Committee: Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry
Sponsors: CRAY, SCHNEIDER, BLACK, DILL, GIFFORD, O'BRIEN
Amends: 22 MRSA §1471-Z

Legislative Document 
No. 1041 
H.P. 775 
House of Representatives, March 10, 2011 
An Act To Simplify and Enhance Pest Control Notification 
Reference to the Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry suggested and 
ordered printed. 
HEATHER J.R. PRIEST 
Clerk 
Presented by Representative CRAY of Palmyra. 
Cosponsored by Senator SCHNEIDER of Penobscot and 
Representatives: BLACK of Wilton, DILL of Old Town, GIFFORD of Lincoln, McCABE of 
Skowhegan, McFADDEN of Dennysville, O'BRIEN of Lincolnville. 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  22 MRSA §1471-Z, first ¶, as amended by PL 2009, c. 584, §2, is further 
amended to read: 
The board shall develop and maintain a registry of the properties of residents, lessees 
and property owners in the State who request that their properties be placed on a registry 
in order that the residents, lessees and owners receive advance notification of the outdoor 
application of pesticides.  This registry must be the only registry or system used by the 
board to form the basis of a mandatory notification system for outdoor applications of 
pesticides. 
Sec. 2.  22 MRSA §1471-Z, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2009, c. 584, §2, is 
further amended to read: 
1.  Development of registry.  The board shall solicit participation in the registry 
through newspaper articles, public notices distributed to municipal offices and a notice 
posted on the board's publicly accessible website.  For a property to be placed on the 
registry, a person must submit to the board, using a form provided on the board's publicly 
accessible website or a paper copy provided by the board upon request, the following 
information: 
A.  The person's full name; 
B.  The person's telephone number; 
C.  The physical location of the property being registered, including the street address 
if available.  If a street address is not available, longitude and latitude coordinates or a 
description of the property in sufficient detail to be located on a 7.5 or 15 minute 
series topographical map must be provided; 
D.  The mailing address at which the person prefers to receive notification;  
E.  The person's e-mail address if available, regularly used and acceptable for 
notification purposes; and 
F.  The person's preferred means of notification. 
Any resident, owner or lessee of property in the State is entitled to have that property 
placed on the registry.  A fee may not be charged to register.  Property must remain on 
the registry until the resident, owner or lessee notifies the board in writing that the 
property is to be removed from the registry or until the board staff determines that the 
contact is no longer valid.  A registrant shall update or confirm the registrant's contact 
information annually with the board by a date determined by the board.  The property of a 
registrant that has not updated or confirmed all of the registrant's contact information by 
the date set by the board must be removed from the registry. 
Sec. 3.  22 MRSA §1471-Z, sub-§2, as enacted by PL 2009, c. 584, §2, is 
amended to read: 
2.  Obligations to provide information to people on registry.  A land manager 
intending to conduct an outdoor application of pesticides using aircraft or air-carrier 
equipment shall access the registry to identify any person entitled to notification under 
subsection 3 and, except as provided in subsections 5, and 6 and 7, shall provide that 
person with notification no later than the day before and no earlier than 7 days before the 
day of the application.  The notification must include: 
A.  The date and approximate time of application; 
B.  The type of equipment to be used and the manner in which the pesticides will be 
applied; 
C.  The brand names and the United States Environmental Protection Agency's 
registration numbers for the pesticides to be used; 
D.  Contact information for the land manager; and 
E.  The location of the property that the land manager intends to spray. 
Upon the request of a person receiving notification under this subsection, a land manager 
shall provide the material safety data sheets for the pesticides being used or copies of the 
pesticides labels. A land manager is not required to postpone an application pending 
delivery of the requested information. 
Sec. 4.  22 MRSA §1471-Z, sub-§3, as enacted by PL 2009, c. 584, §2, is 
repealed and the following enacted in its place: 
3.  Criteria requiring notification.  The board shall determine the distances between 
properties and outdoor applications of pesticides within which a land manager is required 
to notify a person whose property is on the registry of an application based on the type of 
equipment used to make the application. 
Sec. 5.  22 MRSA §1471-Z, sub-§4, as enacted by PL 2009, c. 584, §2, is 
amended to read: 
4.  Means of notification.  A land manager conducting or contracting for a pesticides 
an outdoor application using aircraft or air-carrier equipment of pesticides shall make a 
good faith effort to convey the information required in subsection 2.  Acceptable means 
of notification include: 
A.  Personal delivery of notification forms; 
B.  Mailing notification forms through the United States Postal Service; 
C.  Electronic mailing of notification forms; 
D.  Telephone calls, either personal or automated; or 
E.  Other means determined acceptable by the board. 
Sec. 6.  22 MRSA §1471-Z, sub-§7, as enacted by PL 2009, c. 584, §2, is 
repealed. 
Sec. 7.  22 MRSA §1471-Z, sub-§9, as enacted by PL 2009, c. 584, §2, is 
amended to read: 
9.  Rulemaking.  The board shall adopt rules to implement this section.  The rules 
may provide additional means of identifying property registered under subsection 1 and 
alternate means of providing notification under subsection 2.  Notwithstanding Title 7, 
section 610, subsection 6, paragraph B, rules adopted or amended in 2010 to implement 
this section are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A.  
Beginning January 1, 2011, revisions to rules Rules adopted under this subsection are 
major substantive rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A. 
Sec. 8.  22 MRSA §1471-Z, sub-§10, ¶A, as enacted by PL 2009, c. 584, §2, is 
repealed. 
SUMMARY 
This bill amends the notification process for pesticides applications.  The bill directs 
that the registry established by the Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Resources, 
Board of Pesticides Control is the only mandatory notification system for outdoor 
applications.  It requires all registrants to update or confirm their contact information 
annually.  The bill amends notification requirements that currently apply to applications 
made using aircraft or air-carrier equipment to provide that the requirements apply to 
outdoor applications generally.  It requires that the board determine the distances between 
properties and applications within which a land manager is required to notify a person 
whose property is on the registry of an application based on the type of equipment used to 
make the application; currently, these distances are set out in statute.