An Act To Require the Registration of Adjuvants in the State and To Regulate the Distribution of Pesticides with Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances
Maine Legislature, Session 130, LD 2019
Committee: Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry
Amends: 7 MRSA §604, 7 MRSA §606

Legislative Document
No. 2019
H.P. 1501
House of Representatives, March 9, 2022
An Act To Require the Registration of Adjuvants in the State and 
To Regulate the Distribution of Pesticides with Perfluoroalkyl and 
Polyfluoroalkyl Substances
Reported by Representative O'NEIL of Saco for the Joint Standing Committee on 
Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry pursuant to Resolve 2021, chapter 83, section 2.
Reference to the Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry suggested and 
ordered printed pursuant to Joint Rule 218.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  7 MRSA §604, sub-§22-A is enacted to read:
22-A.  Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAS.  "Perfluoroalkyl 
and polyfluoroalkyl substances" or "PFAS" means substances that include any member of 
the class of fluorinated organic chemicals containing at least 2 fully fluorinated carbon 
atoms.
Sec. 2.  7 MRSA §604, sub-§25, as amended by PL 2005, c. 620, §3, is repealed 
and the following enacted in its place:
25.  Pesticide.  "Pesticide" means:
A.  Any substance or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying, 
repelling or mitigating any pests;
B.  Any substance or mixture of substances intended for use as a plant regulator, 
defoliant or desiccant; and
C.  Any substance or mixture of substances intended to be used as a spray adjuvant.
Sec. 3.  7 MRSA §604, sub-§31-A is enacted to read:
31-A.  Spray adjuvant.  "Spray adjuvant" means an ingredient added to a pesticide 
spray mixture to enhance the effectiveness of pesticide product ingredients or modify the 
actions of those pesticide product ingredients.
Sec. 4.  7 MRSA §606, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2021, c. 105, §§1 to 3, is further 
amended to read:
1.  Unlawful distribution.  A person may not distribute in the State any of the 
following:
A.  A pesticide that has not been registered pursuant to the provisions of this 
subchapter;
B.  A pesticide if any of the claims made for it or any of the directions for its use or 
other labeling differs from the representations made in connection with its registration, 
or if the composition of a pesticide differs from its composition as represented in 
connection with its registration; a change in the labeling or formulation of a pesticide 
may be made within a registration period without requiring reregistration of the product 
if the registration is amended to reflect that change and if that change will not violate 
any provision of FIFRA or this subchapter;
C.  A pesticide unless it is in the registrant's or the manufacturer's unbroken immediate 
container and there is affixed to the container, and to the outside container or wrapper 
of the retail package, if there is one, through which the required information on the 
immediate container cannot be clearly read, a label bearing the information required in 
this subchapter and rules adopted under this subchapter;
D.  A pesticide that has not been colored or discolored pursuant to section 610, 
subsection 1, paragraph D;
E.  A pesticide that is adulterated or misbranded or any device that is misbranded;
F.  A pesticide in containers that are unsafe due to damage; or
G.  Beginning January 1, 2022, a pesticide containing chlorpyrifos as an active 
ingredient.;
H.  A pesticide that has been contaminated by perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl 
substances; or
I.  Notwithstanding Title 38, section 1614, subsection 5, paragraph D, beginning 
January 1, 2030, a pesticide that contains intentionally added PFAS as defined in Title 
38, section 1614, subsection 1, paragraph D.
Sec. 5.  7 MRSA §606, sub-§2, as amended by PL 2005, c. 620, §5, is further 
amended to read:
2.  Unlawful alteration, misuse, divulging of formulas, transportation, disposal 
and noncompliance.  A person may not:
A.  Detach, alter, deface or destroy, wholly or in part, any label or labeling provided 
for in this subchapter or rules adopted under this subchapter;
A-1.  Add any substance to or take any substance from a pesticide in a manner that may 
defeat the purpose of this subchapter or rules adopted under this subchapter;
B.  Use or cause to be used any pesticide in a manner inconsistent with its labeling or 
with rules of the board, if those rules further restrict the uses provided on the labeling;
C.  Use for that person's own advantage or reveal, other than to the board or proper 
officials or employees of the state or federal executive agencies, to the courts of this 
State or of the United States in response to a subpoena, to physicians, or in emergencies 
to pharmacists and other qualified persons for use in the preparation of antidotes, any 
information relative to formulas of products acquired by authority of section 607 or 
any information judged by the board to contain or relate to trade secrets or commercial 
or financial information obtained by authority of this subchapter and marked as 
privileged or confidential by the registrant;
D.  Handle, transport, store, display or distribute pesticides in such a manner as to 
endanger human beings or their environment or to endanger food, feed or any other 
products that may be transported, stored, displayed or distributed with such pesticides;
E.  Dispose of, discard or store any pesticides or pesticide containers in such a manner 
as may cause injury to humans, vegetation, crops, livestock, wildlife or beneficial 
insects or pollute any water supply or waterway;
F.  Refuse or otherwise fail to comply with the provisions of this subchapter, the rules 
adopted under this subchapter, or any lawful order of the board; or
G.  Apply pesticides in a manner inconsistent with rules for pesticide application 
adopted by the board.; or
H.  Use or cause to be used any pesticide container inconsistent with rules for pesticide 
containers adopted by the board.
Sec. 6.  Board of Pesticides Control; rules.  The Department of Agriculture, 
Conservation and Forestry, Board of Pesticides Control shall adopt rules regulating 
pesticide containers as authorized in the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 7, section 606, 
subsection 2, paragraph H no later than January 1, 2023.  Rules adopted pursuant to this 
section are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A.
SUMMARY
This bill is reported out by the Joint Standing Committee on Agriculture, Conservation 
and Forestry pursuant to Resolve 2021, chapter 83.  The committee is reporting the bill out 
for the sole purpose of turning the proposal into a printed bill that can be referred to the 
committee for an appropriate public hearing and subsequent processing in the normal 
course.  The committee has not taken a position on the substance of this bill and by 
reporting this bill out the committee is not suggesting and does not intend to suggest that it 
agrees or disagrees with any aspect of this bill.
The bill makes the following changes to the Maine Pesticide Control Act of 1975.
1.  The bill adds "any substance or mixture of substances intended to be used as a spray 
adjuvant" to the definition of "pesticide" and defines "spray adjuvant."
2.  The bill defines "perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances" and prohibits a 
person from distributing a pesticide that has been contaminated by perfluoroalkyl and 
polyfluoroalkyl substances.  It prohibits a person from distributing a pesticide that contains 
intentionally added perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances beginning January 1, 
2030.  Current law defines "distribute" in the Maine Pesticide Control Act of 1975 as "to 
offer for sale, hold for sale, sell, barter, ship, deliver for shipment or receive and having so 
received, deliver or offer to deliver pesticides in this State."
3.  The bill also prohibits a person from using any pesticide container inconsistent with 
rules for pesticide containers adopted by the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and 
Forestry, Board of Pesticides Control.