2023 Vermont Statutes › Title 6 - Agriculture › Chapter 87 - Control of Pesticides › § 1104. Powers of Secretary

§ 1104. Powers of Secretary
The Secretary in furtherance of the purposes of this chapter may:
(1) Regulate and license the display, sale, application, use, storage, treatment, and disposal of economic poisons and their waste products and establish restrictions on the use, application, storage, treatment, and disposal of economic poisons and their waste products that are deemed toxic or hazardous to humans, animals, or the natural environment.
(2) Examine, test, and approve any apparatus or equipment used in dispensing, applying, storing, treating, or disposing of economic poisons or their waste products. Such equipment shall be in good working order and free of defective parts, and equipment used for applying economic poisons shall be capable of dispensing prescribed amounts of pesticides to the target without undue hazard to the operator or nontarget areas.
(3) Adopt standards, procedures, and requirements relating to the display, sale, use, application, treatment, storage, or disposal of economic poisons or their waste products and limit the conditions under which the same may be sold, used, treated, stored, or disposed of. The use of pesticides that the Secretary finds to have a hazardous or long-term deleterious effect on the environment shall be restricted, and permits shall be required for their use in accordance with rules adopted by the Secretary. Specific uses of certain pesticides deemed to present a likely risk to human health or be dangerous shall be restricted by rule or by ordering the deletion of certain uses for registered pesticides from the label on pesticide products to be marketed in the State. Approved methods for the safe display, storage, and shipping of poisonous pesticides shall be prescribed and enforced. Procedures for the disposal of pesticides that are illegal, obsolete, surplus, or in damaged containers shall be adopted and enforced with the cooperation of the Agency of Natural Resources.
(4) Enter any premises, public or private, as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this chapter.
(5) Issue licenses, permits, and certificates pursuant to this chapter.
(6) Require pesticide dealers and applicators to keep records of the sale and use of pesticides deemed particularly toxic or hazardous by the Agricultural Innovation Board and to have such records available for examination by the Secretary or his or her agents at his or her request; the accounting for kinds and amounts of such economic poisons, to whom sold, and where and when used, and the reporting of incidents resulting from accidental contamination or misapplication of pesticides that present a hazard to humans, animals, or the environment, may be required.
(7) [Repealed.]
(8) Revoke or suspend any license or certificate for failure to comply with this chapter or any rule adopted under its authority, or for being subject to a final order imposing a civil penalty under 7 U.S.C. § 136l or for being convicted under 7 U.S.C. § 136l on due notice to the licensee or holder of the certificate with an opportunity for hearing if a written request for hearing is filed with the Secretary within five days of receipt of notice of a violation.
(9) Make, adopt, revise, and amend reasonable rules as he or she deems necessary with the advice of the Agricultural Innovation Board in order to carry out the provisions of this chapter.
(10) Appoint assistants, subject to applicable laws and rules, to perform or assist in the performance of any duties or functions of the Secretary under this chapter.
(11) Enter into reciprocal agreements with appropriate pesticide control agencies of other states or the federal government for the acceptance of licensing and certification of pesticide applicators and operators, provided their standards and administration are substantially equal to the standards established by the Secretary under the provisions of this chapter and the rules adopted under this chapter.
(12) Cooperate fully with the federal government or other agency in the operation of any joint federal-state programs concerning the rule of the application or use of pesticides, such programs, including the program promulgated under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, 7 U.S.C. §§ 136–136y.
(13) Institute appropriate proceedings on behalf of the Agency to enforce this chapter and any rules adopted pursuant to this chapter. Whenever the Secretary believes that any person is in violation of the provisions of this chapter or rules adopted pursuant to this chapter, an action may be brought in the name of the Agency in a court of competent jurisdiction against the person to restrain by temporary or permanent injunction the continuation or repetition of the violation. The court may issue temporary or permanent injunctions without bond, and other relief as may be necessary and appropriate for abatement of any violation.
(14) In any case in which the Secretary has authority to institute an action or proceeding under this chapter, in lieu thereof he or she may accept an assurance of discontinuance of any violation of any of the statutes and rules specified in this chapter, including schedules of abatement for a violation. Any assurance of discontinuance shall be prepared in writing with the assistance of the Attorney General. The assurance shall be signed by all parties, and at the discretion of the Secretary, the Attorney General shall submit the assurance of discontinuance to the Superior Court having jurisdiction over the subject matter and shall request that the presiding judge sign the document and issue it as an order of the court. Evidence of a violation of such assurance shall be prima facie proof of violation of a statute or rule specified in this chapter as cited in the assurance. Prior to institution of any action or proceeding under this subdivision, the Secretary whenever he or she believes any person to be or to have been in violation of any statute or rule specified in this subdivision may issue a notice of violation setting forth the nature of the violation, the corrective action necessary to abate the violation, and the notice of intention to institute an action or proceeding against the person responsible for the violation. In that event, the Secretary shall provide the person within 30 days of the notice an opportunity to be heard and an opportunity to settle the matter by an assurance to discontinue prior to instituting an action or proceeding as provided for in this subdivision.
(15) Require correction of sources of pesticide contamination that threaten human health or the environment.
(16) Conduct a collection program for obsolete and unwanted pesticides.
(17) Make information reported to the Agency relative to the use of pesticides available to the public via the Internet or in any other way deemed appropriate and may allow the required reporting of pesticide use data to be submitted electronically. (Added 1969, No. 273 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. April 9, 1970; amended 1975, No. 39, § 3; 1975, No. 220 (Adj. Sess.), § 10; 1981, No. 53, §§ 2, 4; 1987, No. 76, § 18; 1989, No. 257 (Adj. Sess.), § 8; 1991, No. 79, § 5; 1995, No. 125 (Adj. Sess.), § 3; 1999, No. 49, § 116(2); 1999, No. 141 (Adj. Sess.), § 3; 2003, No. 42, § 2, eff. May 27, 2003; 2015, No. 99 (Adj. Sess.), § 4; 2017, No. 74, § 8; 2017, No. 113 (Adj. Sess.), § 24; 2021, No. 49, § 5, eff. Jan. 1, 2022; 2023, No. 6, § 50, eff. July 1, 2023.)