Code of Vermont Rules › Agency 20 - DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, FOOD AND MARKETS › Sub-Agency 031 - PLANT INDUSTRY DIVISION › Chapter 012 - VERMONT REGULATIONS FOR CONTROL OF PESTICIDES › Section 20 031 012 - VERMONT REGULATIONS FOR CONTROL OF PESTICIDES

Current through June, 2024
Subchapter 1. Definitions; Powers of the Secretary;
Licenses, Certificates, and
Permits issued by the Agency;
Classification of Pesticides and
Limitations on Sale
Section  1. Definitions.
1.01
Accident
means any release of a pesticide or pesticide mix from its container or application equipment that is contrary to a label instruction for use of that pesticide, or that violates this rule.
1.02
Aerial Application
means a pesticide application from a motorized vehicle used for flight, including fixed-wing aircraft, rotary aircraft, and unmanned aerial vehicles.
1.03
Agency
means the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets.
1.04
Agricultural Commodity
means any plant, fungus, or algae, or part thereof, or any animal or animal product produced by a person primarily for sale, consumption, propagation, or other use by a human or animal.
1.05
Anti-Siphon Device
means any equipment designed and constructed to prevent the accidental backflow or siphoning of a pesticide into any potable water supply or public water source or to prevent contamination by a pesticide of another material being injected at the same time, such as a fertilizer or other pesticide.
1.06
Applicator
means any individual using a pesticide. An applicator may be certified as a commercial, noncommercial, or private applicator or may be a noncertified applicator.
1.07
Application
means the dispersal of a pesticide on, in, at, or directed toward a target site.
1.08
Appurtenance
means any equipment that is connected to a bulk storage container or pesticide application equipment for the purpose of transferring a pesticide and includes: valves, pumps, fittings, pipes, hoses, metering devices, mixing containers, and dispensing devices.
1.09
Bulk Pesticide
means liquid pesticide in a container larger than 210 gallons (795 liters) or dry pesticide in undivided quantities greater than 100 pounds (45 kilograms), and includes mini-bulk pesticide containers, except as otherwise specified.
1.10
Bulk Storage Container
means a container used for the fixed storage of bulk pesticide, that may include a rail car, nurse tank, portable container of mini-bulk pesticide, or other similarly mobile container that is used for the fixed storage of bulk pesticide for more than 15 consecutive days. A Bulk Storage Container does not include a container that is used solely for emergency storage of a leaking pesticide container that is 55 gallons or smaller.
1.11
Certified Commercial Applicator
means any person certified pursuant to the requirements of this rule who uses a pesticide on the land or home of another whether for remuneration or gratis.
1.12
Certified Non-commercial Applicator
means any person certified pursuant to the requirements of this rule who uses or supervises the use of a Class A or Class B pesticide in the course of their employment on their employer's property.
1.13
Certified Private Applicator
means any person certified pursuant to the requirements of this rule who uses or supervises the use of a Class A pesticide on property owned or rented by the person or their employer for the production of an agricultural commodity.
1.14
Chemigation
means the use of a pesticide applied through an irrigation system to land or crops.
1.15
Class A Pesticide
means a pesticide that is classified as federally restricted or State restricted.
1.16
Class B Pesticide
means a general use pesticide that the Secretary classifies as a controlled sale product.
1.17
Class C Pesticide
means a general use pesticide that the Secretary classifies as a homeowner or specialty product.
1.18
Commercial Applicator
means a person who is not certified in accordance with the requirements of this rule and uses a pesticide on the land or home of another whether for remuneration or gratis under the direct supervision of a certified commercial applicator.
1.19
Company License
means a license issued by the Secretary to a business entity that uses a pesticide on the land or home of another person for remuneration or gratis.
1.20
Competency
means having the practical knowledge, skills, experience, and judgment necessary to perform functions associated with a pesticide application without causing an unreasonable adverse effect, where the nature and degree of competency required relate directly to the nature of the activity and the degree of independent responsibility.
1.21
Conspicuous Point of Access
means the usual and customary entrance or entrances where a person is likely to enter a treated area.
1.22
Container
means a device in which a pesticide is stored, transported, treated, disposed of, or otherwise handled.
1.23
Dealer
means any person who distributes a pesticide.
1.24
Dealer Outlet
means any location where a pesticide is distributed within or into the State.
1.25
Direct Supervision
means physical, on-site supervision of a pesticide use by a certified applicator who is capable of calibrating equipment, selecting a pesticide, calculating an application rate and responding to an emergency. Direct supervision is not permitted for use of a federally restricted use pesticide.
1.26
Discharge
means a spill, leak, or other emission of a pesticide from a storage container, container, or appurtenance, and includes a release into secondary containment. Discharge shall not mean a fully contained transfer of bulk pesticide that is made pursuant to sale, storage, or distribution that is in accordance with label directions.
1.27
Distribute
means to import, consign, sell, offer for sale, solicit an order for sale, or otherwise supply a pesticide for sale or use in this State through any means, including sales outlets, catalogues, the telephone, the Internet, or any electronic means.
1.28
Earth
means soil, defined as a three-phase system comprised of various combinations of naturally derived solids including fine to coarse-grained rocks and minerals, organic matter (including living organisms), weathered rock, and precipitates.
1.29
Economic Poison
means any substance produced, distributed, or used for preventing, destroying, or repelling any insects, rodents, nematodes, fungi, weeds, or other forms of plant or animal life or viruses, except viruses on or in living humans or other animals, that the Secretary shall declare to be a pest; or any substance produced, distributed, or used as a plant regulator, defoliant, or desiccant.
1.30 EPA means the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
1.31
Environmentally Sensitive Areas
means those areas that:
(a) are significant wetlands as defined in 10 V.S.A. Chapter 037;
(b) are necessary wildlife habitat as defined in 10 V.S.A. Chapter 151; or
(c) contain endangered or threatened species as defined in 10 V.S.A. Chapter 123 or are critical habitat as designated under 10 V.S.A. Chapter 123.
1.32
Experimental Use
means the use of an unregistered pesticide or the use of a registered pesticide for an unregistered use conducted under a permit.
1.33
Federally Restricted Use Pesticide
means a pesticide classified for restricted use under the provisions of   Section 3(d) of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and 40 C.F.R. part 152, subpart I.
1.34
Fraud
means the intentional misrepresentation through a verbal or written statement, the media, a falsified record, an invoice or report, or a false statement on an application for a license or certificate.
1.35
Golf Course
means any contiguous area upon which the game of golf is played including such supporting operations as practice greens, tees, and driving areas.
1.36
Groundwater
means water below the land surface that occurs in a zone of saturation.
1.37
Groundwater Protection Rule and Strategy
means Chapter 12 of the Environmental Protection Rules adopted pursuant to 10 V.S.A. Chapter 48, as amended.
1.38
Half-Life
means the time required for degradation of one-half of the pesticide residue present.
1.39
Integrated Pest Management
means an ecosystem-based strategy that focuses on long- term prevention of pests or their damage through a combination of techniques such as biological control, habitat manipulation, modification of cultural practices, and use of resistant varieties. Pesticides are used only after monitoring indicates they are needed according to established guidelines, and treatments are made with the goal of removing only the target organism. Pest control materials are selected and applied in a manner that minimizes risks to human health, beneficial and nontarget organisms, and the environment.
1.40
KOC
means the soil organic carbon-water partitioning coefficient: a measure of the tendency of a pesticide to be strongly attached, by chemical or physical bonds, to soil particle surfaces.
1.41
Label or Labeling
means:
(a) the written, printed, or graphic matter on, or attached to, the pesticide, or the immediate container thereon;
(b) the outside container or wrapper of the retail package, if there is one, of the pesticide; and
(c) the written, printed, or graphic matter that is incorporated into the label by reference.
1.42
Loading
means any act of transferring a pesticide to or from any storage container, or to any application equipment.
1.43
Manufacture
means to process, produce, formulate, prepare, compound, package, repackage, or label a pesticide.
1.44
Mini-bulk container
means either:
(a) a container, designed for ready handling and transport, that holds more than 55 gallons (208 liters) but not more than 350 gallons (1,325 liters) of liquid pesticide; or
(b) a container that holds more than 100 pounds (45 kilograms) but not more than 1,000 pounds (454 kilograms) of dry pesticide.
1.45
Misuse
means an application not made in compliance with the pesticide label or this rule, including:
(a) pre-application activities involving mixing and loading the pesticide;
(b) applying the pesticide, including supervising the use of a pesticide by a noncertified applicator;
(c) other pesticide-related activities, including transporting or storing pesticide containers that have been opened, cleaning equipment, and disposing of excess pesticide, spray mix, equipment wash waters, pesticide containers, and other pesticide-containing materials; or
(d) recommending the use of a pesticide.
1.46
Mixing
means the act of combining a pesticide with another pesticide, or a pesticide with a diluent for the purpose of application.
1.47
Noncertified Applicator
means a person who is not certified under this rule and uses a pesticide.
1.48
Non-commercial Applicator
means a person who uses a Class A or Class B pesticide in the course of their employment on their employer's property.
1.49
Ornamental
means plants such as flowers, shrubs, and trees used for decorative purposes, shade, or other landscape purposes.
1.50
Person
means any individual, partnership, association, corporation, or organized group of persons whether incorporated or not, including:
(a) an unincorporated organization, trust, or other legal or commercial entity, including a joint venture or affiliated ownership;
(b) a municipality or state agency;
(c) individuals and entities affiliated with each other for profit, consideration, or any other beneficial interest derived from agricultural management, including lessors and lessees; or
(d) a farmer, rancher, vineyardist, apiarist, plant propagator, Christmas tree grower, aquaculturist, floriculturist, orchardist, forester, migrant farmworker or another comparable person.
1.51
Pesticide
means economic poison as defined in   6 V.S.A. §
												911 and   Section 1.29 of this rule.
1.52
Potable Water Supply
means the same as it is defined in 10 V.S.A. Chapter 064.
1.53
Potable Water Source
means a component of a potable water supply that withdraws or collects water from soil or bedrock. Potable water sources include springs; drilled, driven, or dug wells; and surface water.
1.54
Practical Knowledge
means the possession of pertinent facts and comprehension sufficient to properly perform functions associated with the use of a pesticide, including properly responding to reasonably foreseeable problems and situations.
1.55
Prescreened Pesticide List
means a list of pesticides that, based on their human and ecological toxicity, relative immobility, and limited persistence in the environment (as measured by parameters such as, but not restricted to, solubility, KOC, and half-life) are deemed unlikely, under normal conditions and use, to leave established turf grass and enter surface or ground water.
1.56
Private Applicator
means any person who uses a non-restricted use pesticide on property owned or rented by the applicator that is residential in nature or on property owned or rented by the applicator or the applicator's employer for the production of an agricultural commodity. Private applicators may apply a pesticide to the property of a neighboring producer of an agricultural commodity, provided that the applicator receives no compensation other than the trading of personal services between the applicator and their neighbor.
1.57
Public Water Source
means the same as it is defined in 10 V.S.A. Chapter 056.
1.58
Residential Dwelling Unit
means any room or group of rooms located within a structure and forming a single habitable unit with facilities that are used, or are intended to be used, for living, sleeping, cooking, and eating. This definition includes a building or structure or part of a building or structure that is used for a home or residence by one or more persons who maintain a household. It also means a mobile home regardless of ownership of the land. This definition does not include a guest room at a hotel or motel.
1.59
Restricted Use Pesticide
means a pesticide classified as State or federally restricted and is synonymous with a Class A pesticide.
1.60
Right-of-way
means an interest in real property, above, on, or below the ground, that entitles the holder of the interest to pass over the land for the purpose of carrying, transmitting, or transporting liquids, gases, electricity, communications, vehicles, or people. For the purpose of this rule, it is immaterial whether the right-of-way is owned, leased, or an easement.
1.61
Secretary
means the Secretary of the Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets, and their designees.
1.62
Service Container
means any container, other than an original container that is filled with an EPA-registered pesticide, used to hold, or transport a pesticide concentrate or a pesticide use-dilution preparation prior to application. A service container is neither used to distribute or store a pesticide nor does the definition include pesticide application equipment.
1.63
Simple Dilution Analysis
means an analysis involving the dilution of a chemical with an expected volume of precipitation available for infiltration within a watershed or hydrologic unit. Simple Dilution Analysis is used to assess the potential for a contaminant to be transported to groundwater through the process of infiltration.
1.64
Spray Drift
means the movement of pesticide dust or droplets through the air at the time of application or soon after, to any site other than the area intended.
1.65
State Restricted Use Pesticide
means a pesticide classified by the Secretary as Class A but does not bear labeling as Restricted Use.
1.66
Storage
means the holding of a pesticide for use or distribution in an area other than the sales floor of a licensed retailer.
1.67
Storage Facility
means a location at which bulk pesticide is held in storage.
1.68
Surface Water
means all rivers, streams, brooks, reservoirs, ponds, lakes, springs, and all bodies of waters, artificial or natural, that are contained within, flow through, or border the State or any portion of it.
1.69
Turf
means a covering of mowed grass vegetation growing together with an upper soil stratum of intermingled roots and stems.
1.70
Undue Hazard
means A substance that harms human health and the environment based on studies prepared for pesticide registration, independent peer-reviewed studies, and other data as may be requested by the Secretary.
1.71
Use
means:
(a) pre-application activities involving mixing and loading a pesticide;
(b) applying a pesticide, including supervising the use of a pesticide by a noncertified applicator;
(c) other pesticide-related activities, including transporting or storing a pesticide container that has been opened, cleaning equipment, and disposing of any excess pesticide, spray mix, equipment wash water, a pesticide container, and other pesticide-containing material; or
(d) recommending the use of a pesticide.
1.72
Utility
means a privately, publicly, or cooperatively owned line, facility, or system for producing, transmitting, or distributing communications, cable television, power electricity, light, heat, gas, oil, crude products, water, steam, waste, stormwater not connected with the highway drainage or any other similar commodity, including any fire or police signal system or highway lighting system, that directly or indirectly serves the public. The term shall mean the utility company inclusive of any wholly owned or controlled subsidiary.
1.73
Vapor Drift
means the movement of a pesticide in the form of a volatilized gas to any site other than the area intended.
1.74
Wastewater and Potable Water Supply Rules
means Chapter 1 of the Environmental Protection Rules adopted pursuant to 10 V.S.A. Chapters 47, 56, and 64, as amended.