By: Hamric H.B. No. 1097
73R1498 MJW-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the application of pesticides by maintenance workers of
1-3 certain governmental and educational entities.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 2(a), Texas Structural Pest Control Act
1-6 (Article 135b-6, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read
1-7 as follows:
1-8 (a) Except as otherwise provided by <For purposes of> this
1-9 Act, a person shall be deemed to be engaged in the business of
1-10 structural pest control for purposes of this Act if the person
1-11 engages in, offers to engage in, advertises for, solicits, or
1-12 performs any of the following services for compensation, including
1-13 services performed as a part of the person's employment:
1-14 (1) identifying infestations or making inspections for
1-15 the purpose of identifying or attempting to identify infestations
1-16 of:
1-17 (A) arthropods (insects, spiders, mites, ticks,
1-18 and related pests), wood-infesting organisms, rodents, weeds,
1-19 nuisance birds, and any other obnoxious or undesirable animals
1-20 which may infest households, railroad cars, ships, docks, trucks,
1-21 airplanes, or other structures, or the contents thereof; or
1-22 (B) pests or diseases of trees, shrubs, or other
1-23 plantings in a park or adjacent to a residence, business
1-24 establishment, industrial plant, institutional building, or street;
2-1 (2) making inspection reports, recommendations,
2-2 estimates, or bids, whether oral or written, with respect to such
2-3 infestations; or
2-4 (3) making contracts, or submitting bids for, or
2-5 performing services designed to prevent, control, or eliminate such
2-6 infestations by the use of insecticides, pesticides, rodenticides,
2-7 fumigants, or allied chemicals or substances or mechanical devices.
2-8 SECTION 2. Section 4B, Texas Structural Pest Control Act
2-9 (Article 135b-6, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended by
2-10 amending Subsections (b) and (d) and adding Subsections (g)-(i) to
2-11 read as follows:
2-12 (b) Except as provided by Subsection (g) of this section, an
2-13 <An> individual must be licensed as a certified noncommercial
2-14 applicator if the individual is not licensed as a certified
2-15 commercial applicator and the individual:
2-16 (1) is an employee of the state or a city or county
2-17 and engages in the business of structural pest control; or
2-18 (2) is an employee of a person who owns, operates, or
2-19 maintains a building, the individual engages in the business of
2-20 structural pest control in the building, and the building is an
2-21 apartment building; day-care center; hospital; nursing home; hotel;
2-22 motel; lodge; warehouse; food-processing establishment, other than
2-23 a restaurant, retail food, or food service establishment; school or
2-24 educational institution.
2-25 (d) Except as provided by Subsection (g) of this section, an
2-26 <An> owner of a building that is an apartment building; day-care
2-27 center; hospital; nursing home; hotel; motel; lodge; warehouse;
3-1 food-processing establishment, other than a restaurant, retail
3-2 food, or food service establishment; school or educational
3-3 institution, may obtain pest control services for the building from
3-4 a person only by:
3-5 (1) contracting with a business that has a structural
3-6 pest control business license; or
3-7 (2) requiring an employee of the owner, who is
3-8 licensed as a certified noncommercial applicator, to perform the
3-9 services.
3-10 (g) An individual who is employed as a maintenance worker by
3-11 the state or by a municipality, county, or school district is not
3-12 required to obtain a license under this Act to apply an
3-13 over-the-counter pesticide in the scope of the individual's
3-14 employment if:
3-15 (1) the application is supervised by a certified
3-16 noncommercial applicator; and
3-17 (2) the over-the-counter pesticide is used according
3-18 to rules adopted by the Department of Agriculture under Section
3-19 76.104(d), Agriculture Code.
3-20 (h) The board may not regulate the application of an
3-21 over-the-counter pesticide under Subsection (g) of this section,
3-22 except that the board shall regulate licensing of a certified
3-23 noncommercial applicator who supervises the pesticide application.
3-24 (i) In this section:
3-25 (1) "Over-the-counter pesticide" means a pest control
3-26 chemical or device intended for household use that is available for
3-27 purchase by the public in a retail store. The term does not
4-1 include a restricted-use pesticide or a state-limited-use
4-2 pesticide.
4-3 (2) "Supervised" means that, in the application of an
4-4 over-the-counter pesticide, the application is made by a
4-5 maintenance worker acting under the instruction and control of a
4-6 certified noncommercial applicator who is available if needed for
4-7 consultation or assistance. The certified noncommercial applicator
4-8 is not required to be physically present at the time of the
4-9 application.
4-10 SECTION 3. Section 76.104, Agriculture Code, is amended by
4-11 adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
4-12 (d) The department shall adopt rules regulating the
4-13 application of over-the-counter pesticides by maintenance workers
4-14 employed by the state or by a municipality, county, or school
4-15 district under Section 4B(g), Texas Structural Pest Control Act
4-16 (Article 135b-6, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes).
4-17 SECTION 4. The Department of Agriculture shall adopt rules
4-18 regulating the application of pesticides as required by Section 3
4-19 of this Act not later than December 31, 1993.
4-20 SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 1993.
4-21 SECTION 6. The importance of this legislation and the
4-22 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-23 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-24 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-25 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.