7 U.S.C. § 136i–1: Pesticide recordkeeping

Summary

Certified applicators of restricted-use pesticides must keep records like the ones commercial applicators keep in their State. If the State has no record rule, the applicator must keep, for 2 years, the product name, amount used, approximate date, and location for each pesticide used. A commercial certified applicator must give a copy of those records to the person who hired them within 30 days after an application. Federal or State agencies that deal with pesticides or related health or environmental issues may request and review these records. Federal agencies must get access through the Secretary of Agriculture or the Secretary’s designee; State agencies must request access through the State’s lead agency. Agencies may use the data for surveys and studies but may not publish information that would identify individual producers or their locations. If a health professional needs the records to treat someone exposed to pesticides, the applicator must provide the records and label information quickly, and immediately in an emergency. The Secretary of Agriculture enforces these rules. A first violation can carry a fine up to $500; later violations must carry fines of at least $1,000 unless the Secretary finds a good-faith effort to comply. The Secretary and the EPA Administrator must survey the records, make a database, sign a memorandum to divide duties, and publish yearly comprehensive reports on pesticide use to Congress by April 1 each year. They must also issue rules to carry out these requirements within 180 days after November 28, 1990.

Title 7, §136i–1

Agriculture, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Requirements

(1)The Secretary of Agriculture, in consultation with the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, shall require certified applicators of restricted use pesticides (of the type described under section 136a(d)(1)(C) of this title) to maintain records comparable to records maintained by commercial applicators of pesticides in each State. If there is no State requirement for the maintenance of records, such applicator shall maintain records that contain the product name, amount, approximate date of application, and location of application of each such pesticide used for a 2-year period after such use.

(2)Within 30 days of a pesticide application, a commercial certified applicator shall provide a copy of records maintained under paragraph (1) to the person for whom such application was provided.

(b)Access

Records maintained under subsection (a) shall be made available to any Federal or State agency that deals with pesticide use or any health or environmental issue related to the use of pesticides, on the request of such agency. Each such Federal agency shall conduct surveys and record the data from individual applicators to facilitate statistical analysis for environmental and agronomic purposes, but in no case may a government agency release data, including the location from which the data was derived, that would directly or indirectly reveal the identity of individual producers. In the case of Federal agencies, such access to records maintained under subsection (a) shall be through the Secretary of Agriculture, or the Secretary’s designee. State agency requests for access to records maintained under subsection (a) shall be through the lead State agency so designated by the State.

(c)Health care personnel

When a health professional determines that pesticide information maintained under this section is necessary to provide medical treatment or first aid to an individual who may have been exposed to pesticides for which the information is maintained, upon request persons required to maintain records under subsection (a) shall promptly provide record and available label information to that health professional. In the case of an emergency, such record information shall be provided immediately.

(d)Penalty

The Secretary of Agriculture shall be responsible for the enforcement of subsections (a), (b), and (c). A violation of such subsection shall—

(1)in the case of the first offense, be subject to a fine of not more than $500; and

(2)in the case of subsequent offenses, be subject to a fine of not less than $1,000 for each violation, except that the penalty shall be less than $1,000 if the Secretary determines that the person made a good faith effort to comply with such subsection.

(e)Federal or State provisions

The requirements of this section shall not affect provisions of other Federal or State laws.

(f)Surveys and reports

The Secretary of Agriculture and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, shall survey the records maintained under subsection (a) to develop and maintain a data base that is sufficient to enable the Secretary and the Administrator to publish annual comprehensive reports concerning agricultural and nonagricultural pesticide use. The Secretary and Administrator shall enter into a memorandum of understanding to define their respective responsibilities under this subsection in order to avoid duplication of effort. Such reports shall be transmitted to Congress not later than April 1 of each year.

(g)Regulations

The Secretary of Agriculture and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency shall promulgate regulations on their respective areas of responsibility implementing this section within 180 days after November 28, 1990.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Codification Section was enacted as part of the Conservation Program Improvements Act, and also as part of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990, and not as part of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act which comprises this subchapter.

Amendments

1991—Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 102–237, § 1006(d)(1), inserted closing parenthesis after “section 136a(d)(1)(C) of this title”. Subsec. (d)(1). Pub. L. 102–237, § 1006(d)(2), inserted “of” after “fine”.

§136i–1 Pesticide Recordkeeping

Summary

Title 7, §136i–1

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

Citations & Metadata