HB5018 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB103 39359 BDA 69522 b

103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024
HB5018

Introduced 2/8/2024, by Rep. Maura Hirschauer

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

415 ILCS 60/4	from Ch. 5, par. 804
415 ILCS 60/24.1	from Ch. 5, par. 824.1

Amends the Illinois Pesticide Act. Increases monetary penalties, and increases point values in determining monetary penalties. Distinguishes pesticide effects on woody perennial plants and herbaceous plants with respect to penalties. Defines terms.

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning safety.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Illinois Pesticide Act is amended by changing Sections 4 and 24.1 as follows:

(415 ILCS 60/4) (from Ch. 5, par. 804)

Sec. 4. Definitions. As used in this Act:

1. "Director" means Director of the Illinois Department of Agriculture or his authorized representative.

2. "Active Ingredient" means any ingredient which will prevent, destroy, repel, control or mitigate a pest or which will act as a plant regulator, defoliant or desiccant.

3. "Adulterated" shall apply to any pesticide if the strength or purity is not within the standard of quality expressed on the labeling under which it is sold, distributed or used, including any substance which has been substituted wholly or in part for the pesticide as specified on the labeling under which it is sold, distributed or used, or if any valuable constituent of the pesticide has been wholly or in part abstracted.

4. "Agricultural Commodity" means produce of the land, including, but not limited to, plants and plant parts, livestock and poultry and livestock or poultry products, seeds, sod, shrubs and other products of agricultural origin including the premises necessary to and used directly in agricultural production. Agricultural commodity also includes aquatic products, including any aquatic plants and animals or their by-products that are produced, grown, managed, harvested and marketed on an annual, semi-annual, biennial or short-term basis, in permitted aquaculture facilities.

5. "Animal" means all vertebrate and invertebrate species including, but not limited to, man and other mammals, birds, fish, and shellfish.

5.5. "Barrier mosquitocide" means a pesticide that is formulated to kill adult mosquitoes and that is applied so as to leave a residual mosquitocidal coating on natural or manmade surfaces. "Barrier mosquitocide" does not include a product that is exempt from registration under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, or rules adopted pursuant to that Act.

5.6. "Barrier mosquitocide treatment" means application of a barrier mosquitocide to a natural or manmade surface.

6. "Beneficial Insects" means those insects which during their life cycle are effective pollinators of plants, predators of pests or are otherwise beneficial.

7. "Certified applicator".

A. "Certified applicator" means any individual who is certified under this Act to purchase, use, or supervise the use of pesticides which are classified for restricted use.

B. "Private applicator" means a certified applicator who purchases, uses, or supervises the use of any pesticide classified for restricted use, for the purpose of producing any agricultural commodity on property owned, rented, or otherwise controlled by him or his employer, or applied to other property if done without compensation other than trading of personal services between no more than 2 producers of agricultural commodities.

C. "Licensed Commercial Applicator" means a certified applicator, whether or not he is a private applicator with respect to some uses, who owns or manages a business that is engaged in applying pesticides, whether classified for general or restricted use, for hire. The term also applies to a certified applicator who uses or supervises the use of pesticides, whether classified for general or restricted use, for any purpose or on property of others excluding those specified by subparagraphs 7 (B), (D), (E) of Section 4 of this Act.

D. "Commercial Not For Hire Applicator" means a certified applicator who uses or supervises the use of pesticides classified for general or restricted use for any purpose on property of an employer when such activity is a requirement of the terms of employment and such application of pesticides under this certification is limited to property under the control of the employer only and includes, but is not limited to, the use or supervision of the use of pesticides in a greenhouse setting. "Commercial Not For Hire Applicator" also includes a certified applicator who uses or supervises the use of pesticides classified for general or restricted use as an employee of a state agency, municipality, or other duly constituted governmental agency or unit.

8. "Defoliant" means any substance or combination of substances which cause leaves or foliage to drop from a plant with or without causing abscission.

9. "Desiccant" means any substance or combination of substances intended for artificially accelerating the drying of plant tissue.

10. "Device" means any instrument or contrivance, other than a firearm or equipment for application of pesticides when sold separately from pesticides, which is intended for trapping, repelling, destroying, or mitigating any pest, other than bacteria, virus, or other microorganisms on or living in man or other living animals.

11. "Distribute" means offer or hold for sale, sell, barter, ship, deliver for shipment, receive and then deliver, or offer to deliver pesticides, within the State.

12. "Environment" includes water, air, land, and all plants and animals including man, living therein and the interrelationships which exist among these.

13. "Equipment" means any type of instruments and contrivances using motorized, mechanical or pressure power which is used to apply any pesticide, excluding pressurized hand-size household apparatus containing dilute ready to apply pesticide or used to apply household pesticides.

14. "FIFRA" means the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, as amended.

15. "Fungi" means any non-chlorophyll bearing thallophytes, any non-chlorophyll bearing plant of a lower order than mosses or liverworts, as for example rust, smut, mildew, mold, yeast and bacteria, except those on or in living animals including man and those on or in processed foods, beverages or pharmaceuticals.

15.5. "Herbaceous plants" means any non-woody, vascular annual, biennial, or perennial plants.

16. "Household Substance" means any pesticide customarily produced and distributed for use by individuals in or about the household.

17. "Imminent Hazard" means a situation which exists when continued use of a pesticide would likely result in unreasonable adverse effects on the environment or will involve unreasonable hazard to the survival of a species declared endangered by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior or to species declared to be protected by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

18. "Inert Ingredient" means an ingredient which is not an active ingredient.

19. "Ingredient Statement" means a statement of the name and percentage of each active ingredient together with the total percentage of inert ingredients in a pesticide and for pesticides containing arsenic in any form, the ingredient statement shall include percentage of total and water soluble arsenic, each calculated as elemental arsenic. In the case of spray adjuvants the ingredient statement need contain only the names of the functioning agents and the total percent of those constituents ineffective as spray adjuvants.

20. "Insect" means any of the numerous small invertebrate animals generally having the body more or less obviously segmented for the most part belonging to the class Insects, comprised of six-legged, usually winged forms, as for example beetles, caterpillars, and flies. This definition encompasses other allied classes of arthropods whose members are wingless and usually have more than 6 legs as for example spiders, mites, ticks, centipedes, and millipedes.

21. "Label" means the written, printed or graphic matter on or attached to the pesticide or device or any of its containers or wrappings.

22. "Labeling" means the label and all other written, printed or graphic matter: (a) on the pesticide or device or any of its containers or wrappings, (b) accompanying the pesticide or device or referring to it in any other media used to disseminate information to the public, (c) to which reference is made to the pesticide or device except when references are made to current official publications of the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, Departments of Agriculture, Health, Education and Welfare or other Federal Government institutions, the state experiment station or colleges of agriculture or other similar state institution authorized to conduct research in the field of pesticides.

23. "Land" means all land and water area including airspace, and all plants, animals, structures, buildings, contrivances, and machinery appurtenant thereto or situated thereon, fixed or mobile, including any used for transportation.

24. "Licensed Operator" means a person employed to apply pesticides to the lands of others under the direction of a "licensed commercial applicator" or a "licensed commercial not-for-hire applicator".

25. "Nematode" means invertebrate animals of the phylum nemathelminthes and class nematoda, also referred to as nemas or eelworms, which are unsegmented roundworms with elongated fusiform or sac-like bodies covered with cuticle and inhabiting soil, water, plants or plant parts.

26. "Permit" means a written statement issued by the Director or his authorized agent, authorizing certain acts of pesticide purchase or of pesticide use or application on an interim basis prior to normal certification, registration, or licensing.

27. "Person" means any individual, partnership, association, fiduciary, corporation, or any organized group of persons whether incorporated or not.

28. "Pest" means (a) any insect, rodent, nematode, fungus, weed, or (b) any other form of terrestrial or aquatic plant or animal life or virus, bacteria, or other microorganism, excluding virus, bacteria, or other microorganism on or in living animals including man, which the Director declares to be a pest.

29. "Pesticide" means any substance or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying, repelling, or mitigating any pest or any substance or mixture of substances intended for use as a plant regulator, defoliant or desiccant.

30. "Pesticide Dealer" means any person who distributes registered pesticides to the user.

31. "Plant Regulator" means any substance or mixture of substances intended through physiological action to affect the rate of growth or maturation or otherwise alter the behavior of ornamental or crop plants or the produce thereof. This does not include substances which are not intended as plant nutrient trace elements, nutritional chemicals, plant or seed inoculants or soil conditioners or amendments.

32. "Protect Health and Environment" means to guard against any unreasonable adverse effects on the environment.

33. "Registrant" means a person who has registered any pesticide pursuant to the provision of FIFRA and this Act.

34. "Restricted Use Pesticide" means any pesticide with one or more of its uses classified as restricted by order of the Administrator of USEPA.

35. "SLN Registration" means registration of a pesticide for use under conditions of special local need as defined by FIFRA.

36. "State Restricted Pesticide Use" means any pesticide use which the Director determines, subsequent to public hearing, that an additional restriction for that use is needed to prevent unreasonable adverse effects.

37. "Structural Pest" means any pests which attack and destroy buildings and other structures or which attack clothing, stored food, commodities stored at food manufacturing and processing facilities or manufactured and processed goods.

38. "Unreasonable Adverse Effects on the Environment" means the unreasonable risk to the environment, including man, from the use of any pesticide, when taking into account accrued benefits of as well as the economic, social, and environmental costs of its use.

39. "USEPA" means United States Environmental Protection Agency.

40. "Use inconsistent with the label" means to use a pesticide in a manner not consistent with the label instruction, the definition adopted in FIFRA as interpreted by USEPA shall apply in Illinois.

41. "Weed" means any plant growing in a place where it is not wanted.

42. "Wildlife" means all living things, not human, domestic, or pests.

42.5. "Woody perennial plants" means any plant that produces wood as its primary structure and whose life span is longer than 2 years.

43. "Bulk pesticide" means any registered pesticide which is transported or held in an individual container in undivided quantities of greater than 55 U.S. gallons liquid measure or 100 pounds net dry weight.

44. "Bulk repackaging" means the transfer of a registered pesticide from one bulk container (containing undivided quantities of greater than 100 U.S. gallons liquid measure or 100 pounds net dry weight) to another bulk container (containing undivided quantities of greater than 100 U.S. gallons liquid measure or 100 pounds net dry weight) in an unaltered state in preparation for sale or distribution to another person.

45. "Business" means any individual, partnership, corporation or association engaged in a business operation for the purpose of selling or distributing pesticides or providing the service of application of pesticides in this State.

46. "Facility" means any building or structure and all real property contiguous thereto, including all equipment fixed thereon used for the operation of the business.

47. "Chemigation" means the application of a pesticide through the systems or equipment employed for the primary purpose of irrigation of land and crops.

48. "Use" means any activity covered by the pesticide label, including, but not limited to, application of pesticide, mixing and loading, storage of pesticides or pesticide containers, disposal of pesticides and pesticide containers and reentry into treated sites or areas.

(Source: P.A. 102-555, eff. 1-1-22; 102-916, eff. 1-1-23; 103-154, eff. 6-30-23.)

(415 ILCS 60/24.1) (from Ch. 5, par. 824.1)

Sec. 24.1. Administrative actions and penalties.

(1) The Director is authorized after an opportunity for an administrative hearing to suspend, revoke, or modify any license, permit, special order, registration, or certification issued under this Act. This action may be taken in addition to or in lieu of monetary penalties assessed as set forth in this Section. When it is in the interest of the people of the State of Illinois, the Director may, upon good and sufficient evidence, suspend the registration, license, or permit until a hearing has been held. In such cases, the Director shall issue an order in writing setting forth the reasons for the suspension. Such order shall be served personally on the person or by registered or certified mail sent to the person's business address as shown in the latest notification to the Department. When such an order has been issued by the Director, the person may request an immediate hearing.

(2) Before initiating hearing proceedings, the Director may issue an advisory letter to a violator of this Act or its rules and regulations when the violation points total 6 or less, as determined by the Department by the Use and Violation Criteria established in this Section. When the Department determines that the violation points total more than 6 but not more than 13, the Director shall issue a warning letter to the violator.

(3) The hearing officer upon determination of a violation or violations shall assess one or more of the following penalties:

(A) For any person applying pesticides without a license or misrepresenting certification or failing to comply with conditions of an agrichemical facility permit or failing to comply with the conditions of a written authorization for land application of agrichemical contaminated soils or groundwater, a penalty of $500 shall be assessed for the first offense and $1,000 for the second and subsequent offenses.

(B) For violations of a stop use order imposed by the Director, the penalty shall be $2500.

(C) For violations of a stop sale order imposed by the Director, the penalty shall be $1500 for each individual item of the product found in violation of the order.

(D) For selling restricted use pesticides to a non-certified applicator the penalty shall be $1000.

(E) For selling restricted use pesticides without a dealer's license the penalty shall be $1,000.

(F) For constructing or operating without an agrichemical facility permit after receiving written notification, the penalty shall be $500 for the first offense and $1,000 for the second and subsequent offenses.

(F-5) For any person found by the Department to have committed a use inconsistent with the label, as defined in subsection 40 of Section 4, that results in human exposure to a pesticide, the penalty shall be assessed in accordance with this paragraph (F-5). The Department shall impose a penalty under this paragraph (F-5) only if it represents an amount greater than the penalty assessed under paragraph subparagraph (G). The amount of the penalty under this paragraph (F-5) is calculated as follows:

(a) If fewer than 3 humans are exposed, then the penalty shall be $500 for each human exposed.

(b) If 3 or more humans but fewer than 5 humans are exposed, then the penalty shall be $750 for each human exposed.

(c) If 5 or more humans are exposed, then the penalty shall be $1,250 for each human exposed.

If a penalty is imposed under this paragraph (F-5), the Department shall redetermine the total violation points under subsection (4), less any points under subsection (4) stemming from human exposure, and impose any additional penalty under paragraph subparagraph (G) based on the new total. The reassessed total shall not affect any determination under subsection (2); any determination under subsection (2) shall be determined by the full application of points under subsection (4).

(G) For violations of the Act and rules and regulations, administrative penalties will be based upon the total violation points as determined by the Use and Violation Criteria as set forth in subsection paragraph (4) of this Section. The monetary penalties shall be as follows:

(4) Subject to paragraph (F-5), the following Use and Violation Criteria establishes the point value which shall be compiled to determine the total violation points and administrative actions or monetary penalties to be imposed as set forth in paragraph (3)(G) of this Section:

(A) Point values shall be assessed upon the harm or loss incurred.

(1) A point value of 1 shall be assessed for the following:

(a) Exposure to a pesticide by plants, animals or humans with no symptoms or damage noted.

(b) Fraudulent sales practices or representations with no apparent monetary losses involved.

(2) A point value of 2 shall be assessed for exposure the following: (a) Exposure to a pesticide which resulted in:

(a) Herbaceous plants (1) Plants or property showing signs of damage, including, but not limited to, leaf curl, burning, wilting, spotting, or discoloration, or dying.

(b) (2) Garden produce or an agricultural crop not being harvested on schedule.

(c) (3) Fraudulent sales practices or representations resulting in losses under $500.

(3) A point value of 4 shall be assessed for the following:

(a) Exposure to a pesticide resulting in a human experiencing headaches, nausea, eye irritation, and such other symptoms which persisted less than 3 days.

(b) Herbaceous plants Plant or property damage resulting in permanent injury or death in a loss below $1000.

(c) Animals exhibiting symptoms of pesticide poisoning, including, but not limited to, eye or skin irritations or lack of coordination.

(d) Death to less than 5 animals.

(e) Fraudulent sales practices or representations resulting in losses from $500 to $2000.

(f) Woody perennial plants showing signs of damage, including, but not limited to, leaf curl, burning, wilting, spotting, or discoloration.

(4) A point value of 6 shall be assessed for the following:

(a) Exposure to a pesticide resulting in a human experiencing headaches, nausea, eye irritation, and such other symptoms which persisted 3 or more days.

(b) Plant or property damage resulting in a loss of $1000 or more.

(c) Death to 5 or more animals.

(d) Fraudulent sales practices or representations resulting in losses over $2000.

(e) Woody perennial plants showing signs of damage likely to cause an increased risk of mortality or damage which results in mortality.

(B) Point values shall be assessed based upon the signal word on the label of the chemical involved:

(C) Point values shall be assessed based upon the degree of responsibility.

(D) Point values shall be assessed based upon the violator's history for the previous 3 years:

(E) Point values shall be assessed based upon the violation type:

(1) Application Oriented:

Use contrary to label directions:

(2) Product Oriented:

(5) Any penalty not paid within 60 days of notice from the Department shall be submitted to the Attorney General's Office for collection. Failure to pay a penalty shall also be grounds for suspension or revocation of permits, licenses and registrations.

(6) Private applicators, except those private applicators who have been found by the Department to have committed a "use inconsistent with the label" as defined in subsection 40 of Section 4 of this Act, are exempt from the Use and Violation Criteria point values.

(Source: P.A. 102-558, eff. 8-20-21; 103-62, eff. 6-9-23; revised 9-20-23.)