Senate Study Bill 1221 - Introduced SENATE FILE _____ BY (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT BILL BY CHAIRPERSON DEARDEN) A BILL FOR An Act relating to incidents involving pesticide drift, 1 including by providing for reporting and testing, and making 2 appropriations. 3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 4 TLSB 2136XC (4) 86 da/nh

S.F. _____ Section 1. Section 206.2, Code 2015, is amended by adding 1 the following new subsection: 2 NEW SUBSECTION . 11A. “Drift” means the movement of a 3 pesticide during or immediately after application through air 4 to a site other than the intended site of application. 5 Sec. 2. Section 206.14, subsection 2, unnumbered paragraph 6 1, Code 2015, is amended to read as follows: 7 Any person claiming damages from a pesticide application , 8 including an incident involving drift, shall have filed file 9 with the secretary on a form prescribed by the secretary a 10 written statement claiming that the person has been damaged by 11 the application . The secretary shall allow such forms to be 12 completed and filed via the department’s internet site. 13 Sec. 3. Section 206.19, subsection 5, Code 2015, is amended 14 by adding the following new paragraph: 15 NEW PARAGRAPH . c. For damages caused by drift as provided 16 in section 206.14, the amount of civil damages collected by the 17 department is appropriated to the department to perform tests 18 analyzing the possible presence of pesticides as reported by a 19 person alleging damages as provided in section 206.14. 20 Sec. 4. PESTICIDE DRIFT —— APPROPRIATION. There is 21 appropriated from the general fund of the state to the 22 department of agriculture and land stewardship for the fiscal 23 year beginning July 1, 2015, and ending June 30, 2016, the 24 following amount, or so much thereof as is necessary, to be 25 used for the purposes designated: 26 1. For purposes of assisting persons alleging damages 27 caused by pesticide drift as provided in chapter 206: 28 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 325,000 29 2. a. Of the amount appropriated in subsection 1, up to 30 $125,000 shall be used by the department to improve or expand 31 its internet site in order to allow a person to electronically 32 file a statement alleging damages as provided in section 33 206.14, as amended in this Act. 34 b. Of the amount appropriated in subsection 1, up to 35 -1- LSB 2136XC (4) 86 da/nh 1/ 3

S.F. _____ $200,000 shall be used by the department to decrease the time 1 that persons filing statements alleging damages under section 2 206.14, as amended in this Act, must wait to obtain the results 3 from tests analyzing the possible presence of the pesticides. 4 (1) A person alleging damages must receive the results of 5 the test within twenty-one days from the first date that the 6 department could begin testing. 7 (2) The department shall determine whether a test is best 8 conducted at the department’s Iowa laboratory facility or 9 another laboratory, including a private laboratory. 10 3. Notwithstanding section 8.33, moneys appropriated in 11 this section that remain unencumbered or unobligated at the 12 close of the fiscal year shall not revert but shall remain 13 available for expenditure for the purposes designated until the 14 close of the succeeding fiscal year. 15 EXPLANATION 16 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 17 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 18 GENERAL. This bill amends the “Pesticide Act of Iowa” 19 (Code chapter 206) by providing for incidents involving 20 “drift”, which is defined to mean the movement of a pesticide 21 either during or after its application (usually to land or 22 crops) through the air to another site. The provisions are 23 administered and enforced by the department of agriculture and 24 land stewardship (DALS). 25 REPORTING. The bill amends a provision which allows a person 26 to file a claim for damages from a pesticide application with 27 DALS by allowing a person to complete and file the report form 28 via the internet. 29 APPROPRIATIONS —— GENERAL FUND. The bill appropriates 30 moneys to DALS from the general fund of the state for purposes 31 of assisting persons alleging damages caused by drift, 32 including by improving or expanding DALS’ internet site and 33 by reducing the wait period for a person alleging damages to 34 receive the results of a test conducted by DALS. The bill also 35 -2- LSB 2136XC (4) 86 da/nh 2/ 3

S.F. _____ allows DALS to have such tests conducted by another laboratory, 1 including a private laboratory. The appropriations revert at 2 the close of FY 2016-2017. 3 APPROPRIATIONS —— CIVIL PENALTIES. The bill also provides 4 that civil damages collected by DALS from violations involving 5 drift by commercial applicators are appropriated to DALS for 6 purposes of conducting the tests. 7 BACKGROUND. A pesticide is any substance used to prevent, 8 destroy, repel, or mitigate damages caused by insects, rodents, 9 nematodes, fungi, weeds, or other forms of plant or animal life 10 or viruses; and includes any substance used as a plant growth 11 regulator, defoliant, or desiccant (Code section 206.2). A 12 person claiming damages from a pesticide application must file 13 a report with DALS, which then may conduct an investigation of 14 the matter (Code section 206.14). DALS may establish, assess, 15 and collect civil penalties for violations by commercial 16 applicators for an amount not to exceed $500 for each offense 17 (Code section 206.19). 18 -3- LSB 2136XC (4) 86 da/nh 3/ 3