Senate Study Bill 3125 - 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 contamination, 1 including by drift, providing for reporting, testing and 2 analysis, making appropriations, and making penalties 3 applicable. 4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 5 TLSB 5920XC (3) 86 da/nh

S.F. _____ Section 1. Section 206.2, Code 2016, 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, Code 2016, is amended 6 to read as follows: 7 2. Any person claiming damages from a pesticide 8 application , including an incident involving drift, shall have 9 filed file with the secretary on a form prescribed by the 10 secretary a written statement report claiming that the person 11 has been damaged. 12 a. This report shall have been filed within sixty days 13 after the alleged date that damages occurred. If a growing 14 crop is alleged to have been damaged, the report must be filed 15 prior to the time that twenty-five percent of the crop has been 16 harvested. Such statement report shall contain, but shall not 17 be limited to the name of the person allegedly responsible for 18 the application of said pesticide, the name of the owner or 19 lessee of the land on which the crop is grown and for which 20 damage is alleged to have occurred, and the date on which the 21 alleged damage occurred. 22 b. The secretary shall prepare a form to be furnished to 23 persons to be used in such cases and such form shall contain 24 such other requirements as the secretary may deem proper. The 25 secretary shall allow such forms to be completed and filed with 26 the department via the department’s internet site. 27 c. The secretary shall, upon receipt of such statement a 28 report , notify the licensee and the owner or lessee of the land 29 or other person who may be charged with the responsibility of 30 the damages claimed, and furnish copies of such statements 31 report as may be requested. The secretary shall inspect 32 damages whenever possible and when if the secretary determines 33 that the complaint has sufficient merit . Upon evidence of 34 drift, the secretary shall collect samples for testing and 35 -1- LSB 5920XC (3) 86 da/nh 1/ 3

S.F. _____ analysis of the presence of the reported pesticides. The 1 secretary shall deliver the samples to the state hygienic 2 laboratory at the university of Iowa for testing and analysis. 3 The laboratory shall forward its analysis to the secretary. 4 The secretary shall make such information regarding the 5 inspection and any analysis performed by the state hygienic 6 laboratory available to the person claiming damage and to the 7 person who is alleged to have caused the damage. The secretary 8 shall contract with the university of Iowa to reimburse the 9 university for the actual costs incurred by the hygienic 10 laboratory to perform tests and prepare analyses as described 11 in this paragraph. 12 Sec. 3. Section 206.19, subsection 5, Code 2016, is amended 13 by adding the following new paragraph: 14 NEW PARAGRAPH . c. For damages caused by drift as provided 15 in section 206.14, the amount of civil damages collected by the 16 department is appropriated to the department for reimbursement 17 of the state hygienic laboratory at the university of Iowa for 18 the performance of tests and analyses of the possible presence 19 of pesticides as reported by a person alleging damages as 20 provided in section 206.14. 21 EXPLANATION 22 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 23 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 24 GENERAL. This bill amends the “Pesticide Act of Iowa” 25 (Code chapter 206) by providing for incidents involving 26 “drift”, which is defined to mean the movement of a pesticide 27 either during or after its application (usually to land or 28 crops) through the air to another site. The provisions are 29 administered and enforced by the department of agriculture and 30 land stewardship (DALS) under the authority of the secretary of 31 agriculture (secretary). 32 REPORTING. The bill amends a provision that allows a person 33 to report damages caused by drift to the secretary. The 34 bill allows the person to file the report concerning damages 35 -2- LSB 5920XC (3) 86 da/nh 2/ 3

S.F. _____ allegedly caused by pesticide contamination via the internet. 1 It also provides that when investigating a report of drift, 2 the secretary must collect samples for testing and analysis of 3 the presence of the reported pesticides for delivery to the 4 state hygienic laboratory at the university of Iowa for testing 5 and analysis. The laboratory must forward its analysis to the 6 secretary who must make information regarding the inspection 7 and the analysis available to both parties. The secretary 8 is also required to contract with the university of Iowa to 9 reimburse the state hygienic laboratory for costs incurred to 10 perform tests and prepare the analyses. 11 APPROPRIATIONS —— CIVIL PENALTIES. The bill also provides 12 that civil damages collected by DALS from violations involving 13 drift by commercial applicators are appropriated to DALS for 14 reimbursement of the state hygienic laboratory for purposes of 15 conducting the tests and analyses. 16 BACKGROUND. A pesticide is any substance used to prevent, 17 destroy, repel, or mitigate damages caused by insects, rodents, 18 nematodes, fungi, weeds, or other forms of plant or animal life 19 or viruses; and includes any substance used as a plant growth 20 regulator, defoliant, or desiccant (Code section 206.2). A 21 person claiming damages from a pesticide application must file 22 a report with DALS, which then may conduct an investigation of 23 the matter (Code section 206.14). DALS may establish, assess, 24 and collect civil penalties for violations by commercial 25 applicators for an amount not to exceed $500 for each offense 26 (Code section 206.19). 27 -3- LSB 5920XC (3) 86 da/nh 3/ 3