North Dakota law sets federal certification standards for pesticide users

The pesticide control board must adopt the specified federal requirements for certifying people who apply pesticides. These requirements govern North Dakota certification for people who apply pesticides. The law incorporates federal regulation sections 171.101 through 171.107 as they existed on January 4, 2017. The board must send reports to the United States Environmental Protection Agency in the form and with the information the agency requires.

Competent people may apply restricted-use herbicides, meaning weed killers with special use limits, without certification under a certified private applicator’s instruction and control. Private applicators use these products on property they or their employer own or rent. They may also treat another person’s property without pay, except for exchanges of personal services between agricultural producers. The certified private applicator must be available when needed but does not have to be at the application site. The exception does not apply when the product label requires a certified person to apply it personally.

Pesticide certification may be denied, removed, or suspended for the enforcement outcomes listed in Section 5. These provisions cover people seeking or holding pesticide certification. They allow certification penalties but do not require them. Section 5 lists a federal pesticide criminal conviction, a final federal civil penalty order, or a completed state enforcement action concerning pesticide use as separate grounds. After offering an opportunity for a hearing, the agriculture commissioner may deny, suspend, revoke, or modify certification for violations of the state pesticide chapter or its rules. Section 7 also allows that action when a person has a criminal conviction subject to a final federal pesticide civil penalty order. How those outcomes must be connected is unclear.