N.Y. Environmental Conservation Law § 33-0303: Powers and duties of the commissioner and the department

§ 33-0303. Powers and duties of the commissioner and the department.

1. Jurisdiction in all matters pertaining to the distribution, sale,

use and transportation of pesticides, is by this article vested

exclusively in the commissioner.

2. All authority vested in the commissioner by this article may be

executed with like force and effect by employees of the department

designated by the commissioner; however, all hearings held under this

article except those held under the provisions of title 9 shall be

conducted by the commissioner or by a person designated by him for that

purpose, and any decision rendered after any such hearing shall be made

by the commissioner.

3. The commissioner is authorized, after a hearing:

a. To declare as a pest any form of plant or animal life or virus

which is injurious to plants, men, domestic animals, articles, or

substances;

b. To determine whether pesticides are highly toxic to man, and to

promulgate a list of such pesticides;

c. To determine standards of coloring or discoloring for pesticides,

and to subject pesticides to the requirements of paragraph d of

subdivision 1 of section 33-l301;

d. To promulgate a list of restricted use pesticides and the usages of

such pesticides that may be permitted subject to whatever conditions or

limitations which the commissioner deems appropriate to fully protect

the public interest; provided, however, that no hearing shall be

required on individual additions to such list unless requested sixty

days after notice has been provided in the environmental notice bulletin

as prescribed in section 3-0306 of such law, as added by chapter seven

hundred fourteen of the laws of nineteen hundred seventy-five, by the

applicant or an interested party; and

e. To adopt, promulgate and issue such rules and regulations as he may

deem necessary to carry out and give full force and effect to the

provisions of this article. However, rules and regulations regarding

business registration and certification may be adopted only after a

public hearing. Such rules and regulations may prescribe methods to be

used in the application of pesticides, including the time, place, manner

and method of application and equipment used, and may restrict or

prohibit use of materials in designated areas during specified periods

of time, and shall encompass all reasonable factors which he deems

necessary to prevent damage or injury to health, property and wildlife.

Rules and regulations shall be filed and open for public inspection at

the principal office of the department and shall be filed with the

Secretary of State. The commissioner shall promulgate a regulation

authorizing the use of alternative containers for pesticides by

pesticide users.

4. In order to avoid confusion endangering the public health, or the

life or health of any other non-target organisms, resulting from diverse

requirements, particularly as to labeling and coloring of pesticides,

and to avoid increased costs to the people of this state due to the

necessity of complying with diverse requirements in the manufacture and

sale of pesticides, it is desirable that there should be uniformity

between the requirements of the several states and the federal

government relating to pesticides. To this end the commissioner is

authorized, after due public hearing, to adopt by regulation such

regulations, applicable to and in conformity with the primary standards

established by this article, as have been or may be prescribed with

respect to pesticides by departments or agencies of the United States

government.

5. The commissioner may require the submission of the complete formula

of any pesticide whenever he deems it necessary in the administration of

this article. The commissioner, of his own motion or upon complaint, may

cause an examination to be made to determine whether any pesticide

complies with the requirements of this article. If it shall appear from

such examination that a pesticide fails to comply with the provisions of

this article, the commissioner shall cause notice to be given to the

offending person in the manner provided in section 71-2903, and the

proceedings shall be as provided in such article provided that

pesticides may be seized and confiscated as provided in title 15 of this

article 33.

6. The commissioner may cooperate with any other agency of the state

or its subdivisions or with any agency of any other state or of the

federal government for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of

this article and of securing uniformity of regulations.

7. The commissioner, in consultation with the commissioner of

education and the commissioner of health, shall develop guidance on

pesticide alternatives to facilitate compliance with section four

hundred nine-k of the education law and three hundred ninety-g of the

social services law.