Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 50, December 14, 2024
Section 1151a.43 - Pesticides(a) The use of a pesticide by a grower/processor in the growing or processing of seeds, immature medical marijuana plants, postharvest plant material, medical marijuana plants or medical marijuana shall be in accordance with the Pennsylvania Pesticide Control Act of 1973 (3 P.S. §§ 111.21-112) and this part.(b) The Department and the Department of Agriculture will cooperate to inspect for and enforce the requirements of this section.(c) The following apply regarding recordkeeping requirements for pesticide applications: (1) The grower/processor shall maintain a record of each application of a pesticide. The record must include the following information:(i) The date of application. For a pesticide requiring a re-entry time, the date of application must include the hour completed.(ii) The place of application, including the specific block, section, or immature medical marijuana plants or medical marijuana plants treated.(iii) The size of the area treated.(iv) The product name of every pesticide used.(v) The United States Environmental Protection Agency product registration number. This requirement is unnecessary for products exempted under section 25 of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (7 U.S.C. § 136w).(vi) The total amount of every pesticide used in pounds, ounces, gallons or liters applied to a treated area.(vii) The dosage or rate of application of every pesticide used.(viii) If applicable, the employee identification numbers of the individuals involved in making the pesticide and the permit or certification numbers of the individuals making or supervising the application.(ix) Copies of pesticide labels and Safety Data Sheets for the pesticides used at the facility.(2) A record required to be kept under this section shall be completed within 24 hours of the completion of the application and maintained for 4 years. A record shall be made immediately available to the Department or its authorized agents and medical personnel or first responders in an emergency. A record shall be made available to the Department of Agriculture upon request.(d) For purposes of enforcement, the Pesticide Control Act and 7 Pa. Code Chapter 128 (relating to pesticides) are incorporated by reference and adopted as standards for use by the Department of Agriculture, in coordination with the Department, in enforcing this section.(e) A grower/processor shall only use the pesticide active ingredients approved under § 1151a.27 (relating to requirements for growing and processing medical marijuana) in the growing and processing of seeds, immature medical marijuana plants, postharvest plant material, medical marijuana plants or medical marijuana.(f) The following words and terms, when used in this section, have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise: Defoliant-A substance or mixture of substances intended for causing the leaves or foliage to drop from a plant, with or without causing abscission.
Desiccant-A substance or mixture of substances intended for artificially accelerating the drying of plant tissue.
Pesticide-A substance or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying, repelling or mitigating a pest, and a substance or mixture of substances intended for use as a plant regulator, defoliant or desiccant.
Plant regulator-
(i) A substance or mixture of substances intended, through physiological action, for accelerating or retarding the rate of growth or rate of maturation, or for otherwise altering the behavior of plants or the produce thereof, but may not include substances to the extent that they are intended as plant nutrients, trace elements, nutritional chemicals, plant inoculants and soil amendments.(ii) The term does not include any of the nutrient mixtures or soil amendments commonly known as vitamin-hormone horticultural products, which are intended for improvement, maintenance, survival, health and propagation of plants, and are not for pest destruction and are nontoxic, nonpoisonous in the undiluted packaged concentration.Adopted by Pennsylvania Bulletin, Vol 53, No. 09. March 4, 2023, effective 3/4/2023