Application Notification Requirements

Law on Proper Pesticide Application in Minnesota

Including Notification Requirements for Mosquito or Other Large Area Pest Control Applications

1. A person may not use, store, handle, distribute, or dispose of a pesticide, rinsate, pesticide container, or pesticide application equipment in a manner:
   1. that is inconsistent with a label or labeling as defined by FIFRA;
   2. that endangers humans, damages agricultural products, food, livestock, fish, or wildlife; or
   3. that will cause unreasonable adverse effects on the environment.
2. A person may not direct a pesticide onto property beyond the boundaries of the target site. A person may not apply a pesticide resulting in damage to adjacent property.
3. A person may not apply a pesticide in a manner so as to expose a worker in an immediately adjacent, open field.
4. Notwithstanding that the application is done in a manner consistent with the label or labeling, it is a violation of this chapter to directly apply a pesticide to a site where an application has not been requested, ordered, contracted for, or permitted; or performed pursuant to paragraph (c), clause (2), (3), or (4).

A person may not directly apply a pesticide on a human by overspray or target site spray, except when:

1. the pesticide is intended for use on a human;
2. the pesticide application is for mosquito control operations and there is no practicable and effective alternative method of control, the pesticide is among the least toxic available for control of the target pest and notification to residents in that area to be treated is provided at least 24 hours before application through direct notification, posting daily on the treating organization's Web site, if any, and by sending a broadcast e-mail to those persons who request notification of such, of those areas to be treated by adult mosquito control techniques during the next calendar day.  For control operations related to human disease, notice my be given less than 24 hours in advance.
3. the pesticide application is for control of spongy moth, forest tent caterpillar, or other pest species, as determined by the commissioner, and the pesticide used is a biological agent; there is no practicable and effective alternative method of control; the pesticide is among the least toxic available for control of the target pest and notification of residents in the area to be treated is provided by direct notification and through publication in a newspaper of general circulation within the affected area. or
4. the pesticide application is for a public health risk, as determined by the commissioner of health, and the commissioner of health, in consultation with the commissioner of agriculture, determines that the application is warranted based on the commissioner’s balancing of the public health risk with the risk that the pesticide application poses to the health of the general population, with special attention to the health of children; there is no practicable and effective alternative method of control, the pesticide is among the least toxic available for control of the target pest and notification of residents in the area to be treated is provided by direct notification and through publication in a newspaper of general circulation within the affected area.
5.  Direct notification may include mailings, public meetings, posted placards, neighborhood newsletters, or other means of contact designed  to reach as many residents as possible.
6. Public meetings held to meet the direct notification requirement for adult mosquito control, must be held within each city or town where the pesticide treatments are to be made, at a time and location that is convenient for residents of the area where the treatments will occur.