Arizona Bill Exempting Weed Control Clears House

PHOENIX — The Arizona House narrowly approved, SB 1221, a bill to exempt landscapers and others who use commonly available herbicides to kill weeds from licensing requirements imposed on the commercial pest control industry.

The bill is a reaction to moves by the state Structural Pest Control Commission to crack down on unlicensed use of herbicides by landscapers and others without pest-control licenses.

Under the bill, people who conduct lawn, garden, shrub or tree maintenance and who use herbicides for weed control wouldn't have to get a pest-control license from the state. However, a person exempted by the measure would have to keep records on herbicde applications and also provide them to customers.

According to NPMA Manager of Government Affairs Gene Harrington, many PCOs are concerned that products that are currently available to them will be removed from the market because of the misuse by the many untrained, unlicensed people who will be applying pesticides for hire as a result of SB 1221.

The Senate approved the bill previously but it now returns to the Senate for consideration of changes made by the House. Senate passage of the House version would send it to Governor Napolitano.