At the request of Georgia Commissioner of Agriculture Tommy Irvin, the following motion was made by Jim Harron of the Georgia Department of Agriculture, seconded by Jeff Annis of Advanced Services of Augusta, Georgia and passed unanimously by the Georgia Structural Pest Control Commission on September 13, 2005:
To allow certified operators and registered technicians from counties and parishes in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama directly impacted by Hurricane Katrina, upon verbal verification of certification or registration to the Georgia Department of Agriculture from the Department of Agriculture in the affected state, to work immediately in the State of Georgia subject to the following:
1. The certified operator or registered employee must have lived and worked in the following counties or parishes on August 29, 2005:
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64 Louisiana parishes: Acadia, Allen, Ascension, Assumption, Avoyelles, Beauregard, Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Caldwell, Calcasieu, Cameron, Catahoula, Claiborne, Concordia, Desoto, East Baton Rouge, East Carroll, East Feliciana, Evangeline, Franklin, Grant, Iberia, Iberville, Jackson, Jefferson, Jefferson Davis, Lafayette, Lafourche, LaSalle, Lincoln, Livingston, Madison, Morehouse, Natchitoches, Orleans, Ouachita, Pointe Coupee, Plaquemines, Rapides, Red River, Richland, Sabine, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. Helena, St. James, St. John, St. Landry, St. Mary, St. Martin, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Tensas, Terrebonne, Union, Vermilion, Vernon, Washington, Webster, West Baton Rouge, West Carroll, West Feliciana and Winn;
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52 Mississippi counties: Adams, Amite, Attala, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Claiborne, Clarke, Clay, Copiah, Covington, Forrest, Franklin, George, Greene, Hancock, Harrison, Hinds, Itawamba, Jackson, Jasper, Jefferson, Jefferson Davis, Jones, Kemper, Lamar, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Leake, Lee, Lincoln, Lowndes, Madison, Marion, Monroe, Neshoba, Newton, Noxubee, Oktibbeha, Pearl River, Perry, Pike, Rankin, Scott, Simpson, Smith, Stone, Walthall, Warren, Wayne, Webster, Wilkinson, and Winston;
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Six Alabama counties: Baldwin, Clarke, Choctaw,
2. The applicant will execute an appropriate application for "Temporary Georgia SPC Work Permit".
3. The certified operator or registered employee will be granted a temporary work permit without testing or fee.
4. All temporary work permits will expire at close of business on April 15, 2006.
5. The temporary work permit will not entitle a certified operator or registered employee to apply for a new company license or serve as a DCO for an existing company.
6. Any certified operator or registered employee wishing to obtain a permanent certification or registration must meet the all of the requirements as specified in the Rules of the Act including testing and payment of fees.
7. As a condition of the temporary work permit, all certified operators and registered employees are subject to the requirements of the Georgia Structural Pest Control Act. The temporary work permit is issued and may be cancelled, without notice or hearing, at the sole discretion of the Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Agriculture.
The application for a “Temporary Georgia SPC Work Permit” may be found on the Georgia Department of Agriculture's website at www.agr.ga.gov
Any PMP from the area affected by Hurricane Katrina may file this application at anytime between now and April 15, 2006.