Video: Mike Katz on Proposed Paperless Reporting Legislation

In the following video Mike Katz, president of Western Exterminator, discusses proposed legislation that would permit – not mandate — pest control operators to convey and retain pesticide records, use reports, consumer info sheets or others, electronically.

This proposed legislation was one of the key focuses of NPMA Legislative Day. In recent years, many pest control companies have gone paperless in order to save costs, increase efficiencies and promote professionalism. Unfortunately, a barrier that PCOs have run into is that some states mandate pest control operators provide a hard copy consumer information sheet (e.g., pesticide records, use reports, consumer info sheets, etc.) at the time of service, or after service. Many of these requirements were written in the 1970s and 1980s before people could imagine today’s technology.

The end result is that many companies have invested large sums of money to go paperless, yet they are unable to do so completely, because the state(s) in which they operate have mandated they provide hard copies.

Some companies have asked their state regulatory authority for clarification, but NPMA and its members believe this issue needs addressed federally.