Sec. 19a-79a. Pesticide applications at child care facilities.

(a) As used in this section, “pesticide” means a fungicide used on plants, an insecticide, a herbicide or a rodenticide but does not mean a sanitizer, disinfectant, antimicrobial agent or a pesticide bait; “lawn care pesticide” means a pesticide registered by the United States Environmental Protection Agency and labeled pursuant to the federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act for use in lawn, garden and ornamental sites or areas; “certified pesticide applicator” means a pesticide applicator with (1) supervisory certification under section 22a-54, or (2) operational certification under section 22a-54, who operates under the direct supervision of a pesticide applicator with said supervisory certification; “licensee” means a person licensed under sections 19a-77 to 19a-87e, inclusive; and “child care facility” means a child care center, group child care home or family child care home that provides “child care services”, as described in section 19a-77.

(b) No person other than a certified pesticide applicator shall apply pesticide within any child care facility, except that a person other than a certified pesticide applicator may make an emergency application to eliminate an immediate threat to human health, including, but not limited to, for the elimination of mosquitoes, ticks and stinging insects, provided (1) the licensee or a designee of the licensee determines such emergency application to be necessary, (2) the licensee or a designee of the licensee deems it impractical to obtain the services of a certified pesticide applicator, and (3) such emergency application does not involve a restricted use pesticide, as defined in section 22a-47.

(c) No person shall apply a lawn care pesticide on the grounds of any child care facility, except that an emergency application of pesticide may be made to eliminate an immediate threat to human health, including, but not limited to, the elimination of mosquitoes, ticks and stinging insects, provided (1) the licensee or a designee of the licensee determines such emergency application to be necessary, and (2) such emergency application does not involve a restricted use pesticide, as defined in section 22a-47. The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to a family child care home, as described in section 19a-77, if the grounds of such family child care home are not owned or under the control of the licensee.

(d) No licensee or designee of a licensee shall permit any child enrolled in such licensee's child care facility to enter an area where a pesticide has been applied in accordance with this section until it is safe to do so according to the provisions on the pesticide label.

(e) On and after October 1, 2009, prior to providing for any application of pesticide on the grounds of any child care facility, the licensee or a designee of the licensee shall, within the existing budgetary resources of such child care facility, notify the parents or guardians of each child enrolled in such licensee's child care facility by any means practicable no later than twenty-four hours prior to such application, except that for an emergency application made in accordance with this section, such notice shall be given as soon as practicable. Notice under this subsection shall include (1) the name of the active ingredient of the pesticide being applied, (2) the target pest, (3) the location of the application on the child care facility property, and (4) the date or proposed date of the application. A copy of the record of each pesticide application at a child care facility shall be maintained at such facility for a period of five years.

(P.A. 99-165, S. 5, 6; P. A. 05-252, S. 1; P.A. 09-56, S. 1; P.A. 15-227, S. 25; P.A. 16-163, S. 23.)

History: P.A. 99-165 effective July 1, 1999; P.A. 05-252 added new provisions as Subsec. (a) defining “pesticide” and “lawn care pesticide”, designated existing language as Subsec. (b) and made technical changes therein, and added Subsec. (c) prohibiting the application of lawn care pesticides on the grounds of day care facilities; P.A. 09-56 amended Subsec. (a) to define “certified pesticide applicator”, “licensee” and “day care center”, amended Subsec. (b) to permit only certified pesticide applicators to apply pesticide, with exception for emergency applications, amended Subsec. (c) to add Subdiv. (1) re determination of necessity and Subdiv. (2) designator and to exempt certain family day care homes, added Subsecs. (d) and (e) and made conforming changes; pursuant to P.A. 15-227, “child day care center”, “group day care home”, “family day care home” and “child day care services” were changed editorially by the Revisors to “child care center”, “group child care home”, “family child care home” and “child care services”, respectively, in Subsecs. (a) and (c), effective July 1, 2015; P.A. 16-163 replaced references to day care center with references to child care facility, effective June 9, 2016.