Suppression and Control of Public Nuisance Pests

(1) With the exception of Agricultural Applications, all plans to apply pesticides for the control of Public Nuisance Pests shall be subject to the following provisions: (a) No later than March 1st of each year, the Local Superintendent shall forward to the Forest Health Program Director descriptions of all planned aerial and ground Control Programs to be conducted within the municipality for the control and suppression of Public Nuisance Pests between the last day of March of that year and the first day of April of the following year. Such descriptions shall be provided by the Local Superintendent on a standard form provided by the Bureau of Forest Fire Control and Forestry. (b) The Forest Health Program Director in consultation with the Local Superintendent shall review all ground Control Programs to determine if a program constitutes Wide Area Application and requires public notice under 333 CMR 13.10(2)(a). (c) In the event that a ground Control Program is determined to constitute a Wide Area Application, the Forest Health Program Director shall notify the Local Superintendent, who shall notify the Contracting Entity that public notification is required in accordance with 333 CMR 13.10(2)(a). When the Contracting Entity is a county, state or federal agency, the Forest Health Program Director shall communicate the public notification requirement directly to the Contracting Entity. (2) Notification of Wide Area Applications. With the exception of Agricultural Applications, no Wide Area Application of pesticides shall be made for control of Public Nuisance Pests unless the following notification provisions are met: (a) The Applicant must publish a notice of the application in a newspaper of general circulation in the municipality where the application is to take place. The notice must be posted no more than ten days, and no less than two days, prior to the proposed application, and may include alternative dates to be used in the event of improper conditions, provided that no application is made more than ten days after or less than two days after the notice has been published. Notice shall include all of the following information: 1. Purpose of application; 2. Method of application; 3. Area of application; 4. Location where the public may review maps delineating the area of application; 5. Name and EPA Registration Number of the pesticide product to be applied; 6. Approximate time of application; Phone number of a contact person from whom additional information can be obtained; and 8. Locations where marking materials for areas of exclusion will be distributed. (b) No later than ten days prior to the anticipated date of the application, such notice shall be forwarded to the Local Superintendent who shall post the notice in the city/town hall of the municipality where the application is to be made, and other locations as he or she deems appropriate. The local superintendent shall also forward this notice to the Board of Health, Chief Elected Official, as well as to the Pesticide Bureau within the Department, prior to the application. (3) Exclusion for Application. Land may be designated for exclusion from applications made for the control of Public Nuisance Pests in accordance with the requirements of 333 CMR 13.03. (4) Aerial Applications that are Wide Area. In the case of an aerial Control Program which has been determined by the Forest Health Program Director to constitute a Wide Area Application, such application must be made in accordance with the requirements of 333 CMR 13.04.