Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman NANCY F. MUNOZ
District 21 (Essex, Morris, Somerset and Union)
SYNOPSIS
Requires use of uniform silver flags to mark certain pesticide applications.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act requiring the use of uniform silver flags to mark certain pesticide applications and supplementing P.L.1971, c.176 (C.13:1F-1 et seq.).
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. Every commercial pesticide applicator shall use flags to mark pesticide applications. The flags used shall be silver in color and be of a uniform type and size. Each flag shall contain information indicating the date and time of the pesticide application and shall stay in place for a minimum of 72 hours after the pesticide application.
b. No person shall use a silver flag in a manner that is reasonably likely to be confused with a pesticide application, including but not limited to, markings for invisible dog fences, underground utility lines, septic tanks, and underground piping.
c. The Commissioner of Environmental Protection shall adopt, pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), rules and regulations to effectuate this act.
2. This act shall take effect on the 180th day after the date of enactment, but the Commissioner of Environmental Protection may take such anticipatory administrative action in advance thereof as shall be necessary for the implementation of this act.
STATEMENT
This bill requires every commercial pesticide applicator to use uniform silver flags to mark areas on which pesticides are to be applied. The flags used must be silver in color, must be a uniform size and type, and must indicate the time and date of the pesticide application.
In addition, the bill would prohibit the use of silver flags to mark anything likely to be confused with a pesticide application. The exclusive color requirement is intended to distinguish pesticide flags from, among other things, those used for invisible dog fences, underground utility lines, septic tanks, and underground piping.
The bill also directs the Commissioner of Environmental Protection to promulgate rules and regulations effectuating these requirements.
Pesticide applicators often use a variety of colors and types of flags to mark pesticide applications. This bill would create a uniform marking system to clearly delineate flags being used to mark pesticide applications from other uses for flagging.