90 Day Extension of Limited Enforcement Discretion for Licensing Requirements to Support Covid-19 Control (Updating ENF 20-03)
On April 30, 2020, the Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) allowed for county agricultural commissioners (CACs) to use enforcement discretion for licensing requirements for COVID-19 control.
Due to the continued need for professional sanitization services during the COVID-19 emergency, DPR is extending this enforcement discretion through September 30, 2020. Subject to the conditions described below, CACs may use enforcement discretion to allow licensed and registered pest control businesses (PCBs) to perform sanitization services for the control of COVID-19 if they have a designated individual at each business location with a valid qualified applicator license (QAL) in any category. This applies if all of the following conditions are met:
- The professional sanitization service is performed for COVID-19 control and only during the next 90 days.
- The PCB without the specific QAL license category notifies the CAC in writing in advance of provision of the service with an explanation for why the sanitization work is necessary.
- Examples of necessary work may include situations in which the PCB is the only licensee registered to do business in the county or where other properly licensed PCBs are unavailable to perform COVID-19-related work.
- The QAL holder ensures that in advance of provision of the service all applicators applying antimicrobials are properly trained and are in strict compliance with label directions and all other applicable laws and regulations in order to protect against human health impacts from unsafe exposures.
On July 27, 2020, the United States Environmental Protection Agency released guidance regarding the certification of pesticide applicators during the COVID-19 public health emergency. Please note that the DPR guidance controls.
If you have any questions, please contact the Enforcement Branch Liaison assigned to your county or Mr. Joe Marade, DPR’s County/State Liaison, at 916-893-5578 or joe.marade@cdpr.ca.gov.
Sincerely,