Structural Pest Control Board – Disciplinary Review Committee Decision on Appeal of a County Agricultural Commissioner’s Decision (Jaime and Sons Pest Control Company, Docket Number S-037)
The Disciplinary Review Committee’s (DRC’s) decision on Jaime and Sons Pest Control Company’s appeal of the $3,000 civil penalty levied by the Kern County Agricultural Commissioner (CAC) is enclosed. The DRC remanded the CAC’s action and penalty, and the DRC’s decision became final on July 1, 2020.
The CAC found Jaime and Sons Pest Control Company in violation of California Code of Regulations, Title 3, (3 CCR) section 6600(b), by failing to perform a pesticide application in a careful and effective manner, resulting in drift onto a third party. The CAC classified the violation as a “Class A” violation under 3 CCR section 6130.
Appellant’s sole argument on appeal is the incident should not be classified as a “Class A” violation because the incident did not cause any health, property, or environmental hazard due to the type of chemical used, lack of proof of physical harm, a lack of history of previous violations, and complete cooperation by the company.
The DRC determined the appellant applied the pesticide in a way that drifted onto a person who was not involved in the pesticide application was neither careful nor effective. However, the CAC’s decision that the violation was a “Class A” violation is based on 3 CCR section 6130, which is the wrong legal standard. Instead, the CAC must determine the violation class and fine level under 16 CCR section 1922.
This decision addresses the following concepts:
- CACs must use 16 CCR section 1922 to determine the violation class and fine amount for violations of structural pest control regulations (Business and Professions Code section 8617)
- Allowing a pesticide drift to a person not involved with the spraying operation creates a health hazard whether or not any actual harm to the person is proven.
Please make this information available to your staff as a reference in preparing and processing cases. If you have any questions, please contact the Enforcement Branch Liaison assigned to your county.
Sincerely,