SB 199

CHAPTER 11  1
  CHAPTER 11
  ( SB 199 )
       AN ACT relating to pesticide labeling.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky:
       SECTION 1. A NEW SECTION OF KRS CHAPTER 217 IS CREATED TO READ AS FOLLOWS:
(1)    Any pesticide registered for use with the Department of Agriculture, pursuant to KRS 217.570, or the
       United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) pursuant to the FIFRA as defined in Section 2 of
       this Act, and any regulations promulgated thereunder, including but not limited to 40 C.F.R. pt. 156, that
       displays a label that has been approved by the EPA in registering the pesticide or is consistent with the most
       recent human health risk assessment performed under the FIFRA shall be deemed a sufficient warning
       label for the purposes of an action commenced under any provision of state law concerning the duty to
       warn or label, or any other common law duty to warn.
(2)    This section shall only apply to any pesticide for which the EPA has approved a master label that includes
       an Agricultural Use Requirements label in accordance with 40 C.F.R. pt. 156.
(3)    The provisions of this section shall not:
       (a)    Apply when a determination has been made by the EPA that a manufacturer knowingly withheld,
  concealed, misrepresented, or destroyed material information regarding the human health risks of
  such pesticide in order to obtain or maintain approval of its label by the EPA; or
       (b)    Be interpreted to prohibit a cause of action based on any other provision or doctrine of state law.
       Section 2. KRS 217.544 is amended to read as follows:
As used in this chapter, unless the context requires otherwise:
(1)    "Active ingredient" means any ingredient which will prevent, destroy, repel, control, or mitigate pests, or
       which will act as a plant regulator, defoliant, or desiccant, or as a functioning agent in a spray adjuvant;
(2)    "Adulterated" shall apply to any pesticide if its strength or purity falls below the professed standard or quality
       as expressed on its labeling or under which it is sold, or if any substance has been substituted wholly or in part
       for the pesticide, or if any valuable constituent of the pesticide has been wholly or in part abstracted;
(3)    "Animal" means all vertebrate and invertebrate species, including but not limited to man and other mammals,
       birds, fish, and shellfish;
(4)    "Antidote" means the most practical immediate treatment in case of poisoning and includes first-aid treatment;
(5)    "Board" means the Pesticide Advisory Board;
(6)    "Defoliant" means any substance or mixture of substances intended to cause the leaves or foliage to drop from
       a plant, with or without causing abscission;
(7)    "Desiccant" means any substance or mixture of substances intended to artificially accelerate the drying of plant
       tissue;
(8)    "Device" means any instrument or contrivance other than a firearm which is intended for trapping, destroying,
       repelling, or mitigating any pest or any other form of plant or animal life other than man and other bacteria,
       virus, or other microorganisms on or in living man or other living animals; but not including equipment used
       for the application of pesticides when sold separately therefrom;
(9)    "Distribute" means to offer for sale, hold for sale, sell, barter, ship, deliver for shipment, or receive and, having
       received, deliver, or offer to deliver pesticides in this state;
(10)   "Environment" includes water, air, land, and all plants and man and other animals living therein and the
       interrelationships which exist among these;
(11)   "EPA" means the United States Environmental Protection Agency;
(12)   "FIFRA" means the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act as amended, and any regulations
       promulgated thereunder;
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(13)   "Fungi" means all nonchlorophyll-bearing thallophytes; that is, all nonchlorophyll-bearing plants of a lower
       order than mosses and liverworts, as for example, rusts, smuts, mildews, molds, yeasts, bacteria, and viruses,
       except those on or in living man or other living animals, and except those in or on processed food, beverages,
       or pharmaceuticals;
(14)   "Highly toxic pesticide" means any pesticide determined to be highly toxic under the authority of sec. 25(c)(2)
       of FIFRA or by the department under this chapter;
(15)   "Imminent hazard" means a situation which exists when the continued use of a pesticide would likely result in
       unreasonable adverse effects on the environment or will involve unreasonable hazard to the survival of a
       species declared endangered by the secretary of the United States Department of Interior under Pub. L. 91-135
       of the United States Congress;
(16)   "Inert ingredient" means an ingredient which is not an active ingredient;
(17)   "Ingredient statement" means a statement of the name and percentage of each active ingredient together with
       the total percentage of the inert ingredients in the pesticide and, when the pesticide contains arsenic in any
       form, a statement of the percentage of total and water-soluble arsenic, each stated as elemental arsenic;
(18)   "Insect" means any of the numerous small invertebrate animals generally having the body more or less
       obviously segmented, for the most part belonging to the class insecta, comprising six (6) legged, usually
       winged forms, as for example, beetles, bugs, bees, flies, and to other allied classes of arthropods whose
       members are wingless and usually have more than six (6) legs, as, for example, spiders, mites, ticks,
       centipedes, and wood lice, also nematodes and other invertebrates which are destructive, constitute a liability,
       and may be classed as pests;
(19)   "Label" means the written, printed, or graphic matter on, or attached to, the pesticide or device, or to any of its
       containers or wrappers;
(20)   "Labeling" means the label and other written, printed, or graphic matter:
       (a)    On the pesticide or device, or any of its containers or wrappers;
       (b)    Accompanying the pesticide or device at any time or referring to it in any other media used to
  disseminate information to the public; and
       (c)    To which reference is made on the label or in the literature accompanying the pesticide or device,
  except when accurate nonmisleading reference is made to current official publications of the United
  States Environmental Protection Agency, the Departments of Agriculture and Interior, the Department
  of Health, Education and Welfare, and other similar federal institutions, the College of Agriculture,
  University of Kentucky, Kentucky Agricultural Experiment Station, Cabinet for Health and Family
  Services, Energy and Environment Cabinet, or other agencies of this state or other states when such
  agencies are authorized by law to conduct research in the field of pesticides;
(21)   "Land" means all land and water areas, including air space and all plants, animals, structures, buildings,
       contrivances, and machinery appurtenant thereto, or situated thereon, fixed or mobile, including any used for
       transportation;
(22)   "Livestock" means cattle, sheep, swine, goats, horses, alpacas, llamas, buffaloes, and any other animals of the
       bovine, ovine, porcine, caprine, equine, or camelid species;
(23)   "Misbranded" means a pesticide is misbranded if:
       (a)    Its labeling bears any statement, design, or graphic representation relative thereto or to its ingredients
  which is false or misleading in any particular;
       (b)    It is an imitation of or is distributed under the name of another pesticide;
       (c)    The labeling accompanying it does not contain directions for use which are necessary for effecting the
  purpose for which the product is intended and, if complied with, together with any requirements
  imposed under section 3(d) of FIFRA are adequate to protect health and the environment;
       (d)    The labeling does not contain a statement of the use classification under which the product is registered
  by EPA;
       (e)    The label does not contain a warning or caution statement required[which may be necessary and if
  complied with, together with any requirements imposed] under section 3(d) of FIFRA[, is adequate to
  protect health and the environment];
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       (f)    The label does not bear an ingredient statement on that part of the immediate container, and on the
  outside container or wrapper, if there be one, through which the ingredient statement on the immediate
  container cannot be clearly read, of the retail package which is presented or displayed under customary
  conditions of the purchase; provided, that the ingredient statement may appear prominently on another
  part of the container pursuant to section 2(q) 2(A) (i) (ii) of FIFRA if the size and form of the container
  makes it impractical to place it on that part of the retail package which is presented or displayed under
  customary conditions of purchase;
       (g)    Any word, statement, or other information required by KRS 217.542 to 217.630 or FIFRA to appear on
  the label or labeling is not prominently placed thereon with such conspicuousness, as compared to other
  words, statements, designs, or graphic matter in the labeling, and in such terms as to render it likely to
  be read and understood by the ordinary individual under customary conditions of purchase and use;
       (h)    The label does not bear the name, brand, or trademark under which the pesticide is distributed;
       (i)    The label does not bear the net weight or measure of the content;
       (j)    The label does not bear the name and address of the manufacturer, registrant, or person for whom
  manufactured; and
       (k)    The label does not bear the EPA registration number assigned to each establishment in which the
  product is produced and the EPA number assigned to the pesticide, if required by regulation under
  FIFRA;
(24)   "Nematode" means invertebrate animals of the phylum nemathelminthes and class nematoda, that is,
       unsegmented round worms with elongated, fusiform, or sac-like bodies covered with cuticle, and inhabiting
       soil, water, plants, or plant parts; may also be called nemas or eelworms;
(25)   "Person" means any individual, partnership, association, or any organized group of persons whether
       incorporated or not;
(26)   "Pest" means any insect, snail, slug, rodent, nematode, fungus, weed, and any other form of plant or animal
       life, or virus, bacteria, or other microorganism, except viruses, bacteria, or other microorganisms on or in
       living man or other living animals, which is normally considered to be a pest, or which the department may
       declare to be a pest;
(27)   "Pesticide" means any substance or mixture of substances intended to prevent, destroy, control, repel, attract,
       or mitigate any pest; any substance or mixture of substances intended to be used as a plant regulator, defoliant,
       or desiccant; and any substance or mixture of substances intended to be used as a spray adjuvant;
(28)   "Plant regulator" means any substance or mixture of substances, intended through physiological actions, to
       accelerate or retard the rate of growth or maturation, or to otherwise alter the behavior of plants, but shall not
       include substances insofar as they are intended to be used as plant nutrients, trace elements, nutritional
       chemicals, plant inoculants, or soil amendments;
(29)   "Protect health and the environment" means protection against any unreasonable adverse effects on the
       environment;
(30)   "Registrant" means a person who has registered any pesticide pursuant to the provisions of KRS 217.542 to
       217.630;
(31)   "Restricted-use pesticide" means any pesticide classified for restricted use by the administrator, EPA, or by
       regulation of the department;
(32)   "Spray adjuvant" means any wetting agent, spreading agent, sticker, deposit builder, adhesive, emulsifying
       agent, deflocculating agent, water modifier, or similar agent intended to be used with any other pesticide as an
       aid to the application or to the effect thereof, and which is in a package or container separate from that of the
       other pesticide with which it is to be used;
(33)   "Unreasonable adverse effects on the environment" means any unreasonable risk to man or the environment,
       taking into account the economic, social, and environmental costs and benefits of the use of any pesticide;
(34)   "Weed" means any plant which grows where not wanted; and
(35)   "Wildlife" means all living things that are neither human, domesticated, nor as defined in KRS 217.542 to
       217.630, pests, including but not limited to mammals, birds, and aquatic life.
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      Veto Overridden April 1, 2026.