§ 33-0303. Powers and duties of the commissioner and the department.

1. Jurisdiction in all matters pertaining to the distribution, sale,
use and transportation of pesticides, is by this article vested
exclusively in the commissioner.

2. All authority vested in the commissioner by this article may be
executed with like force and effect by employees of the department
designated by the commissioner; however, all hearings held under this
article except those held under the provisions of title 9 shall be
conducted by the commissioner or by a person designated by him for that
purpose, and any decision rendered after any such hearing shall be made
by the commissioner.

3. The commissioner is authorized, after a hearing:

a. To declare as a pest any form of plant or animal life or virus
which is injurious to plants, men, domestic animals, articles, or
substances;

b. To determine whether pesticides are highly toxic to man, and to
promulgate a list of such pesticides;

c. To determine standards of coloring or discoloring for pesticides,
and to subject pesticides to the requirements of paragraph d of
subdivision 1 of section 33-l301;

d. To promulgate a list of restricted use pesticides and the usages of
such pesticides that may be permitted subject to whatever conditions or
limitations which the commissioner deems appropriate to fully protect
the public interest; provided, however, that no hearing shall be
required on individual additions to such list unless requested sixty
days after notice has been provided in the environmental notice bulletin
as prescribed in section 3-0306 of such law, as added by chapter seven
hundred fourteen of the laws of nineteen hundred seventy-five, by the
applicant or an interested party; and

e. To adopt, promulgate and issue such rules and regulations as he may
deem necessary to carry out and give full force and effect to the
provisions of this article. However, rules and regulations regarding
business registration and certification may be adopted only after a
public hearing. Such rules and regulations may prescribe methods to be
used in the application of pesticides, including the time, place, manner
and method of application and equipment used, and may restrict or
prohibit use of materials in designated areas during specified periods
of time, and shall encompass all reasonable factors which he deems
necessary to prevent damage or injury to health, property and wildlife.
Rules and regulations shall be filed and open for public inspection at
the principal office of the department and shall be filed with the
Secretary of State. The commissioner shall promulgate a regulation
authorizing the use of alternative containers for pesticides by
pesticide users.

4. In order to avoid confusion endangering the public health, or the
life or health of any other non-target organisms, resulting from diverse
requirements, particularly as to labeling and coloring of pesticides,
and to avoid increased costs to the people of this state due to the
necessity of complying with diverse requirements in the manufacture and
sale of pesticides, it is desirable that there should be uniformity
between the requirements of the several states and the federal
government relating to pesticides. To this end the commissioner is
authorized, after due public hearing, to adopt by regulation such
regulations, applicable to and in conformity with the primary standards
established by this article, as have been or may be prescribed with
respect to pesticides by departments or agencies of the United States
government.

5. The commissioner may require the submission of the complete formula
of any pesticide whenever he deems it necessary in the administration of
this article. The commissioner, of his own motion or upon complaint, may
cause an examination to be made to determine whether any pesticide
complies with the requirements of this article. If it shall appear from
such examination that a pesticide fails to comply with the provisions of
this article, the commissioner shall cause notice to be given to the
offending person in the manner provided in section 71-2903, and the
proceedings shall be as provided in such article provided that
pesticides may be seized and confiscated as provided in title 15 of this
article 33.

6. The commissioner may cooperate with any other agency of the state
or its subdivisions or with any agency of any other state or of the
federal government for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of
this article and of securing uniformity of regulations.

7. The commissioner, in consultation with the commissioner of
education and the commissioner of health, shall develop guidance on
pesticide alternatives to facilitate compliance with section four
hundred nine-k of the education law and three hundred ninety-g of the
social services law.