Bill 157 2011

An Act to amend the Pesticides Act

Note: This Act amends the Pesticides Act.  For the legislative history of the Act, see the Table of Consolidated Public Statutes – Detailed Legislative History at www.e-Laws.gov.on.ca.

Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

   1.  Subsection 1 (1) of the Pesticides Act is amended by adding the following definition:

"residential area" means a lot or parcel of land,

  (a)  on which there are no buildings other than,

           (i)  detached houses, semi-detached houses or rowhouses, and

          (ii)  buildings or structures that are accessory to the buildings mentioned in subclause (i), and

  (b)  on which there is at least one and not more than four detached houses, semi-detached houses or rowhouses; ("zone résidentielle")

   2.  The Act is amended by adding the following sections:

Signage on vehicles for land exterminations

   7.0.1  Any person who performs a land extermination on or beside a highway using a vehicle equipped with a spraying device shall ensure that,

  (a)  the vehicle has a warning sign on its front and back about the land extermination; and

  (b)  the sign has been approved by the Director.

Notice of land exterminations in non-residential areas

   7.0.2  A person who performs a land extermination in an area that is not a residential area shall,

  (a)  post signs in accordance with the regulations; or

  (b)  in the circumstances prescribed by the regulations, provide public notice of the extermination by,

           (i)  publishing the notice for at least three consecutive days in a newspaper of general circulation in the vicinity of the application area, beginning at least one week before the extermination begins,

          (ii)  distributing written notices in a manner that, in the Director's opinion, provides adequate notice to all persons who may be affected by the extermination,

         (iii)  using any other way that, in the Director's opinion, provides adequate notice to all persons who may be affected by the extermination, and

         (iv)  using any other way that may be prescribed by the regulations.

   3.  (1)  Paragraph 4 of subsection 7.1 (2) of the Act is repealed.

   (2)  Section 7.1 of the Act is amended by adding the following subsection:

Same, public health or safety

   (2.1)  Subject to the regulations, subsection (1) does not apply to uses related to the promotion of public health or safety if,

  (a)  before using or causing or permitting the use of the pesticide, the person considered other ways of promoting the health or safety matter that do not involve the use of pesticides; and

  (b)  the Director is of the opinion that requiring the person to use another way to promote the matter would cause undue hardship.

   (3)  Subsection 7.1 (3) of the Act is amended by striking out "subsection (2)" and substituting "subsection (2) or (2.1)".

   4.  (1)  Subsection 35 (1) of the Act is amended by adding the following paragraphs:

10.1 prescribing circumstances for the purposes of clause 7.0.2 (b);

10.2 prescribing ways of providing notice to the public of a land extermination in a non-residential area for the purposes of subclause 7.0.2 (b) (iv);

.     .     .     .     .

12.1 respecting the factors and standards that shall or may be considered by the Director in assessing undue hardship for the purposes of subsection 7.1 (2.1);

   (2)  Section 35 of the Act is amended by adding the following subsection:

No exemptions from s. 7.0.2

   (1.1)  A regulation made under paragraph 2 of subsection (1) shall not exempt any person or class of persons from section 7.0.2 of this Act.

Commencement

   5.  This Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.

Short title

   6.  The short title of this Act is the Pesticides Amendment Act, 2011.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The Bill amends the Pesticides Act.  The new section 7.0.1 of the Act requires any person performing a land extermination on or beside a highway, using a vehicle equipped with a spraying device, to ensure that the vehicle has warning signs that have been approved by the Director.

The new section 7.0.2 of the Act requires a person who performs a land extermination in an area that is not a residential area to post signs in accordance with the regulations or, in the circumstances prescribed by the regulations, provide public notice of the extermination in various ways.

Currently, the Act provides that the prohibition against using prescribed pesticides, set out in subsection 7.1 (1) of the Act, does not apply if the use is related to the promotion of public health or safety.  The Act is amended to provide that this exemption only applies if two conditions are satisfied.  First, the person using the pesticide must have considered other ways of promoting the health or safety matter.  Second, the Director must be of the opinion that requiring the person to use another way to promote the matter would cause undue hardship.