a. Conduct and supervise research programs for the purpose of determining the effects and hazards of the use and application of pesticides on man and his environment; and in furtherance of this research effort the commissioner shall consider the School of Agriculture of Rutgers, The State University, as a primary source of assistance;

b. Conduct and supervise Statewide programs of pesticide control education including the preparation and distribution of information relating to pesticide control;

c. Enter and inspect any building or place, except private residences, for the purpose of investigating an actual or suspected violation of law relating to pesticides and ascertaining compliance or noncompliance with any rules, regulations or orders of the department;

d. Receive or initiate complaints of violations of applicable laws, rules, regulations and orders relating to pesticides and institute legal proceedings for the prevention of such violations and for the recovery of penalties, in accordance with law;

e. With the approval of the Governor, cooperate with, and receive money from, the Federal Government, the State Government, or any county or municipal government or from private sources for the study and control of pesticides;

f. Declare as a pest any form of plant or animal life or virus which is injurious to plants, man, domestic animals, articles, or substances;

g. Determine whether pesticides are highly toxic to man;

h. Determine standards of coloring or discoloring for pesticides;

i. Subject pesticides to the requirements of Section 11 of P.L.1971, c. 176 (C. 13:1F-11);

j. Cooperate with, and enter into agreement with, any other agency of this State, or the United States, and any other state or agency thereof for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this act and securing uniformity of regulations, in order to avoid confusion endangering the public health, resulting from diverse requirements, particularly as to the labeling and coloring of pesticides, and to avoid increased costs due to the necessity complying with such diverse requirements in the manufacture and sale of such pesticides;

k. Have the power, in accordance with a fee schedule adopted as a rule or regulation in accordance with the “Administrative Procedure Act,” P.L.1968, c. 410 (C. 52:14B-1 et seq.), to establish and charge fees for any of the services it performs, which fees shall be annual or periodic as the department shall determine. The fees charged by the department pursuant to this section shall reflect the actual or projected expense incurred by the department in the performance of the service for which the fee is charged. All fees collected pursuant to this section shall be deposited in the Environmental Services Fund created pursuant to P.L.1975, c. 232 and kept separate from other receipts deposited therein and appropriated for the operation of the Pesticide Control Program in the Department of Environmental Protection.

L.1971, c. 176, s. 9, eff. June 1, 1971. Amended by L.1981, c. 538, s. 1, eff. Jan. 12, 1982.