§ 1083. Duties of Secretary of Agriculture, Food and Markets; authority of landowners to use mosquito controls

(a) The Secretary of Agriculture, Food and Markets shall personally or through the Secretary’s duly authorized agents:

(1) Survey swamps or other sections within the State suspected of being mosquito or other biting arthropod breeding areas.

(2) Map each section so surveyed, indicate all mosquito or other biting arthropod breeding places and determine methods best adapted for mosquito or other biting arthropod abatement in the areas by drainage, oiling, or other means.

(3) Investigate the mosquito or other biting arthropod life history and habits and determine the species present within the areas, and make any other studies he or she deems necessary to provide useful information in mosquito or other biting arthropod abatement.

(4) Make the results of the Secretary’s surveys, investigations, and studies available to the Department of Health, selectboard members, or mayors of towns or cities, as the case may be, in which work was done; also upon request, to any organizations, public or private, or individuals interested in mosquito or other biting arthropod control work.

(5) Issue or deny permits to any person for the use of larvicides or pupacides for mosquito control in the waters of the State pursuant to procedures adopted under 3 Vt. Stat. Ann. chapter 25. Such procedures shall include provisions regarding an opportunity for public review and comment on permit applications. Persons applying for a permit shall apply on a form provided by the Agency. The Secretary shall seek the advice of the Agricultural Innovation Board when designating acceptable control products and methods for their use and when adopting or amending procedures for implementing this subsection. Before issuing a permit under this subsection, the Secretary shall find, after consultation with the Secretary of the Agency of Natural Resources, that there is acceptable risk to the nontarget environment and that there is negligible risk to public health.

(6) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision (5) of this subsection, when the Commissioner of Health has determined that available information suggests that an imminent risk to public health exists as a result of a potential outbreak of West Nile Virus or other serious illness for which mosquitoes are vectors, the Secretary of Agriculture, Food and Markets may issue permits for the use of larvicides or pupacides for mosquito control without prior public notice or comment.

(b) Notwithstanding any provisions of law to the contrary, a landowner may use biological larvicides or pupacides on his or her own land for mosquito control without obtaining a permit, provided that the biological larvicide or pupacide is designated as an acceptable control product for this purpose by the Secretary. (Amended 2001, No. 61, § 52, eff. June 16, 2001; 2003, No. 42, § 2, eff. May 27, 2003; 2021, No. 49, § 3, eff. Jan. 1, 2022; 2021, No. 105 (Adj. Sess.), § 100, eff. July 1, 2022; 2023, No. 53, § 10, eff. June 8, 2023.)