Georgia Structural Pest Control Commission

Georgia Structural Pest Control Commission Synopsis –December 13, 2016

The Georgia Structural Pest Control Commission convened at 9:30 am Room 201 of the Agriculture Building at the Georgia Department of Agriculture. The following commission members were present: Derrick Lastinger, Chris Gorecki, Dr. Brian Forschler, Kim Bragg, Greg Holley and Christy Kuriatnyk.

The meeting was called to order at 9:30 am. The old minutes were read and approved by the Commission.

New Company Applications: Tim Taylor 1. Sub office request from TruGreen for an office in Acworth was approved. 2. A new company application for Think Green Pest Control was approved pending insurance. 3. A new company application for Schaffer Exterminating was approved pending insurance. 4. A new company application for Expert Exterminating Co was not approved. 5. An application for Dead-On Complete Pest Management was approved pending signing and application of consent order. This company license had expired and there are administrative steps to take prior to approval. 6. Reconsideration was brought from Aptiv Environmental. They are requesting the name to change from Aptiv Environmental to Aptiv. The Commission approved this request as legal review has advised that this would be no problem to reconsider.

Rule Making-Derrick Lastinger/Chris Goreki After much discussion, the Commission will write a draft of a proposed rule change that will incorporate the ability to use new technology soil applied termiticide products. Currently, the comprehensive and/or defined treatments must be completed using the minimum standard requirements. This proposed rule change would open the opportunity for products that may not require such application standards. There is already mention of Alternative Application Treatments in the current rules. This will be further explained in this draft. The document will be open for public comment before the proposed rule change will be approved.

GDA Program Update- Derrick Lastinger * The Department is going paperless. All inspection reports will be sent to PMP’s via email beginning in 2017. *Tim Taylor announced that the course renewals have gone out for recertification for 2017. *The School IPM publication will be printed early 2017.

UGA Urban Entomology Update- Dr. Brian Forschler The January 10, 2017 Commission meeting will be held at 9:15am at the same location as last year, on the UGA campus at the Carl Vinson Institute of Government, Lucy Cobb Chapel. The Lucy Cobb Chapel is located next to the Varsity. Attendees will need to park in the Varsity parking lot to attend this event. Please plan to arrive early to enjoy a light breakfast. The meeting will include a welcome from Dean Pardue and research reports from several of the Entomology students.

NPMA Update: Rick Bell *Scott Pruitt was named head chair of the EPA. *The overtime rule has been appealed by the Department of Labor. *The EPA released the final Certification & Training Rule. It appears that there will not be any real impact on Georgia PMP’s or regulation requirements. Go to https://www.epa.gov/pesticide-worker-safety/revised-certification-standards- pesticide-applicators for more information. *The EPA has published a review of structural fumigants and incidents that have caused injury and death. Go to https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-12/documents/_epaoig_20161212-17-p-0053.pdf to read. *The meeting of the WDO sub-committee of NPMA met with spray-foam manufacturers as well as applicators in Raleigh, NC. The goal was to communicate the difficulties that foaming causes for PMP’s when they do inspections. NPMA will be issuing a buyer information piece of things to look for when purchasing a home. This will include the difficulties that foaming cause PMP’s when inspecting and maintaining a warranty repair contract. The pamphlet will include other building industry issues and will not be targeting spray-foam applicators only.

Meeting adjourned 10:30 am.