1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to education; requiring notice to parents and 
  1.3             employees where a school district plans to use certain 
  1.4             pesticides; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota 
  1.5             Statutes, chapter 123B. 
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  [123B.575] [PESTICIDE APPLICATION AT SCHOOLS.] 
  1.8      Subdivision 1.  [PARENTS' RIGHT-TO-KNOW ACT.] Subdivisions 
  1.9   2 to 9 may be cited as the Parents' Right-to-Know Act of 2000. 
  1.10     Subd. 2.  [PESTICIDE APPLICATION NOTIFICATION.] A school 
  1.11  district that plans to apply a pesticide which is a toxicity 
  1.12  category I, II, or III pesticide product, as classified by the 
  1.13  United States Environmental Protection Agency, or a restricted 
  1.14  use pesticide, as designated under the Federal Insecticide, 
  1.15  Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, must provide a notice to parents 
  1.16  and employees that it applies such pesticides.  The notice must 
  1.17  provide that an estimated schedule of the pesticide applications 
  1.18  is available for review or copying at the school offices where 
  1.19  such pesticides are applied.  The notice must state that 
  1.20  long-term health effects on children from the application of 
  1.21  such pesticides or the class of chemicals to which they belong 
  1.22  may not be fully understood.  The notice must also inform 
  1.23  parents that they may request the school notify them 48 hours 
  1.24  before any application of a pesticide listed in this subdivision.
  1.25     Subd. 3.  [NOTICE; TIMING; DISTRIBUTION.] The notice must 
  2.1   be provided during the first two weeks of each school year 
  2.2   during which pesticides listed in subdivision 2 are planned to 
  2.3   be applied.  The notice may be included with other notices 
  2.4   provided by the school, but must be separately identified and 
  2.5   clearly visible to the reader.  In addition to the notice 
  2.6   provided during the first two weeks of the school year, a school 
  2.7   district that is required to provide notice under this section 
  2.8   must include in any school handbook a section informing parents 
  2.9   that an estimated schedule of applications of pesticides listed 
  2.10  in subdivision 2 is available for review or copying at the 
  2.11  school offices and that a parent may receive prior notice of 
  2.12  each application if specifically requested.  
  2.13     Subd. 4.  [NOTICE AVAILABILITY.] A school district that 
  2.14  uses a pesticide listed in subdivision 2 must keep all 
  2.15  notifications required under subdivisions 2 and 3 in a manner 
  2.16  available to the public.  
  2.17     Subd. 5.  [NOTIFICATION FOR INDIVIDUAL PARENTS.] A parent 
  2.18  of a student at a school may request that the school notify the 
  2.19  parent prior to the application of any pesticides listed in 
  2.20  subdivision 2.  The school must notify any parent who has 
  2.21  requested such notification at least 48 hours prior to applying 
  2.22  such pesticides.  The notice must include the pesticide to be 
  2.23  applied, the time of the planned application, and the location 
  2.24  at the school of the planned application. 
  2.25     Subd. 6.  [MODEL NOTICE.] The department of health, in 
  2.26  consultation with the department of children, families, and 
  2.27  learning and the office of environmental assistance, shall 
  2.28  develop and make available to school districts model notice 
  2.29  language in a form that can be used by school districts if they 
  2.30  choose.  The model notice must include the information required 
  2.31  by this section.  The department of health must provide an 
  2.32  opportunity for environmental groups and interested parents to 
  2.33  work with the department in developing the model notice.  
  2.34     Subd. 7.  [PLAN.] A school district is not required to 
  2.35  adopt an integrated pest management plan.  A school board may 
  2.36  only notify students, parents, or employees that it has adopted 
  3.1   an integrated pest management plan if the plan is a managed pest 
  3.2   control program designed to minimize the risk to human health 
  3.3   and the environment and to reduce the use of chemical 
  3.4   pesticides, and which ranks the district's response to pests in 
  3.5   the following manner: 
  3.6      (1) identifying pests which need to be controlled; 
  3.7      (2) establishing tolerable limits of each identified pest; 
  3.8      (3) designing future buildings and landscapes to prevent 
  3.9   identified pests; 
  3.10     (4) excluding identified pests from sites and buildings 
  3.11  using maintenance practices; 
  3.12     (5) adapting cleaning activities and best management 
  3.13  practices to minimize the number of pests; 
  3.14     (6) using mechanical methods of controlling identified 
  3.15  pests; and 
  3.16     (7) controlling identified pests using the least toxic 
  3.17  pesticides with the least exposure to persons as is practicable. 
  3.18     Subd. 8.  [PESTICIDE DEFINED; CLEANING PRODUCTS 
  3.19  EXCLUDED.] For purposes of this section, the term "pesticide" 
  3.20  has the meaning given it in section 18B.01, subdivision 18, 
  3.21  except that it does not include any disinfectants, sanitizers, 
  3.22  deodorizers, or antimicrobial agents used for general cleaning 
  3.23  purposes. 
  3.24     Subd. 9.  [PEST DEFINED.] For purposes of this section, the 
  3.25  term "pest" has the meaning given it in section 18B.01, 
  3.26  subdivision 17. 
  3.27     Sec. 2.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  3.28     Section 1 is effective September 1, 2000.