SB 963 — AN ACT CONCERNING NEONICOTINOIDS FOR NONAGRICULTURAL USE.

Senate General Assembly FileSubstitute Bill No.

242963 January Session, 2023 SubstituteAN SenateACT BillCONCERNING No.NEONICOTINOIDS FOR NONAGRICULTURAL USE.

963 Senate, March 28, 2023 The Committee on Environment reported through SEN.

LOPES of the 6th Dist., Chairperson of the Committee on the part of the Senate, that the substitute bill ought to pass.

AN ACT CONCERNING NEONICOTINOIDS FOR NONAGRICULTURAL USE.

Subsection (l) of section 22a-50 of the general statutes is repealed andthefollowing issubstitutedis inlieusubstituted thereof(EffectiveOctoberinlieuthereof(EffectiveOctober 1, 2023):

(2) On and after January 1, 2024, no person shall sell, possess or use any pesticide that contains any neonicotinoid, as defined in section 22- 61k, except that such pesticide may be used on an agricultural plant or to eliminate aninvasive invertebrate pest ifthe Commissioner ofEnergy andEnvironmentalProtection,afterconsultationwiththedirectorofthe Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, determines that no other sSB963effective /control Fileoption No.is available.

242 1 sSB963 File No.

242 effective control option is available.

For purposes of this subdivision, "agricultural plant" means anyLCO plant,\\PRDFS1\SCOUSERS\FORZANOF\WS\2023SB-00963-R01 or part of any3 plant,SB.docx thatSubstitute isBill grown,No. maintained or otherwise produced for commercial purposes, including, but not limited to, any plant grown, maintained or otherwise produced for sale or trade, for research or experimental purposes or for use, in part or in whole, in another locationsuchasany grain,fruit, vegetable,woodfiber or timber product, flowering or foliage plant or tree, seedling, transplant or turf grass produced for sod.

963 any plant, or part of any plant, that is grown, maintained or otherwise produced for commercial purposes, including, but not limited to, any plant grown, maintained or otherwise produced for sale or trade, for research or experimental purposes or for use, in part or in whole, in another locationsuchasany grain,fruit, vegetable,woodfiber or timber product, flowering or foliage plant or tree, seedling, transplant or turf grass produced for sod.

sSB963Section /1 FileOctober No.1, 2023 22a-50(l) ENV Joint Favorable Subst.

242LCO 2{\\PRDFS1\SCOUSERS\FORZANOF\WS\2023SB-00963-2 sSB963of File3 R02-SB.docx } Substitute Bill No.

242963 SectionAPP 1Joint OctoberFavorable 1,LCO 2023{\\PRDFS1\SCOUSERS\FORZANOF\WS\2023SB-00963- 22a-50(l)3 ENVof Joint3 FavorableR02-SB.docx Subst.}

sSB963 / File No.

242 3 sSB963 File No.

242 The following Fiscal Impact Statement and Bill Analysis are prepared for the benefit of the members of the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and explanation and do not represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose.

In general, fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of informational sources, including the analyst’s professional knowledge.

Whenever applicable, agency data is consulted as part of the analysis, however final products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any specific department.

OFA Fiscal Note State Impact:

Agency Affected Fund-Effect FY 24 $ FY 25 $ Department of Energy and GF - Revenue Potential Potential Environmental Protection Gain Department of Energy and GF - Cost 31,541 64,659 Environmental Protection State Comptroller - Fringe GF - Cost 13,506 27,687 Benefits1 Note:

GF=General Fund Municipal Impact:

None Explanation The bill establishes a ban, beginning January 1, 2024, on selling, possessing, or using pesticide neonicotinoid pesticides, with certain exemptions (including agriculture).

2 This results in total costs to the state of $45,047 in FY 24 (for nine months) and$92,346 in FY 25 for a new Environmental Analyst 2 within the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) to handle the bill's requirements.

The costs may be offset by revenue resulting from violations to the extent they are enforced by the new staff person.

The costs of the new DEEP analyst are:

(1) $31,541 to DEEP in FY 24;

and (2) $13,506 in FY 24 to the Office of the State Comptroller for associated fringe benefits, adjusting for six months.

These costs are The fringe benefit costs for most state employees are budgeted centrally in accounts administered by the Comptroller.

The estimated active employee fringe benefit cost associated with most personnel changes is 42.82% of payroll in FY 24.

2A neonicotinoid is a pesticide that impacts the nervous system of an organism.

sSB963 / File No.

242 4 sSB963 File No.

242 annualized in FY 25.

Currently, there are no DEEP staff solely tasked with identification of neonicotinoid products;

the new staff person would be tasked with this in addition to performing the product reclassification, inspection, and enforcement activities.

There are presently two dedicated staff at DEEP who are responsible for all pesticide registration and classification (including aquatic permitting), and there are currently over 13,000 pesticide product registrations within the Pesticide Management Program.

Regarding inspections and enforcement, there are currently three staffatDEEPperformingallpesticideinspectionsandaportionofastaff position performing enforcement activities regarding pesticide laws of approximately 1,100 registered pesticides (and arborist businesses), approximately 9,000 commercial pesticide applicators, 500 certified private applicators (farms), and an unknown number of pesticide retailers.

The bill also authorizes DEEP to assess a civil penalty of up to $2,500 per violation to anyone who violates the ban.

To the extent that violations are discovered and fined, this will result in a revenue gain to the General Fund.