Chapter 94

94.67 94.67 Pesticides; definitions. In ss. 94.67 to 94.71:

94.67(1) (1) “Active ingredient” means any ingredient which will:

94.67(1)(a) (a) Prevent, destroy, repel or mitigate pests;

94.67(1)(b) (b) Accelerate or retard the rate of growth or rate of maturation or otherwise alter the behavior of ornamental or crop plants or the product of the plants through physiological action;

94.67(1)(c) (c) Cause the leaves or foliage to drop from a plant; or

94.67(1)(d) (d) Artificially accelerate the drying of plant tissue.

94.67(2) (2) “Agricultural commodity” means any plant or part of a plant, animal, or animal product produced by a person primarily for sale, consumption, propagation, or other use by humans or animals. “Agricultural commodity” includes hemp.

94.67(3) (3) “Animal” means all vertebrate and invertebrate species, including but not limited to persons and other mammals, birds, fish and shellfish.

94.67(3m) (3m) “Business location” means any place from which a commercial application business operates on a regular basis as a commercial applicator for hire, except that it does not include a motor vehicle that contains a mobile telephone unit which is used to take pesticide application orders.

94.67(4) (4) “Certified applicator” means a private applicator certified by the department to use restricted-use pesticides or a commercial applicator certified by the department to use or direct the use of pesticides under s. 94.705.

94.67(5) (5) 

94.67(5)(a) (a) “Commercial application business” means a corporation, a limited liability company, a cooperative association, an unincorporated cooperative association, a partnership, a natural person doing business as a sole proprietor or other nongovernmental business entity that does either of the following:

94.67(5)(a)1. 1. Operates as a commercial applicator for hire.

94.67(5)(a)2. 2. Uses or directs the use of a restricted-use pesticide as a commercial applicator, either directly or through an employee.

94.67(5)(b) (b) “Commercial application business” does not include a veterinary clinic that uses or directs the use of a pesticide if the pesticide is used or directed to be used only by a veterinarian or veterinary technician while lawfully practicing within the scope of his or her license or certificate.

94.67(6) (6) “Commercial applicator” means a person, whether or not a private applicator with respect to some uses, who uses or directs the use of any pesticide, either directly or through an employee, for any purpose or on any property other than as a private applicator. “Commercial applicator” does not include:

94.67(6)(a) (a) A person who applies a pesticide, other than a restricted-use pesticide, solely for household purposes in and around the person’s residence.

94.67(6)(b) (b) A person who contracts with a commercial applicator for hire to apply a pesticide for the person, if the person does not otherwise use or direct the use of a pesticide as a commercial applicator.

94.67(6)(c) (c) A veterinarian or veterinary technician who uses or directs the use of a pesticide only while lawfully practicing within the scope of his or her license or certificate.

94.67(7) (7) “Commercial applicator for hire” means a commercial applicator who uses or directs the use of a pesticide as an independent contractor for hire, either directly or through an employee. “Commercial applicator for hire” does not include a provider of janitorial, cleaning or sanitizing services if the provider of the services uses no pesticides other than sanitizers, disinfectants and germicides, or a veterinarian or veterinary technician who uses a pesticide only while lawfully practicing within the scope of his or her license or certificate.

94.67(8) (8) “Dealer” means a person engaged in the sale of pesticides to consumers.

94.67(9) (9) “Defoliant” means any pesticide labeled, designed or intended for use in causing the leaves or foliage to drop from a plant with or without causing abscission.

94.67(10) (10) “Desiccant” means a pesticide labeled, designed or intended for use in artificially accelerating the drying of plant tissue.

94.67(10m) (10m) “Directs the use” means to select a pesticide for use by another person or to instruct or control the application of a pesticide by another person and to be available if and when needed during that application. “Directs the use” may, but does not necessarily, mean to be physically present at the time and place a pesticide is being applied.

94.67(11) (11) “Distributor” means a person engaged in the sale of pesticides for resale and includes a person who sells at wholesale or retail.

94.67(12) (12) “Environment” includes water, air, land and all plants and persons and other animals living in or on the water, air or land and the interrelationships which exist among them.

94.67(13) (13) “Federal act” means the federal insecticide, fungicide, and rodenticide act, as amended (7 USC 136 et. seq.) and regulations issued under that act.

94.67(14) (14) “Fungus” means any non-chlorophyll-bearing plant of a lower order than mosses and liverworts (thallophyte), including but not limited to rusts, smuts, mildews, molds and yeasts except those on or in persons or other animals and those on or in processed food, beverages or pharmaceuticals.

94.67(15c) (15c) “Hemp” has the meaning given in s. 94.55 (1).

94.67(15m) (15m) 

94.67(15m)(a) (a) “Individual commercial applicator” means a natural person who does any of the following:

94.67(15m)(a)1. 1. Personally uses or directs the use of any pesticide as a commercial applicator for hire, or as an employee of a commercial applicator for hire. This subdivision does not apply to a person performing janitorial, cleaning or sanitizing services if the person uses no pesticides other than sanitizers, disinfectants and germicides.

94.67(15m)(a)2. 2. Personally uses a restricted-use pesticide as a commercial applicator.

94.67(15m)(a)3. 3. Directs the use of a pesticide by a person specified under subd. 1. or 2.

94.67(15m)(b) (b) “Individual commercial applicator” does not include a veterinarian or veterinary technician who uses or directs the use of a pesticide only while lawfully practicing within the scope of his or her license or certificate.

94.67(16) (16) “Inert ingredient” means an ingredient which is not an active ingredient.

94.67(17) (17) “Ingredient statement” means a statement which contains the name and percentage of each active ingredient and the total percentage of all inert ingredients in the pesticide; and if the pesticide contains arsenic in any form, a statement of the percentages of total and water soluble arsenic, calculated as elementary arsenic.

94.67(18) (18) “Insect” means any of the numerous small invertebrate animals generally having the body segmented, usually belonging to the class insecta, comprising 6-legged, usually winged forms, including but not limited to beetles, bugs, bees and flies and other allied classes of arthropods whose members are wingless and usually have more than 6 legs, including but not limited to spiders, mites, ticks, centipedes and wood lice.

94.67(19) (19) “Label” means the written, printed, or graphic matter on, or attached to, the pesticide or any of its containers or wrappers.

94.67(20) (20) “Labeler” means a person who affixes his or her label to the pesticide or any of its containers or labeling.

94.67(21) (21) “Labeling” means all labels and all other written, printed or graphic matter accompanying the pesticide at any time or the matter to which reference is made on the label or in literature accompanying the pesticide, except current official publications of state agricultural colleges, experiment stations and extension services or any other state or federal agency authorized by law to conduct research in the field of pesticides.

94.67(21m) (21m) “Licensee” means a person required to obtain a license under s. 94.68, 94.685, 94.703 or 94.704.

94.67(22) (22) “Nematode” means invertebrate animals of the phylum nemathelminthes and class nematoda, consisting of unsegmented worms with elongated fusiform or saclike bodies covered with cuticle and inhabiting soil, water, plants or plant parts. Nematodes may also be called nemas or eelworms.

94.67(23) (23) “Person of limited English language ability” means a person whose ability to use the English language is limited because of the use of a non-English language in his or her family or in his or her daily surroundings and who has difficulty performing in English as a result of limited English language ability.

94.67(24) (24) “Pest” means any insect, rodent, nematode, fungus, weed or any other form of terrestrial or aquatic plant or animal life or virus, bacteria or other micro-organism, except viruses, bacteria or other micro-organisms on or in living persons or other living animals, declared to be a pest under the federal act or rules of the department.

94.67(25) (25) “Pesticide” means any substance or mixture of substances labeled or designed or intended for use in preventing, destroying, repelling or mitigating any pest, or as a plant regulator, defoliant or desiccant.

94.67(25m) (25m) “Pesticide product” means a pesticide, all of the containers in commerce of which are labeled with a unique combination of all of the following:

94.67(25m)(a) (a) The brand name.

94.67(25m)(b) (b) The pesticide registration number assigned to the pesticide under the federal act.

94.67(25m)(c) (c) The name of the pesticide labeler.

94.67(26) (26) “Plant regulator” means any pesticide labeled or designed or intended for use, through physiological action, in accelerating or retarding the rate of growth or maturation, or for otherwise altering the behavior of plants or the produce of the plant, but does not include substances to the extent labeled or designed or intended for use as plant nutrients, trace elements, nutritional chemicals, plant inoculants and soil amendments. The term also excludes nutrient mixtures or soil amendments commonly known as vitamin-hormone horticultural products intended for improvement, maintenance, survival, health and propagation of plants, if they are not labeled, designed or intended for use for pest destruction and are nontoxic and nonpoisonous in the undiluted packaged concentration.

94.67(26m) (26m) “Private applicator” means a person who uses or directs the use of any pesticide for the purpose of producing any agricultural commodity on property owned or rented by the person or the person’s employer, or on property of another person if the pesticide is used without compensation other than the trading of goods or services between producers of agricultural commodities on an exchange basis. “Private applicator” does not include a veterinarian or veterinary technician who uses a pesticide only while lawfully practicing within the scope of his or her license or certificate.

94.67(27) (27) “Produce” or “manufacture” means to manufacture, formulate, prepare, compound, propagate, package, label or process any pesticide.

94.67(28) (28) “Producer” or “manufacturer” means the person who produces or manufactures any pesticide.

94.67(29) (29) “Protect health and the environment” means protection against any unreasonable adverse effects on the environment.

94.67(30) (30) “Registrant” means a person who has registered any pesticide under the federal act or rules of the department.

94.67(31) (31) “Restricted-use pesticide” means a pesticide for which certain or all of its uses are classified as being for restricted use under the federal act.

94.67(33) (33) “Unreasonable adverse effects on the environment” means unreasonable risk to persons or the environment, taking into account the economic, social and environmental costs and benefits of the use of any pesticide.

94.67(33m) (33m) “Veterinarian” means an individual who is licensed as a veterinarian under ch. 89.

94.67(33t) (33t) “Veterinary technician” means an individual who is certified as a veterinary technician under ch. 89.

94.67(34) (34) “Weed” means any plant which grows where not wanted.

94.67 History History: 1975 c. 94 s. 91 (10); 1977 c. 106, 273; 1985 a. 135; 1987 a. 27; 1989 a. 279; 1993 a. 16, 112; 1995 a. 321; 2005 a. 441; 2015 a. 55; 2017 a. 100; 2019 a. 68.

94.67 Cross-reference Cross-reference: See also chs. ATCP 29, 30, and 31 and ss. ATCP 160.19 and 160.21, Wis. adm. code.

94.675 94.675 Pesticides; adulteration. A pesticide is adulterated:

94.675(1) (1) If its strength, quality, purity or effectiveness falls below the standards expressed on the label.

94.675(2) (2) If any substance has been substituted wholly or in part for the articles.

94.675(3) (3) If any valuable constituent of the article has been wholly or in part abstracted.

94.675(4) (4) If it does not bear an identifying label or it does not conform to the name or description of ingredients given on the label.

94.675 History History: 1999 a. 83.

94.675 Cross-reference Cross-reference: See also chs. ATCP 29, 30, and 31 and ss. ATCP 160.19 and 160.21, Wis. adm. code.

94.676 94.676 Pesticides; misbranding. A pesticide is misbranded if:

94.676(1) (1) Its labeling bears any statement, design or graphic representation relative to the pesticide, or to its ingredients, which is false or misleading in any particular.

94.676(2) (2) It is an imitation of, or is offered for sale under, the name of another pesticide.

94.676(3) (3) It is contained in a package or other container or wrapping which does not conform to the standards established under the federal act or rules of the department.

94.676(4) (4) Its label does not bear the registration number assigned to each establishment in which it was produced as required under the federal act or rules of the department.

94.676(5) (5) Any word, statement or other information required under the authority of the federal act or ss. 94.67 to 94.71 to appear on the label or labeling is not prominently placed on the label or labeling with conspicuousness, compared with other words, statements, designs or graphic matter in the labeling, and in terms so as to render it likely to be read and understood by the ordinary person under customary conditions of purchase and use.

94.676(6) (6) The labeling does not contain directions or instructions for use which are necessary for effecting the purpose for which the product is intended and which, if complied with, are adequate to protect health and the environment.

94.676(7) (7) The label does not contain a warning or caution statement which may be necessary and which, if complied with, is adequate to protect health and the environment.

94.676(8) (8) The label does not bear an ingredient statement on that part of the immediate container which is presented or displayed under customary conditions of purchase and on the outside container or wrapper of the retail package, if there is one, through which the ingredient statement on the immediate container cannot be clearly read, except that a pesticide is not misbranded under this subsection if:

94.676(8)(a) (a) The size or form of the immediate container, or the outside container or wrapper of the retail package, makes it impracticable to place the ingredient statement on the part which is presented or displayed under customary conditions of purchase; and

94.676(8)(b) (b) The ingredient statement appears prominently on another part of the immediate container, or outside container or wrapper, when authorized under the federal act.

94.676(9) (9) The labeling does not contain a statement of the use classification under which the pesticide is registered under the federal act or rules of the department.

94.676(10) (10) There is not affixed to its container and to the outside container or wrapper of the retail package, if any, through which the required information on the container can be read clearly, a label bearing:

94.676(10)(a) (a) The name and address of the producer, registrant or person for whom produced;

94.676(10)(b) (b) The name, brand or trademark under which the pesticide is sold;

94.676(10)(c) (c) The net weight or measure of the contents subject to variations as authorized under state or federal law; and

94.676(10)(d) (d) The registration number and use classification assigned to the pesticide when required under the federal act.

94.676(11) (11) The pesticide contains any substance or substances in quantities highly toxic to persons, unless the label bears, in addition to other required labeling:

94.676(11)(a) (a) The sign of the “skull and crossbones”;