Title 6 of the Vermont Statutes Annotated (6 V.S.A.), Chapter 87: Control of Pesticides, provides the Secretary of the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets (VAAFM) with the necessary authority to regulate and control the sale, use, storage, treatment, and disposal of pesticides and pesticide wastes to promote public health, safety, and welfare and protect agricultural and natural resources. In order to achieve these goals, VAAFM implements a comprehensive approach to the regulation of pesticide companies, pesticide applicators (both professional and homeowner), pesticide dealers, and pesticide producing establishments. When necessary, cases are referred to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 1 Office in Boston, Massachusetts, to take enforcement under the authority of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA).
These reports provides summaries of the enforcement actions taken by VAAFM during Federal Fiscal Year 2023 and 2021. In 2022, the Agency undertook a comprehensive revision of the Regulations, with the final Vermont Rule for Control of Pesticides (the Rule) becoming effective on February 24, 2023. Therefore, depending on when an inspection or investigation of a regulated entity took place, the violation(s) alleged in an enforcement action would either be of the Regulations (if the inspection / investigation took place prior to February 24, 2023) or of the Rule (if the inspection / investigation took place after February 24, 2023).