N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. tit. 10 § 44.60

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 45, November 2, 2024

Section 44.60 - Standards for review and approval

(a) State aid applications for vector control activities in the absence of a concurrent arthropod vector surveillance program shall not be approved. However, there will be State aid for vector surveillance programs in the absence of control activities where the surveillance activities are directed to the detection of arthropod vector-borne diseases which may constitute a public health threat.

(b) Plans for surveillance activities must be described within the State aid application for vector surveillance (form DOH 0627-2377) and be approved in advance by the designee of the commissioner.

(c) Localities implementing nonchemical control measures should take steps that do not create any risks to public health, that minimize any risks to the environment, that can be accomplished in a cost effective manner, and produce long-term benefits to the community by permanent vector control. Each control effort must be approved by the designee of the commissioner.

(d) Request for State aid reimbursement for pesticide spray application for vector control shall meet the following requirements:

(1) Pesticide spray applications conducted by the municipality must be in response to a public health threat determined pursuant to section 44.50 of this Part.

(2) [Reserved]

(3) When pesticide control measures are found necessary, ground application of pesticides shall be the preferred method of control. No aerial pesticide application shall be approved for State aid reimbursement except under conditions involving specific arboviruses such as Eastern Equine Encephalitis or St. Louis Encephalitis and the commissioner concludes, because of the inaccessibility of the target areas by land, that aerial spraying is the only practicable way in which vector control activities can be carried out. The department, in its review of each application, will consider physiography, accessibility to the area where the vector is located, rapidity of response required as determined by the seriousness of the public health threat, and the likelihood that vectors in nearby areas not subject to control measures will migrate from the area if not subject to control.

(4) If a public health threat warranting control measures is found to exist, control measures must be limited to the immediate area where the vector population has been determined to exist through vector surveillance and may include adjacent areas considered at risk for imminent disease transmissions as documented through vector surveillance activities.

(5) The pesticides to be applied and the manner of application must be approved on a timely basis in advance of use by the department and must be conditionally approved by the Department of Environmental Conservation subject to a further timely review and opportunity, pursuant to paragraph (8) of this subdivision, for the Department of Environmental Conservation to request a modification of an order of the Commissioner of Health declaring a public health threat. Such approval will be based upon, among other things, an assessment of effectiveness of the proposed pesticides applied to control the vector in the target area including pesticide type and timing in the vector's life cycle, the potential impact of the pesticide on people and the potential adverse ecosystem effects of any proposed pesticide based on its toxicity, persistence and target organism specificity, and potential for non-target impacts.

(6) Sources for public water supplies will not be subjected to direct pesticide applications nor to the drift of such activities. Surface water shall not be subjected to mosquito larvicide application without a NYSDEC aquatic pesticide permit, when required, and any such application shall comply with the label restrictions of the pesticide used.

(7) Under conditions of a current public health threat as declared by the commissioner, the applicant shall announce to the general public, via the print and broadcast news media, the use of vector control activities in the target area at least 24 hours in advance of such use. The time period for advance notice may be shortened by the commissioner or designee in the event that 24- hour advance notice is not possible or that delay would endanger the public health. Vector control activities taken under conditions supported only by historical evidence shall be announced similarly to the general public at least 72 hours in advance of such activities.

(8) The Commissioner of Environmental Conservation shall have an opportunity to consult with the Conmissioner of Health and request such modification of orders declaring public health threats as are deemed necessary to implement the purposes of the Environmental Conservation Law.

N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. Tit. 10 § 44.60