1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to children; requiring notice to parents and 
  1.3             employees when a Head Start program or child care 
  1.4             center plans to use certain pesticides; amending 
  1.5             Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 121A.30.  
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 121A.30, is 
  1.8   amended to read: 
  1.9      121A.30 [PESTICIDE APPLICATION AT SCHOOLS.] 
  1.10     Subdivision 1.  [PARENTS' RIGHT-TO-KNOW ACT.] Subdivisions 
  1.11  2 to 14 may be cited as the Janet B. Johnson Parents' 
  1.12  Right-to-Know Act of 2000. 
  1.13     Subd. 2.  [PESTICIDE APPLICATION NOTIFICATION.] (a) A 
  1.14  school, Head Start program, or child care center that plans to 
  1.15  apply a pesticide which is a toxicity category I, II, or III 
  1.16  pesticide product, as classified by the United States 
  1.17  Environmental Protection Agency, or a restricted use pesticide, 
  1.18  as designated under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and 
  1.19  Rodenticide Act, on school, Head Start, or child care center 
  1.20  property, must provide a notice to parents and employees that it 
  1.21  applies such pesticides.  The notice required under subdivision 
  1.22  3 must: 
  1.23     (1) provide that an estimated schedule of the pesticide 
  1.24  applications is available for review or copying at the school, 
  1.25  Head Start, or child care center offices where such pesticides 
  2.1   are applied; 
  2.2      (2) state that long-term health effects on children from 
  2.3   the application of such pesticides or the class of chemicals to 
  2.4   which they belong may not be fully understood; 
  2.5      (3) inform parents that a parent may request to be notified 
  2.6   by the school, Head Start program, or child care center in the 
  2.7   manner specified in subdivision 6 before any application of a 
  2.8   pesticide listed in this subdivision. 
  2.9      (b) A Head Start program or child care center conducted in 
  2.10  a facility not owned by the program must ensure that the program 
  2.11  receives prior notification from the owner of the facility of 
  2.12  pesticide applications in order to comply with the requirements 
  2.13  of this section. 
  2.14     Subd. 3.  [NOTICE; TIMING; DISTRIBUTION.] The notice must 
  2.15  be provided no later than September 15 of each school year 
  2.16  during which pesticides listed in subdivision 2 are planned to 
  2.17  be applied.  The notice may be included with other notices 
  2.18  provided by the school, Head Start program, or child care 
  2.19  center, but must be separately identified and clearly visible to 
  2.20  the reader.  
  2.21     Subd. 4.  [SCHOOL HANDBOOK OR STATEMENT OF POLICIES.] In 
  2.22  addition to the notice provided according to subdivision 3, a 
  2.23  school, Head Start program, or child care center that is 
  2.24  required to provide notice under this section shall must include 
  2.25  in an official school handbook or official school policy guide 
  2.26  of a general nature a section informing parents that an 
  2.27  estimated schedule of applications of pesticides listed in 
  2.28  subdivision 2 is available for review or copying at the school 
  2.29  offices or Head Start facility or child care center, and that a 
  2.30  parent may receive prior notice of each application if 
  2.31  specifically requested.  
  2.32     Subd. 5.  [NOTICE AVAILABILITY.] A school, Head Start 
  2.33  program, or child care center that uses a pesticide listed in 
  2.34  subdivision 2 must keep a copy of all notifications required 
  2.35  under subdivisions 2 and 3 for at least six years in a manner 
  2.36  available to the public.  
  3.1      Subd. 6.  [NOTIFICATION FOR INDIVIDUAL PARENTS.] A parent 
  3.2   of a student at a school or a child participating in a Head 
  3.3   Start program or child care center may request that the school 
  3.4   principal or other person having general control and supervision 
  3.5   of the school notify the parent to be notified prior to the 
  3.6   application of any pesticides listed in subdivision 2 at the 
  3.7   school or program on a day different from the days specified in 
  3.8   the notice under subdivision 3.  The school principal, program 
  3.9   director, or other person having general control and supervision 
  3.10  of the school or program must provide reasonable notice to a 
  3.11  parent who has requested such the notification prior to applying 
  3.12  such the pesticides.  The notice may be waived for emergency 
  3.13  applications required only by appropriate state or local health 
  3.14  officials.  The notice must include the pesticide to be applied, 
  3.15  the time of the planned application, and the location at the 
  3.16  school or program of the planned application.  A school or 
  3.17  program may request reimbursement for the school's its 
  3.18  reasonable costs of providing notice under this subdivision, 
  3.19  including any costs of mailing, from individuals requesting 
  3.20  notification under this subdivision. 
  3.21     Subd. 7.  [MODEL NOTICE.] The department of health, in 
  3.22  consultation with the department of children, families, and 
  3.23  learning, the office of environmental assistance, and University 
  3.24  of Minnesota extension service, shall develop and make available 
  3.25  to schools by August 1, 2000, a model notice in a form that can 
  3.26  be used by a school, Head Start program, or child care center if 
  3.27  it chooses to do so.  The department shall make the model notice 
  3.28  available to schools by August 1, 2000, and to Head Start 
  3.29  programs and child care centers by August 1, 2001.  The model 
  3.30  notice must include the information required by this section.  
  3.31  The department of health must provide an opportunity for 
  3.32  environmental groups, interested parents, public health 
  3.33  organizations, and other parties to work with the department in 
  3.34  developing the model notice.  
  3.35     Subd. 8.  [PLAN.] A school, Head Start program, or child 
  3.36  care center is not required to adopt an integrated pest 
  4.1   management plan.  A school board, Head Start program, or child 
  4.2   care center may only notify students, parents, or employees that 
  4.3   it has adopted an integrated pest management plan if the plan is 
  4.4   a managed pest control program designed to minimize the risk to 
  4.5   human health and the environment and to reduce the use of 
  4.6   chemical pesticides, and which ranks the district's, Head Start 
  4.7   program's, or child care center's response to pests in the 
  4.8   following manner: 
  4.9      (1) identifying pests which need to be controlled; 
  4.10     (2) establishing tolerable limits of each identified pest; 
  4.11     (3) designing future buildings and landscapes to prevent 
  4.12  identified pests; 
  4.13     (4) excluding identified pests from sites and buildings 
  4.14  using maintenance practices; 
  4.15     (5) adapting cleaning activities and best management 
  4.16  practices to minimize the number of pests; 
  4.17     (6) using mechanical methods of controlling identified 
  4.18  pests; and 
  4.19     (7) controlling identified pests using the least toxic 
  4.20  pesticides with the least exposure to persons as is practicable. 
  4.21     Subd. 9.  [PESTICIDE DEFINED; CLEANING PRODUCTS EXCLUDED.] 
  4.22  For purposes of this section, the term "pesticide" has the 
  4.23  meaning given it in section 18B.01, subdivision 18, except that 
  4.24  it does not include any disinfectants, sanitizers, deodorizers, 
  4.25  or antimicrobial agents used for general cleaning purposes. 
  4.26     Subd. 10.  [PEST DEFINED.] For purposes of this section, 
  4.27  the term "pest" has the meaning given it in section 18B.01, 
  4.28  subdivision 17. 
  4.29     Subd. 11.  [SCHOOL DEFINED.] For the purposes of this 
  4.30  section, "school" means a school as defined in section 120A.22, 
  4.31  subdivision 4, excluding home schools. 
  4.32     Subd. 11a.  [CHILD CARE CENTER.] For the purposes of this 
  4.33  section, "child care center" means a center as defined in 
  4.34  Minnesota Rules, part 9503.0005, subpart 5. 
  4.35     Subd. 12.  [IMMUNITY FROM LIABILITY.] No cause of action 
  4.36  may be brought against a school district, a school, or the 
  5.1   districts or school's employees or agents any of the following 
  5.2   entities or persons for any failure to comply with the 
  5.3   requirements under this section: 
  5.4      (1) a school district, a school, or the district's or 
  5.5   school's employees or agents; 
  5.6      (2) A Head Start program or the program's employees or 
  5.7   agents; or 
  5.8      (3) a child care center or the center's employees or agents.
  5.9      Subd. 13.  [EVIDENCE OF FAILURE TO COMPLY EXCLUDED.] A 
  5.10  failure to comply with the requirements of this section may not 
  5.11  be presented as evidence in any lawsuit based upon physical 
  5.12  injury resulting from exposure to pesticides applied at a 
  5.13  school, Head Start program, or child care center. 
  5.14     Subd. 14.  [NO SPECIAL RIGHTS.] Nothing in this section 
  5.15  affects the duty of a parent or a student to comply with the 
  5.16  compulsory attendance law or the duty of a school, Head Start, 
  5.17  or child care center employee to comply with the provisions of 
  5.18  an applicable employment contract or policy.  
  5.19     <b>[EFFECTIVE DATE.]</b> This section is effective August 1, 2001.