2019 Tennessee Code
Title 43 - Agriculture and Horticulture
Chapter 8 - Pesticides
Part 1 - General Provisions
§ 43-8-106. Powers of commissioner.
(a) The commissioner is authorized, after opportunity for a hearing, to:
(1) Declare any form of plant or animal life or virus that is injurious to plants, humans, domestic animals, articles or substances to be a pest;
(2) Determine whether pesticides are highly toxic to humans; and
(3) Determine standards of coloring or discoloring for pesticides.
(b) The commissioner is further authorized to:
(1) Collect and undertake laboratory analysis of pesticides to determine their compliance with the requirements of this part and part 2 of this chapter; and the commissioner has the authority at all reasonable hours to enter into any car, warehouse, store, building, boat vessel or other place where pesticides are held for distribution or sale for the purpose of inspection or sampling, to procure samples for analysis or examination from any lot, package or parcel containing a pesticide;
(2) Publish from time to time information concerning the production, sale and use of any pesticide and make reports of the results of any analysis based on official samples of pesticides sold within the state;
(3) Classify pesticides for general use and/or restricted use, as well as those prohibited from use by regulation; provided, that the regulations shall be consistent with the requirements of the federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act and regulations as administered by the environmental protection agency; and
(4) Review periodically the records of sales of restricted use pesticides by licensed dealers.
(c) The commissioner is authorized to promulgate such reasonable regulations relating to the sale and distribution of pesticides as the commissioner may find necessary to carry out the full intent and meaning of this part and part 2 of this chapter.
(d) The commissioner is authorized and empowered to cooperate with, and enter into agreements with, any other agency of this state, another state, or the federal government for the purpose of carrying out this part and part 2 of this chapter.
