TITLE 23
Health and Safety
CHAPTER 23-25
Pesticide Control
SECTION 23-25-3
§ 23-25-3 Declaration of purpose.
The purpose of this chapter is to regulate, in the public interest, the
labeling, distribution, sale, storage, transportation, use and application, and
disposal of pesticides as defined in this chapter. The general assembly finds
that pesticides are valuable to our state's agricultural production and to the
protection of human life and the environment from insects, rodents, weeds, and
other forms of life which may be pests; but it is essential to the public
health and welfare that they be regulated to prevent adverse effects on human
life and the environment. New pesticides are continually being discovered,
synthesized, or developed which are valuable for the control of pests and for
use as defoliants, desiccants, and plant regulators. Those pesticides may be
ineffective, may cause injury to man, or may cause unreasonable adverse effects
on the environment if not properly used. Pesticides may injure human life or
animals, either by direct poisoning or by gradual accumulation of pesticide
residues in the tissue. Crops or other plants may also be injured by their
improper use. The drifting or washing of pesticides into streams, lakes, or
other bodies of water may cause appreciable damage to aquatic life. A pesticide
applied for the purpose of killing pests in a crop which is not itself injured
by the pesticide, may drift and injure other crops or non-target organisms with
which it comes in contact. It is deemed necessary to provide for regulation of
pesticides.
History of Section.
(P.L. 1976, ch. 191, § 2; G.L. 1956, § 23-41.1-3; P.L. 1979, ch. 39,
§ 1.)
