2.1 RI General Use Restrictions: Well Setbacks, Surface Waters, Woodland, Aerial Application & Age Limits
Key Takeaways
- Section 2.19(C) prohibits any pesticide application within 400 feet of gravel packed wells used for public water supply and within 250 feet of other wells so used, unless the materials and methods are approved by the Director.
- All pest control equipment drawing water from state surface waters or potable supplies must have an effective anti-siphon device approved by the Director to prevent backflow.
- No restricted use or state limited use pesticide may be applied to woodland areas exceeding 25 acres, and no pesticide may be applied by aircraft anywhere in the state, without prior approval of the Director.
- Section 2.19(I) bars mechanically powered application at any time the wind velocity will cause a hazardous chemical to drift beyond the target area, a standard tied to conditions rather than a fixed mile-per-hour number.
- No person under eighteen may apply restricted use or state limited use pesticides as a private or commercial applicator, with a narrow documented-hardship exception allowing an immediate family member aged sixteen to eighteen to obtain private certification on a farm.
2.1 RI General Use Restrictions: Well Setbacks, Surface Waters, Woodland, Aerial Application & Age Limits
Section 2.19 of 250-RICR-40-15-2 is headed simply "General Rules," and it is the single densest source of Rhode Island-specific exam material in the regulation. These restrictions are not category-specific and they are not conditioned on whether the product is restricted use. With a handful of exceptions they apply to every application by every applicator in the state, layered on top of whatever the label says.
The organizing logic is straightforward: Rhode Island is small, densely settled, almost entirely coastal, and heavily dependent on shallow groundwater. Section 2.19 protects drinking water, surface water, adjacent property, and children.
1. Drinking Water Supply Setbacks — 400 Feet and 250 Feet
§ 2.19(C): "No pesticide application may be made within 400 feet of gravel packed wells used for public water supply or within 250 feet of other wells so used, unless materials and methods to be employed have been approved by the Director."
| Feature | Setback | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Gravel packed well used for public water supply | 400 feet | Gravel-packed wells are high-yield wells developed in coarse, permeable stratified drift. Their large capture zones pull water — and anything dissolved in it — from a wide radius at high velocity |
| Other well used for public water supply | 250 feet | Lower-yield public supply wells with smaller capture zones |
Three details decide most exam items on this rule:
- Both figures attach to wells used for public water supply. The regulation does not write a blanket private-domestic-well setback. Private wells are protected instead through the product label's own directions, through § 2.19(B), and through the applicator's liability for contamination.
- The Director may approve an exception — "unless materials and methods to be employed have been approved by the Director." The setback is a default, not an absolute prohibition, but the approval must come first.
- Do not confuse this with the 100-foot termiticide figure. The 100 feet in § 2.6(B)(8)(c) is a recordkeeping radius for noting wells, drainage systems, and water bodies near a treated structure. It is not a setback and it does not limit where you may treat.
2. Surface Water and Public Water Supply Rules
- § 2.19(B) — Public water supplies. No pesticide may be applied to public water supplies or their tributaries except by legally established water supply entities or their agents as authorized by the Director. Applications to lands near or adjacent to public water supplies must be made so that no pesticide drifts or flows into them.
- § 2.19(G) — Any surface water of the state. Applications to any surface waters of the state, for control of aquatic nuisances or for any other reason, may not be made unless approved by the Director. This is a prior-approval requirement, and it applies even to an appropriately certified Category 5A applicator holding a labeled aquatic product.
- § 2.19(A) — Anti-siphon devices. All pest control equipment using pesticides and drawing water from the surface waters of the State or from potable water supplies must have an effective anti-siphon device approved by the Director to prevent back flow. Section 5.1 of this guide covers the engineering: an air gap of at least twice the supply pipe diameter and never less than one inch, a reduced pressure zone assembly, or an atmospheric vacuum breaker.
3. Land-Based Restrictions
- § 2.19(D) — The 25-acre woodland threshold. No restricted use or state limited use pesticide may be applied to woodland areas exceeding 25 acres without the prior approval of the Director. A forestry or right-of-way contractor planning a large block treatment must clear it in advance. Note the qualifier: the rule reaches restricted use and state limited use products, not general-use products.
- § 2.19(E) — Crops and pasturage. Applications to areas adjacent to crops or pasturage must be made so that contamination of crops or pasturage does not occur.
- § 2.19(F) — Agricultural applications. Pesticide application for agricultural purposes must be made so that contamination to adjacent lands does not occur.
Both of those are strict-outcome standards. They do not ask whether the applicator was careful; they ask whether contamination happened.
4. Aerial Application and Wind
- § 2.19(H) — Aircraft. No application of pesticides by means of aircraft may be made within the State without prior approval of the Director or a designated representative. There is no acreage threshold, no product exemption, and no general-use carve-out. Every aerial application in Rhode Island is a prior-approval event.
- § 2.19(I) — Wind. No application may be made by mechanically powered equipment at such times as the wind velocity will cause a hazardous chemical to drift beyond the target area.
Read § 2.19(I) carefully. Rhode Island does not publish a numeric wind ceiling in this rule. The standard is performance-based: whatever wind speed, on this site, with this equipment and this product, would carry a hazardous chemical off target. Product labels and the drift-management practice covered in Section 5.3 of this guide supply the operating numbers — commonly a 3 to 10 mph working window — but the regulatory test is whether drift beyond the target area will occur.
5. Containers, Labels, and Distribution Integrity
- § 2.19(J): Pesticide containers shall not be used for any purpose other than the storage of pesticides, unless the purpose has been approved by the Director and the containers have been properly cleaned. Both conditions, not either.
- § 2.19(M): No pesticide may be distributed if part or all of the label is missing, unreadable, or otherwise damaged beyond recognition.
- § 2.19(N): No pesticide may be distributed in containers that are unsafe due to corrosion, leakage, spillage, or other damage.
- § 2.19(K) and (L): Dealers displaying restricted use or state limited use pesticides must display them in an area separate from general use pesticides and post a sign reading "for sale to certified applicators only" in a prominent position, in imprinted letters at least one inch high. Section 2.4 of this guide covers dealer obligations in full.
6. Age Rules and the Farm Hardship Exception
Rhode Island's age rules are stricter and more finely graded than most candidates expect, and the regulation states them twice.
Restricted Use and State Limited Use Pesticides — § 2.19(O)
No person under eighteen (18) years of age shall apply restricted use or state limited use pesticides as a private or commercial applicator. Sections 2.8(J) and 2.11(H) reinforce this: no person under eighteen is eligible for certification as a commercial or private applicator, and § 2.8(J) adds that no one under eighteen may apply pesticides under the direct supervision of a certified applicator either.
The single exception: farms that can demonstrate and provide written documentation of a hardship situation acceptable to the Department may allow an immediate family member between sixteen (16) and eighteen (18) to obtain private certification, provided the family member has attended the required pesticide applicator training, passed the required examinations, and satisfied the private certification licensing requirements.
General Use Pesticides — § 2.19(P)
No person under eighteen may apply general use pesticides as a commercial or private applicator except:
- Farm employees sixteen (16) or older may apply general use pesticides only under the direct supervision of a private applicator; and
- Immediate farm family members sixteen (16) or older may apply general use pesticides only on their parents' farm without the supervision of a private applicator.
| Age | RUP / State Limited Use | General Use |
|---|---|---|
| Under 16 | Prohibited outright | Prohibited outright |
| 16–17, farm employee | Prohibited (no exception) | Permitted only under direct supervision of a private applicator |
| 16–17, immediate farm family | Permitted only with documented hardship, training, exam, and private certification | Permitted unsupervised on the parents' farm |
| 18 and over | Permitted with appropriate credential | Permitted with appropriate credential |
Section 2.18(H) applies the same floor to the retail side: no person under eighteen may be licensed as a dealer, or be engaged in the sale and distribution of restricted use or state limited use pesticides.
7. A Compliance Walkthrough
A right-of-way contractor is bidding a herbicide treatment along a utility corridor in western Rhode Island. The corridor runs 3.2 miles, crosses two intermittent streams, passes within 300 feet of a municipal gravel-packed supply well, and includes a 40-acre wooded segment where a restricted-use basal bark treatment is planned. The crew includes a 17-year-old summer employee.
| Issue | Rule | Required Action |
|---|---|---|
| 300 feet from a gravel packed public supply well | § 2.19(C) — 400-foot setback | Either shift the treatment beyond 400 feet, or obtain prior Director approval of the materials and methods |
| Two stream crossings | § 2.19(G) — surface water approval | No application to the surface waters themselves without Director approval; treat only outside the water and control drift and flow |
| 40 acres of woodland, restricted-use product | § 2.19(D) — 25-acre threshold | Obtain prior Director approval; 40 acres exceeds 25 |
| Filling the spray rig from a stream | § 2.19(A) | Fit an approved anti-siphon device; never submerge the fill hose |
| Windy afternoon forecast | § 2.19(I) | Suspend mechanically powered application when wind will carry hazardous chemical beyond the target area |
| 17-year-old crew member | § 2.19(O) and (P) | May not apply the restricted-use product at all, and may not apply general-use products either — the 16-to-18 general-use exceptions are limited to farm employees and farm family members, not right-of-way crews |
| Empty concentrate jugs | § 2.19(J) | Do not repurpose the containers; triple rinse and dispose per Section 4.4 of this guide |
Six separate Rhode Island rules on one job. This is why § 2.19 is worth reading end to end before the exam.
A commercial applicator plans a turf herbicide application on a municipal athletic field. A gravel packed well used by the town for public water supply sits 310 feet from the nearest edge of the treatment area. Under 250-RICR-40-15-2, what does the applicator have to do?
Under Section 2.19 of the Rhode Island pesticide regulations, which of the following activities requires prior approval of the Director?
A 17-year-old works as a seasonal crew member for a Rhode Island commercial landscaping company. What pesticide application work may this employee legally perform?