2.4 State Limited Use Pesticides, Neonicotinoid Restrictions, Dealer Licensing & RUP Purchase Control

2.4 State Limited Use Pesticides, Neonicotinoid Restrictions, Dealer Licensing & RUP Purchase Control

Federal law gives EPA one classification lever: general use or restricted use. Rhode Island adds a second lever of its own — the "state limited use" classification — and uses it to reach products EPA has left unrestricted. Understanding this category is essential, because a state limited use product carries the same certified-applicator requirement as a federal RUP even though the container label says nothing about restriction.

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1. The Two Classifications (§ 2.5(A) and (B))

• "Restricted Use" Pesticide — any pesticide classified as restricted use by the EPA Administrator under 7 U.S.C. § 136a(d)(1), or classified as a state-limited use pesticide under R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-25-9. A listing of restricted use pesticides is maintained with the Division of Agriculture.
• "State Limited Use" Pesticide — a product Rhode Island has designated under § 23-25-9 as requiring the additional restrictions and conditions set out in § 2.5(B).

The practical consequence flows from R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-25-11(b): no person may use or supervise the use of a state limited use pesticide without complying with the certification requirements, unless working as a competent person under the direct supervision of a certified applicator. Section 2.15(C) adds that all sales of restricted use or state limited use pesticides are limited to certified persons or their authorized purchasers.

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2. Rhode Island's State Limited Use List (§ 2.5(B))

Chlordane — Cancelled and Banned

Effective January 31, 1987, all uses, distribution, and sale of pesticide products containing chlordane were cancelled and banned in Rhode Island:

• Products containing chlordane shall not be distributed or used in the State of Rhode Island.
• Products containing chlordane shall not be distributed or offered for sale by any person, dealer, store, or company in the State.

This is a total prohibition, not a restriction. Note that § 2.22(B)(3) still references cyclodienes including chlordane in the termiticide physical-presence rule — a legacy provision covering historic product classes.

Alar (Daminozide)

The registration of products containing Alar (daminozide) became subject to state limited use requirements effective May 15, 1986.

The Six Groundwater Contaminants — Effective September 1, 2006

Section 2.5(B)(3) classifies six active ingredients as state limited use "due to their potential as ground water contaminants":

All six are herbicides, and all six share the leaching profile taught in Section 5.1 of this guide: appreciable water solubility, modest soil adsorption, and enough persistence to survive the trip through the vadose zone. In a state where a quarter of the population drinks groundwater and four aquifers hold federal sole-source designation, that profile is enough to trigger state restriction even where EPA has not restricted the product.

The Annual Reporting Duty (§ 2.5(B)(4))

All applicators must report annually applications of pesticides containing wholly or in part any of the six § 2.5(B)(3) chemicals. At a minimum the report must include:

1. The brand name or trade name of the pesticide
2. The EPA registration number
3. The total amount of pesticide applied
4. The purpose for which it was applied, including the target pest(s) and the exact location where it was applied on the property
5. The name and address of the place of application
6. The specific field or land area of the application, if different from the place of application
7. If applied to a food crop, the crop to which the application was made
8. The month, day, and year of the application

This annual report is separate from and in addition to the ordinary § 2.6 record file. Keeping the records does not discharge the reporting duty.

§ 2.5(B)(5) adds that these six pesticides must be applied in accordance with the EPA approved label and the Pesticide State Management Plan, if the Department has developed one; if no plan is required, the approved EPA label governs.

3. The Neonicotinoid Restriction — R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-25-40

Rhode Island's most consequential recent change to pesticide law took effect January 1, 2024 (P.L. 2022, ch. 149 and ch. 150). Section 23-25-40(a) provides:

"All pesticides registered in the state that contain one or more neonicotinoids and are labeled as approved for outdoor use are hereby immediately classified as state limited use pesticide."

Four prohibitions follow. Such pesticides shall not be:

1. Sold or distributed to any person other than a certified applicator;
2. Used or applied by any person other than a certified applicator, or any person working under the direct supervision of a certified applicator;
3. Applied, except in the course of academic research, to any linden or basswood tree; or
4. Applied, except in the course of academic research, to any plant when such plant bears blossoms.

The third and fourth restrictions are pollinator protections written directly into statute. Linden and basswood (Tilia spp.) are singled out because their blossoms are extraordinarily attractive to bees and because systemic neonicotinoid trunk and soil treatments in these trees have been associated with mass bumble bee mortality events. The fourth restriction is broader still: any plant in blossom, regardless of species, is off limits.

For a Rhode Island landscape or arboriculture firm this means a common systemic imidacloprid soil drench that could once be sold over the counter is now, in Rhode Island, a certified-applicator-only product with a hard blossom prohibition attached.

Statutory Exemptions (§ 23-25-40(b))

The section does not apply to:

1. Pet or veterinary care products for preventing, destroying, repelling, or mitigating fleas, mites, ticks, heartworms, or other insects or organisms when applied or administered to companion animals, livestock, or captive wild animals — indoors or outdoors;
2. Personal care products used against lice or bedbugs;
3. Indoor pest control products registered in the state only for indoor use;
4. Products used for controlling wood-destroying pests in and around homes and other human-made structures, in accordance with the label; and
5. An article or substance treated with, or containing, a neonicotinoid to protect the article or substance itself — for example, seeds treated to protect the seeds, or wood products treated to protect the wood — if the neonicotinoid is registered for that use.

§ 23-25-40(c) preserves the Director's authority to further restrict or regulate neonicotinoids under § 23-25-9.

Exam framing. The trigger is registered in the state + contains one or more neonicotinoids + labeled as approved for outdoor use. An indoor-only registration is exempt. A termiticide used in and around a structure is exempt. A neonicotinoid-treated seed is exempt as a treated article. A garden-center soil drench for landscape ornamentals is squarely covered.

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4. Dealer Licensing (§ 2.18)

Anyone distributing restricted use or state limited use pesticides as a dealer must hold a pesticide dealer's license, and the license is required for each location or outlet within the State from which such pesticides are distributed, sold, held for sale, or offered for sale.

Grounds for denial, suspension, revocation, or modification (§ 2.18(J)): a false or misleading statement in the application, or violation of any provision of the Pesticide Control Act, applicable federal statutes, or the regulations.

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5. Purchase and Display Control at the Point of Sale

Three rules work together to keep restricted chemistry out of uncertified hands:

• § 2.15(C) — Who may buy. All sales of restricted use or state limited use pesticides are limited to those who are certified, or those who have been authorized by a certified applicator to purchase the same. The authorization must be in the form and contain the information the Director prescribes. The wallet certification document doubles as the purchaser's identification.
• § 2.19(K) — Separate display. Dealers displaying restricted use or state limited use pesticides shall display them in an area separate from general use pesticides.
• § 2.19(L) — The one-inch sign. Dealers shall post a sign bearing the statement "for sale to certified applicators only" at the display in a prominent position, in imprinted letters at least one inch high.

Rhode Island therefore does not require restricted-use stock to be locked away or kept behind a counter. It requires physical separation from general use products plus a conspicuous one-inch-letter sign, backed by the certified-purchaser rule at the register. Section 2.24.1(I) adds the storage-side counterpart: restricted use pesticides must be stored separately from general use pesticides or fertilizers to prevent distribution to a non-certified applicator.

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6. Decision Table: Which Rule Governs This Product?