Bill OKs spraying of weed killers

[Steve]

Arizona has enacted a new rule to allow landscapers to apply consumer weed killer without a license. Do you think this is a good move? Should other states follow?

Bill OKs spraying of weed killers (http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/127222) - Individuals who spray garden-variety weed killers as part of their jobs may soon be able to stop worrying about getting into legal trouble.
Without a vote to spare, the House of Representatives on Monday approved legislation that says people can spray chemicals they can buy in hardware and department stores without getting a license from the state. More to the point, it exempts them from having to undergo 3,000 hours of training.
A final Senate vote on the proposal will send the bill to the governor.
Monday's vote is a victory for landscapers, maintenance workers and others who have the occasional need to kill weeds and use off-the-shelf products. They had been considered exempt from licensure, just like homeowners, until state law was changed three years ago.

[tiedeman]

I personally don't agree with it. Because, almost 90% of the products that current application companies apply are already general homeowner products.

One of the regional directors here at the Michigan Department of Agriculture made this point when I asked the same thing about why do we have to be licensed to apply homeowner products, yet homeowners do not. And he did a perfect response: "Homeowners are only applying at their place, so if they mess up it is only on their property, while application companies are applying at hundreds of lawns, and so the chance of messing up increases greatly because the same procedure and application method is applied on all of those lawns. That is why the need for a licensed company is needed for they know how to apply those products on those hundreds of lawns."

[Steve]

Quote[/b] ] "Homeowners are only applying at their place, so if they mess up it is only on their property, while application companies are applying at hundreds of lawns, and so the chance of messing up increases greatly because the same procedure and application method is applied on all of those lawns. That is why the need for a licensed company is needed for they know how to apply those products on those hundreds of lawns."

Great insight and it makes perfect sense.