As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
FUMIGANT
Includes any substance or combination of substances which
emits or liberates a gas, fumes or vapors, which gas, fumes or vapors,
when liberated or used for the destruction or control of insects,
vermin, germs, rodents or other pests, is lethal, poisonous, noxious
or dangerous to human life.
No person, firm or corporation shall hereafter engage or continue
in the business of pest control within the City by means of generating,
releasing or spraying poisonous or dangerous fumes, gases or vapors,
such as hydrocyanic acid, cyanogen, salts of cyanides, methyl bromide,
carbon dioxide, carbon bisulfide, carbon tetrachloride, chloropicrin,
ethylene dichloride, ethylene oxide, methyl formate or other poisonous
substances or mixtures of these compounds, in a building or part thereof
or in a closed space, vessel or structure within the City for the
purpose of fumigating the same or exterminating insects, vermin, rodents
or other pests without first obtaining a license therefor from the
Director of Licenses and Permits. Such license shall be issued only
upon application to the Director, after approval thereof by the Commissioners
of Inspections and Licenses and Fire and after examination of the
applicant as hereinafter provided.
A permit may be issued by the Department of Inspections and Licenses to a person, firm or corporation definitely not engaged in the business of fumigation within the City, as the same is commonly conducted, such as flour mills, cereal mills, greenhouses or horticultural establishments, provided that such person, firm or corporation has formulated a plan, approved by the Commissioner of Fire, for the instruction of the employees of such person, firm or corporation in the use of fumigants in buildings or plants owned or operated by such person, firm or corporation within the City. Such permit shall authorize the holder, without the issuance of a further license, to perform and engage in fumigation and pest control by the use of poisonous materials and substances in such buildings or plants. The permit shall expire one (1) year from the date thereof, may be renewed annually, and the fee for the original permit and each annual renewal shall be as provided in Chapter
175, Fees.
Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to apply to fumigation
or extermination outside of buildings in the interests of insect or
wildlife control by members of the United States Public Health Service,
Armed Forces or Fish and Wildlife Service, New York State Department
of Health or the County Department of Health.
The Commissioner of Inspections and Licenses may appoint an
Advisory Committee on Pest Control, to consist of five (5) members,
one (1) of whom shall be a member of the Department of Fire; one (1),
a member of the Department of Inspections and Licenses, both of whom
shall serve ex officio; one (1), a member of the County Department
of Health; and two (2) representatives of the pest control industry,
all of whom shall serve without compensation for such service.
The duties of the Committee on Pest Control shall be as follows:
A. The Committee shall make recommendations to the Commissioners of
Inspections and Licenses and Fire for the issuance of licenses hereunder
and may make recommendations to the Commissioner of Fire concerning
useless or dangerous fumigations or exterminations. It shall also
assist the Commissioner of Fire in the giving of oral and written
examinations to applicants for licenses to engage in the business
of pest control within the City and in determining whether an individual,
a member of a firm or officer, agent or employee of a corporation
is qualified by scientific training and experience to conduct the
essential operations of pest control.
B. The Committee may recommend that a prefumigation inspection be made
by an inspector of the Department of Inspections and Licenses or a
member of the Department of Fire after notification of intent to fumigate
is received by the Department of Inspections and Licenses in order
to determine whether the fumigation is necessary or useful or that
the rules and regulations applicable thereto are or will be observed.
By such inspection, however, neither the Department of Inspections
and Licenses nor the Department of Fire assumes any responsibility
for the work of the licensee.
C. The Committee shall take steps to provide and distribute copies of
all applicable rules and regulations to persons, firms or corporations
engaged in the pest control industry within the City, and it shall
keep copies of said rules and regulations on file in its office. It
shall also submit to the Commissioners of Inspections and Licenses
and Fire copies of such rules and regulations for filing in their
offices. The Committee may, from time to time, recommend amendments
or changes in such rules and regulations as new conditions warrant
or new proprietary chemical combinations come into commercial use.
The Department of Inspections and Licenses shall give thirty (30)
days' notice by mail of any changes in such rules and regulations
relating to pest control to persons, firms or corporations engaged
in the pest control industry within the City, the names of whom are
on file in the office of the Department.
Applications for the various types of licenses herein described shall be made to the Director of Licenses and Permits upon forms prescribed by him and approved by the Committee on Pest Control. No license shall be issued until the application therefor has been approved by the Commissioner of Fire and the Department of Inspections and Licenses and the applicant has qualified by examination as provided in §
203-6 of this chapter.
In the case of a firm or corporation desiring a license to engage
in the business and practice of pest control as herein defined, an
officer, an authorized representative of or an agent officially designated
by such firm or corporation to conduct its business of fumigation
and extermination shall be subject to examination and all applicable
provisions of this chapter and the rules and regulations of the Department
of Health relating thereto.
It shall be the duty of the holder of a license or permit issued pursuant to the provisions of §
203-2 and §
203-3 of this chapter to notify the Departments of Inspections and Licenses, Fire and Police and the occupants of spaces to be fumigated, respectively, of his intention to conduct a fumigation in a building, vessel, car or enclosed space within the City. Such notification shall be given so as to be received by each of the aforesaid Departments and the occupants of the premises to be fumigated at least four (4) hours prior to the commencement of the fumigation.
Prior to the actual fumigation process, suitable warning signs
shall be posted on all doors or entrances or, in the case of vessels,
on gangplanks and ladders leading from the docks or piers, to read
as follows: skull and crossbones (sketch or picture) "DANGER. FUMIGATING
WITH POISONOUS GASES. ALL PERSONS WARNED TO KEEP AWAY." Such signs
shall be printed in red ink on white cardboard, with letters at least
two (2) inches in height.
It shall be the duty of the licensed fumigator of exterminator
engaged in the operation of fumigation or extermination to supply
either a capable, full-time watchman to patrol the fumigated area
or to visit or cause to be visited by some person in his employ the
fumigated area at stated intervals as provided in the rules and regulations
aforesaid; provided, however that if the fumigator can lock all entrances
by special approved safety lock of his own, the watchman and visitations
may be dispensed with. This lock must have the approval of the Committee
on Pest Control.
No license shall be issued to any person to engage in the practice
of pest control as an employee-operator under a Type C license or
an employee-operator under a Type D license by the Director of Licenses
and Permits until such applicant shall file an affidavit sworn to
by his employer that said employer is licensed under this chapter,
either by a Type A or a Type B license, and has, on file with the
Comptroller of the City of Buffalo, public liability and property
damage insurance policies or a bond and evidence of compensation insurance
as provided in this chapter.
All employers, upon discharge of a licensed operator, shall
notify the Commissioner of Inspections and Licenses of such termination
within one (1) week from the date thereof.
A crew of two (2) men must be present at each fumigation, both
at the time of releasing the gas and at the time of opening the fumigated
spaces for ventilation. These shall be either two (2) holders of a
Type A or a Type C license or one (1) holder of Type A or Type C license
and the other person familiar with fumigation procedure and qualified
in the use of gas masks and modern methods of resuscitation.
The fee for filing an application for a license hereunder and the examination therefor shall be as provided in Chapter
175, Fees.