As used in this article, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
The elimination of rodents or insects and vermin from any
building, lot or premises through the use of traps, baiting, fumigation
or any other method of extermination approved by the Board and subject
to applicable laws relating to poisonous substances and fumigants.
Any condition which provides shelter or protection for rodents,
insects or other vermin.
The owner or part owner of a residential, commercial or industrial
building, lot or premises unless the building is occupied by a single
tenant (one dwelling unit or business enterprise), in which case the
occupant will assume the title. If a multitenant building is infested
in only one of the units, then the tenant of that unit shall be considered
the person in control.
The control, eradication or extermination of household or
structural pests, including insects, fungus, disease, rodents or vermin,
by means of fumigation or the use of insecticides, fungicides or poison
baits.
Any person engaged in or conducting a pest control business.
The treatment or shielding with material impervious to rodent
gnawing of all actual or potential openings in the exterior and interior
walls, ground or first floors, roofs, foundations, basements, sidewalk
grating and other places that may be reached by rodents from the ground
or by climbing or burrowing.
All buildings, lots or premises in the City
shall be kept free from any condition conducive to rodents, insects
and other vermin. The person in control shall not allow the accumulation
of water, garbage, building material, brush, wood piles or any other
material which may afford harborage or provide food for rodents, insects
or other vermin.
No person shall feed wild birds other than in
suitable properly shielded containers for the food, installed in such
a manner as to be inaccessible to rodents and to prevent the scattering
of feed on the ground.
No person shall place food in the open for the
feeding of any domesticated fowl or animal except in a container which
will prevent the scattering of the food upon the ground. Unconsumed
food shall not be allowed to remain where it is accessible to rodents,
insects or other vermin.
All garbage shall be wrapped. Garbage and waste
material shall be placed in watertight containers with tight-fitting
lids or other enclosures approved by the Board of Health and stored
in such a manner as not to create an attraction or harborage for rodents,
insects or other vermin.
No person shall permit water to collect or be
left in such a condition as to be conducive for mosquitoes or other
insects to use as a place for breeding.
When any building, lot or premises is subject
to infestation by rodents, insects or other vermin, the person in
control shall apply continuous or repeated eradication measures as
required until there is no evidence of an infestation remaining.
No demolition permit shall be issued and no
building shall be demolished until the Public Officer certifies to
the Building Inspector that the building and premises are free from
the infestation of rodents, insects or other vermin.
The Public Officer may, at his discretion, order
the person in control of any inland swamp, pond, creek, lake, pool,
sunken lot, quarry, abandoned excavation or any other place where
stagnant water may collect, to fill in or drain the same or to employ
other methods to prevent the breeding of insects and other vermin.
Whenever conditions inside, outside or under
any building or buildings or on any lot or premises provide harborage
for rats, the Public Officer may require all or any one or more building
or premises to be rodentproofed and harborages removed.
The person in control of a building or premises
required to be rodentproofed shall maintain the rodentproofing in
good repair. No person shall injure the rodentproofing. When the rodentproofing
is injured in the course of making alterations, installations, additions
or repairs to the building, the person in control shall restore the
rodentproofing in good condition.
No person shall undertake to remodel or alter
any existing building or portion thereof for the purpose of rodentproofing
without first submitting plans and obtaining approval from the Public
Officer.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Former Section 1112.13, Pest
control business permit required; former Section 1112.14, Annual inspection
fees; and former Section 1112.15, Permit renewal fee, which previously
followed this section, were repealed 11-17-2004 by Ord. No. 4599.
The following substances are declared to be
poisonous, and no person shall use them as fumigants or for pest control
without fulfilling the requirements provided hereinafter:
A.
Any substance containing any cyanide compound or any
compound which will release hydrocyanic acid gas or chloropicrin.
B.
Any substance containing or which will release methyl
bromide.
C.
Any substance which is explosive.
D.
Any substance containing thallium or a compound thereof.
E.
Any substances which, in the opinion of the Board,
constitute a hazard to life or property.
Every person or pest control operator using substances defined as poisonous in § 444-20 shall make an application for a fumigation permit to the Public Officer at least 48 hours before the time set for the fumigation or use of the materials, except as hereinafter provided.
Applications for a fumigation permit shall be
made on a form to be provided by the Public Officer, stating the name
of the pest control permittee; the correct address or exact location
of the building to be fumigated, or the baiting, the type and amount
of the poisonous substance, as herein defined, to be used; the character
and structure of the building and the general measures to be taken
to safeguard the public; and the date and time of fumigation or baiting
and such other pertinent information as the Public Officer may deem
necessary. Any changes in time of fumigation or baiting or place to
be fumigated or baited may be approved in advance by the Public Officer.
The Public Officer shall not approve any application
for the use of explosive fumigants or any application for change in
time or place of such use until the Fire Inspector has approved the
same.
Fumigation applications or permits shall not
be required of persons fumigating in gas tight or atmospheric vaults
when prior approval of the Public Officer for the use of such for
fumigation has been obtained.
Every pest control operator, when engaged in
pest control, shall use every precaution or method designed to ensure
and protect the safety of the public and his employees.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Former Section 1112.22, Notification,
which previously followed this section, was repealed 11-17-2004 by
Ord. No. 4599.
When any building or structure other than an
approved fumigation vault is to be fumigated with a poisonous substance,
as herein defined, the pest control operator shall observe the following
as minimum safety requirements:
A.
If the building or structure is adjoined by other
buildings or structures, the pest control operator shall notify, at
least 12 hours in advance, the occupants of the adjoining buildings
or structures and instruct the occupants in proper safety precautions.
B.
The building or structure to be fumigated shall be
placarded on all outside doors, including cellar doors and the doors
to attached buildings or rooms on the same lot, whether or not such
attached buildings or rooms are to be fumigated and regardless of
whether or not they are communicating to the building or structure
to be fumigated.
C.
The placards shall be at least 8 1/2 inches by
11 inches and shall be plainly marked with substantially this wording:
"DANGER — POISONOUS FUMIGANT BEING USED" and the name of the
pest control operator.
D.
Outside cellar doors shall be sealed with at least
six layers of water-soaked papers placed over top of any other sealing
material, and on the outside thereof shall be conspicuously placed
a placard.
E.
The pest control operator shall assure himself that
all plumbing fixtures with traps have a good seal by water or some
other liquid and fixtures not equipped with a liquid seal shall be
sealed with an adequate sealing material or layers of water-soaked
paper. Cellar drains, unless equipped with a liquid seal, shall be
sealed as herein provided.
F.
The pest control operator shall assure himself that
the building or structure to be fumigated is properly sealed, and
in addition to any measure taken for the purpose of sealing a building
or structure, the following rules and regulations shall be observed:
G.
After fumigation, the pest control operator shall
use the best practice in ventilation.
H.
The pest control operator shall satisfy himself that
no fumigant remains in the building before permitting the return of
any occupants of the building.
I.
The pest control operator may permit occupants of
attached or adjoining buildings to return after fumigation has stopped
in the fumigated building or structure, when he has satisfied himself
that no fumigant remains in the building.
J.
The pest control operator shall use, whenever possible,
a generating device which is operable from outside the building. Such
device shall be continuously attended while in operation.
K.
The pest control operator when fumigating a building
shall have with him appropriate safety equipment in proper condition,
of which the following shall be the minimum: a gas mask, pair of rubber
gloves, a set of goggles for each member of the crew and a supply
of ammonium carbonate.
L.
The pest control operator shall not enter or permit
an employee to enter a building at any time after fumigation has begun
without a properly adjusted gas mask in proper working condition.
M.
The pest control operator shall place at least one
watchman outside of each building or structure being fumigated during
the entire fumigation and ventilation period and shall provide sufficient
relief watchmen. No watchman, so placed, shall leave his post unless
relieved by another watchman.
The pest control operator shall train his crew
in safe methods and in artificial respiration and first aid methods.
Residues from fumigation with poisonous materials
may not be disposed of except in a safe manner approved by the Public
Officer, and under no circumstances shall residues be disposed of
by placing in the sewer system or any cesspool or septic tank or in
such manner that they may enter any septic tank, cesspool or sewer
or so as to enter waters of the commonwealth.
Forty-eight hours after placing baits containing
a poisonous substance, all untaken baits shall be removed.
The following requirements shall be observed
for vaults for fumigation with materials declared poisonous:
A.
Existing atmospheric or gas-tight vaults may not be
used until inspected and written approval for such use given by the
Public Officer.
B.
Newly installed vaults may not be used nor may approved
vaults be used following repair, reconstruction or alteration without
notification to and inspection by the Public Officer and his approval
obtained for such use.
C.
Written approval of the Public Officer shall be in
the form of a letter or certificate, which shall be kept conspicuously
posted upon the vault.
D.
Whenever vaults in which explosive fumigants may be
used are required to be inspected and approved by the Public Officer,
he is required to first obtain the approval of the Fire Inspector
for such use before issuing his approval.
E.
The Building Inspector shall not issue a permit for
the construction, installation, repair or alteration of any atmospheric
or gas-tight vault without first obtaining the permission of the Public
Officer.
F.
The Public Officer shall require that atmospheric
or gas-tight vaults to be used for fumigation and their ventilation
systems meet recognized standards of construction and be capable of
operation in a manner which ensures the safety of employees and the
public. If such vaults are used for explosive fumigants, the Fire
Inspector shall cooperate with the Public Officer in fixing standards.
G.
No owner or person in charge of a fumigation business
in which such vaults are used for fumigation with materials declared
poisonous by this chapter shall fail to satisfy themselves that persons
fumigating in such vaults are trained in safe methods, or fail to
supply proper safety equipment, or fail to maintain it in proper working
condition, or fail to make available or to require the use of every
reasonable precaution or method designed to protect the safety of
employees and the public.
A.
Whenever conditions inside or under unoccupied buildings
provide extensive harborage for rats, the Public Officer is empowered,
if such conditions are not corrected in a period of 60 days after
written notification to the owner, to institute condemnation and demolition
proceedings. The cost of such proceedings is to be borne by the owner.
B.
When the Public Officer notifies the owner or occupants
of a building in writing that there is evidence of rat infestation
on the premises, the occupants shall immediately institute rat eradication
measures and shall continuously maintain such measures in a satisfactory
manner until the premises are declared by the Public Officer to be
free of rat infestation. Unless such measures are undertaken within
five days after receipt of notice, it shall be construed as a violation
of the provisions of this article, and the occupant shall be held
responsible therefor.
