Code of Alabama - Title 2: Agriculture - Section 2-27-2 - Definitions

Section 2-27-2 - Definitions.

For the purposes of this article, unless otherwise indicated, the following terms shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to them by this section:

(1) PESTICIDE.

a. Any substance or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying, repelling, attracting or mitigating any insects, rodents, nematodes, fungi, weeds or other forms of plant or animal life and/or bacteria and viruses, except bacteria or viruses on or in living man or other animals, which the commissioner shall declare to be a pest; and

b. Any substance or mixture of substances intended for use as a plant regulator, defoliant or desiccant.

(2) INSECTICIDE. Any substance or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying, repelling or mitigating any insects which may be present in any environment whatsoever.

(3) FUNGICIDE. Any substance or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying, repelling or mitigating any fungi, except those living on or in man or other animals.

(4) RODENTICIDE. Any substance or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying, repelling or mitigating rodents or any other vertebrate animals which the commissioner shall declare to be a pest in any environment whatsoever.

(5) HERBICIDE. Any substance or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying, repelling or mitigating any weed.

(6) NEMATOCIDE. Any substance or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying, repelling or mitigating nematodes.

(7) PLANT REGULATOR. Any substance or mixture of substances intended, through physiological action, for accelerating or retarding the rate of growth or rate of maturation or for otherwise altering the behavior of ornamental or crop plants, or the produce thereof, but shall not include substances intended as plant nutrients, trace elements, nutritional chemicals, plant inoculants and soil amendments.

(8) DEFOLIANT. Any substance or mixture of substances intended for causing the leaves or foliage to drop from a plant, with or without causing abscission.

(9) DESICCANT. Any substance or mixture of substances intended for artificially accelerating the drying of plant tissues.

(10) DEVICE. Any instrument or contrivance intended for trapping, destroying, repelling or mitigating insects, birds, predators or rodents or destroying, repelling or mitigating fungi, nematodes or such other pests as may be designated by the commissioner, but not including equipment used for the application of pesticides when sold separately therefrom.

(11) NEMATODES. Invertebrate animals of the phylum nemathelminthes and class Nematoda, that is, unsegmented round worms with elongated fusiform or saclike bodies covered with cuticle and inhabiting soil, water, plants or plant parts; such animals may also be called nemas or eelworms.

(12) INSECT. Any of the numerous small invertebrate animals generally having the body more or less obviously segmented, for the most part belonging to the class Insecta, comprising six-legged, usually winged forms, as, for example, beetles, bugs, bees, flies and other allied classes of arthropods whose members are wingless and usually have more than six legs, as for example, spiders, mites, ticks, centipedes and wood lice.

(13) FUNGI. All nonchlorophyll-bearing thallophytes, that is, all nonchlorophyll-bearing plants of a lower order than mosses and liverworts, as, for example, rusts, smuts, mildews, molds, yeasts and bacteria, except those on or in living man or other animals.

(14) WEED. Any plant which grows where not wanted.

(15) INGREDIENT STATEMENT. A statement of the name and percentage of each active ingredient, the total percentage of the inert ingredients and the name and percentage of each ingredient in the pesticide and, when the pesticide contains arsenic in any form, a statement of the percentage of total and water-soluble arsenic, each calculated as elemental arsenic; provided, however, that in the case of a household pesticide which is not highly toxic to man, the ingredient statement may name each active ingredient in descending order of its predominance, together with the name of each, and the total percentage of the inert ingredients.

(16) ACTIVE INGREDIENT.

a. In the case of a pesticide other than a plant regulator, defoliant or desiccant, an ingredient which will prevent, destroy, repel or mitigate insects, nematodes, fungi, rodents, weeds or other pests;

b. In the case of a plant regulator, an ingredient which, through physiological action, will accelerate or retard the rate of growth or rate of maturation or otherwise alter the behavior of ornamental or crop plants, or the produce thereof;

c. In the case of a defoliant, an ingredient which will cause the leaves or foliage to drop from a plant; and

d. In the case of a desiccant, an ingredient which will artificially accelerate the drying of plant tissue.

(17) INERT INGREDIENT. An ingredient which is not an active ingredient.

(18) ANTIDOTE. The most practical immediate treatment in case of poisoning, including first aid treatment.

(19) PERSON. Any individual, partnership, association, corporation or organized group of persons, whether incorporated or not.

(20) REGISTRANT. The person who has registered any pesticide or devices pursuant to the provisions of this article.

(21) LABEL. The written, printed or graphic matter on, or attached to, the pesticide, or device, or the immediate container thereof, and the outside container or wrapper of the retail package, if any there be, of the pesticide.

(22) LABELING. All written, printed or graphic matter upon or accompanying any pesticide or device and all advertisements, brochures, posters or television or radio announcements used in promoting the sale of pesticides or devices.

(23) ADULTERATED. Such term applies to any pesticide if its strength or purity falls below the professed standard or quality as expressed on labeling or under which it is sold, or if any substance has been substituted wholly or in part for the article or if any valuable constituent of the article has been wholly or in part abstracted.

(24) MISBRANDED. Such term applies:

a. To any pesticide or device if its labeling bears any statement, design or graphic representation relative thereto or to its ingredients which is false or misleading in any particular; and

b. To any pesticide:

1. If it is an imitation of, or is offered for sale under the name of, another pesticide;

2. If its labeling bears any reference to registration under this article, other than a permanent registration number, which may be authorized by rules and regulations;

3. If the labeling accompanying it does not contain instructions for use which are necessary and, if complied with, adequate for the protection of the public;

4. If the label does not contain a warning or caution statement which may be necessary and, if complied with, adequate to prevent injury to living man and other vertebrate animals;

5. If the label does not bear an ingredient statement on that part of the immediate container and on the outside container or wrapper, if there be one, through which the ingredient statement on the immediate container cannot be clearly read, of the retail package which is presented or displayed under customary conditions of purchase;

6. If any word, statement or other information required by or under authority of this law to appear on the labeling is not prominently placed thereon with such conspicuousness, as compared with other words, statements, designs or graphic matter in the labeling, and in such terms as to render it likely to be read and understood by the ordinary individual under customary conditions of purchase and use;

7. If, in the case of an insecticide, nematocide, fungicide or herbicide, when used as directed or in accordance with commonly recognized practice, it shall be injurious to living man or other vertebrate animals or vegetation, except weeds, to which it is applied or to the person applying such pesticide;

8. If, in the case of a plant regulator, defoliant or desiccant, when used as directed, it shall be injurious to living man or other vertebrate animals or to vegetation to which it is applied or to the person applying such pesticide; provided, however, that physical or physiological effects on plants, or parts thereof, shall not be deemed to be injury when this is the purpose for which the plant regulator, defoliant or desiccant was applied, in accordance with the label claims and recommendations; or

9. If an ingredient, which is present in amounts which are not likely to be effective when used according to directions, is given undue prominence or conspicuousness, as compared with ingredients which are present in effective amounts, in its labeling; such ingredient shall appear only in the ingredient statement.

(25) ULTRA LOW VOLUME. Such term signifies that the total volume of spray to be applied per acre is one-half gallon or less and is to be applied undiluted.

(26) LOW VOLUME. Such term signifies that the total volume of spray to be applied is adequate to cover uniformly the area being treated, but not to the point of runoff.

(27) LICENSED PESTICIDE DEALER. A person who has a license issued by the commissioner to sell restricted-use pesticides.

(28) RESTRICTED-USE PESTICIDE. A pesticide or device found by the commissioner, with the advice of the Pesticide Advisory Committee, to be hazardous when used by the general public and may be used only by special permit from the commissioner.

(29) BACTERICIDE. Any chemical used to repel, destroy or mitigate any bacteria except on or in animal and man.

(30) CONTAMINATION. The pesticide contains one or more active ingredients which is not shown as an active ingredient on the label.

(31) PESTICIDE-USE PERMIT. A permit to purchase and use restricted-use pesticides.

(32) OFFICIAL SAMPLE. Any sample of a pesticide taken by the commissioner or his agent in accordance with the provisions of this article or rules and regulations adopted under this article, and designated as official by the commissioner.

(33) COMMISSIONER. The state Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries.

(Acts 1951, No. 908, p. 1548, §1; Acts 1971, No. 1949, p. 3151, §2.)

Last modified: May 3, 2021