Report Title:

Licensing; Pest Control Operators

Description:

Changes the bases for disciplinary action that may be exercised by the pest control board against pest control operators. (HB2974 HD1)

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

2974

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2004

H.D. 1

STATE OF HAWAII

 


 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

RELATING TO PEST CONTROL.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. Section 460J-15, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:

"(a) In addition to any other actions authorized by law, the board may revoke, suspend, or refuse to renew any license issued hereunder, for any cause authorized by law, including but not limited to the following:

(1) Departure from, or disregard of, plans or specifications in the performance of pest control work in any material respect, without consent of the owner or the owner's authorized representative;

(2) Violation of any law or rule of the State or any county relating to building, pesticide use, safety, or labor, [including violation of any applicable law or rule of the departments of agriculture, health, or labor and industrial relations;] where the law or rule has a rational relationship to the qualifications, functions, duties, or responsibilities of the pest control operator, including but not limited to violation of the Hawaii pesticides law;

(3) Misrepresentation of a material fact by the applicant in obtaining a license;

(4) Failure on the part of a licensee to complete any operation [or construction repairs] for the price stated in the contract [for the operation or construction repairs] or in any agreed upon modification of the contract;

(5) Failure to comply with this chapter, or any rule adopted by the board, or the furnishing of a report of inspection without the making of a bona fide inspection of the premises for termites;

(6) The commission of any grossly negligent or fraudulent act by the licensee as an operator;

(7) The negligent handling or use of any poisonous exterminating agent without regard to public safety;

(8) Fraud or misrepresentation, after inspection, by any licensee engaged in pest control work relating to any infestation or infection of termites found in property or structures, or respecting any conditions of the structure that would ordinarily subject structures to attack by termites whether or not a report was made pursuant to sections 460J-19 and 460J-20;

(9) Failure of an operator to make and keep all inspection reports, contracts, documents, and records, other than financial records, for a period of not less than two years after completion of any work or operation for the control of termites;

(10) Wilful failure to pay when due a debt incurred for services or materials rendered or purchased in connection with the operator's operations as an operator when the operator has the ability to pay or when the operator has received sufficient funds therefor as payment for the particular operation for which the services or materials were rendered or purchased;

(11) The false denial of any debt due or the validity of the claim therefor with intent to secure for the licensee, the licensee's employer, or other person, any discount of the debt or with intent to hinder, delay, or defraud the person to whom the debt is due;

(12) Failure to secure or maintain workers' compensation insurance when not authorized to act as a self-insurer under chapter 386, or when not excluded from the requirements of chapter 386; or

(13) Knowingly entering into a contract with an unlicensed operator involving work or activity for the performance of which licensing is required under this chapter[; or

(14) Conviction of any offense described in chapter 708 committed while in the performance of the person's regular occupation as a pest control operator]."

SECTION 2. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 3. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.