(1) The Pest Control Enforcement Advisory Council is created within the department. The Commissioner of Agriculture shall appoint all members of the council. The purpose of the council is to advise the Commissioner of Agriculture regarding the regulation of pest control practices and to advise government agencies with respect to those activities related to their responsibilities regarding pest control. The council shall serve as the statewide forum for the coordination of pest control related activities to eliminate duplication of effort and maximize protection of the public.

(2) The council shall consist of 11 members as follows: a representative of the department; a citizen not involved in the conduct of pest control; a state university urban entomologist; and eight persons each holding a pest control operator’s certificate issued under s. 482.111, of whom two shall be actively involved in termite control, two shall be actively involved in general household pest control, two shall be actively involved in structural fumigation, and two shall be actively involved in lawn and landscape pest control. Each member shall be appointed for a term of 4 years and shall serve until a successor is appointed.

(3) In conducting its meetings, the council shall use Robert’s Rules of Order. A majority of the members of the council constitutes a quorum for all purposes, and an act by a majority of such quorum at any meeting constitutes an official act of the council. The secretary shall keep a complete record of each meeting which must show the names of members present and the actions taken. These records must be kept on file with the department, and these records and other documents about matters within the jurisdiction of the council are subject to inspection by members of the council.

(4) The members of the council shall meet and organize by electing a chair, a vice chair, and a secretary whose terms shall be for 1 year each. Council officers may not serve consecutive terms.

(5) The council shall meet at the call of its chair, at the request of a majority of its members, at the request of the department, or at such time as a public health or environmental emergency arises.

(6) The meetings, powers and duties, procedures, and recordkeeping of the council shall be pursuant to s. 570.232.

(7) The council shall receive reports of pest control enforcement activity conducted by the Division of Agricultural Environmental Services, which shall include numbers of cases, numbers of administrative actions, numbers of complaints received and investigated, and dispositions of complaints; provide advice to the department on the conduct of pest control enforcement activities; receive reports on disciplinary actions, provided that the names of individual licensees shall be expunged from cases discussed before the council, unless a consent order or final order has been issued in the case; and make recommendations, subject to a majority vote, directly to the Commissioner of Agriculture for actions to be taken with respect to the regulation of pest control services and practices that the council has reviewed.

History.—s. 24, ch. 2002-295; s. 13, ch. 2011-206; s. 17, ch. 2014-150.