Pest Management Professional, September 2014

We make sure legislators especially the new ones are well informed he says One issue that required a big education component was PMPs losing work to the U S Department of Agricultures Wildlife Services USDA WS We brought the issue to the attention of lawmakers who were hesitant to believe the story we were telling them Harrington says When people first heard this they thought it wasnt true but we provided facts and details It was a problem Harrington worked with lawmakers and their staffs on legislation establishing parameters about the type of work the USDA WS could and could not perform The legislation eventually led to the agency adopting a policy precluding USDA WS from performing urban rodent control in most circumstances The policy went into effect in October 2013 Other key federal legislative victories for Harrington include helping make workable a 2009 measure that initially would have made the treatment of pests on airplanes extremely difficult and getting an earmark for federal termiticide research included in the fiscal year 1999 Omnibus Appropriations Act PMP Hall of Fame Class of 2014 Name Gene Harrington Organization National Pest Management Association NPMA Title Vice President of Government Afairs NPMA Years in pest management 20 Industry mentors Bob Rosenberg Gene Chafe Ken Fredrick Bruce Carter Scott Steckel Key positions held manager of government afairs NPMA director of government afairs NPMA vice president of government afairs NPMA Crowning Achievements Led efort to include language in 2014 Farm Bill preserving the use of the valuable food protection pesticide sulfuryl fuoride Negotiated policy statement with U S Department of Agricultures Wildlife Services limiting the agencys competition with the professional pest management industry for urban rodent control Played a key role in defeating legislation in 2000 banning the use of pesticides on various federal properties Deeply involved in countless state legislative and administrative issues addressing issues ranging from reorganizing the state regulatory structure to school pest management to nuisance wildlife control State issues too Harrington also has played a significant role in state legislative and regulatory issues helping develop and implement workable pest management legislation and rulemaking from Alaska to Maine New Mexico is just one example Between 1995 and 2000 the states pest management industry was seemingly under constant attack by activist groups that regularly pushed legislation for multiple chemical sensitivity MCS anti preemption and school integrated pest management IPM In the spring of 2000 activist groups circumvented the states agriculture department its pesticide regulatory agency and persuaded the board of education to take up onerous unworkable school IPM regulations that would have made controlling pests at schools difficult Harrington accompanied Carter throughout the state for two weeks while they developed and executed a lobbying strategy enlisting the help of a member of the board of education Within 24 hours they convinced the board member to rewrite the regulation to the industrys liking The suggestions were adopted and are still in place today And since the activists have rarely challenged the industry at the state level according to Carter Without Gene this victory wouldnt have happened Carter says Im often approached by people in the industry with concerns about regulation Harrington says I do everything I can to help In 2007 Arizona was going through a sunset review of its Structural Pest Control Commission to determine whether the commission was worth retaining or should be abolished Harrington and the NPMA worked with PMPs in Arizona for six years to make sure the industrys interests were kept in mind when the state dissolved the commission and moved pest control regulation to the Department of Administration and ultimately the Department of Agriculture Initially we supported retaining the commission but legislators decided to abolish it Harrington explains Then we said we need to be put in the Department of Agriculture not the Department of Environment My experience in Arizona was akin to a 500 level course about public policy Harrington acknowledges regions of the country are affected by the pest management industry differently For example lawmakers in the Southeast are more aware of the industry and its value because pest pressure in that region is much higher than say in the Northeast As a result lawmakers in the Northeast Harrington right participating in an August 2013 business roundtable at NPMAs ofce www mypmp net Pest Management Professional September 2014 25