§ 106-65.23.  Structural Pest Control and Pesticides Division of Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services recreated; Director; powers and duties of Commissioner; Structural Pest Control Committee created; appointment; terms; powers and duties; quorum.

(a) There is recreated, within the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, a Division to be known as the Structural Pest Control and Pesticides Division. The Commissioner of Agriculture may appoint a Director of the Division, chosen from a list of nominees submitted to him or her by the Structural Pest Control Committee created in this section, whose duties and authority shall be determined by the Commissioner in consultation with the Committee. The Director shall be responsible for and answerable to the Commissioner of Agriculture and the Structural Pest Control Committee as to the operation and conduct of the Structural Pest Control and Pesticides Division. The Director shall act as secretary to the Structural Pest Control Committee.

(b) The Commissioner shall have the following powers and duties under this Article:

(1) To administer and enforce the provisions of this Article and the rules adopted thereunder by the Structural Pest Control Committee. In order to carry out these powers and duties, the Commissioner may delegate to the Director of the Structural Pest Control and Pesticides Division the powers and duties assigned to him or her under this Article.

(2) To assign the administrative and enforcement duties assigned to him or her in this Article.

(3) To direct, in consultation with the Structural Pest Control Committee, the work of the personnel employed by the Structural Pest Control Committee and the work of the personnel of the Department assigned to perform the administrative and enforcement functions of this Article.

(4) To develop, for the Structural Pest Control Committee's consideration for adoption, proposed rules, policies, new programs, and revisions of existing programs under this Article.

(5) To monitor existing enforcement programs and to provide evaluations of these programs to the Structural Pest Control Committee.

(6) To attend all meetings of the Structural Pest Control Committee, but without the power to vote unless the Commissioner attends as the designee on the Committee from the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

(7) To keep an accurate and complete record of all meetings of the Structural Pest Control Committee and to have legal custody of all books, papers, documents, and other records of the Committee.

(8) To perform such other duties as may be assigned to him or her by the Structural Pest Control Committee.

(c) There is hereby created a Structural Pest Control Committee to be composed of the following members. The Commissioner shall appoint one member of the Committee who is not in the structural pest control business for a four-year term. The Commissioner of Agriculture shall designate an employee of the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to serve on the Committee at the pleasure of the Commissioner. The dean of the School of Agriculture of North Carolina State University at Raleigh shall appoint one member of the Committee who shall serve for one term of two years and who shall be a member of the entomology faculty of the University. The vacancy occurring on the Committee by the expired term of the member from the entomology faculty of the University shall be filled by the dean of the School of Agriculture of North Carolina State University at Raleigh who shall designate any person of the dean's choice from the entomology faculty of the University to serve on the Committee at the pleasure of the dean. The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall appoint one member of the Committee who shall be an epidemiologist and who shall serve at the pleasure of the Secretary. The Governor shall appoint two members of the Committee who are actively engaged in the pest control industry, who are licensed in at least two phases of structural pest control as provided under G.S. 106-65.25(a), and who are residents of the State of North Carolina but not affiliates of the same company.

The Governor's initial appointees from the pest control industry shall be appointed as follows: one for a two-year term and one for a three-year term. The Governor shall appoint one member of the Committee who is a public member and who is unaffiliated with the structural pest control industry, the pesticide industry, the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, the Department of Health and Human Services and the School of Agriculture at North Carolina State University at Raleigh. The initial public member shall be appointed for a term of two years, commencing July 1, 1991. After the initial appointments by the Governor, all ensuing appointments by the Governor shall be for terms of four years. Any vacancy occurring on the Committee by reason of death, resignation, or otherwise shall be filled by the Governor or the Commissioner of Agriculture, as the case may be, for the unexpired term of the member whose seat is vacant.

One member of the Committee shall be appointed by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Speaker of the House of Representatives in accordance with G.S. 120-121, and one member of the Committee shall be appointed by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the President Pro Tempore of the Senate in accordance with G.S. 120-121. The member appointed by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall be actively engaged in the pest control industry, licensed in at least two phases of structural pest control as provided under G.S. 106-65.25(a), and a resident of the State of North Carolina but not an affiliate of the same company as either of the two members from the industry appointed by the Governor. Appointments made by the General Assembly shall be for terms of four years. Vacancies in such appointments shall be filled in accordance with G.S. 120-122.

(d) The Structural Pest Control Committee shall have the following powers and duties:

(1) To adopt rules and make policies as provided in this Article.

(2) To issue, deny, suspend, revoke, modify, or restrict licenses, certified applicator cards, and registered technician cards under the provisions of this Article. In all matters affecting licensure, the decision of the Committee shall constitute the final agency decision.

(3) Repealed by Session Laws 2013-265, s. 8, effective July 17, 2013.

(e) Each member of the Committee who is not an employee of the State shall receive as compensation for services per diem and necessary travel expenses and registration fees in accordance with the provisions as outlined for members of occupational licensing boards and currently provided for in G.S. 93B-5. Such per diem and necessary travel expenses and registration fees shall apply to the same effect that G.S. 93B-5 might hereafter be amended.

Five members of the Committee shall constitute a quorum but no action at any meeting of the Committee shall be taken without four votes in accord. The chairman shall be entitled to vote at all times.

The Committee shall meet at such times and such places in North Carolina as the chairman shall direct; provided, however, that four members of the Committee may call a special meeting of the Committee on five days' notice to the other members thereof.

Except as otherwise provided herein, all members of the Committee shall be appointed or designated, as the case may be, prior to and shall commence their respective terms on July 1, 1967.

At the first meeting of the Committee they shall elect a chairman who shall serve as such at the pleasure of the Committee. (1955, c. 1017; 1057, c. 1243, s. 1; 1967, c. 1184, s. 1; 1969, c. 541, s. 7; 1973, c. 556, s. 1; 1975, c. 570, ss. 1, 2; 1977, c. 231, s. 2; 1987, c. 827, s. 26; 1989, c. 238; c. 727, s. 219(30); 1997-261, s. 27; 1997-443, s. 11A.40; 1998-224, s. 19(a); 1999-381, s. 1; 2000-175, s. 1; 2013-265, s. 8.)