South Carolina reclassifies 4 rodenticides

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The Clemson University Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR), South Carolina’s lead agency for regulating the distribution, sale and use of pesticides, reclassified four second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides (SGARs) as restricted-use pesticides (RUPs) in the state. The reclassification of brodifacoum, bromadiolone, difenacoum and difethialone is set to expire on Dec. 31, 2025.

Initially, the DPR’s proposal had a public comment deadline of Dec. 31, 2024, and an implementation date of Jan. 1, 2025, with no phase-in period. Feedback from the National Pest Management Association (NPMA) and its members pushed the implementation date to Feb. 1, 2025, however. In addition, starting in February, the DPR will provide compliance assistance and said it is committed to creating educational materials for applicators and pest control companies.

“The NPMA encourages pest management professionals operating in South Carolina to ensure their teams are informed about the reclassification and to provide technicians with details on which products will be reclassified as RUPs,” says Megan Striegel, the NPMA’s director of legislative and regulatory affairs. “In South Carolina, certified applicators can directly supervise non-certified technicians using RUP products, provided they are within 30 miles or 30 minutes of the application site.”

State-wide rules

In the meantime, a proposed regulation regarding the use of SGARs in South Carolina highlights the need for state-level pesticide preemption.

Sen. George “Chip” Campsen (R) introduced SB 0246, which would allow localities to enforce local bans on the four SGARs mentioned above. At press time, the proposed bill was awaiting action from the South Carolina Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee.

The summary of the bill states: “A bill to amend the South Carolina code of laws by amending Section 46-9-110, relating to local ordinances, so as to provide that a unit of local government may adopt an ordinance restricting the use of certain pesticide products.”

South Carolina already has a state-wide pesticide preemption law in place that prevents the ability to regulate the sale and use of pesticides in municipalities, set stricter standards and ignore the decisions already made by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the state lead agency (in this case, Clemson University DPR).

This is the third year Sen. Campsen has proposed a bill to ban the use of SGARs. The NPMA says it expects the bill to be dismissed in committee, which is what happened before.

Island seeks ban

One of the localities that has pushed for the ban is Kiawah Island, a barrier island with a gated community located 25 miles southwest of Charleston. In 2020, the Town of Kiawah Island petitioned the DPR to ban the use of SGARs on the island.