7 U.S.C. § 136w–1 — State primary enforcement responsibility

(a) In general A State has the main job of enforcing pesticide use rules under this law, for as long as the Administrator decides the State meets three tests. First, the State must have adequate pesticide use laws and regulations — though the Administrator cannot require State laws to be stricter than this law. Second, the State must have adopted and be using adequate procedures to enforce those State laws and regulations. Third, the State must keep records and file reports showing it meets the first two tests, in whatever form the Administrator requires by regulation. (b) Special rules Even without meeting subsection (a)'s tests directly, a State gets primary enforcement responsibility for pesticide use violations if it has a cooperative agreement with the Administrator under section 136u for enforcing pesticide use restrictions. A State also gets this responsibility if it has a plan approved by the Administrator under section 136i, and the Administrator decides that plan meets the tests in subsection (a). For State plans under section 136i that were already in effect on September 30, 1978, the Administrator had to make this decision within six months of that date. (c) Administrator The Administrator has primary enforcement responsibility for any State that does not have it under this section. During that time, and despite section 136(e)(1), section 136f(b) applies to the books and records of commercial applicators. It also applies to any applicator who holds or applies pesticides — or dilutions of pesticides — only to provide a pest-control service, without delivering any unapplied pesticide to the person being served. Also during that time, section 136g(a) applies to the place where such applicators keep pesticides or devices for application, as far as those pesticides or devices held for application go.