On February 21, 2008, amendments to Regulation 637, Pesticide Use, were filed with the Secretary of State, and were published in the March 15, 2008 Michigan Register. Regulation 637 was initially promulgated in 1992 and since that time it has never been amended. The rulemaking process for Regulation 637 began in April 2005 when a rulemaking committee comprised of representatives from all affected industry sectors, environmental groups and public interests worked for over a year drafting the final set of proposed amendments. Now that the rulemaking process is complete, the Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA) is implementing the amendments that effect on February 28, 2008 one week after filing with the Secretary of State.

Many of the amendments to the regulation simply clarify existing requirements. Some add additional elements or change requirements to implement policies or interpretations developed since the rule became effective in 1992. There are two significant amendments that affect the turf and ornamental lawn markers and integrated pest management/parental notification requirements. The turf and ornamental lawn marker requirements are now more restrictive and are intended to return markers to their original symbolism and will now restrict their use to pesticide applications only. Integrated pest management in schools and day care centers and parental notification of pesticide applications to school and day care center property requirements were moved into Act 451, Part 83, Pesticide Control in March 2005 and as such most of the provisions are being removed from the regulation to correct conflicts between the regulation and the parent act.

For a copy of the revised "Regulation", click here.

For a copy of the "Regulation 637 Implementation Plan", click here.

For a copy of "Frequently Asked Questions", click here.