[Association Update] Florida's Battle Over BMPs

It sounds great in theory, but is the establishment of a best management practices (BMPs) document for post-construction termite treatments in the best interest of Florida’s pest control industry? This is the most recent issue that finds Florida’s two major pest control associations — the Florida Pest Management Association (FPMA) and the Certified Pest Control Operators Association (CPCO) of Florida — on opposite sides of the fence.

BACKGROUND. In Florida, BMPs were originally published as a document to address the issue of water quality in the state and to provide information on acceptable horticultural practices to avoid contamination of Florida’s waters by fertilizers and pesticides. This was a voluntary and adaptable document for the green industries that was published as alternative legislation.

CPCO of Florida is interested in following the green industry’s lead and has begun examining the possibility of establishing a BMP (or a BMP-like) document for termite post-construction treatments. This document would identify and outline the elements of sound subterranean termite management practices.

CPCO invited PCOs, regulators, lawyers and chemical industry representatives to attend a meeting on March 5, at which the possibility of establishing such a BMP document was to be discussed. Although the aforementioned stakeholders assembled, the meeting did not take place due to concerns that it would violate Florida’s Sunshine Law — which establishes a basic right of access to most meetings of boards, commissions and other governing bodies of state and local governmental agencies or authorities. (CPCO later cleared these types of meetings with its attorney and plans to proceed with future stakeholder gatherings.)

DIFFERING OPINIONS. Before the initial meeting was to take place, FPMA President Doug Vander Poest issued a position paper in opposition, which stated: "At the January 2004 meeting of the FPMA Legislative Group, the Group unanimously agreed the creation of BMPs for post-construction termite treatments would not be in the best interest of the pest management industry. The FPMA Board of Directors has agreed. The primary reason: the development of industry standards results in documentation that would be used as a tool in litigation."

CPCO of Florida’s Norm Smith disagrees with this assessment, noting that lawsuits are a fact of life and that BMPs can actually aid a PCO in court.

"Letting those in the court know you have 30 years of experience as a PCO is good, but also documenting that you ascribed to industry-accepted practices adds to your credibility," Smith says. "We’re talking about guidelines put together by lawyers, PCOs, chemical manufacturers and others. It carries a lot weight in the courtroom. A BMP document will help the good guy and not the bad guy. We want a level playing field."

Another reason for FPMA’s opposition, Vander Poest told PCT, is that the association believes termiticide labels adequately spell out application requirements. Again, Smith and CPCO of Florida take an opposing view. "What the label doesn’t tell you is how to measure a building properly, what type of structure you are dealing with and that different quantities of materials will be used based on the structure type," he said.

NEW TERMITE TRAINING CENTER. Another important factor behind FPMA’s opposition is the soon-to-be-built Florida termite training facility at the University of Florida’s extension site in Apopka, Fla. The pest control industry in Florida, including Florida’s associations, are raising $150,000 throughout the next three years to fund this effort. This money will be matched with $150,000 from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ Dixon Fund — comprised of monies collected from pest control fines — to finance construction of a new state-of-the-art training termite training facility.

The termite training facility is in the fundraising and planning stages. UF researchers Phil Koehler and Faith Oi have been involved in designing the site and developing the curriculum (e.g., written materials). Koehler says Orkin Pest Control provided blueprints of its training facility in Atlanta and that UF then added enhancements that address termite challenges specific to Florida, such as examples of the state’s various construction types. Koehler says that the site will include a roof (because of Florida’s extreme weather challenges) and that all of the structural entities will be in the context of an actual structure. In addition, Koehler says the site will include separate bait training, wood treatment and wood inspection facilities.

"Because the pest control industry is so huge in Florida — particularly the termite market — we wanted to take our time with this project and be very thorough and not just stick something in the ground," Koehler said.

Koehler added that the classroom and laboratory space have already been built and his hope is that the entire facility will be built in three years.

FPMA and CPCO of Florida are both supporting efforts to get the new Florida termite training facility built. Vander Poest says that the new facility, as well as the supplemental training manuals produced by UF, will provide pest management professionals with an equivalent of a BMP document. "FPMA’s focus right now is raising the money needed to get the termite training facility built," he says.

CPCO of Florida’s Smith agrees that the facility will go a long ways towards improved termite training, but he believes a BMP document is still needed.

"The curriculum that (UF) is developing will be great, but we believe that a similar document should be available to shoe not attending the school like consumers, Realtors or others," Smith said.

At press time, Smith said CPCO of Florida is still moving forwards with plans to discuss a BMP document that will serve as an informational/education reference guide for termite technicians and for the consumer, but that they may choose to name it differently (e.g., suggested termite management practices)

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CPCO of Florida: One Year Later

The past 12 months have been a period of transition for the Certified Pest Control Operators Association of Florida, whose founding member and longtime Executive Vice President Mel Edelstein passed away in April 2003.

Under Edelstein’s guidance, CPCO of Florida grew its membership and became an influential presence throughout Florida. At the same time, Edelstein’s hands-on leadership approach linked his name so closely with CPCO of Florida that many were concerned about the association’s future.

"To lose a person of Mel’s dynamic nature is a hard thing to overcome," said Norm Smith, who replaced Edelstein as executive vice president and also served as assistant executive vice president under Edelstein. "I think we have grown stronger and come together with more cohesiveness after his death. We have a lot of purpose."

In the past year, CPCO of Florida’s membership has remained relatively stagnant, with less than 100 new members added. Still, Smith measures the association’s progress in terms of newly added and forthcoming programs. For example, in the past year CPCO has followed through with Edelstein’s WDO Registry; has added a bi-lingual training program (co-sponsored by BASF); and will be launching an IPM Business Symposium in June. Smith added that in 2004 he would like to see CPCO of Florida continue to target consumer group outreach opportunities and community projects (e.g., providing fumigation services for special projects).

In addition to Smith, the CPCO of Florida staff consists of Michael Beckers, assistant executive vice president, and Terri Usha general manager/comptroller. Richard Meahl currently serves as president and when his term expires in June, he’ll be replaced by Vice President Gil Livingston.