RSA tit. X, ch. 142-A — MOSQUITO CONTROL POLICY FOR STATE AGENCIES | New Hampshire Revised Statutes Annotated (through the 2026 regular session) — New Hampshire

RSA 142-A:1 Definitions.

142-A:1. Definitions. In this chapter: I. "Best available science" means findings of fact carefully and impartially derived from the application of the scientific method and based upon all of the available information, published and unpublished alike. Best available science does not require that state agencies have all of the data or perfect data before reaching a decision. II. "Best medical and public health practice" means programs, interventions, treatments, or policies that through experience and experiment have been evaluated and shown to be generally applicable to reducing the risk of human-acquired arboviral illness. III. "Best management practices" mean techniques, methods, processes, or activities that through experience and best available science have proven to be the most effective and practical means of managing mosquito populations, while minimizing adverse impacts. IV. "Commissioner" means the commissioner of the department of health and human services. V. "Department" means the department of health and human services. Source. 2008, 290:2, eff. June 27, 2008.

RSA 142-A:2 Mosquito Control Policy; Principles.

142-A:2. Mosquito Control Policy; Principles. I. Mosquitoes can harbor organisms and infect people with diseases that pose a serious risk to the public health. When an increased threat of disease is discovered through surveillance, a state agency may select targeted control of mosquitoes as a measure to reduce human health risk. II. The mosquito control policy is based on the public health principle of primary prevention, meaning that disease prevention through public awareness, continuing education, and personal responsibility shall take precedence over the use of pesticide-based mosquito control measures. III. Because authority for monitoring and treatment of mosquito populations exists at the local level, maximum benefit to the public is achieved when local, state, and federal mosquito control policies are applied in a clear, consistent, and coordinated manner. IV. The control of mosquitoes on state lands requires a careful balance between the state's obligation to protect the health and wellbeing of the public and the state's interest in protecting those lands as expressed by the missions of the various state agencies that have been assigned responsibilities for land management. V. Mosquito control should always be based on the best available science. Recognizing that there are uncertainties in scientific information, mosquito control shall be based on best medical and public health practice. VI. The mosquito control policy for state agencies established in this chapter is also intended to serve as a voluntary guideline for mosquito control on lands held by other property owners. VII. State agencies managing land shall allow mosquito control and abatement activities to occur in accordance with local mosquito control plans developed pursuant to RSA 141-C when the department has notified the appropriate agency managing state land that a public health threat declaration under RSA 141-C:25 is in effect, or has previously been in effect within the last 3 years, for the affected municipality or mosquito control district in accordance with RSA 142-A:3. VIII. Notwithstanding RSA 142-A:3, VI, nothing in this chapter shall prohibit state agencies managing land from considering, in accordance with applicable law and rules, pesticides or other control measures not specifically identified in RSA 142-A:3. Source. 2008, 290:2. 2011, 260:1, eff. Sept. 11, 2011.

RSA 142-A:3 Mosquito Control Policy for State Agencies.

142-A:3. Mosquito Control Policy for State Agencies. I. Where feasible, state agencies managing land shall promote primary prevention by providing on-site public outreach and education that focuses on the health risks associated with mosquitoes and the importance of personal protection, complementing that provided by the department. Additionally, efforts may be taken by state agencies to promote awareness and outreach to the public prior to on-site use of state-owned lands to increase the likelihood that personal protection methods will be used. Outreach and education efforts may include awareness posters, disease and prevention fact sheets, on-site posting highlighting the nature of the threat, and disease and prevention reminders in seasonal correspondence and on agency websites. II. State agencies managing land shall encourage and allow mosquito surveillance and monitoring on their lands by state and local public health authorities or vector control agencies or their agents using surveillance and monitoring methods approved by the department. III. When surveillance or monitoring occurs on state lands, the state agency managing land may require that the municipality or its contracted agent contact a designated representative of the agency no less than 72 hours prior to deploying mosquito traps and within 24 hours of a positive result attained from such traps. IV. State agencies managing land are encouraged to participate in the development and implementation of local mosquito control plans whenever a public health threat declared by the commissioner pursuant to RSA 141-C includes lands held by that agency. V. State agencies managing land shall, when reasonable, mitigate or otherwise manage man-made and other artificial mosquito breeding sites as part of an overall integrated pest management approach. VI. State agencies managing land shall allow the use of biological control agents, specifically Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis or Bacillus sphaericus, to control mosquito larvae in natural wetlands and water bodies on land they administer in accordance with applicable law and rules as long as those wetlands and water bodies are located in municipalities or mosquito control districts where a public health threat is declared, or has been declared within the last 3 years, by the commissioner pursuant to RSA 141-C and when the application is to be made under a special permit issued by the department of agriculture, markets and food, division of pesticide control. VII. State agencies managing land shall allow the use of pesticides to control adult mosquitoes, in accordance with applicable law and rules, in areas where a public health threat has been declared by the commissioner pursuant to RSA 141-C and the land: (a) Is adjacent to areas of high public use; (b) Has areas where topographical and other conditions result in high adult mosquito populations; (c) Is located within a focal area determined by the department to have a risk of a human outbreak of arboviral disease which warrants the use of pesticides to control adult mosquitoes as set forth in the arboviral illness response plan adopted by the department; and (d) Is managed in accordance with general integrated pest management practices. VIII. If an agency disagrees with the need to control mosquitoes as set forth in paragraph VII, the commissioner, after consultation with the commissioner of agriculture, markets, and food and the commissioner or executive head of the agency managing the land, shall decide whether or not the recommended mosquito control measures shall apply to the land in question. IX. For state lands located in areas where a public health threat declaration under RSA 141-C is not in effect, but public health threat indicators, including topographical and other key environmental conditions, exist for mosquito breeding, and proximity to positive mosquito pools or human or mammal positive cases of arboviral illness support the use of larvicides as a proactive means of preventing arboviral illness, the commissioner, after consultation with the commissioner of agriculture, markets, and food and the commissioner or executive head of any relevant agency with land management responsibilities, shall decide whether or not the recommended mosquito control measures shall apply to the land in question. X. As a condition to allowing mosquito control to take place, state agencies managing land may require advanced notice of treatment to allow enough time to visit the site and to coordinate the appropriate signage and possible access closures to prevent unintended human exposures to pesticides and their residues. XI. State agencies managing land shall have discretion to allow chemical or biological control of adult or larval mosquitoes on state lands solely for the purpose of nuisance control. XII. State agencies managing land shall require proof of current pesticide application licensure with the state and of indemnity insurance before allowing chemical or biological control of adult or larval mosquitoes by a third party on state lands. XIII. Notwithstanding paragraphs VI through IX, if deed restrictions on a parcel of state-owned land prohibit the use of chemical or biological measures to control adult or larval mosquitoes, agencies with land management responsibility shall not allow the use of such control methods. XIV. State agencies managing land shall encourage the investigation of the feasibility and appropriateness of best management practices to manage mosquito populations in both fresh and saltwater wetlands in the long term. Source. 2008, 290:2. 2011, 260:2, eff. Sept. 11, 2011.