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STATE OF MICHIGAN  
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT  
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PUBLIC HEARING  
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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 31, 2021  
AT ABOUT 9:05 A.M.  
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LANSING, MICHIGAN  
HELD VIA ZOOM  
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REGULATION 637, RULE 11  
PESTICIDE USE  
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14 HEARING FACILITATOR:  
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BRAD DEACON  
Director, Office of Legal Affairs  
& Emergency Management  
Michigan Department of Agriculture and  
Rural Development  
18 ALSO PRESENT: Brian Verhougstraete  
Mike Phillip  
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Susan Bagley  
Jamie Guardiola  
George Noonan  
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24 REPORTED BY: Lori Anne Penn, CSR-1315  
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Penn Reporting, LLC - lori.penn@yahoo.com  
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I N D E X  
2 Opening Statement - Brad Deacon  
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(Recess)  
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5 Closing Statement - Brad Deacon  
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Penn Reporting, LLC - lori.penn@yahoo.com  
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Wednesday, March 31, 2021  
At 9:05 a.m.  
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(Public hearing commenced pursuant to due notice.)  
MR. DEACON: Good morning. It is 9:05 on  
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Wednesday, March 31. Good morning. We will start the  
public hearing.  
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Good morning. My name is Brad Deacon,  
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and I am the hearing officer for the Michigan Department  
of Agriculture and Rural Development. Today I am  
conducting the public hearing on the proposed changes to  
Rule 11 within Regulation 637, titled Pesticide Use.  
For the record, the date is March 31,  
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2021, and the time is 9:05 a.m. We are conducting this  
hearing virtually using Zoom, in conformance with  
provisions of the Epidemic Orders issued by the Michigan  
Department of Health and Human Services to address the  
COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, conducting today's  
hearing remotely allows for not only protection of the  
public and Department staff, but also greater  
participation by interested parties across the state  
without having to drive to the Lansing area.  
Present today from the Michigan  
Department of Agriculture and Rural Development are Brian  
Verhougstraete, Mike Phillip, Susan Bagley, Jamie  
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Guardiola, and George Noonan.  
On behalf of the Michigan Department of  
Agriculture and Rural Development and its Director, Gary  
McDowell, welcome to today's public hearing. We very  
much appreciate your interest and attendance today.  
This hearing is being conducted under  
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authority provided to the Director in the Natural  
Resources and Environmental Protection Act, Part 83,  
Pesticide Control, at Section 324.8325 of the Michigan  
Compiled Laws. Part 83 provides for regulation of the  
sale and use of pesticides.  
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Notice of this public hearing was  
published in the Michigan Register on March 15, 2021, in  
Issue #4 of 2021. Legal notices were also published in:  
• The Escanaba Daily Press on March 10,  
• The Kalamazoo Gazette and The Bay City Times  
on March 11.  
This hearing is being recorded by Lori  
Penn. A transcript will be prepared and will serve as  
the official record of today's proceedings.  
Copies of the proposed amendments to Rule  
11 for Regulation 637, Pesticide Use, as well as the  
Regulatory Impact Statement and Cost Benefit Analysis  
developed by the Department are available from the  
Department and have been posted on the website for the  
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Michigan Office of Administrative Hearings and Rules.  
Written comments must be received by the  
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close of business today, Wednesday, March 31, 2021, by  
5:00 p.m. If anyone has written comments but has not yet  
sent them, please raise your hand in the virtual room and  
I will provide an e-mail address, fax number, or U.S.  
mailing address.  
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I ask that everyone in attendance who  
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wishes to speak in today's hearing to please raise your  
hand in this virtual setting if you are able to do so. I  
will call on everyone who indicates a desire to speak,  
including those who are attending by telephone only.  
Anyone present who wishes to have their attendance  
included in the record, but who does not wish to speak,  
please provide your name and city in the chat function.  
If you are unable to do that, I will ask for that  
information as well at the conclusion of the hearing.  
When I call on anyone to speak, please  
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state your name, spell your last name, and indicate whom  
you represent, if you represent an organization.  
By way of ground rules, let me state that  
our purpose today is to gather comments and concerns from  
the public for the record which will be considered during  
the administrative rulemaking process.  
In synopsis, the proposed changes to Rule  
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11 of Regulation 637 are to incorporate the provisions  
changed through the emergency rule process used in 2020  
to facilitate the State of Michigan's coordinated public  
health response to Eastern Equine Encephalitis, also  
known as EEE.  
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At this point, I will call on Brian  
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Verhougstraete from the Department's Pesticide and Plant  
Pest Management Division for any additional comments.  
MR. VERHOUGSTRAETE: I have no additional  
comments at this time.  
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MR. DEACON: Thank you, Brian. With the  
preliminaries completed, let me ask if there is anyone  
from the public who wishes to speak on the proposed rule  
changes? (No response.)  
Is there anyone present who does not wish  
to speak on the rule changes but would like their  
attendance noted for the record? (No response.)  
Seeing as how we have no one from the  
public wishing to speak at this time, but that the  
hearing has only been going for six minutes, we will go  
into recess and reconvene at 9:35.  
(Recess from 9:11 a.m. to 9:36 a.m.)  
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MR. DEACON: All right. This is Brad  
Deacon on Wednesday, March 31 at 9:36 a.m. for the public  
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hearing on Regulation, proposed changes to Regulation  
637, Rule 11. It is 9:36 a.m., and we have come back  
from recess.  
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At this point, there are still no members  
of the public present to provide comment today. The  
comment, public comment will be accepted until 5:00  
o'clock today through any other number of means to reach  
the Department.  
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For the record, I have not received any  
notices -- checking e-mail right now as well -- of any  
difficulties of anyone being able to access the public  
hearing.  
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At this point, then, we will close out  
today's public hearing. Thank you all for attending.  
And the hearing today is closed at 9:37 a.m.  
(At 9:37 a.m., the public hearing closed.)  
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Penn Reporting, LLC - lori.penn@yahoo.com  
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C E R T I F I C A T E  
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I, Lori Anne Penn, do hereby certify that I  
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reported in stenotype the ZOOM proceedings had in the  
within-entitled matter, that being the Public Hearing  
regarding Regulation 637 - Pesticide Use Rules, before  
Brad Deacon, Hearing Officer for the Michigan Department  
of Agriculture and Rural Development, on Wednesday, March  
31, 2021; and do further certify that the foregoing  
transcript, consisting of pages 1-8 is a true and correct  
transcript of my stenotype notes.  
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Penn Reporting, LLC  
lori.penn@yahoo.com  
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March 31, 2021  
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Penn Reporting, LLC - lori.penn@yahoo.com  
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