A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT AMENDing THE LABOR LAWS of north carolina TO ADD AGRICULTURAL WORKERS TO THosE PROTECTed AGAINST RETALIATION in the workplace; dIRECTing THE PESTICIDE BOARD TO ADOPT RULES REQUIRING LICENSED PESTICIDE APPLICATORS TO RECORD THE SPECIFIC TIME OF DAY WHEN EACH PESTICIDE APPLICATION IS COMPLETED; EXTENDING THE RETENTION PERIOD FOR RECORDS RELATED TO GENERAL‑USE PESTICIDES FROM THIRTY DAYS TO TWO YEARS; and APPROPRIATing FUNDS TO PREVENT AGRIcuLTURAL PESTICIDE EXPOSURE, AS RECOMMENDED BY THE GOVERNOR'S TASK FORCE ON PREVENTING AGRIcULTURAL PESTICIDE EXPOSURE.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  Non‑retaliation. – G.S. 95‑241(a) reads as rewritten:
"(a)	No person shall discriminate or take any retaliatory action against an employee because the employee in good faith does or threatens to do any of the following:
(1)	File a claim or complaint, initiate any inquiry, investigation, inspection, proceeding or other action, or testify or provide information to any person with respect to any of the following:
a.	Chapter 97 of the General Statutes.
b.	Article 2A or Article 16 of this Chapter.
c.	Article 2A of Chapter 74 of the General Statutes.
d.	G.S. 95‑28.1.
e.	Article 16 of Chapter 127A of the General Statutes.
f.	G.S. 95‑28.1A.
g.	Article 52 of Chapter 143 of the General Statutes.
(2)	Cause any of the activities listed in subdivision (1) of this subsection to be initiated on an employee's behalf.
(3)	Exercise any right on behalf of the employee or any other employee afforded by Article 2A or Article 16 of this Chapter, by Article 2A of Chapter 74 of the General Statutes, or by Article 52 of Chapter 143 of the General Statutes.
(4)	Comply with the provisions of Article 27 of Chapter 7B of the General Statutes.
(5)	Exercise rights under Chapter 50B. Actions brought under this subdivision shall be in accordance with the provisions of G.S. 50B‑5.5."
SECTION 2.  Rule making. – The Pesticide Board shall adopt rules to implement the recommendations of the Governor's Task Force on Preventing Agricultural Pesticide Exposure, requiring recording of the specific time of day when each pesticide application was completed and extending the retention period for pesticide application records for all pesticides covered under the Worker Protection Standards for Agricultural Pesticides from 30 days to two years.
SECTION 3.  Cooperative Extension Appropriation. – There is appropriated from the General Fund to North Carolina State University, North Carolina Cooperative Extension, the sum of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000), in recurring funds for the 2008‑2009 fiscal year, to expand the capacity for agricultural pesticide safety education at Cooperative Extension Service Centers throughout the State for all growers, applicators, crew leaders, and farmworkers.
SECTION 4.  Rural Health Appropriation. – There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Rural Health, the sum of one hundred ninety‑seven thousand one hundred fifty-two dollars ($197,152), in recurring funds for the 2008‑2009 fiscal year, to establish five additional certified Worker Protection Standard trainers in the North Carolina Farmworker Health Program in order to educate farmworkers and their family members about the risks of pesticide exposure and safety precautions.
SECTION 5.  Public Health Appropriations. – There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Public Health, the sum of:
(1)	Ninety‑one thousand three hundred forty dollars ($91,340), in recurring funds for the 2008‑2009 fiscal year, to establish one public health epidemiologist position to assist with the screening of pesticide exposure.
(2)	One hundred forty‑two thousand nine hundred sixty‑two dollars ($142,962) for the 2008‑2009 fiscal year to strengthen the Acute Pesticide Illness & Injury Screening Program and follow‑up training for health care providers and to update worker protection training curriculum materials to make improvements to the Worker Protection Standards training curriculum.
SECTION 6.(a)  DACS Appropriations. – There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services the sum of:
(1)	Fifty‑four thousand two hundred fifty‑six dollars ($54,256), in recurring funds for the 2008‑2009 fiscal year, to establish a Quality Assurance Manager position to assure the quality and capacity for monitoring and compliance inspections.
(2)	One hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) for the 2008‑2009 fiscal year to accelerate the development of a comprehensive data tracking system for field inspectors.
SECTION 7.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2008.