Utah School Pest Control Rules (R392-200-18), Quoted From the Source
Utah's pest management requirement for K-12 schools, quoted in full from the official text of R392-200, with the definitions it relies on, the related pesticide storage and notification text, and a link to each source.
At a glance
- R392-200-18 requires a school's governing body to adopt and implement an IPM plan that covers seven listed topics, one of them “a policy for the notification of students, parents, and staff”.
- The plan may be written by the governing body or by its contracted pest management entity.
- The plan must be made available to the local health officer on request, and the local health officer may require changes to it.
- When a school does not use a contractor, school personnel who apply pesticides must comply with the Utah Pesticide Control Rule, R68-7.
- R392-200 applies to K-12 schools. It does not apply to a place of higher education (R392-200-3(2)(e)).
1. The rule: R392-200-18, Pest Management
R392-200, Sanitation and Safety of Schools, sits in Title R392 of the Utah Administrative Code (Health and Human Services, Population Health, Environmental Health). The current version took effect October 21, 2025. Section 18 is quoted below in full.
R392-200-18. Pest Management.
(1) The governing body shall:
(a) minimize in school buildings or on school grounds the presence of any pest that:
(i) is a vector for disease;
(ii) carries an allergen that is likely to affect an individual with allergies or respiratory problems; or
(iii) may sting or bite, causing a mild to serious reaction in some individuals;
(b) adopt IPM practices and principles to prevent harmful levels of pest activity on the school premises with the lowest possible risk to people, property, and the environment by adopting and implementing an IPM plan written by the governing body or the contracted pest management entity that contains the following topics:
(i) an IPM policy statement;
(ii) IPM implementation and education;
(iii) pest identification, monitoring procedures, reporting and control practices;
(iv) approved pesticides for school use;
(v) procedures for pesticide use;
(vi) a policy for the notification of students, parents, and staff; and
(vii) pesticide applicator requirements;
(c) use non-chemical management methods when possible to provide the desired control; and
(d) use a full range of control alternatives including:
(i) identification and removal or repair of conditions that are conducive to pests;
(ii) structural repair and sealing;
(iii) improved sanitation;
(iv) removal of clutter or harborage;
(v) elimination of food sources;
(vi) exclusionary measures to protect doors, windows and any other opening to the outside against the entrance of insects, rodents, and other animals; and
(vii) taking no action when the pest does not create a nuisance, or has no public health or property damage significance.
(2) The plan described in Subsection (1)(b) shall be made available to the local health officer upon request.
(3) The governing body shall ensure that:
(a) if the governing body chooses to not use a contracted pest control contractor, school personnel who apply pesticides comply with the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food Rule R68-7, Utah Pesticide Control Rule; and
(b) a pesticide applicator at a school only applies a pesticide according to the labeled directions.
(4) A local health officer may require modification of an IPM plan if the plan fails to adequately address risks to the health or safety of school occupants.
2. Definitions the section relies on
Section 18 uses terms defined in R392-200-2. R392-200 has no definition of “pesticide”, and its entry for “IPM” expands the abbreviation.
R392-200-2. Definitions.
The following definitions apply to this rule:
[...]
(9) "Governing body" means the board of education, owner, person designated by the owner with ultimate authority and responsibility, both moral and legal, for the management, control, conduct and functioning of the school.
[...]
(15) "IPM" means integrated pest management.
[...]
(17) "Local health officer" means the executive director of the jurisdictional local health department or designated representative.
[...]
(21) "Pest" means a noxious, destructive, or troublesome organism whether plant or animal, when found in and around places of human occupancy, habitation, or use that threatens the public health or well-being of the public.
[...]
(26)(a) "School" means a public or private educational institution including any charter school, elementary school, middle school, or secondary school established to provide education for grades kindergarten through 12 regardless of students' age, including any attached preschool.
(b) "School" does not mean a micro-education entity, a home-based microschool, or a home school.
[...]
(29) "Vector" means any organism, such as insects or rodents, that transmits a pathogen that can affect public health.
3. Pesticide storage and notification
Storage: R392-200-9(1)(d)–(e)
The custodial section of the same rule sets where pesticides are kept.
R392-200-9. Construction and Maintenance of Physical Facilities -- Custodial.
(1) The governing body shall ensure that:
[...]
(d) a closet, cabinet, or room is provided for the storage of:
(i) cleaning materials;
(ii) pesticides;
(iii) paints;
(iv) hazardous chemicals; and
(v) tools and maintenance equipment;
(e) the closet, cabinet, or room described in Subsection (1)(d) is kept:
(i) clean;
(ii) orderly; and
(iii) locked when a custodian is not present in the immediate area;
Notification
R392-200-18(1)(b)(vi) requires the IPM plan to contain “a policy for the notification of students, parents, and staff”. The current text of R392-200 does not say what that policy must contain or when notice must be given.
R68-7 is the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food's Utah Pesticide Control Rule. A search of its current text for the word “school” finds one provision, R68-7-19(8), on aircraft and air blast sprayers. The customer notice in R68-7-16(4) is not limited to schools: it applies before each application of a restricted use pesticide with a Danger or Danger-Poison signal word.
R68-7-16. Responsibilities of Pesticide Applicator Businesses and Pesticide Applicators.
[...]
(4) Pesticide Application Notification.
(a) Before the time of each application of a restricted use pesticide with a Danger or Danger-Poison signal word, the certified commercial pesticide applicator, or an employee of the licensed pesticide business shall provide the customer with a written statement containing the following information:
(i) the pesticide business name, pesticide business license number, and telephone number;
(ii) the name and pesticide applicator license number of the licensed pesticide applicator who will make the application;
(iii) the date and time of the pesticide application;
(iv) the type of pesticide application service and brand name and EPA registration number of pesticides applied; and
(v) instructions to the customer to contact the pesticide business telephone number if more specific information is desired regarding the pesticide product applied.
R68-7-19. Transportation, Storage, Handling, Usage, and Disposal of Pesticides and Pesticide Containers.
[...]
(8) No pesticides shall be applied by aircraft or air blast sprayers to property abutting or adjacent to schools in session, hospitals, nursing homes, or other similar establishments, when occupied, under conditions that may result in contamination of these establishments or their premises.
4. What this means for a district facilities team
This list is limited to what the quoted text states.
- The plan belongs to the governing body. The governing body adopts and implements it, and it may be “written by the governing body or the contracted pest management entity” (R392-200-18(1)(b)). The governing body is “the board of education, owner, person designated by the owner with ultimate authority and responsibility” (R392-200-2(9)).
- Check the plan against the seven topics. A policy statement; implementation and education; pest identification, monitoring, reporting and control; approved pesticides; procedures for pesticide use; “a policy for the notification of students, parents, and staff”; and pesticide applicator requirements (R392-200-18(1)(b)(i)–(vii)).
- Be ready to produce it. The plan “shall be made available to the local health officer upon request” (R392-200-18(2)), and a local health officer “may require modification of an IPM plan if the plan fails to adequately address risks to the health or safety of school occupants” (R392-200-18(4)).
- Non-chemical methods first, when possible. The rule calls for “non-chemical management methods when possible to provide the desired control” (R392-200-18(1)(c)), and its list of alternatives runs from repairing conditions that are conducive to pests to “taking no action when the pest does not create a nuisance, or has no public health or property damage significance” (R392-200-18(1)(d)).
- If district staff apply pesticides, R68-7 applies to them. Without a contractor, “school personnel who apply pesticides comply with the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food Rule R68-7” (R392-200-18(3)(a)). Either way, the governing body must ensure that “a pesticide applicator at a school only applies a pesticide according to the labeled directions” (R392-200-18(3)(b)).
- Lock the pesticide storage. The rule requires “a closet, cabinet, or room” for the storage of pesticides, kept “locked when a custodian is not present in the immediate area” (R392-200-9(1)(d)–(e)).
5. Staff education companion: the school field guide
Falcon Pest Control publishes The One-Hour Entomology Degree, School Edition, a phone-first, searchable desk reference for custodians, kitchen managers, and facilities directors in Utah K-12 buildings. It is written as a staff education companion to R392-200-18, whose plan topics include “IPM implementation and education” (R392-200-18(1)(b)(ii)).
Each pest entry answers the same six questions: what it is, whether it matters, how it got there, whether it will get worse, whether staff can legally handle it, and when it becomes a real problem. Entries are grouped by where they turn up: kitchen, classrooms, rodents, grounds, stinging insects, spiders, building envelope, birds, wildlife, and specialty spaces. The guide also has a five-question triage, a who-owns-this-call chain for school staff, and a school-year pest calendar. It can be searched, filtered, and printed.
6. K-12 schools, not universities
R392-200-18 covers K-12 schools and not universities. The rule applies to “any school, as defined”, the definition of school covers grades kindergarten through 12 (R392-200-2(26)(a), quoted above), and the applicability section excludes a place of higher education.
R392-200-3. Applicability.
(1) This rule applies to any school, as defined, and any associated grounds and accessory structures.
(2) This rule does not apply to a:
(a) child care center;
(b) home-based microschool;
(c) home school;
(d) micro-education entity;
(e) place of higher education;
(f) professional school; or
(g) trade school.
For the rules that apply on Utah campuses, including the case of charter schools that hold classes on a university campus, see Does Utah's school pest management rule apply to universities? on University Pest Reference.
Common questions
What must a Utah school IPM plan contain?
R392-200-18(1)(b) requires “an IPM plan written by the governing body or the contracted pest management entity that contains the following topics: (i) an IPM policy statement; (ii) IPM implementation and education; (iii) pest identification, monitoring procedures, reporting and control practices; (iv) approved pesticides for school use; (v) procedures for pesticide use; (vi) a policy for the notification of students, parents, and staff; and (vii) pesticide applicator requirements”.
Does a Utah school have to hire a pest control contractor?
R392-200-18(3)(a) addresses a school that does not. The governing body shall ensure that “if the governing body chooses to not use a contracted pest control contractor, school personnel who apply pesticides comply with the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food Rule R68-7, Utah Pesticide Control Rule”.
Who can ask to see a Utah school's IPM plan?
R392-200-18(2): “The plan described in Subsection (1)(b) shall be made available to the local health officer upon request.” R392-200-18(4): “A local health officer may require modification of an IPM plan if the plan fails to adequately address risks to the health or safety of school occupants.”
Does R392-200-18 apply to universities?
No. R392-200-3(2): “This rule does not apply to a: (a) child care center; (b) home-based microschool; (c) home school; (d) micro-education entity; (e) place of higher education; (f) professional school; or (g) trade school.”
Walk Your School With a Board Certified Entomologist
A free, no-obligation walk of your building and grounds, led by a Board Certified Entomologist. Bring your IPM plan and your questions about this rule.
Sources
- Utah Admin. Code R392-200, Sanitation and Safety of Schools (effective 10/21/2025): https://adminrules.utah.gov/public/rule/R392-200/Current%20Rules
- Utah Admin. Code R392-200 (official rule text, effective 10/21/2025): https://adminrules.utah.gov/api/public/getHTML/uac-html/c1c714c9-0c55-424a-a369-8dfbc087f50f.html
- Utah Admin. Code R68-7, Utah Pesticide Control Rule (effective 9/7/2022): https://adminrules.utah.gov/public/rule/R68-7/Current%20Rules
- University Pest Reference, Does Utah's school pest management rule apply to universities?: https://universitypestreference.org/answers/#school-rule-universities
- The One-Hour Entomology Degree, School Edition: https://myfalconpest.com/school-field-guide