Wisconsin Statutes
Wis. Stat. § 94.701 (2026)
Pesticides; local regulation
✓ laws through the 2025-26 session (checked Sept. 2026)
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94.701(1)(1) This section is an enactment of statewide concern for the purpose of providing uniform regulation of pesticides.
94.701(3)(a)(a) Except as provided in par. (b) or (c), a political subdivision may not prohibit the use of or otherwise regulate pesticides.
94.701(3)(b)1.1. Regulates pesticide use on property in which the political subdivision has a fee simple ownership interest.
94.701(3)(b)3.3. Implements any regulation of pesticides that the political subdivision is required by federal law or other state laws to implement.
94.701(3)(b)4.4. Implements a cooperative agreement with the federal environmental protection agency under 7 USC 136u (a).
94.701(3)(b)5.5. Prohibits conduct that is the same as conduct prohibited under ss. 94.69 to 94.71 or 7 USC 136 to 136y.
94.701(3)(b)6.6. Requires that, when notification of pesticide use is required by state or federal law, notification of that use be given to the political subdivision.
94.701(3)(b)7.7. Sets standards for fire prevention in the storage of a pesticide that poses a fire hazard.
94.701(3)(b)8.8. Regulates pesticides pursuant to a storm water management program that is consistent with 40 CFR 122.26.
94.701(3)(c)(c) A political subdivision may enact an ordinance or enter into an agreement under s. 289.33 (9) relating to the storage, treatment or disposal of solid waste containing pesticides, pesticide containers or pesticide residues.
94.701(4)(a)(a) A political subdivision may not enact an ordinance that is authorized under sub. (3) until it consults with the department. If a political subdivision enacts an ordinance that is authorized under sub. (3), it shall provide the department with a copy of the ordinance no later than 60 days after enactment.
94.701(4)(b)(b) Before March 1 of each year, a political subdivision with an ordinance that is authorized under sub. (3) (b) 5. shall notify the department of all enforcement actions taken under that ordinance during the preceding year.
94.701 Cross-referenceCross-reference: See also chs. ATCP 29, 30, and 31 and ss. ATCP 160.19 and 160.21, Wis. adm. code.
94.701 AnnotationA local government is not preempted by sub. (3) (a) from regulating the phosphorous content in weed and feed products. A weed and feed product is both a pesticide, which under sub. (3) (a) only the state can regulate, and a fertilizer, which local governments can regulate. The definition of both “pesticide” and “fertilizer” as including a mixture of the two preserves both state regulation of pesticides and local regulation of fertilizers. The state regulates the pesticide components of the mixed products, local governments the fertilizer components. Croplife America, Inc. v. City of Madison, 432 F.3d 732 (2005).
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 3
cases, 2005–2005 · leading case: Croplife Am., Inc. v. City of Madison, 432 F.3d 732 (7th Cir. 2005).
Croplife Am., Inc. v. City of Madison, 432 F.3d 732 (7th Cir. 2005). “The only claim pressed in this appeal is that the ordinances are preempted by a Wisconsin state statute that, with irrelevant exceptions, forbids a city or county to “prohibit the use of or otherwise regulate pesticides.”
Croplife Am., Inc. v. City of Madison, 373 F. Supp. 2d 905 (W.D. Wis. 2005). “Wis. Stat. § 94.701 forbids the state’s political subdivisions from prohibiting the use of pesticides or otherwise regulating their use.”
Croplife Am. Inc v. City of Madison, No. 05-3033 (7th Cir. Dec. 23, 2005). “The only claim pressed in this appeal is that the ordinances are preempted by a Wisconsin state statute that, with irrelevant exceptions, forbids a city or county to “prohibit the use of or otherwise regulate pesti- cides.”
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