80-7-503. Duties of department. The department may:

(1) develop and publish a list of pesticides approved for control of insect pests;

(2) develop and publish technical guidelines on techniques of controlling insect pests;

(3) notify a county of its survey results and state whether the infestation is normal or serious;

(4) review and comment on or review and approve all county agricultural insect pest management plans as provided by local government statutes and consider whether the plan conforms to the technical guidelines of the department and whether implementation of the plan will probably counteract the condition of insect pest infestation in a timely and proper manner;

(5) consider whether an alternative control program would be as efficient as spraying on a ratio of total costs to total benefits and provide the county with a summary of its findings prior to conducting or approving any cropland spraying program. If the alternative control program is considered adequate, the department may conduct or approve such a program.