EPA reaches settlement with Ocean State Job Lot over misbranded bug zappers

Ocean State Job Lot sells a handheld bug zapper for $6 on its website. A mini version sells for $5. The discount retailer says its bug zappers are compliant with EPA rules. (Ocean State Job Lot website)

The corporation that runs Ocean State Job Lot has agreed to pay a $53,500 penalty under a settlement reached with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for alleged violations in documenting the importation and sale of seven types of electric bug zappers.

Ocean State Jobbers, Inc., based in the Quonset Point Business Park in North Kingstown, was accused of distributing and selling “misbranded bug zapper pesticide devices” in its discount retail stores in violation of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act , according to an EPA news release issued Tuesday.

Bug zappers are regulated as devices under the law because they are instruments that use physical mechanisms — such as electricity — to repel or mitigate a pest. The bug zapper racquets were imported through ports of entry in Boston and Worcester, Massachusetts, and sold between February 2020 and April 2023, the EPA said.

Federal law requires that all imported pesticides and devices must have been produced in an EPA-registered establishment, even when the production establishment is outside the United States, and labeled accordingly with that establishment number. The producer is responsible for submitting annual production reports to EPA.

The EPA says that labels on the bug zappers lacked an EPA Establishment Number, a unique number assigned to the facility where the pesticide devices were produced. Additionally, Ocean State Job Lot failed to file the required Notices of Arrival for imports of the bug zappers during this roughly three-year period.

“The consumer deserves accuracy and demands accountability when it comes to products they purchase,” said EPA New England Regional Administrator David W. Cash. “This settlement serves as a reminder that thoroughness is required, and not merely a suggestion, and that anyone importing pesticide devices into the U.S. needs to follow the proper ground rules to do so legally.”

In a statement, Ocean State Job Lot said it did not submit the relevant forms because it was unaware of the EPA’s “pesticide device” designation.

“Further, it was mislabeled by the manufacturer, an error that went undiscovered,” the company stated.

“Once we were alerted of the processing errors, we immediately put a corrective action plan in place and shared it with the EPA. Due to our rapid and thorough response and our full cooperation, the EPA imposed the lowest possible penalty based on the violation.”

No action is required by customers who have purchased bug zappers, Ocean State Job Lot said.

“The product in question is inherently safe, and a compliant version of it is currently available in our stores,” the company added.

Neither the EPA nor Ocean State Job Lot had estimates of how many units of bug zappers were imported and sold and at what locations.

Ocean State Job Lot operates over 150 discount retail stores across New England, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania with approximately 5,600 associates. In May, for the fourth consecutive year, the company made Deloitte’s Best Managed Company list , which honors those that excel in meeting the needs of customers, communities, and employees. Its annual sales exceed $800 million.

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