Broome County, NY Public Health Rules: Rodent Control (2026)

Article VI of Chapter 305, Rodent Control, defines 'rodent stoppage' as blocking every opening rodents could use to enter or leave a dwelling with gnaw-proof material, done to the Commissioner of Health's satisfaction (§305-23). Section 305-24 lays out owner duties: keep multiple dwellings, premises or commercial vehicles free of rodents, insects, vermin and conditions conducive to them (A); bear responsibility for extermination whenever infestation traces to the owner's own failure to keep a building rodentproof (B); provide rodent stoppage whenever a building, premises or vehicle is subject to infestation (C); supply animalproof, rodentproof, insectproof and watertight containers for rubbish and garbage in multiple dwellings (E); and keep communal or shared areas free of rodent feeding areas and harborages (F).

Under §305-24(D), once the Commissioner of Health determines a building or premises is infested, the Commissioner may order the owner to take whatever extermination measures are considered necessary. Section 305-25 mirrors these duties for occupants: an occupant of a single-unit dwelling, or of a unit that alone is infested in a multi-unit building, must exterminate it themselves (A); dispose of garbage and rubbish only in required containers (B); provide rodent stoppage within their own unit when the Commissioner orders it (C); and, if not in a multiple dwelling, supply their own animalproof containers (D). Health Department inspectors can enter and inspect premises under §305-26, backed by a search warrant if entry is refused.