(a) Pursuant to Article 4 (commencing with Section 106925) of Chapter 4 of Part 1 of Division 104, every district employee who handles, applies, or supervises the use of any pesticide for public health purposes shall be certified by the department as a vector control technician in at least one of the following categories commensurate with the assigned duties:
(1) Mosquito control.
(2) Terrestrial invertebrate vector control.
(3) Vertebrate vector control.
(b) The department may establish, by regulation, exemptions from the requirements of this section that the department deems reasonably necessary to further the purposes of this section.