PMEP Home Page --> Pesticide Applicator Certification --> Commercial Pesticide Applicator Certification Requirements

SUMMARY OF 6 NYCRR Part 325
REQUIREMENTS FOR COMMERCIAL PESTICIDE APPLICATOR
CERTIFICATION, COMMERCIAL PESTICIDE TECHNICIAN
CERTIFICATION AND BUSINESS/AGENCY REGISTRATION

December 2004


  1. The following individuals may engage in the private application of pesticides:

    1. "Certified commercial pesticide applicator" who is certified by the department to use or supervise the use of a pesticide in their category/subcategory.

    2. "Certified commercial pesticide technician" certified by the Department to use general use pesticides without supervision or the use of a restricted pesticide when working under the direct supervision of a certified commercial pesticide applicator.

    3. "Apprentice" using pesticides under the direct supervision of a certified commercial pesticide applicator.

      NOTE: Apprentices shall not apply fumigants except when using fumigants classified as general use that are applied to in-place utility poles, engage in the subsurface ground application of termiticides, the surface application of termiticides to exposed soil in basements and crawl spaces, or the placement of termiticides in voids of masonry foundations, or apply pesticides by aircraft.

  2. Pesticide applicator certification or technician certification is not required for the following pesticide applications

    1. An individual using antimicrobial agents, except where such pesticides have been classified as restricted use pesticides or are used in the pulp and paper process or cooling towers.

    2. An individual using aquatic pesticides purchased through a purchase permit in a body of water measured one acre or less in size which lies exclusively on their property and has little or no outflow to any surface waters of the State.

    3. A doctor of veterinary medicine or a veterinary technician working under the veterinarian's direct supervision, licensed to practice within New York State. Such exemption from certification requirements applies only when engaged in the use of general use pesticides on animals that are in the veterinarian's care within their veterinary establishments.

    4. An individual engaged in the residential application of pesticides. The residential application of pesticides means the application of general use pesticides by ground equipment on property owned or leased by the applicator, excluding any establishments selling or processing food and any residential structure other than the specific dwelling unit in which the applicator resides.

  3. Eligibility for commercial pesticide applicator and technician certification

    1. An individual shall be eligible for commercial pesticide applicator certification in specific categories or sub-categories if that individual has at least:

      1. one year of verifiable experience as a technician with an additional 12 hours of category/subcategory-specific recertification training, or has two years of verifiable experience as a technician and petitions the department for full certification; or

      2. at least three years of verifiable full-time experience within the last five years as an apprentice working in the category or sub-categories of commercial pesticide application in which the individual is seeking certification and has passed the core and appropriate category examinations. For purposes of this paragraph, a year of full-time experience shall be deemed to have been met when a full season's experience is completed in those certification categories/sub-categories that are seasonal; or

      3. at least three years of verifiable experience within the past five years as a certified private pesticide applicator in a corresponding private category and has successfully passed the appropriate commercial category examinations; or

      4. certification in another state with which New York State has reciprocity; or

      5. at least three years experience in the sale of pesticides or industrial chemicals, or can otherwise demonstrate, through applicable training certifications or educational degrees, that the individual possesses appropriate technical background, as determined by the department, and has successfully passed the appropriate certification examination(s), if seeking pesticide applicator certification in the Sales Category.

      6. To be eligible for certification in subsequent categories/sub-categories of commercial applicator certification, an individual must have at least one year of experience in the category/subcategory in which the individual seeks certification or obtain 12 hours of such category/subcategory-specific training, approved by the department, except that:

        • individuals certified in Ornamental and Turf Pest Control, Forest Pest Control or Right-of-Way Pest Control meet the experience or training requirements to be eligible for certification in any of these categories; and

        • individuals certified in Agricultural Plant, Agricultural Animal Pest Control, Ornamental & Turf and Forest Pest Control do not need to meet the experience requirement to be eligible for certification in Regulatory Pest Control.

    2. Eligibility for pesticide technician certification

      1. be at least 17 years of age at the time an application for technician certification is made; and

      2. have successfully completed a category/subcategory specific 30-hour training course, approved by the department, or, alternatively, have received a baccalaureate or associate degree from an accredited college or university which covers core and category/subcategory topics, and have passed the core and appropriate category examination(s); or

      3. have two years of verifiable experience as an apprentice and have passed the core and appropriate category examination(s).

      4. Technicians cannot add categories/sub-categories to their certification.

  4. Training

    Training for certification is made available through County Cooperative Extension offices, Colleges and private industry. A list of training courses are posted on the Cornell University Pesticide Management Education Program web-site, http://pmep.cce.cornell.edu. In addition, training manuals that the pesticide applicator examinations are based on are available from Cornell University, Pesticide Manuals, 95 Brown Road Rm 223, Box 1043, Ithaca NY 14850, (607) 255-7282.

  5. Certification Examinations

    1. To become certified an applicant shall be required to pass a core examination and the appropriate category or subcategory examination unless requesting certification through reciprocity.

    2. An applicant who fails the core examination twice must successfully complete a course or courses of instruction approved for at least eight core credit hours prior to re-examination.

    3. An applicant who fails a category or subcategory examination three times in succession must retake both the core and category or subcategory examinations.

    4. An applicant who passes a core examination must also pass a category examination within six months. Failure to do so will require the applicant to retake the core examination.

    5. An applicant who passes a core and category examination and does not pay the required certification fees within six months, must retake both the core and category examinations.

    6. A fee of $ 50.00 is required for taking an examination.

    7. An applicant who fails to attend a scheduled examination session in which a prepaid examination fee is required shall forfeit such fee.

    8. Examinations may be scheduled by contacting the DEC Regional Office closest to you:

      Region Location Telephone
      1 Stony Brook (613) 444-0340
      2 Long Island City (718) 482-4994
      3 New Paltz (845) 256-3097
      4 Schenectady (518) 357-2045
      5 Warrensburg (518) 623-1200
      6 Watertown (315) 785-2263
      6 Utica (315) 793-2554
      7 Syracuse (315) 426-7400
      7 Cortland (607) 753-3095
      8 Avon (585) 226-2466
      8 Bath (607) 776-2165
      9 Buffalo (716) 851-7220


  6. Certification identification card renewal requirements for pesticide applicators and technicians

    1. On passing the required examinations, an individual will receive a notice to pay the appropriate certification fees. For Commercial Applicators and Technicians fees, except for those certified in category 3A only or 3B only, shall be $225.00 for the first category or subcategory; $75.00 for each additional category or subcategory. For commercial Application s and Technicians certified in Category 3A only or 3B only, the fee is $100 paid annually.

    2. On receipt of the required fees, the department will issue an identification card that will be valid for a period of one year to three years, depending on your certification category, to the certified applicator or technician. The identification card will specify the categories and sub-categories of commercial application in which the applicator may engage.

  7. Recertification requirements for pesticide applicators

  8. Annual Reports and Recordkeeping

    The Pesticide Reporting Law (PRL) requires the annual submission of reports by February 1 of each year, detailing pesticide activities for the prior calendar year. Certified commercial pesticide applicators and certified commercial pesticide technicians are required to submit annual reports, even if no applications were performed.

    The PRL also reaffirms existing recordkeeping requirements for commercial applicators and technicians, The Pesticide Reporting & Certification Section in the Division of Solid & Hazardous Materials has developed public guidance and provides an email address, prl@gw.dec.state.ny.us, to educate the regulated community on the requirements of the PRL. For questions on Pesticide Reporting, please call (518)402-8748.

  9. Pesticide Business and Agency Registration

    1. Each agency that applies pesticides and each business offering, advertising or providing the services of commercial application of pesticides, either entirely or as part of the business, must register annually with the department on forms supplied by the department. Agency is defined as any state agency; municipal corporation; public authority; college, as that term is defined in the education law; railroad, as that term is defined in the railroad law; or telegraph, telephone, telegraph and telephone, pipeline, gas, electric, or gas and electric corporation as those terms are defined in the state transportation corporations law, which applies pesticides.

    2. A fee of $450.00 must be paid to the department at the time of registration, except that any agency which is a state agency, municipal corporation, public authority, or college shall be exempt from any fee for registration. Registrations are valid for three years.

    3. Business firms required to register with the department that have more than one place of business within the State must register and pay the registration fee for each such place of business. Individuals conducting business tinder more than one name must register and pay the registration fee for each such name at each place of business. A business firm using a telephone answering service as an extension of the business in a location where the business does not otherwise maintain an office but where messages are collected and given directly to employees of the registered business who will service these accounts must pay a registration fee for each location where such messages are collected. Answering services directing messages to registered places of business are not required to register with the department.

    4. Business firms shall carry a minimum of $300,000 individual and $ 1,000,000 per incident bodily injury insurance and $300,000 property damage insurance, or a surety bond of comparable value, issued by a company license to do business in the State of New York and in a form acceptable to the department, as proof of financial responsibility.

    5. No business or agency providing the services of commercial application of pesticides shall engage in the commercial use of pesticides unless the business has at least one employee who is a certified commercial pesticide applicator or technician, certified in the proper category in which the business intends to engage at each location required to be registered.

      A registered business using pesticides in Category 7 - Industrial, Institutional, or Structural; Category 5 - Aquatics; Category 1 - Agriculture; or businesses applying pesticides by aircraft must employ at least one certified commercial pesticide applicator, certified in these categories.

  10. Identification of commercial pesticide applicators and application eguipment or vehicles transporting, commercial pesticide applicator equipment

    1. Each certified commercial applicator shall be provided by the department with a set of two dated stickers for each piece of commercial application equipment. These stickers shall be prominently displayed on opposite sides of each piece of such equipment or on opposite sides of each vehicle used in transporting such equipment; except, however:

      1. small pieces of hand held or portable equipment such as two and one-half gallon sprayers or back pack mistblowers do not require such decals; and

      2. noncommercial-type vehicles transporting small quantities of pesticides or portable pesticide equipment are not required to display the decals if such display will change the rating of the vehicle and thereby limit its access to certain transportation routes normally used.

    2. Each certified commercial applicator shall be provided by the department with suitable means of personal identification.

    3. The commissioner may provide for the inspection of any equipment, device or apparatus used for the commercial application of pesticides and may require repairs or other changes before approval is given for further use of such equipment.


Disclaimer: Please read the pesticide label prior to use. The information contained at this web site is not a substitute for a pesticide label. Trade names used herein are for convenience only; no endorsement of products is intended, nor is criticism of unnamed products implied. Most of this information is historical in nature and may no longer be applicable.
top To Top
For more information relative to pesticides and their use, please contact the PMEP staff at:

Pesticide Safety Education Pgm.
5123 Comstock Hall
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853-0901
(607) 255-1866		 Pesticide Sales & Use Reporting Database Grp.
Cornell University
20 Thornwood Dr. #106
Ithaca, NY 14850
(607) 257-5706
Cornell

This site is supported, in part, by funding from the

ipm logo
Questions regarding the development of this web site should be directed to the PMEP Webmaster