Pesticide Recordkeeping Requirements for Commercial and

SP 363-G

Pesticide Recordkeeping Requirements

for Commercial and Licensed Applicators and Dealers

Darrell Hensley, Extension Assistant Professor

Gene Burgess, Professor Emeritus

Entomology and Plant Pathology

Definition

1. Private Applicator — In the law,

“Tennessee Application of Pesticide Act of

1978” and “Regulations Governing Use of

Restricted Use Pesticides,” a private

applicator is defined as an individual who

uses, supervises the use of, or buys any

pesticide that is classified as restricted use

for the purpose of producing an agricultural

commodity on property owned or rented by

the individual or the employer or (if applied

without compensation other than trading of

personal services between producers of

agricultural commodities) on the property of

another person. These may be farmers,

greenhouse operators and nursery operators.

2. Commercial Applicator — In the law,

“Regulations Governing Use of Restricted

Use Pesticides,” a commercial applicator is

defined as an individual who uses,

supervises the use of, buys or sells

restricted-use pesticides for the purpose or

for the use on any property other than as

defined under Private Applicator or

Licensed Commercial Pest Control

Operator.

3. Licensed Applicator (Licensed

Commercial Pest Control Operator) —

Under “Tennessee Application of Pesticides

Act,” this is defined as a person who

engages in custom application of pesticides

and who has demonstrated to the satisfaction

of the pest control licensing and advisory

board his or her qualifications to design and/or

direct pest control operations.

Commercial applications are affected by

several laws with regard to recordkeeping. One

is the “Food, Agriculture, Conservation and

Trade (FACT) Act” of 1990, commonly referred

to as the “1990 Farm Bill.” This law requires

private and commercially certified pesticide

applicators to keep records of restricted-use

chemicals they apply.

Commercial Applicators

There are two state laws that supersede the

1990 Farm Bill. One is “Regulations Governing

Use of Restricted Pesticides,” which contains the

rules for the “Tennessee Insecticide, Fungicide,

and Rodenticide Act (TIFRA).” In section 0080-

6-16-.05, these regulations state that commercial

applicators (not private applicators) shall keep

accurate records of restricted-use pesticides

used. These records must be maintained for a

period of two years and made available upon

request of the Tennessee Department of

Agriculture.

These records must show the following:

(a) Pesticide used,

(b) Target pest,

pesticide is applied on or to and its

location,

(d) Dosage rate,

(e) The landowner, producer or other

person employing the applicator,

(f) Date used and

(g) Amount of pesticide applied.

Federal Requirements

Licensed Applicators

(Licensed Commercial Pest Control

Operators)

Another state law that requires

recordkeeping is the “Pest Control Operator

Regulations” of the “Tennessee Application of

Pesticides Act.” Section 0080-09-04-.09 of these

rules or regulations states that all commercial

pest control operators and commercial

applicators shall maintain true and accurate

records of both restricted and general use

pesticides. Such records shall be kept legibly or

electronically and shall be readily available for

departmental inspection for two years following

the pesticides’ use. Upon request by the

Tennessee Department of Agriculture, such

records shall be made available within 48 hours.

Records must document each of the

following:

(a) Applicator’s first and last name(s) and

departmental assigned identification

number,

(b) The pesticide used,

(d) The crop, plant, house, business or

building onto or around which pesticide

is applied,

(e) Location where the pesticide is applied,

including physical address or Farm

Services number,

(f) Application rate,

(g) Percentage of mixed-use dilution and

quantity of pesticide used,

(h) Landowner or other person who

requested the custom application of

pesticide, and

(i) Date of service.

Dealers

Section 0080-09-04-.08 of the TIFRA

requires every licensed pesticide dealer to

maintain records necessary to identify all

purchases of restricted-use pesticides.

These records must include the following:

(a) Date of the sale,

(b) Name and quantity of pesticide sold,

including each sale, and

license, certification or private

applicator certification number.

Summary

These regulations do not require the use of a

standardized form. However, one has been

developed by UT Extension as Form 805 for the

convenience of commercial applicators. This

form has all the items required by Tennessee and

federal laws and the Worker Protection

Standards (WPS). There are also computer

programs available from private industries and

universities. The University of Tennessee has

developed an Excel spreadsheet for

recordkeeping. The spreadsheet is downloadable

from psep.utk.edu/Private-rk-form.xls.

F805

(rev. 11/7/17)

Commercial Applicator Restricted-Use Pesticide Record Keeping Form*

Field ID / Location of treated area ____________________________________________________________________________________ /USDA

Land owner or person authorizing application __________________________________________________________________________ TDA

/ USDA

USDA

TDA

Date

(mo/day/yr)

Begin

time

Site, Crop,

Commodity,

area treated

Tradename

EPA

Registration

number

Active

ingredient(s)

Size of area

treated**

Total

amount

applied

REI

(hrs)

Applicator’s name

& Certification

number

Targeted

Pest(s)

End

time

*The Federal pesticide recordkeeping regulations require all commercial applicators, both agricultural and non-agricultural, to furnish a copy of the data elements required by this regulation to the customer within 30 days

of the restricted use pesticide application. Also upon request by the Tennessee Department of Agriculture, such records shall be made available within 48 hours.

USDA = Information required for Federal Record Keeping Requirements for restricted-use pesticides and records must be maintained for two years.

TDA = Tennessee Department of Agriculture, ruling; T.C.A. §§ 0080-09-04-.09 requires additional information for commercial pest control operators and commercial applicators, such as; targeted pest(s), the name of the

landowner or person authorizing application.

= This hand/head symbol indicates Worker Protection Standard (WPS). All WPS information must be posted within 24 hours of the pesticide application or before entry occurs and area must remain posted for 30 days

after the end of the Restricted Entry Interval (REI). After this time, the records must be maintained for 2 years from the end of the REI. All other information must be recorded within 14 days of application. If you apply a tank

mix of pesticides with different REIs, write down the longest REI. NOTE: WPS agricultural-use pesticides may be general use or restricted-use pesticides.

**Spot Treatment: Spot treatments are especially useful in the control of noxious weeds. If you apply restricted use pesticides on the same day in a total area of less than 1/10 of an acre, you are required to record the

following: date of application including month, day, and year; brand or product name; EPA registration number; total amount of pesticide applied; location of the pesticide application, designated as "Spot application;" and

short description. The spot treatment provision excludes greenhouse and nursery applications.

AG.TENNESSEE.EDU

SP 363-G(Rev) 12/17

500 E12-4613-00-002-18 18-0150

Programs in agriculture and natural resources, 4-H youth development, family and consumer sciences, and resource development. University of

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