Pesticide applicator licenses updated

By Randy Buhler

Colorado State University Cooperative Extension

Logan County Agent (Agronomy)

Our office received a letter from the Colorado Department of Agriculture recently confirming the effective date for the new Private Pesticide Applicator license. The effective date of the new act is Jan. 1, 2007.

As of Jan. 1, the Environmental Protection Agency Region VIII office will no longer be issuing private pesticide applicator licenses. The license gives holders the right to purchase and use restricted use pesticide (RUP) labeled products in their agricultural operations. It provides no other rights to use products with RUP labels for other purposes, or to apply pesticides for hire.

Dick Loesch, private applicator licensing administrator for the EPA, called and said the office had been inundated with renewal applications. He stated their policy was not to renew a license more than three months before its expiration date. They will process a new license application. That means licenses that expire after Jan. 1, 2007, will not be renewed by the EPA.

If you think you can get around the cutoff by asking for a new license, think again. The office checks their records for matches to name, address, and birth date. The renewal policy will be applied to your original renewal date.

For those individuals who have succeeded in renewing their licenses prior to Jan. 1, 2007, your next renewal date is in four years from the date of your renewal. All Private Applicator licenses issued prior to Jan. 1, 2007, remain in effect through their EPA current expiration date. The new Colorado issued Private Applicator license has a three-year renewal period.

After the effective date, the Colorado Department of Agriculture becomes the regulatory authority over all pesticide use by all persons in Colorado. The Colorado Department of Agriculture will have authority to conduct inspections and enforce the federal Worker Protection Standard law and provisions.

The rules and regulations for administering this authority are in process. A public hearing is scheduled for October 19, 2006, by the Agriculture Commission to review the rules and regulations. We have a copy of the proposed rules at the extension office if you would like to see it prior to the public hearing. The final rule and regulation document is scheduled for publication on December 11, 2006.

The Colorado Private Applicator license will be an open book test, as was the EPA version. The difference will be the cost associated with state licensing. The testing material will cost twenty dollars. The license application will cost seventy-five dollars. A license will be good for a three-year period.

You can renew the Colorado issued Private Applicator license by obtaining continuing education credits or retaking the test. The law allows private agencies and Colorado State University Extension to provide training and testing.

The proposed rules will be published on this website: www.ag.state.co.us/DPI/PesticideApplicator/Home.html.

Comments may be submitted to the Colorado Department of Agriculture, Attention John Scott, Pesticide Applicator Program Coordinator. His office is at 700 Kipling St. Suite 4000, Lakewood, CO 80215. His e-mail address is john.scott@ag.state.co.us.

The Department of Agriculture has already announced job positions for additional field inspectors to handle the increased workload associated with these changes. Once the New Year comes around, the new program will be in place. Make your plans to be in compliance with these new regulations before next spring's big rush.

Date: 7/25/06

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