Licensing Under the Bureau of Compliance Monitoring Kathleen M Licensing Under the Bureau of Compliance Monitoring Kathleen M. Osgood Environmental Manager Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Certification Section

UF/IFAS PIO People

What does this presentation cover? Authority for the Restricted Use Pesticide (RUP) Applicator Licenses Who needs a RUP license License Types Categories Adding Categories

What does this presentation cover? Renewals CEUs Authorized Purchasing Agents (APA) Reciprocal Licensing What’s new on the Horizon Contact Information

What is a logical process of helping someone figure it out? Trying to figure out what license I need in Florida is confusing!

The 20 Question Game What type of work do you do? Who do you work for? Public agency? Commercial company? Self-employed? Do you purchase, apply, or supervise the use of restricted use pesticides? What type of site(s) do you treat?

Licensing Under the Bureau of Compliance Monitoring The Bureau of Compliance Monitoring (BCM) licenses are commonly referred to as Restricted Use Pesticide Licenses (RUP) These licenses fall under the jurisdiction of Chapter 487, the Florida Pesticide Law A RUP License is only required by statute when a person is purchasing for use or to supervise the use of a RUP

Licensing Under the Bureau of Compliance Monitoring Although the Statute does not require it, most governmental agencies, municipalities and Home Owner Associations (for aquatic applications) require through the contracting process that all applications are made by or under the Direct Supervision of Licensed Applicators.

Licensing Under the Bureau of Compliance Monitoring RUP license can not be used to make pesticide applications to residential or commercial properties RUP licenses are used for: The production of agricultural commodities Right-of-Way, Aquatic and Natural Area Weed Management

Licensing Under the Bureau of Compliance Monitoring RUP licenses are used for: Applications to golf courses, not to the club houses and surrounding landscape Applications to ball fields, cemeteries and public parks For Seed treatment; Wood treatment; Raw Agriculture Commodities Soil and Greenhouse Fumigation

Licensing Under the Bureau of Compliance Monitoring RUP licenses are used for: Sewer root control, certain bottom paints and Chlorine infusion into pools and water systems Aerial applications Demonstration & research Regulatory inspection & sampling and Regulatory pest control (Only available to FDACS employees of BCM or DPI)

License Types Private Applicator – Issued to an individual who has reached the age of majority for the use of Restricted Use Pesticides for the purpose of producing any agricultural commodity on property owned or rented by his employer. This would include farmers growing row crops or tree crops; raising cattle; sod farms; ornamental plant nurseries that raise plants for sale It is not for people making commercial applications to other people’s property or landscaper or any applications not for production of an agricultural commodity

License Types Public Applicator - Issued to an individual who has reached the age of majority for the use of Restricted Use Pesticides as an employee of a state agency, municipal corporation, or other governmental agency. This would not include contractors who work for governmental agencies, only direct employees

License Types Commercial Applicator - Issued to an individual who has reached the age of majority for the use of Restricted Use Pesticides for any purpose on any property other than as defined by “Private applicator” or “Public applicator” A Commercial license may substitute for a Private license A Commercial license may substitute for a Public license if agreed upon by the government entity

License Fees Private – only for production of agricultural commodities - $100 Public – only for employees of Government Agencies (not contractors) - $100 Commercial - $250 All licenses are valid for 4 years

License Categories There are 19 Primary Categories: Private Applicator Agricultural Pest Control Aerial Pest Control Agricultural Animal Pest Control Agricultural Row Crop Pest Control Agricultural Tree Crop Pest Control Aquatic Pest Control Chlorine Gas Infusion Forest Pest Control

License Categories There are 19 Primary Categories (continued) Natural Areas Weed Management Organotin Antifouling Paint Ornamental & Turf Pest Control Raw Agricultural Commodity Fumigation Regulatory Inspection & Sampling Regulatory Pest Control Right-Of-Way Pest Control Seed Treatment Sewer Root Control

License Categories There are 19 Primary Categories (continued) Soil & Greenhouse Fumigation Wood Treatment There is one Secondary Category: Demonstration & Research A Secondary Category can be added to a Public or Commercial Applicator license as long as they have a minimum of one primary category

Adding Categories What if an applicator wants to add a category to his/her license after it has been issued? Applicator takes the category exam On the NER they need to check the box for “Additional Category” The exam will be graded and upon successfully passing the exam, a new license with the additional category will be mailed to the applicator

Adding Categories What if an Applicator wants to add a category to his/her license after it has been issued? This does not change the expiration date of the license. The CORE and all categories will expire with the original issue date of the license There is no additional cost to add a category

Renewing A Certification Applicator licenses are issued for 4-year certifications and must be renewed at the end of each 4-year period Licenses may either be renewed with Continuing Education Units or by retaking the certification exams or a combination of both

Renewing A Certification Exams are only good for 1 year. The license must be issued before the year is up or the applicator will need to re-take the exam CEUs will only be accepted when earned during the licensure period. That time frame begins the day the license is issued and will extend until just short of 365 days after the license has expired CEUs are category-specific

Renewing A Certification What if the applicator doesn’t renew their license before it expires? They may still renew up to one year from the expiration date with CEUs The license expires on the date on the license A $50 late fee will be assessed if the license is renewed more than 60 days after expiration

Renewing A Certification What if the applicant has enough CEUs for their CORE and one or more categories, but not all of them? They may go ahead and renew with what they have to avoid the license expiring or having to pay a late fee They can earn CEUs for the missing categories and add them to their license up to one year from the date of expiration

Renewal Notices Renewal Notices are mailed out 60 days from the date of expiration of the license It is the applicant’s responsibility to maintain their contact information and keep it up to date Any changes to their contact information must be received in writing Not receiving their Renewal Notice is most commonly caused by out of date contact information

On-line Renewal New – July, 2011

Continuing Education Units Category-specific 50 minutes of training = 1 CEU 25 minutes of training = .5 CEU All RUP licenses require 4 hours of CORE CEUs Each category has a specific number of CEUs required to recertify at the end of 4 years

Continuing Education Units CEUs may be earned over the four-year certification; there is NO requirement on how many CEUs may be earned within one year There is no requirement on how many CEUs can be earned in on-line or correspondence courses, magazine articles, or class room settings Record of Attendance forms are the applicator’s responsibility and are not sent into FDACS until they renew their license

Designation of Authorized Purchasing Agent An Authorized Purchasing Agent (APA) is someone designated to receive and/or pick up chemicals under an applicator’s license The applicator may have as many or few as they require for their business needs APAs are not licensed applicators, but are designated persons who may pick up or receive a Restricted Use Pesticide for the licensed applicator By Statute only the licensed applicator or an APA may receive or pickup Restricted Use Pesticides

Obtaining A Reciprocal License Florida reciprocates the RUP license with all states that require testing to obtain the RUP license Florida can only reciprocate with an equivalent category from another state The cost of a reciprocal license is the same cost for an in-state applicant obtaining their license through exams taken in Florida

Contact Information Tamara James Regulatory Specialist Pesticide Certification Section 3125 Conner Blvd., Bldg. 8 (L-29) Tallahassee, Florida 32399-1650 (850) 617-7876, Fax (850) 922-6961 e-mail: Tamara.James@freshfromflorida.com

Thanks for your attention! Any questions???