FAQs about certification requirements
The following are FAQs about certification requirements to assist storages in making an informed decision on hiring a PMP or pursing a certification in-house.
Which type of pesticide applicator certification is needed to perform pest control in apple storage facilities?
For any storage (commercial or on-farm) containing processor-owned apples, an individual applying pesticides would need to be certified as either a commercial technician or commercial applicator in Category 7F – Food Processing (‘technician’ or ‘applicator’ hereafter). Category 7F is needed because the fruit in storage is being held for further processing, distribution, or consumption. For on-farm storages, fruit that is owned by the processor is no longer considered to be in agricultural production. This means a grower’s or their employee’s private applicator certification would not cover any pesticide applications to protect the fruit. For on-farm storages containing both grower- and processor-owned apples, having certification as a commercial technician or applicator in Category 7F is the safest bet since it’s difficult to know when apple production stops (which would fall under private applicator certification) and when food processing starts (which falls under commercial certification).
Who can be the certified Category 7F technician or applicator?
An employee of the farm or the commercial storage operation can become a Category 7F technician or applicator. The work would have to be done as part of their paid employment. Otherwise, if the technician or applicator charges for the service, they’d be required to register with the DEC as a pesticide business and comply with all pesticide business requirements.
What are the requirements for obtaining a Category 7F applicator or technician certification?
To become a technician, the individual would need to meet minimum age requirements (currently 17 years old), complete a Category 7F 30-hour initial eligibility course, and pass both the Core and Category 7F certification exams.
To become an applicator, 1 year of verifiable experience as a commercial technician in Category 7F is needed plus an additional 12 hours of category-specific recertification training. Another option is to have two years of verifiable full-time experience as a technician in Category 7F.
Additional eligibility requirements are listed on the NYS DEC website.
What are the requirements for maintaining a Category 7F applicator or technician certification?
An applicator would need to obtain 12 recertification credits every 3 years and pay the required certification fee. technicians are not currently required to obtain recertification credits but are required to pay a fee every 3 years to renew their certification. (In the future, commercial technicians may have to obtain recertification credits to renew their certification.) Commercial applicators and technicians must also report their pesticide applications to the DEC annually.
What is the cost for obtaining and maintaining Category 7F certification?
- 30-hour initial eligibility course (if needed).
- Exam fee: $100 which includes both the Core and category exams.
- Certification fees (initial and renewal):
- Commercial technician: $450 (only one category) for a 3-year term.
- Commercial applicator: $450 (for the first or only category) for a 3-year term.
- Costs of recertification training for commercial applicators.
Are there any restrictions on the types of pesticides a technician or applicator can use?
A technician can use GUPs (general use pesticides) on their own. Technicians can use RUPs (restricted use pesticides) only under the supervision of an applicator. Applicators can use both general use and restricted use pesticides.
Can an individual with private applicator certification obtain Category 7F certification?
The short answer is yes. However, they would need to start from scratch and complete a 30-hour Category 7F initial eligibility course and pass both the Core and Category 7F exams. At that point, they would only be certified as a commercial technician. Unfortunately, there is no direct path for a private applicator to add Category 7F since the two categories are not similar.
