2.8 The Registry of Pesticide-Sensitive Persons and Advance Notification

2.8 The Registry of Pesticide-Sensitive Persons and Advance Notification

Statutory Basis: C.R.S. § 35-10-112 directs the Commissioner to maintain a registry of pesticide-sensitive persons and imposes advance-notice duties on commercial, registered limited commercial, and registered public applicators. 8 CCR 1203-2 Part 12 implements it. Do not confuse § 35-10-112 with § 35-10-112.5, which is the separate statewide-uniformity and preemption section.

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1. Getting On and Staying On the Registry (Part 12.01–12.05)

The Department also supplies standardized notification signs to registrants for posting on their own property; those signs are designed, manufactured, and distributed solely by the Department.

[!WARNING] November 1, not January 31. The expiration date is a favorite exam item because it is counter-intuitive — the registry year is built around the start of the dormant season, not the calendar year.

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2. Who Must Be Notified Before a Turf or Ornamental Application (Part 12.06)

A commercial, registered limited commercial, or registered public applicator must take reasonable actions to give notice of the date, approximate time, and address or location of the property to be treated, before each and every turf or ornamental application, to any person on the published registry who:

1. Principally resides on property that abuts the property to be treated. Under § 35-10-112(1)(c)(II), two sites separated only by an alley are still deemed to abut. (The statute names an alley specifically; do not stretch it to easements or roads.)
2. Has a principal employment address, principal school address, or both on the published registry, and the application is being made to that employment or school address.
3. Has a principal residential address within 250 feet of a property being treated, where the treated property is entirely located within 250 feet of the registrant's residence as measured by the Department's 250-foot searchable database.

The 250-foot database was built under § 35-10-112(1)(f). If a treated property is only partially inside the 250-foot radius and does not abut, the Department does not list it. The statute supplies an affirmative defense: if the treated property was not listed in the searchable database at the time of treatment, a failure to notify is defensible.

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3. Manner and Timing of Notice (Part 12.07)

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│              TURF / ORNAMENTAL NOTIFICATION SEQUENCE (Part 12.07)           │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ STEP 1  Notify the owner or tenant on the registry VERBALLY OR IN WRITING   │
│         and CONFIRM RECEIPT of the notice.                                  │
│         Notice may be by any method — telephone, mail, or in person.        │
│         ALL such attempts must be made TWENTY-FOUR HOURS OR MORE before     │
│         the application.                                                    │
│                                                                             │
│ STEP 2  IF those attempts fail or cannot be confirmed and the application   │
│         is necessary, the applicator must attempt to notify the registrant  │
│         IN PERSON IMMEDIATELY PRIOR TO THE APPLICATION by placing notice    │
│         on the door of the registrant's principal place of residence.       │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

[!IMPORTANT] The door notice is not a 24-hour notice. The 24-hour clock governs the first-line attempts under Part 12.07(a)(1). The fallback door notice under Part 12.07(a)(2) is deliberately placed immediately prior to the application — its purpose is to tell the resident what is about to happen right now, not to give them a day's warning. The rule also does not require any set count of "documented attempts."

The electronic-notification shortcut (Part 12.07(b))

Applicators who notify electronically under § 35-10-112(1)(a)(III) get a real operational break:

• Only one notification is required, provided nothing about the date, time, or location changes.
• Any change to date, time, or location must go out in a new electronic notification no later than twenty-four hours before the application.
• If the registrant fails to acknowledge the electronic notice, the applicator is not required to make the additional door-notice attempt.
• The applicator must keep a record confirming the electronic notice was provided; without that record the single-notification allowance does not apply.
• If an electronic means is unavailable, the applicator falls back to the verbal/written and door-notice sequence.
• Electronic notification means text, e-mail, or another electronic method. It expressly does not include voicemail messages, physical mail, or social media posts.

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4. Structural Notification in Multi-Unit Dwellings (Part 12.09–12.11)

A separate duty applies to applicators in the wood-destroying organism, residential/commercial, and interior plant pest control categories making a structural application to a multi-unit dwelling: they must give notice of the date and approximate time, before the application, to any registrant who resides in that multi-unit dwelling. The manner and 24-hour timing mirror the turf/ornamental sequence.

Two exemptions apply — and only two:

Both exemptions relieve only the registry notice. The customer-notice requirements in Parts 10.04 and 10.05 still apply in full.

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5. Local Governments Cannot Add Notification Requirements

Under § 35-10-112(3), no county, city and county, municipality, or home-rule entity may impose notification requirements on commercial applicators that are more stringent than those in Article 10. Local governments retain authority over notification by private individuals, property owners, and the general public — but such local requirements are not applicable to any commercial applicator, and no commercial applicator may be exposed to liability for failing to comply with them.