8.4 Forest, Aquatic, Wood Preservative, Vertebrate, Sewer Root, Soil Fumigation, Aerial & Research Classes

8.4 Forest, Aquatic, Wood Preservative, Vertebrate, Sewer Root, Soil Fumigation, Aerial & Research Classes

Quick Answer: Beyond the crop, livestock, turf, greenhouse, right-of-way, structural, public health, seed treatment, and fumigation work covered in 8.1 through 8.3, NDAC 60-03-01-05 defines classes for forest, aquatic, wood preservatives, vertebrate, sewer root control, soil fumigation, aerial pest control, and demonstration and research. Two boundary rules are heavily tested: the aquatic class expressly excludes public-health work, and neither the livestock class nor the vertebrate class authorizes sodium cyanide or sodium fluoroacetate for predator control — those require their own federal certification. The core standard itself (40 CFR 171.103(c)(7)(ii)) requires you to know that fumigants, aerial application, sodium cyanide, and sodium fluoroacetate all demand additional certification.

Forest Pest Control (NDAC 60-03-01-05(3))

Scope: pesticides used in forests, forest nurseries, and forest seed production.

North Dakota is not a heavily forested state, but the class matters: the Turtle Mountains, the Pembina Gorge, riparian corridors along the Missouri, Red, and Sheyenne, state and private woodlots, and conservation shelterbelts all fall under forestry management, along with nursery production of planting stock.

The federal competency standard at 40 CFR 171.103(d)(2) asks for practical knowledge of:

• the cyclic occurrence of certain pests and the population dynamics that justify programming applications;
• the organisms causing harm and their vulnerability to the pesticides used;
• how to determine when pesticide use is proper at all;
• selecting the application method and equipment that minimizes non-target exposure;
• responding to meteorological factors and adjacent land use; and
• the potential for phytotoxicity across a wide variety of protected plants, for drift, for persistence beyond the intended period of control, and for non-target exposures.

Shelterbelt work in North Dakota is a drift problem as much as a pest problem, because those tree rows sit directly downwind of the fields most likely to be treated with volatile auxin herbicides. Green and black ash, a large share of older ND shelterbelts, are also the target of emerald ash borer quarantine restrictions on moving untreated ash wood.

Aquatic Pest Control (NDAC 60-03-01-05(6))

Scope: pesticides purposefully applied to standing or running water, excluding applicators engaged in public health related activities — those are class 9.

Exam trap: treating a slough for nuisance vegetation is aquatic; treating the same slough for mosquito larvae under a government-sponsored vector program is public health. The dividing line is the purpose of the application, not the water body.

The federal competency standard at 40 CFR 171.103(d)(5) requires practical knowledge of the characteristics of various aquatic use situations, the potential for adverse effects on non-target plants, fish, birds, beneficial insects and other organisms in the immediate aquatic environment and downstream, and the principles of limited area application — treating a portion of a water body at a time so dying vegetation does not deoxygenate the whole of it and kill the fish.

Three practical compliance points:

• A pesticide discharge to waters of the United States generally requires coverage under the NDDEQ pesticide general permit (see section 1.3).
• Treating public waters may require separate authorization; confirm with the NDDEQ and the North Dakota Game and Fish Department before treating.
• Watch water-use restrictions on the label — irrigation, livestock watering, swimming, and fish consumption intervals differ by product.

Wood Preservatives (NDAC 60-03-01-05(14))

Scope: pesticides intended to preserve lumber products.

The North Dakota rule spells out the competencies unusually explicitly. Holders must demonstrate practical knowledge of:

• the types of wood that require chemical protection against pests and other factors of decay;
• the wood preservatives used for preserving and protecting wood, posts, treated wood products, and various lumber products;
• the hazards associated with handling, treating, storage, and transport of treated wood products; and
• the concept and methods for sealing treated wood to minimize exposure.

Industrial wood preservation chemistry is dominated by heavy-duty restricted use materials such as creosote and chromated arsenicals, whose registrations restrict them largely to industrial pressure-treatment uses. Registration status in this class changes, so verify the current registration and permitted uses of any wood preservative before you buy or apply it. Treated wood itself carries handling duties: do not burn treated wood, keep sawdust out of feed and water, wear gloves and eye protection when cutting, and follow the consumer information sheet the treater supplies.

Vertebrate (NDAC 60-03-01-05(15))

Scope: pesticides intended to control vertebrate pests such as rodents, certain predators, and bats not in or around structures. Vertebrate work in or around structures belongs to the industrial, institutional, and structural class instead.

The rule requires practical knowledge of:

• vertebrate pest life cycles, habitat, and damage symptoms, primarily rodent and predator problems;
• formulations and application techniques that avoid contaminating non-target animal habitat and avoid exposing people and animals;
• environmental conditions relevant to outdoor placement; and
• all laws and regulations applicable to pesticide use on vertebrate animals, including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service requirements for protecting endangered species.

North Dakota field realities include Richardson's ground squirrels, northern pocket gophers, prairie dogs, voles, and blackbird damage in sunflowers. Zinc phosphide baits and below-ground strychnine gopher baits are restricted use products in this space. Secondary poisoning of raptors, foxes, and pets is the dominant non-target hazard: place bait below ground or in protected stations where the label allows, and collect carcasses.

The predacide carve-out. Read this twice, because it is the classic trap: certification in the livestock class alone is not sufficient to authorize purchase or use of sodium cyanide or sodium fluoroacetate products for predator control, and the vertebrate class does not authorize them either. Federally, sodium cyanide predator control and sodium fluoroacetate predator control are their own certification categories under 40 CFR 171.103(d)(11) and (d)(12), with their own competency standards covering the M-44 mechanical ejection device, the livestock protection collar, antidote kits, notification of medical personnel before device use, consulting U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service maps to avoid affecting endangered species, device density limits, field posting, monitoring, storage, and disposal of damaged or used capsules or collars.

Sewer Root Control (NDAC 60-03-01-05(16))

Scope: pesticides intended to control tree or other plant roots infesting sewer systems.

This is a small but well-defined class, and the rule names its competencies: root problems in sewers, root growth biology, the pesticides used to control roots in sewers, safe handling, transporting, and storing pesticides, equipment types, calibration procedures, pesticide mixing, safety procedures and personal protective equipment, and application concerns such as the effect on wastewater treatment plants.

That last item is the one candidates miss. Herbicidal foams injected into a sanitary sewer travel downstream to a municipal treatment plant, where they can disrupt the biological treatment process the plant depends on. Coordinate with the utility before treating, and observe any discharge limits it imposes. Sewer root control is one of the minor classes NDSU Extension allows to recertify by home study.

Soil Fumigation (NDAC 60-03-01-05(11))

Scope: pesticides used to fumigate soil. Nonsoil fumigation — commodities, structures, transport vessels, and storage facilities — is a separate class and is covered in section 8.3.

Soil fumigants carry the most prescriptive labels in agriculture. The federal competency standard at 40 CFR 171.103(d)(13) organizes the material the same way the labels do:

• Label and labeling comprehension: labeling requirements specific to soil fumigants; the requirements for certified applicators of fumigants, for fumigant handlers, and for permitted handler activities; the safety information a certified applicator must give noncertified applicators using fumigants under direct supervision; entry-restricted periods for tarped and untarped field scenarios; recordkeeping requirements; and labeling provisions unique to particular active ingredients.
• Safety: how certified applicators, supervised noncertified applicators, field workers, and bystanders can become exposed.

Operationally that means a written fumigation management plan, buffer zones around the treated block, posting, air monitoring, respiratory protection, and an emergency response plan before the shank goes in the ground. A certified private applicator who uses restricted use soil fumigants must complete the commercial soil fumigation class requirements (NDAC 60-03-01-05.2(5)).

Aerial Pest Control (NDAC 60-03-01-05(13))

Scope: pesticides applied by fixed or rotary wing aircraft.

North Dakota treats aerial work as both a class and a core status. On the NDSU Extension registration form an applicator marks core status as Ground or Aerial, and the aerial box is paired with a declaration that the mandatory PAASS program has been attended; a further checkbox asks whether all aerial application will be made via drone.

• PAASS requirement (NDAC 60-03-01-05.1(4)): a person holding an aerial pest control certificate must attend a Professional Aerial Applicators' Support System program or other board-approved program at least once every three years, and proof must be received by NDSU Extension before recertification is issued.
• Private applicators applying RUPs by fixed or rotary wing aircraft must complete the commercial aerial class requirements (NDAC 60-03-01-05.2(6)).
• Supervision: NDCC 4.1-33-16(1) states that direct supervision of an application using aircraft requires that the pilot of the aircraft be appropriately certified — the pilot cannot be an uncertified helper.
• Labeling at the filling site: NDAC 60-03-01-06(1)(i) requires labeling at the application site during application, but aerial applicators must have the labeling available at the filling site.
• Drift management is the discipline of the class. Aerial swaths are released well above the canopy into moving air, so droplet spectrum, release height, swath displacement and offset, wind direction, and inversion avoidance carry more weight than in ground application. Unmanned aerial application is growing rapidly in North Dakota and is subject to the same pesticide rules as manned aircraft, on top of the aviation requirements that apply to the aircraft itself.

Demonstration and Research (NDAC 60-03-01-05(10))

Scope: pesticides used by individuals who demonstrate to the public the proper use and techniques of application, and by persons conducting field research with pesticides. The rule names four groups: Extension specialists and county agents; commercial representatives demonstrating pesticide products; individuals demonstrating application or pest control methods in public or private programs; and state, federal, commercial, and other persons conducting field research on or involving pesticides.

40 CFR 171.103(d)(10) adds two duties that make this class deceptively demanding:

1. Practical knowledge of the potential problems, pests, and population levels reasonably expected in a demonstration situation and the effects of restricted use pesticides on target and non-target organisms; and
2. Competency in each pest control category applicable to their demonstrations — a researcher demonstrating an aquatic herbicide needs aquatic competency, not just the research class.

Research with unregistered products or unregistered uses generally proceeds under a FIFRA experimental use permit; NDCC 4.1-33-24(2) authorizes the board to enter cooperative agreements with EPA and submit plans for approval to issue experimental use permits under state authority.

Class Boundary Quick Reference

Independent Preparation Notice

This study guide is an independent educational publication developed by OpenExamPrep. It is not affiliated with, sponsored by, endorsed by, or produced in partnership with the North Dakota Department of Agriculture, North Dakota State University Extension, or the EPA.