4.1 Recordkeeping & Reporting (Pes 900)

4.1 Recordkeeping & Reporting (Pes 900)

Chapter Pes 900 is the shortest chapter in the New Hampshire pesticide rules and one of the most heavily enforced. It has one part - Pes 901, Reporting and Record Keeping of Pesticide Use - with four rules.

Records are not paperwork for its own sake. They establish label compliance, give a treating physician the exact product in an exposure case, defend an applicator against an unfounded drift claim, and let the Division see aggregate loading across a watershed. Under RSA 430:33, I, they are also the condition of keeping your certificate: operational records for the preceding calendar year must be submitted with a renewal application.

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Pes 901.02 - daily recordkeeping by registrants or permittees

Who and where

All applications of pesticides by registrants or permittees must be recorded simply and accurately, with records maintained at the firm, branch office, or subsidiary for applications performed by personnel working from that location, as registered under Pes 307.

How long

Registrants and permittees shall keep and maintain these records for a period of at least 2 years, whether or not there is a renewal of certification.

The last clause matters: leaving the business does not release you from the retention duty.

The seven required elements

Pes 901.02(c) applies to both commercial and private applicators. The record for each application must include:

+------------------------------------------------------------------+
|  PES 901.02(c) - SEVEN REQUIRED RECORD ELEMENTS                  |
+------------------------------------------------------------------+
|  1. Crop treated, site of treatment, address, and town           |
|  2. Pesticide and formulation employed                            |
|  3. Dosage applied                                                |
|  4. Method of application                                         |
|  5. Date or dates of application                                  |
|  6. Target organisms                                              |
|  7. The registrants or permittees of the Division who             |
|     participated                                                  |
+------------------------------------------------------------------+

Seven. Not eleven, and the rule sets no 24-hour completion deadline - the requirement is that applications "shall be recorded simply and accurately" and that records be made available to the Division to verify compliance. Many firms nonetheless write records the same day, because element 6 (target organisms) and element 3 (dosage applied) are much harder to reconstruct later, and because the federal restricted-use recordkeeping rule for certified applicators does impose a 14-day deadline.

Good practice goes beyond the minimum: EPA registration number, start and stop times, weather conditions, and equipment settings are all worth capturing even though Pes 901.02 does not compel them. Weather in particular is the evidence that defends you under Pes 507.

Precision counts

Element 6 asks for target organisms. "Weeds" and "bugs" are not target organisms; broadleaf plantain and European chafer are. Element 1 asks for the site, address, and town - a customer name alone does not satisfy it.

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Pes 901.01 - aerial applicators

All aerial applications of pesticides shall be reported within 7 days following the day of application to the division, in the form and manner required under Pes 901.02(a) through (c).

Aerial work therefore carries a reporting duty on top of the ordinary record. Note that this is a 7-day clock, distinct from the 14-to-60-day advance notice under RSA 430:34-a and the 120-day permit filing under Pes 506.02(c).

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Pes 901.03 - annual recordkeeping by pesticide dealers

Dealers maintain a record of annual pesticide sales and submit an accurate report when applying for license renewal. Each sale record carries six elements:

1. Date of the sale
2. Supervisory license or permit number of the purchaser
3. Name of the license or permit holder as it appears on the document
4. Quantity and container size of each pesticide purchased
5. Brand name of the pesticide purchased
6. Concentration of active ingredient

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Pes 901.04 - annual reporting of pesticide use

This is the rule most often misremembered.

In addition to Pes 901.02, all records pertaining to the application of pesticides, as required under RSA 430:33 I, II, shall be made available to the division on an annual basis, for the period ending October 31, on or before December 1.

+------------------------------------------------------------------+
|  THE NEW HAMPSHIRE REPORTING CALENDAR                            |
+------------------------------------------------------------------+
|  Reporting period ENDS ............... October 31                |
|  Annual use report DUE ............... on or before December 1   |
|  Certificates, permits, licenses EXPIRE  December 31             |
|  Aerial application report DUE ....... within 7 days             |
|  Record retention .................... at least 2 years          |
+------------------------------------------------------------------+

The reporting year is not the calendar year. It closes October 31, and the report is due December 1 - a month before the credential itself expires, so the Division can check the report before renewing.

The annual report identifies the applicator and firm, the year covered, the location of the site of application, and the list of licensees or permittees whose use is included in the report, along with the use data itself.

Pes 305.02 adds a private-applicator wrinkle: applicants for private applicator permits must report all pesticide use pursuant to Pes 901 at the time they submit the permit application, on forms provided by the Division.

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Inspection and enforcement

Records must be made available to the Division to verify compliance (Pes 901.02(d)). Division inspectors examine records alongside storage, equipment, vehicles, and active application sites. Where a violation is found, the exposure described in section 1.1 applies: an administrative fine of up to $1,000 per violation, civil forfeiture of up to $5,000 per violation or per day of a continuing violation, and a misdemeanor charge for a natural person - with falsifying a required record named explicitly in RSA 430:45, I as a basis for the criminal charge.

Remedial and license actions run in parallel. Pes 401.02 allows denial, revocation, suspension, or modification of a license, permit, or certification; Pes 404.01 authorizes an order to cease and desist; and appeals go to the Board under RSA 430:44 and Pes 202, then to RSA 541 review.

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Worked example

A commercial firm in Strafford County treats a client's lawn for grubs on July 9 and the same client's ornamental beds for scale on July 12, then flies a blueberry field for fruit fly on August 2.

• Both ground applications need a Pes 901.02(c) record with all seven elements. Two applications, two records: the products, dosages, methods, dates, and target organisms differ.
• Records live at the firm or branch office registered under Pes 307, not in a truck, and are kept for at least 2 years.
• The aerial application must additionally be reported to the Division within 7 days of the application day - by August 9.
• All three applications fall inside the reporting period ending October 31, so they belong in the annual report due on or before December 1.
• When the firm renews its certificate of registration in December, RSA 430:33, I requires the operational records for the preceding calendar year to accompany the renewal application.
• The client's lawn is turf, so Pes 508 notification and posting duties applied on July 9 as well - a separate obligation that inspectors check against the same records.