13.2 Selecting Application Methods and Extra Certifications

Quick Answer: 40 CFR 171.103(c)(7) is application methods. Know which method fits the formulation, which method fits the site, that fumigant, aerial, sodium cyanide, and sodium fluoroacetate uses require additional certification, how a method choice becomes proper use, ineffective use, or misuse, and drift prevention. New Jersey maps the extra-cert list onto Category 7C (true fumigants), related fumigation work in 1A, 3B turf soil fumigation, and 7D, plus Category 11 for aerial. N.J.A.C. 7:30-10.2(l) puts a licensed fumigation-capable applicator on site for the duration of the application.

N.J.A.C. 7:30-6.2 folds this federal cluster into the commercial Core. A closed-book item will not ask you to admire equipment. It will ask whether a 7A aerosol is a 7C fumigant, whether a pilot with only Core may treat a field, and whether a method the label never mentions is legal. N.J.A.C. 7:30-10.2(a) still makes use inconsistent with labeling illegal. Method choice is how that sentence becomes a job.

Match the method to the formulation

40 CFR 171.103(c)(7)(i) is methods used to apply various forms and formulations. (c)(7)(ii) is knowledge of which method to use in a given situation, plus the extra-cert list. Formulation from Chapter 12 is the first filter.

N.J.A.C. 7:30-10.2(a)3 allows employing any method of application not prohibited by the label, except aerial (see 7:30-10.6(x)) and chemigation. Wick wiping, crack-and-crevice, backpack foliar, and labeled granular methods can be used when the label does not forbid them. Aerial and chemigation cannot. 7:30-10.6(x) then says no person shall apply any pesticide by aerial application equipment unless the pesticide is specifically labeled for aerial application.

Extra certification — the federal list

40 CFR 171.103(c)(7)(ii) is explicit: use of a fumigant, aerial application, sodium cyanide, or sodium fluoroacetate requires additional certification. Core certification plus an unrelated category is not enough. This is a federal Core sentence every New Jersey commercial candidate must know, including candidates who will never fly or fumigate.

Sodium cyanide (mechanical-ejection predator devices) and sodium fluoroacetate (livestock-protection collars) are federal extra-cert uses described in 40 CFR 171.103(d)(11) and (d)(12). N.J.A.C. 7:30-6.3 does not list dedicated New Jersey commercial categories for those predator-control devices. The Core still tests the federal extra-cert list. Do not use those products without the additional certification the certifying authority requires. Do not invent a New Jersey “sodium cyanide category” that 6.3 does not contain.

New Jersey fumigation extra cert and 10.2(l)

N.J.A.C. 7:30-6.3 maps fumigation this way:

• Category 7C — Fumigation pest control: commercial use or supervision of pesticides classified as true fumigants.
• Category 1A — Plant: includes commercial fumigation of soil and agricultural products on agricultural establishments and commercial chemigation.
• Category 3B — Turf: includes soil fumigation for turf only.
• Category 7D — Food manufacturing: a composite that includes 7C-type work in food plants.

Holding 7A (household) does not authorize 7C. Holding 3B does not authorize structural vault fumigation. Holding 1A does not authorize a residential tent fumigation.

N.J.A.C. 7:30-10.2(l) is the on-site rule for commercial fumigant applications. At least one applicator certified and licensed in the appropriate category that allows fumigation — 10.2(l) lists 1A, 3B turf, 7C fumigation, or 7D food processing — must be present at the application location for the duration of the application as defined in N.J.A.C. 7:30-1.2. That duration is: the time the fumigant is introduced, the leak-detection phase immediately thereafter, and the beginning and ending of the aeration phase at the end of the required retention time. The licensed applicator does not have to be present during the entire retention period.

Exceptions in 10.2(l):

1. Opening fumigated transportation modules (rail cars, truck trailers, ships) without the certified applicator present if the persons opening the module are trained on appropriate respirators and/or SCBA and residue disposal, and the module has been in transit longer than the normal fumigant holding time.
2. Fumigants covered by Categories 12A and 12B are exempt from 10.2(l).

N.J.A.C. 7:30-1.2 defines a fumigant as a pesticide that is a vapor or gas, or that forms a vapor or gas on application, and whose pesticidal action is through the vapor or gaseous state. A 7A aerosol is not automatically a fumigant. A 12A/12B restricted-use antimicrobial or sterilant is a different extra-category path and is exempt from the 10.2(l) on-site rule.

Aerial extra cert — Category 11 and 10.6

N.J.A.C. 7:30-6.3(a)11 is Category 11 — Aerial pest control: all pilots responsible for agricultural and other pest control. The applicant must pass at least two examinations in addition to Core: a general Category 11 exam and an exam in a related category for the type of aerial work. The 40-hour OJT rule applies to Category 11 only (if applications are aerial, additional related categories do not require extra OJT under that paragraph).

N.J.A.C. 7:30-10.6 then overlays how the aircraft is used:

• Comply with 14 CFR Part 137 where it applies; Part 137 wins a conflict.
• 10.6(x): no aerial application unless the pesticide is specifically labeled for aerial application.
• Confirm target boundaries and adjacent nontarget hazards before the flight (10.6(b)).
• Equipment calibrated; aerial businesses keep proof of calibration (10.6(d)); Operation SAFE participation rules in 10.6(e)–(h).
• Spray and spreading equipment free of leaks with a positive shutoff so pesticide is not disseminated on nontarget areas flown over (10.6(i)).
• Release height: liquids, liquid carriers, or dusts within 15 feet above the target (50 feet for forests/trees), except where obstructions endanger the pilot; dry granules or pellets within 40 feet (10.6(l)–(m)).
• 300 feet horizontally from occupied schools, hospitals, nursing homes, houses of worship, or occupied business/social buildings other than a private residence, with a limited agricultural-building exception (10.6(q)).
• Written consent before depositing within 100 feet of a private residence (10.6(s)), with listed record contents kept 3 years.

N.J.A.C. 7:30-10.2(a)3 and 10.6(x) together mean you cannot invent aerial as a method because the label is silent. Chemigation is in the same excepted pair in 10.2(a)3.

Category 11 also requires the related use category. A pilot with Core and 11 but no 1A does not become a plant-pest aerial applicator by flying lower.

Sodium cyanide and sodium fluoroacetate

40 CFR 171.103(c)(7)(ii) lists sodium cyanide and sodium fluoroacetate with fumigants and aerial as extra-cert uses. 40 CFR 171.103(d)(11) and (d)(12) are the federal category standards for those predator-control devices. N.J.A.C. 7:30-6.3 does not create dedicated New Jersey commercial categories for them. The Core still tests the federal extra-cert list. Do not apply those products without the additional certification the certifying authority requires. Do not invent a New Jersey sodium-cyanide license that 6.3 does not contain.

Proper use, ineffective use, and misuse

40 CFR 171.103(c)(7)(iii) is how method selection produces proper use, unnecessary or ineffective use, or misuse. (c)(7)(iv) is prevention of drift and pesticide loss (Chapter 10 and Chapter 14 develop the physics and the nozzle math).

Proper use: labeled method, matching category, maintained and calibrated equipment, people and nontargets protected under 10.2.

Ineffective use: a contact fog for a pest that needed a bait in a harborages; airblast on a missing-tree gap; granules for a foliar-only pest; chemigation of a product that never reaches the root zone because the set ran too long.

Misuse: method the label forbids; aerial or chemigation off-label; 7A crew releasing a true fumigant; flying without Category 11; spraying an occupied ag field in violation of 10.2(j).

N.J.A.C. 7:30-10.2(a)3 again: any method not prohibited, except aerial and chemigation.

Worked New Jersey scenarios

Scenario A — 7A versus 7C. A household crew in Essex County wants to “gas” a restaurant with a total-release aerosol because cockroaches are in the void. That aerosol is not a true fumigant and is not 7C work. If the product is a structural fumigant gas, 7C (or another listed fumigation-capable category) plus 10.2(l) on-site presence is required. Holding 7A is not extra fumigation certification.

Scenario B — 10.2(l) retention. A 7C applicator introduces the fumigant, completes leak detection, and leaves for the entire retention period. 7:30-1.2 does not require presence for every hour of retention. The applicator must be present for introduction, leak detection, and the beginning and ending of aeration. Leaving before aeration starts, or skipping leak detection, violates 10.2(l).

Scenario C — aerial silent label. A pilot certified in 11 and 1A wants to apply a fungicide the label never authorizes for aerial use. 10.6(x) and 10.2(a)3 forbid it. Category 11 does not override the label.

Scenario D — chemigation on 3B. A turf contractor injects a lawn insecticide into a fairway irrigation system. Chemigation is 1A commercial work in 6.3, and 10.2(a)3 requires the label to allow chemigation. A 3B license and a silent label do not create a chemigation method.

Scenario E — federal extra-cert list. A Core item asks which uses need additional certification beyond ordinary commercial Core-plus-category. The federal list is fumigant, aerial, sodium cyanide, sodium fluoroacetate. A backpack herbicide job does not join that list.

High-yield traps

• Extra cert is a method and product duty, not a courtesy add-on: fumigant, aerial, sodium cyanide, sodium fluoroacetate.
• New Jersey maps fumigant extra cert to 7C (true fumigants), with related work in 1A, 3B turf soil, and 7D; aerial maps to 11 plus a related category.
• 10.2(l) on-site is duration of the application as 7:30-1.2 defines it, not the entire retention period.
• 12A/12B are exempt from 10.2(l).
• Aerial and chemigation are not silent-label methods.
• Category 11 alone is not a use category; Core plus 11 plus related category.

Official resources

• 40 CFR 171.103(c)(6)–(7) and (d)(11)–(15)
• N.J.A.C. 7:30-6.3 categories
• N.J.A.C. 7:30-10.2 including 10.2(l)
• N.J.A.C. 7:30-10.6 aerial application
• N.J.A.C. 7:30-1.2 definitions