From the October 2007 issue

DEC Issues Report on 2005 Pesticide Use in New York State

The number of companies cited for failing to report pesticides use in New York State dropped for the third consecutive year in 2005, according to a new report released by the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC).

Report Highlights

Sales of pesticides and herbicides to farmers must also be reported

Under the state's Pesticide Reporting Law, commercial pesticide applicators and sellers are required to report pesticide use and sales data annually to DEC. During 2005, applicators and sellers reported information on more than 6 million pesticide sales and applications to DEC. These reports show 16,919 pesticide applicators applying 17.6 million pounds and 2.8 million gallons of pesticides-in 2004, 20.6 million pounds and 2.7 million gallons were reported, and, in 2003, 18.6 million pounds and 2.4 million gallons.

DEC took enforcement actions against 1,393 commercial applicators in 2005 for failing to submit required reports, compared to 1,663 in 2004 and 1,836 in 2003.

Check Applicator's Certification

The public is reminded to use only New York State certified pesticide applicators for their pesticide applications. To check that an applicator is certified, go to the Pesticide Certification and Registration web page on DEC's website, or ask to see the applicator's New York State certification card.

The database of pesticide use and sale reports, which was developed by DEC and Cornell University, contains information on tens of millions of pesticide applications and sales since 1997. Each year, after initial reports are submitted, DEC and Cornell perform extensive quality controls in order to present an accurate depiction of pesticide use and sales. It should be noted that DEC and Cornell are still conducting quality assurance validations on the 2005 data in order to provide users with the best data available. This will require occasional revisions to the data. The public is advised to revisit DEC's website to ensure that they are using the most up-to-date report data.

Reports Help in Health Research

The Pesticide Reporting Law allows health researchers to obtain information about the amounts and types of pesticides being applied in the state. Under this law, certified pesticide applicators are required to report information for each pesticide application they make, including the name of the product; the product's U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) federal registration number; the quantity applied; the product's unit of measure; the date of the application, and the street address, municipality, county and zip code of the application site.

Firms with commercial permits who sell pesticides to private applicators at wholesale or retail must, for each sale, report the name of the product purchased; EPA registration number; date and quantity sold; the product's unit of measure; and the street address, municipality, county and zip code of the intended application.

The most common commercially-applied pesticide products as reported by commercial applicators in 2005 were Superchlor Disinfectant, totaling 392,899 gallons and Lesco Pre-M Plus Fertilizer Insecticide totaling 2,010,094 pounds. It should be noted that Lesco Pre-M Plus Fertilizer Insecticide contains a very small amount of pesticide combined with a large amount of fertilizer and other ingredients. The weight reported here is the weight of all ingredients, not the weight of pesticide alone.

Enforcement Actions

Enforcement actions were taken against applicators who failed to submit the required reports, and Orders of Consent were issued to approximately 1,393 certified commercial pesticide applicators and permit holders who did not initially report for 2005. Non-reporting applicators and distributors were assessed civil penalties (typically $250), and certain applicators elected to voluntarily surrender their certifications, meaning they are no longer certified to make commercial pesticide applications. Those who do not settle their violation will not be granted renewal privileges until their violation is resolved.

More Information

See the complete press release for a table showing county totals of pesticides applied by commercial applicators in 2005 and 2004. Complete reporting data for every year since 1997 is available at the Pesticide Reporting Law web page on DEC's website.