Commercial and Governmental Pesticide Applicators
Commercial applicators are individuals who by contract or for hire apply by aerial, ground, or hand equipment, pesticides to land, plants, seed, animals, waters, structures, or vehicles. Individuals not having financial interest in the business and who are only responsible for the daily mechanical maintenance of pesticide application equipment are not classified as commercial applicators.
Use Reports - Every five years, and specifically for calendar 2010, applicators must submit a summary report to the Montana Department of Agriculture containing information on the use and sale of agricultural chemicals. The summary report will be for that one year only and is due by January 31 of the following year. If no restricted or general use pesticides are used during the time period, that information must be documented to the department. Standard forms will be provided or approved by the department in 2009.
Governmental applicators are government employees applying pesticides for agencies, municipal corporations, or any governmental agency. Governmental applicators are subject to the provisions of the Montana Pesticide Act and its regulations.
Non-Commercial applicators are those individuals who cannot be classified as a commercial, public utility, or governmental pesticide applicator or who cannot be classified as a private applicator, but desires the use of restricted use pesticides. Non-commercial applicators are subject to the provisions of the Montana Pesticide Act and its regulations. These individuals need to be classified into one of the eleven categories established for commercial applicators. Certified non-commercial applicators may only use restricted use pesticides on lands owned, rented, or leased by his employer or himself. Non-commercial applicators, whether certified or not, violating the Montana Pesticide Act or rules will be subject to the same penalties and administrative procedures as commercial applicators.
Public Utility applicators are those individuals applying pesticides to land and structures owned or leased by a public utility. Public utility applicators must be licensed in the same manner as commercial applicators.
Operators - Employees of licensed or certified applicators using pesticides and not holding their own license must be licensed as an operator. Licensed operators may not apply pesticides beyond 100 miles of the applicator. The applicator pays a fee of $25 per operator for the first two applicants and $10 thereafter, per each additional operator. An operator's license may be obtained in the following ways:
- pass a Montana Department of Agriculture (MDA) examination with a score of 70% or better,
- attend a MDA training course, or
- receive training from a certified and/or licensed applicator.
Operators are required to be licensed annually and must be renewed each calendar year before applying pesticides. They may renew their license by receiving training from a certified and/or licensed applicator or attend a training course approved by the MDA and submitting the application fee and application.
Government operators must meet all of the above standards for commercial operators except government operators can only operate within their respective governmental boundaries regardless of the number of miles from the government certified and/or licensed applicator's business location.
Nonresidents applying for a license in Montana must submit the license application, fee, financial responsibility, and must file a written Power of Attorney designating the Secretary of State as their agent. This permits a service of process to be made in the event of it brought against the nonresident. The Power of Attorney will be written to provide effective jurisdiction by the courts of Montana over the nonresident applicant. Nonresident corporations may appoint a resident agent in lieu of appointing the Secretary of State as their agent.
