4.10.207 APPLICATOR RECORDS

(1) Commercial, public utility, government, noncommercial applicators and their operators must keep and maintain application records for two years.

(2) Every application record performed either by an applicator or operator must include:

(a) The name of the applicator or operator applying the pesticide:

(b) Date of application;

(d) Location, including the property owner's or lessee's name and address where the pesticide was applied;

(i) The specific application site must be expressed by township, range, and section numbers, local identifiable landmarks, or latitude and longitude coordinates.

(ii) Right-of-way applications may be expressed in general terms of identifiable landmarks.

(iii) Nonagricultural applications may specify the site, building, facility, premise, or other identifiable landmarks.

(e) Equipment used;

(i) If the same piece of equipment is used for all applications, then this equipment may be listed only once. If more than one piece of equipment is utilized, the applicator may assign a number to each piece of equipment and list the equipment once by description and thereafter by number.

(f) The pesticide or pesticides used, including the company name, trade name, and the EPA registration number;

(g) The rate of application, including the amount of formulated product per volume or weight to be applied on a given unit area;

(h) The area treated (number of acres, trees, livestock, square feet or yards, etc.) or the type of treatment for structural, seed treatment, or wood product applications;

(i) The primary pest or pests involved;

(j) The site or crop treated and stage of crop development, if applicable; and

(k) Weather conditions such as wind speed, wind direction, and temperature, if applicable.

(3) Applicators utilizing two or more pesticides in a tank must record all required data for each pesticide in the tank mix.

(4) Applicators must record application information on a daily basis not to exceed 24 hours from the time of the application.

(5) Applicator records must be open to inspection by authorized employees of the department during all business hours. Applicators must submit written copies of their records or any portion of the records when requested in writing by the department.

(6) Seed treat applicators and wood product applicators must maintain records only on items set forth in (2)(a) through (h).

(7) As ruled by opinion of the Montana attorney general (Vol. No. 38, Opinion No. 1), pesticide applicator and dealer records held by the Department of Agriculture are subject to public disclosure unless the department finds that the applicator's or dealer's right to privacy clearly outweighs the public's right to know. Such determination will be considered under department policy on a case by case basis.

(a) Department publication of any information of these records which may disclose operations of selling, production, or use of pesticides by any person is prohibited under 80-8-107, MCA, and confirmed under department interpretation of a letter of explanation to the above cited opinion from the attorney general.

(8) Applicators, upon written request, must submit to the department records of each application performed with all pesticides, or those specifically named by the department. The records must be submitted within 14 calendar days of the request or as otherwise requested by the department. The request for records may include the records for the complete calendar year. The record must contain all the items listed in (2)(a) through (k), unless not required based on (6).

(a) If no applications of pesticides occurred during the requested time period, applicators must document this to the department.

(9) Farm applicators are exempt from the requirements of this rule, unless a specific reporting requirement is established in another rule.

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History: 80-8-105, MCA; IMP, 80-8-105, MCA; NEW, Eff. 7/5/76; AMD, 1982 MAR p. 560, Eff. 3/26/82; AMD, 1986 MAR p. 1007, Eff. 6/13/86; AMD, 2010 MAR p. 909, Eff. 4/15/10; AMD, 2019 MAR p. 1629, Eff. 9/21/19.