(1) All certified commercial, public utility, government, certified noncommercial applicators and their operators shall be required to keep and maintain operational records for two years. For every application performed either by an applicator or operator, the application record must include:

(a) The name of the applicator or operator applying the pesticide. Initials or an assigned number are acceptable if the full name of the applicator or operator is cross-referenced and accessible to the department.

(b) The following items:

(i) date;

(ii) time should be specific;

(iii) location must include the property owner's or lessee's name and address where the pesticide was applied. The specific application site must be expressed by township, range, and section numbers, local identifiable landmarks, or latitude and longitude coordinates. Right-of-way applications may be expressed in general terms of identifiable landmarks. Nonagricultural applications may specify the site, building, facility, premise, or other identifiable landmarks.

(c) 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.

(d) The pesticide or pesticides used must include the company name, trade name, and the EPA registration number or the type of formulation.

(e) The rate of application includes the formulation rate and the diluent to be sprayed on a given unit area. Examples: 1 pint of product per 5 gallons of water per acre (1 pt/5 gal water); 2 oz. of product per 1 gallon water (2 oz/1 gal water); 1 pint of product per 100 pounds of fertilizer per acre.

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

(g) The primary pest or pests involved.

(h) The crop or site treated and stage of crop development, if applicable.

(i) Weather conditions such as wind speed, direction and temperature if applicable. Outdoor applications generally require the recording of some weather conditions.

(2) Applicators utilizing two or more pesticides in a tank mixture shall be required to record all data as required for each pesticide in the tank mix.

(3) Applicators shall maintain application records on a daily basis not to exceed 24 hours from the time of the last application.

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

(5) Seed treaters and wood product treaters shall only be required to maintain records on the volumes of pesticides applied and the other items set forth in (1) (a), (b) (i) (d) (e) and (f).

(6) 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) There will, however, be no department publication of any information of these records which may disclose operations of selling, production or use of pesticides by any person. Such prohibition has been declared under section 80-8-107, MCA and confirmed under department interpretation of a letter of explanation to the above cited opinion from the attorney general.

(7) Applicators, upon written request of the department, shall submit to the department an accurate typed or printed record of each application performed with all restricted pesticides, or those restricted pesticides specifically named by the department. The records shall be submitted within 14 calendar days of the department's request or as otherwise requested by the department. The request for records may include the records for the complete calendar year. The records shall be submitted on the standard form provided by the department or on forms approved by the department. The record shall contain the following items listed in this rule: (1) (a), (b) (i), (iii), (d), (e), (f), (g), (h) and (2). The record may contain all the items listed in sections (1) and (2).

(a) If no applications of the restricted-use pesticides are made during the requested time period this must be documented to the department.

(8) Applicators shall submit to the department an accurate typed or printed report of their use of restricted and general use pesticides every fifth year beginning in calendar year 1990 and thereafter every five years. The report must include a summary of use of these pesticides by county, total acreage, amount of the formulated product used, the product used by company name and trade name, and the EPA registration number for the fifth year only. The report must be submitted to the department by January 31 of the next year. The report must be submitted on the standard form provided by the department or on forms approved by the department.

(a) If no application of general and/or restricted-use pesticides are made during the calendar year, this must be documented by the department.

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