Maine Pesticide Licensing and Certification
About 5 of every 50 questions on a Maine Commercial Core practice exam come from this topic.
Sources checked
What to know
Maine's Board of Pesticides Control licenses commercial applicators, who need a license before using or supervising pesticide use. Applicants must be 18 and show government-issued ID; books, phones and calculators are barred. Operators pass closed-book core and category exams; master applicants also pass a closed-book exam on the Board's regulations before the master exam, which tests dealing with a concerned public. Each exam passes at 80 percent on its own; retakes wait 6 days, or 60 days after breaking exam rules, and missing the core-plus-category window means retaking everything. Certification runs to December 31 of the third year and adding a category doesn't extend it; masters need 9 credits and operators 6, one per hour of a whole program, or the exams are retaken. Licenses end when the employee leaves; each branch office employs a master able to reach sites within six hours' drive, terminations are reported within 10 days, and losing the master suspends all the company's licenses. A licensed applicator must be physically present, with continuous visual contact, never by video, when noncertified staff apply. Multi-applicator custom firms need a Spray Contracting Firm License and liability insurance. Drinking water and wastewater operators applying disinfectants and people treating household pets are exempt; aerial applicators also certify in the use category. Holders get 20 days to request a hearing on a temporary suspension, fraud is a revocation ground, government employees pay no fees, dealers sell restricted products only to licensed or certified persons, and knowing violations are Class E crimes.
Where it comes from
- 01-026 C.M.R. ch. 31, §§ 1-2
- 01-026 C.M.R. ch. 31, §§ 3-4
- 01-026 C.M.R. ch. 31, §§ 5-6
- 22 M.R.S. § 1471-D
- 7 M.R.S. § 616-A
Try a practice question
Under Chapter 31, when must a commercial applicator who is required to be certified hold a Board license?
- ABefore the first restricted use application only
- BBefore using or supervising the use of pesticides
- CBy January 31 after the first season of work
- DWithin 30 days after starting any pesticide work
Show the answer
Before using or supervising the use of pesticides. The license must be in hand before the applicator uses pesticides or supervises others who do. There is no grace period and no limit to restricted use products.
01-026 C.M.R. ch. 31, § 6