This is a pesticide safety educational program for anyone who uses pesticides. The program covers pesticide certification, re-certification and licensing of pesticide applicators and pest control operators. It also covers the Worker Protection Standards, WPS, issued by EPA, which gives protection to workers and pesticide handlers in farms, forests, nurseries and greenhouses.
In order to use or supervise the use of restricted-use pesticides, one has to be certified as a Private or Commercial Applicator or working under the direct supervision of a certified applicator. In order for one to qualify as actively supervising, they must be within a 120 mile radius of the work. Certification does not allow one to apply a pesticide for a fee. In order to buy a restricted-use pesticide in Tennessee, the individual purchasing the pesticide must be certified as a Private or Commercial Applicator. A dealer must be certified as a Commercial Applicator in Category 12.
There are two types of certified applicators, Private and Commercial. Private Applicators are farmers, greenhouse and nursery operators. All other users of restricted-use pesticides are Commercial Applicators.
Commercial Applicators become certified by passing a certification exam in their area of work. The Commercial Applicator exams consist of questions from the CORE or general standards manual and the respective category. These exams are offered several times a week at various county Extension offices and Tenn. Dept. of Agriculture offices across the state. You must prepay a fee of $15 to TDA in order to take the exam. TDA will then assign you a date to take that exam. You should indicate on the prepay form if you intend on taking one of UT’s training seminars in Knoxville.