Alaska pesticide and fertilizer record rules for lawn care companies

Last reviewed October 11, 2026 · 8 min read

The short answer

In Alaska, a custom, commercial or contract applicator must keep accurate written records of every use of a general-use pesticide, not only restricted use: the product or brand name, the EPA registration number, the date and the address or location of use, the site, the size of the area treated, the rate of application, the dilution, the total amount of product used, the target pests, and the name and certification number of the person applying it, plus a copy of the written instructions when a pesticide technician applies. Restricted-use applications add the time of use and the name and address of the person it was applied for. Keep the records at least two years and make them available to the Department of Environmental Conservation on request. A private home’s lawn needs no sign or advance notice, but applications in public places such as apartment common areas, parks and public sports fields must be posted.

General information, not legal advice. Rules change and can depend on what you apply and where. Confirm what applies to your business with the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, Pesticide Control Program and the product label before you rely on anything here.

Who regulates lawn care applicators

Pesticide use in Alaska is regulated by the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) under AS 46.03.320 and its pesticide control regulations, 18 AAC 90. The regulations apply to anyone who uses, advises on the use of, sells, distributes, stores or disposes of pesticides. A pesticide may not be distributed or sold in Alaska unless it is registered with the department; EPA registration alone is not enough.

A pesticide may not be used in a manner inconsistent with its labeling, or in a faulty, careless or negligent manner, and faulty or unsafe application equipment may not be operated. Submitting a false, misleading, fraudulent or incomplete record, report or application under the pesticide rules is prohibited.

The department or its agent may, with the owner’s or occupier’s consent, enter premises at reasonable times to inspect equipment, storage, application and the records the pesticide rules require, and may seek a search warrant if refused. A person who, with criminal negligence, violates the chapter or a department regulation commits a class A misdemeanor, each day a separate violation, and a violator is also liable in a civil action to the state for $500 to $100,000 for the initial violation and up to $5,000 for each day it continues.

Sources: 18 AAC 90, Pesticide Control (whole chapter, 18 AAC 90.010 to 90.990), AS 46.03.311 to 46.03.330 (Article 6, Pesticide Control: AS 46.03.320 and 46.03.330), AS 46.03.760, Civil action for pollution; damages, AS 46.03.790, Criminal penalties

Licenses you need

Anyone who applies or offers to apply pesticides on property that is not their own, whether or not for profit or hire, is engaged in “custom, commercial, or contract use”.
Certification in the applicable category is required for custom, commercial or contract use of any pesticide, general use included, unless the person applies a general-use pesticide under the direct, on-the-job supervision of an applicator certified in that category. Certification is also required to supervise such use and to use or supervise the use of any restricted-use pesticide.
Category 4, ornamental and turf pest control, covers applying pesticides to control pests in the maintenance and production of landscaping, ornamental plants, lawns and turf. Applying pesticides, other than in water, to control mosquitoes or biting flies is its own category 10. A certified applicator may use pesticides only in the categories for which they are certified.
Pesticide technician (category 19): applies general-use pesticides only under the direction of an applicator certified in the appropriate category, who must make all pest control decisions and be immediately available by telephone or other means.
Public places and schools: certification is also required to use or supervise the use of a pesticide in a public place or at a school or licensed child care facility, except general-use antimicrobials, rodenticides in tamper-resistant bait stations and ready-to-use silica gels, pastes, foams or gels. DEC’s core manual says only a certified applicator, not a supervised person, may apply in a public place or at a school.
Becoming certified: be at least 18, attend an approved training session or complete an approved Internet or correspondence course, and pass written core and category examinations with a grade of at least 70 percent.
Term and renewal: a certification is valid for no more than three years after it is issued; to renew it before it expires, submit a renewal application and earn at least 12 department-approved continuing education hours. The certification fee is $25, charged before the initial certification document is issued and at each annual renewal or recertification, with no extra fee for additional categories.
Carry a copy of the certification while working or display it at the place of business, and notify the department within 30 days of a change in business name or organization or other information on the application. Certification cannot be transferred.
Insurance: certification for custom, commercial or contract use requires proof that the applicator or the employer carries liability insurance of at least $500,000 per person for bodily injury and $300,000 per incident for property damage. Tell the department of current coverage in writing each year and within 30 days of a change; certification is modified or suspended if the insurance lapses or falls below the minimums.
Only a certified person, or someone authorized in writing by an applicator certified in the category, may purchase a restricted-use pesticide.

Before a technician applies, the directing certified applicator must give written instructions naming the complete product name, EPA registration number, date, address, method, rate, dilution, estimated total amount of product, target pests, site, and the name and current certification number of both the technician and the directing applicator. The technician must carry a copy while working.

Sources: 18 AAC 90, Pesticide Control (whole chapter, 18 AAC 90.010 to 90.990), AS 46.03.311 to 46.03.330 (Article 6, Pesticide Control: AS 46.03.320 and 46.03.330), DEC Pesticide Control Program, Alaska Pesticide Applicators Core Manual (February 2022)

What to record for each application

Under 18 AAC 90.420, a custom, commercial or contract applicator must keep accurate written records of every use of a general-use pesticide, in addition to the restricted-use records. DEC’s core manual says every certified applicator, pesticide technicians included, must keep records of all commercial applications. Each general-use record holds:

The product or brand name
The EPA registration number
The date of use
The address or location of use
The crop, commodity, stored product or site of the use (the core manual gives “front yard” as an example of a site)
The size of the area treated
The rate of application
The dilution of the pesticide applied
The total amount of product used
The target pests
The name and certification number of the person applying the pesticide
When a pesticide technician applies under a certified applicator’s direction: a copy of the written instructions given to the technician

For each use of a restricted-use pesticide, 18 AAC 90.415 asks for the product or brand name, EPA registration number, date and time of use, address or location, the site, the size of the area treated, the rate of application, the dilution, the total amount of product used, the person applying it and their certification number, and the name and address of the person for whom it was applied. For each purchase of a restricted-use pesticide, record the product or brand name, EPA registration number, the name and address of the company it was bought from, the date and the amount purchased.

The rules define the “rate of application” as the amount of pesticide applied to a plant or animal, to an area or surface (usually per acre or per 1,000 square feet) or to a volume. For a fumigant, the temperature and duration of the exposure period and the pounds of gas released per 1,000 cubic feet replace the rate and dilution.

The rules also limit when you apply. A pesticide may not be applied in a way that results in drift, or when the wind speed, measured with a calibrated device for wind velocity and direction, is above the label’s maximum or, if the label states none, above seven miles per hour. Applicators must follow the labeling, measure concentrated materials with apparatus calibrated to the smallest unit being measured, keep mixtures uniform and thoroughly clean contaminated apparatus after use. An automatic sprayer or mister for outdoor insect control may not be used or installed unless it has a wind monitor (stopping above seven miles per hour or the label’s lower limit), a rain monitor (stopping in rain over 0.1 inch per hour), a thermometer (stopping below 50° Fahrenheit) and a motion detector (stopping while people or pets are active in the area).

Sources: 18 AAC 90, Pesticide Control (whole chapter, 18 AAC 90.010 to 90.990), DEC Pesticide Control Program, Alaska Pesticide Applicators Core Manual (February 2022)

How long to keep records and who can ask for them

Keep general-use application records for at least two years after each use, and restricted-use purchase and use records for at least two years after each purchase or use.
Make the records available to the department upon request.
No deadline for completing an application record was found: the rules require accurate written records but set no number of hours or days after the application.
When a pesticide is applied in a public place, the person who hired the applicator (the contact person) must keep written records of the application with everything in the applicator’s written statement for at least two years and show them on request to the department or to anyone directly affected.

Sources: 18 AAC 90, Pesticide Control (whole chapter, 18 AAC 90.010 to 90.990), DEC Pesticide Control Program, Alaska Pesticide Applicators Core Manual (February 2022)

Customer notice, posting and lawn signs

No rule we read requires a sign or advance notice for a pesticide application on a private home’s lawn that is not a public place, a school or a leased dwelling’s interior, and we found no neighbor notice or notification registry. Label-required posting still applies.

Public places are different. The statute’s “public place” means the common areas of an apartment building or other multi-family dwelling (a building with more than four single-family dwellings), the parts of a government office or facility open beyond employees, and plazas, parks and public sports fields. DEC’s core manual reads the apartment part as shared areas, garden or lawn areas included.

Post a written notice, at least 8 1/2 x 11 inches, conspicuously at each customary point of access to the area treated, immediately before the application begins. It stays up, legible, for at least 24 hours after the application or until the label says re-entry is safe, whichever is longer.
Outdoors and not on a structure, post it at least 12 inches above the ground; indoors or on a structure, three to four feet above the floor, attached so it stays in place.
The notice carries wording the rule prescribes, in substantially that format, with the date and time of the application, the contact person’s name, address and telephone number, and the time the pesticide will be dry or, if later, the time the label says re-entry is safe. We could not read the prescribed wording itself, so GroundsQuote prints no Alaska sign.
Before the application begins, the applicator or the applicator’s agent must make available to the contact person a written statement with the applicator’s or employer’s name, address and phone number, the common or trade name, EPA registration number, amount used and target pests treated for each pesticide, any adjuvants used, and any post-application re-entry precautions, at least those on the label. The contact person must make that statement available to anyone who asks.
Antimicrobials, rodenticides in tamper-resistant bait stations and ready-to-use silica gels, pastes, foams and gels are exempt from posting and notice, and in an emergency the contact person may allow treatment without posting, but the written statement is still required.

At a school, the school administrator must notify parents or guardians at least 24 hours before an application to an area used by or accessible to children, and the certified applicator must post an 8 1/2 x 11 inch sign in the treated area immediately before starting, with the prescribed message, the pesticide’s name and EPA registration number, a school contact’s name and telephone number and the date and time of application. A pesticide may not be applied inside a leased dwelling unit without first notifying the tenant.

Commercial applicators must store all pesticides, general and restricted use, in a locked enclosure when unattended. A closed trailer, closed building or room, or fenced storage area must carry a warning notice on the outside, at least 8 by 10 inches with letters at least three-fourths inch high, giving an emergency contact’s name and telephone number, in the sign form the rule prescribes.

Fertilizer rules

Alaska’s Division of Agriculture says the state has no registration requirements for fertilizer, plant food or soil amendments, and that federal truth-in-labeling laws apply.

The pesticide rules (18 AAC 90) contain no fertilizer applicator license, fertilizer application record, phosphorus or nitrogen limit, blackout date or fertilizer setback. The statute lets DEC regulate “broadcast chemicals”, substances released into the air or onto land or water to prevent, destroy, repel, stimulate or retard plant or animal life, but no regulation we read applies this to lawn fertilizer.

Sources: Alaska DNR, Division of Agriculture: Inspection Services (“Feed and Fertilizer Regulations”), 18 AAC 90, Pesticide Control (whole chapter, 18 AAC 90.010 to 90.990), AS 46.03.311 to 46.03.330 (Article 6, Pesticide Control: AS 46.03.320 and 46.03.330), AS 46.03.900, Definitions

How GroundsQuote’s chemical records line up

GroundsQuote keeps an application record for each chemical a crew puts down on a job. On a job at a property in Alaska, Finish job asks the crew for the details Alaska lists, and the records export with the columns in Alaska’s order. Here is each item Alaska lists, set against what the record actually holds. Keeping the record complete and correct is still your responsibility.

Alaska record items and GroundsQuote’s chemical application record
Alaska asks for	In GroundsQuote	Status
Product or brand name	Product name, from the chemical’s setup	Recorded
EPA registration number	EPA Reg. No., from the chemical’s setup	Recorded
Date of use	Date and time applied	Recorded
Time of use (restricted use)	Date and time applied, the job’s start and finish, and each chemical’s own start and finish (offered on Alaska jobs)	Recorded
Address or location of use	Street address, unit, city, state, ZIP and county	Recorded
Crop, commodity, stored product or site of the use	Where on the property (front lawn, beds, fence line… or a description), required on Alaska jobs at Finish job	Recorded
Size of the area treated	Area treated (sq ft)	Recorded
Rate of application	Rate applied (per area)	Recorded
Dilution of the pesticide applied	Mix ratio, required on Alaska jobs, and use dilution (%)	Recorded
Total amount of product used	Total used	Recorded
Target pests	Target pest, set for each chemical on the job	Recorded
Name and certification number of the person applying	Applied by: everyone who applied it, with license and certification numbers when license-keeping is switched on	Recorded
Copy of the written instructions given to a pesticide technician	The supervisor’s instructions (text) and Supervised by, both offered on Alaska jobs; GroundsQuote keeps the instructions as text, not as the twelve-item sheet given before the job	Partly
Name and address of the person for whom it was applied (restricted use)	Customer name and mailing address	Recorded
Restricted-use purchase records (product, EPA number, seller’s name and address, date, amount)	Purchases in the chemical logs, kept beside the records; the log is free-form and not checked for every item	Partly
Fumigant exposure temperature, duration and pounds per 1,000 cubic feet	Not kept: fumigation is not lawn work	Not recorded
Kept at least two years, available to the department	Records kept in GroundsQuote, corrections saved as history, and the records export laid out for Alaska	Recorded
Public place written statement to the contact person	The application statement for each job carries the applicator, products, EPA numbers, amounts, target pests and re-entry notes; adjuvants have no field of their own, and the statement is made after the job is recorded, not before the application	Partly

The records export lays out Alaska’s items for the state; GroundsQuote prints a full-page public place notice and a school sign carrying the details the rules list (the rules’ own wording is a figure that is not published online, so check the sheets with DEC); and Finish job on Alaska jobs asks for where on the property and the mix ratio, offers the technician’s written instructions, the supervisor and each chemical’s start and finish, and warns the crew when a pesticide is on the job and the wind they measured, else the nearest weather station’s, is over 7 mph (the label’s own limit applies when it sets one). Posting and the written statement given before the application, the technician’s twelve-item instruction sheet, checking that everyone applying is certified in category 4 (and category 10 for mosquito work), measuring the wind with a calibrated device, mister cut-offs, locked storage and its warning sign, certification renewals, insurance notices, school duties and spill reports stay with the business.

Everything a GroundsQuote application record holds

When:: Date and time applied (when the job was finished), job start and finish times (the office can correct them), each chemical’s own start and finish when several go down on one job, and when people may go back onto the lawn (from the label’s re-entry interval)
Where:: Customer name, phone and mailing address, street address, unit number, city, state, ZIP and county of the property, and where on the property it went (front lawn, beds, fence line…)
Who:: Everyone who applied it (the crew riding that day starts checked) and the person supervising, trainees and people who planned it, with each one’s standing (certified, registered technician, trained, not certified or registered), license number, certification or ID number, category and expiry, and the business license when license-keeping is switched on
Product:: Name, type, manufacturer, EPA registration number, state registration number, EUP / Section 18 / 24(c) number, active ingredients, scientific name, concentration, N-P-K and slow-release %, formulation, restricted-use flag, signal word, re-entry interval, the label’s precautions, and copies of the label, safety data sheet and fact sheets on file
Amounts:: Rate applied (per area), area treated in sq ft, total product used (and product and tank mix per acre in the export), mix ratio, use dilution (%), water or carrier (gallons, and the carrier when it is not water), gallons of mix applied, devices placed, lb of N and P per 1,000 sq ft
Job:: Target pest and the equipment used (both set on the job), where the pesticide was bought or supplied from, the vehicle or sprayer’s license plate, where it was mixed and loaded, permit number, other records the label requires, the supervisor’s instructions, whether the drift plan was used, a review sign-off with the reviewer’s license number and corrective action, a map of the treated area attached to the job, service and crew; your business name, address and phone
Weather:: From the nearest weather station at the start and finish (temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction, gusts, rain in the last hour, conditions), and the conditions on site: the crew confirms the station reading or enters the wind, direction and temperature they measured
Your state:: Each job follows the rules of the state its property is in: Finish job asks for the details that state lists and waits until they are filled in, and the records export in that state’s column order
Paperwork:: An application statement for each job to print, leave or email (each product with its EPA number, active ingredients, type, purpose, rate, amount and mix, where on the property, the date and time, who applied it, the re-entry time and your notes for the customer, with the state’s own lines), and lawn signs laid out from the state’s rule
Kept beside the records:: Each person’s training, ID copies and certificates and what they are responsible for; neighbor requests and notices, registry notices and attempts, notices given to customers, signed waivers and contracts, each with a copy of the paper; soil tests per property; incidents, disposal and purchases in the chemical logs; totals for a year or a month by county, supervisor or product; whether a customer agreed in writing to get application information by email
Changes:: Corrections are saved as history; the earlier record is kept
Reminders:: Finish job reminds the crew of the state’s own steps (a record deadline, trainee paperwork) and warns when a restricted-use chemical has nobody certified applying or supervising it; the schedule lists chemical jobs left without a record in states with a deadline

See how it works on the job in chemical records and field tools, or read about GroundsQuote for lawn treatment companies.

Official sources

Everything on this page comes from these Alaska sources, checked on October 11, 2026. Read them for the full text and any changes since.

Keep application records as the crew finishes the job

Set the chemicals each service uses once. The crew sees the planned amounts for each lawn, and finishing the job saves the record with the product, rate, area, applicator and weather.

Start your 30-day free trial

Chemical records are on the Pro and Business plans.

Questions

Do I need records for general use products, or only restricted use?

Both. A custom, commercial or contract applicator must keep accurate written records of every use of a general-use pesticide, in addition to the restricted-use records. Restricted-use records add the time of use and the name and address of the person it was applied for.

How long do I keep records, and is there a deadline to write them?

Keep them at least two years after each use (and restricted-use purchase records two years after each purchase), available to the department upon request. The rules set no number of hours or days after the application for completing the record.

Can an uncertified employee apply general-use products on lawns?

Only under the direct, on-the-job supervision of an applicator certified in that category, or as a pesticide technician (category 19) working under a certified applicator’s direction with written instructions, a copy of which goes in the record. Any application on property that is not your own counts as custom, commercial or contract use.

Is there a wind limit?

Yes. A pesticide may not be applied when the wind speed, measured with a calibrated device for wind velocity and direction, is above the label’s maximum or, if the label states none, above seven miles per hour. Wind is not a record item, but the limit applies to every application.

Do I need lawn signs in Alaska?

Not for a private home’s lawn. Posting is required for applications in public places, such as the common areas of apartment buildings with more than four units, parks, plazas and public sports fields, and at schools: at least 8 1/2 x 11 inches at each customary point of access, for at least 24 hours or until the label says re-entry is safe, whichever is longer.

Does Alaska regulate lawn fertilizer?

Alaska’s Division of Agriculture says the state has no registration requirements for fertilizer, and the pesticide rules contain no fertilizer applicator license, application record, phosphorus or nitrogen limit, blackout date or setback.