New Jersey pesticide and fertilizer record rules for lawn care companies

Who regulates lawn care applicators

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) regulates pesticide application through its Pesticide Control Program, under the Pesticide Control Code, N.J.A.C. 7:30, issued under the Pesticide Control Act of 1971.

The turf fertilizer law (N.J.S.A. 58:10A-61 to -69) also falls to NJDEP, which may adopt rules for it in consultation with the Department of Agriculture. The fertilizer applicator certification is set up and run by the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station at Rutgers, in consultation with NJDEP. Any municipality, county, local soil conservation district or local health agency may enforce the fertilizer law.

The Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Chemistry Program regulates the manufacture, distribution, labeling and sale of fertilizers; its page describes no role in certifying or licensing the people who apply them.

Sources: N.J.A.C. 7:30 Pesticide Control Code (NJDEP courtesy copy, PDF), P.L.2010, c.112 Fertilizer application, sale and use (PDF), N.J.S.A. 58:10A Water Pollution Control Act, sections 58:10A-61 to -69 (NJDEP copy, PDF), NJ Department of Agriculture: Agricultural Chemistry program

Licenses you need

• Pesticide applicator business license: needed before operating if you apply pesticides for hire, including as part of any service you charge for. $150 a year, the license year ending October 31, with a separate license for each place of business and each business name. Tell NJDEP in writing within 30 days of any change to your application details.
• Financial responsibility: file proof with the business license application. For businesses that do not fumigate, liability insurance of at least $300,000 combined single limit, including completed operations and chemical liability coverage (ISO CG 22 64 or equivalent), or a surety bond of at least $100,000.
• Responsible commercial pesticide applicator: each place of business must employ at least one, certified and licensed in each category it applies in. Lawn work is Category 3B (Turf), which also covers vegetation control on commercial and residential sites and flea and tick control in turf; Category 3A (Ornamental) covers ornamentals and tick control in brush areas.
• Applicator certification: an approved basic training course, at least 40 hours of on-the-job training (at least 15 applications for Category 3A or 3B), then a core exam and a category exam. An internship, an approved category course or an affidavit of one year’s work experience may be accepted when on-the-job training is not available. File for the license within 12 months of becoming eligible; it costs $80 a year and expires October 31. Certification is kept by meeting NJDEP’s recertification requirements.
• Commercial pesticide operator: someone who applies under the direct supervision of a responsible applicator. Operators finish an approved operator course and 40 hours of on-the-job training (or equivalent demonstrations with no pesticide used), must be at least 18 and pay $30 a year; the license expires October 31. The supervising applicator co-signs the application, and the license is void if that supervision ends (30 days’ grace under another applicator). Operators may not supervise anyone.
• Direct supervision at a business means the operator and the supervising applicator work for the same business and both have work spaces at the same physical location. Nobody may be assigned to apply in a category they are not licensed in unless a licensed responsible applicator of the same business is physically present.
• Fertilizer: anyone applying fertilizer to turf for hire needs a fertilizer application certification first, or the required training when working under the direct supervision of a certified professional fertilizer applicator.

Tip: Applicators and operators must carry their license whenever they use (or, for operators, transport) pesticides, and every service vehicle shows the business license number on at least two sides in figures at least three inches high.

Sources: N.J.A.C. 7:30 Pesticide Control Code (NJDEP courtesy copy, PDF), P.L.2010, c.112 Fertilizer application, sale and use (PDF), N.J.S.A. 58:10A Water Pollution Control Act, sections 58:10A-61 to -69 (NJDEP copy, PDF)

What to record for each application

N.J.A.C. 7:30-7.3 requires a licensed pesticide applicator business to keep a record of every pesticide application it makes (aquatic applications follow a separate rule). Each commercial applicator must keep the same record for applications made by them or under their direct supervision (7:30-6.8), and the business may keep these for them. Each record holds:

• Date of application
• For pesticides with a restricted-entry interval (REI) on the label: the hour the application was completed, and the re-entry time and date
• Place of application: the specific address, municipality and county
• Brand or trade name, active ingredients and EPA registration number of each pesticide (or a symbol, if you keep a list matching the symbols)
• The “recipe” used to mix the pesticide as the label requires: the total amount of concentrate and the total amount of diluent
• Total amount of pesticide mixture used for each application
• Size of the area treated, when the label gives a rate per area
• Full name and pesticide applicator license number of the person who applied it (or a symbol matched on a separate list of all applicators and operators)
• Site of application

Write records down as soon as possible and no later than 24 hours after the application. Products used under an Experimental Use Permit, a Section 18 emergency exemption or a Section 24(c) Special Local Need registration must be clearly marked, with the EUP, Section 18 or SLN number added.

The business must also keep, in writing: a list of the names, active ingredients and EPA registration numbers of all pesticides it applies (or put them on each record); the names and license numbers of all its certified and licensed applicators, with what each is responsible for; and records of all on-the-job training given to operators and applicators.

Source: N.J.A.C. 7:30 Pesticide Control Code (NJDEP courtesy copy, PDF)

How long to keep records and who can ask for them

• Application records: at least 3 years (5 years for termiticide applications), at the place of business. Records of a supervised operator’s applications are kept at the same location as the supervising applicator; records at a temporary seasonal site may move to the main facility at the end of the spray season.
• NJDEP: every required record must be provided immediately on request. While your office is staffed during normal business hours, someone authorized must be available to provide them.
• Medical personnel: records and the pesticide list must be provided immediately in an emergency; otherwise they request them through NJDEP.
• Customers: on written request, give the customer a copy of the record for an application made for them.
• Customer notice waivers: at least 3 years, immediately available to NJDEP on request.

NJDEP may inspect at reasonable hours, including the office, record-keeping, storage, mixing and loading and vehicle parking areas of a home used for the business. Failing to keep, or falsifying, required records is a ground to deny, suspend or revoke an applicator license.

Source: N.J.A.C. 7:30 Pesticide Control Code (NJDEP courtesy copy, PDF)

Customer notice, posting and lawn signs

These rules cover applications by applicators who must be certified in Category 3A, 3B or 3C (and certain outdoor work in other categories), or people under their direct supervision. Minimum-risk (exempt) pesticides are excluded.

Before applying at a single-family home, give the customer who contracts the work, in writing or by email, a consumer information notice and the chance to review it. It must include:

• A statement that the exact dates of application are available on request
• The pesticides to be used, by brand name and common chemical names of the active ingredients. If you gave an advance list of possible pesticides, leave written notice of the specific pesticide used on the day of application
• Label instructions relating to customer or public safety, with separate precautions for each pesticide (for example watering in, or removing pets or yard equipment)
• Your business’s name, address and phone number
• The phone numbers of the National Pesticide Information Center and the New Jersey Poison Information and Education System
• The Pesticide Control Program’s phone number with the statement “This number is for pesticide regulation information and pesticide complaints.”
• A written statement that a copy of the labels will be available on request
• The rule’s statement on sanitation and physical and biological control measures, worded exactly as in N.J.A.C. 7:30-9.13(b)2viii

If the customer asks for advance notice of the application date or a copy of the label, you must provide it. A customer may decline the notice by signing (or confirming by email) a waiver in the exact wording set out in the rule, and can withdraw it in writing.

Signs at single-family homes are posted on the treated property at the start of the application and may come down after 72 hours, whether or not the customer waived the notice. The sign details:

• White, with “Pesticide Treated Area” in dark letters at least one-half inch high
• A circle at least two inches across showing an adult and child walking a dog on a lawn, with a diagonal line through it
• Your business name or business license number, and your phone number
• Readable from every street fronting the property and from the main accesses to the treated area, and at reasonable intervals around the part the public or residents can reach; if only part of a larger property is treated, only that area needs signs
• You post and remove them, but you may hand removal to the customer in writing

Multi-family residences, commercial and industrial buildings, schools, institutions and parks get the same signs and notice, with the notice also going to the building or site manager. Within 250 feet of a school property line, on property abutting the school, with equipment above 60 psi, contact a school official first to learn whether the school wants notice (there are exceptions). Anyone not already notified who asks to be notified must be told, before the application, its date and time, the brand name and EPA number, the active ingredients, the location, and a contact name and phone number.

Pass the relevant label precautions on to people who are or may be exposed, and keep a readable copy of the registered label at the mixing or application site.

Source: N.J.A.C. 7:30 Pesticide Control Code (NJDEP courtesy copy, PDF)

Fertilizer rules

These are the limits for professional fertilizer applicators (anyone who applies fertilizer for hire) on turf, meaning closely mowed, managed grass including residential lawns, but not golf courses or farms.

• No fertilizer with nitrogen or phosphorus before March 1 or after December 1, or at any time the ground is frozen.
• Not during heavy rainfall or when heavy rainfall is predicted, or when soils are saturated and fertilizer could move off-site.
• Never on pavers, gravel, decks, patios or other impervious surfaces; sweep or blow any that lands there back onto the target area, or collect it for reuse.
• No more than 0.7 lb of water-soluble nitrogen and no more than 1 lb of total nitrogen per 1,000 sq ft in one application, and no more than 4.25 lb of total nitrogen per 1,000 sq ft a year. These limits do not apply when establishing vegetation for the first time.
• Phosphorus only when a soil test no more than three years old and the Rutgers annual recommendation show it is needed, when establishing vegetation for the first time, when reestablishing or repairing turf, or when placing it below the soil surface at the feeder roots. Manipulated manure fertilizer is allowed if it gives no more than 0.25 lb of phosphorus per 1,000 sq ft at label rates.
• Not within 25 feet of a waterbody, or 10 feet with a drop spreader, a rotary spreader with a deflector, or targeted spray liquid. One “rescue treatment” a year is allowed between 10 and 25 feet, at no more than the professional per-application nitrogen rate.
• Penalties: $500 for a first offense and up to $1,000 for each later one, each day of a continuing violation counting separately.

The state law overrides municipal, county and local health agency ordinances on fertilizing turf. It sets no record-keeping requirement for fertilizer applications; ask NJDEP whether any rule adds one.

Sources: P.L.2010, c.112 Fertilizer application, sale and use (PDF), N.J.S.A. 58:10A Water Pollution Control Act, sections 58:10A-61 to -69 (NJDEP copy, PDF)

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 New Jersey, Finish job asks the crew for the details New Jersey lists, and the records export with the columns in New Jersey’s order. Here is each item New Jersey lists, set against what the record actually holds. Keeping the record complete and correct is still your responsibility.

GroundsQuote keeps the waivers and notices, but the consumer information notice itself is yours to give before the application. The visit email can tell the customer what was applied after the visit, but it is not New Jersey’s consumer information notice: it leaves out the active ingredients, the label’s safety precautions, the information center, poison center and Pesticide Control Program phone numbers and the statements the rule requires, so keep giving your own notice.

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 New Jersey sources, checked on October 10, 2026. Read them for the full text and any changes since.

• N.J.A.C. 7:30 Pesticide Control Code (NJDEP courtesy copy, PDF)
• P.L.2010, c.112 Fertilizer application, sale and use (PDF)
• N.J.S.A. 58:10A Water Pollution Control Act, sections 58:10A-61 to -69 (NJDEP copy, PDF)
• NJ Department of Agriculture: Agricultural Chemistry program