New York pesticide and fertilizer record rules for lawn care companies

Last reviewed October 10, 2026 · 9 min read

The short answer

In New York, every commercial pesticide applicator must keep a record of each application: the product name and EPA registration number, the quantity used, the dosage rate, the method of application, the target pests, the date and the address with its five-digit ZIP code. DEC also asks that the record show the place of application precisely enough to find the exact spot treated. Keep the records at least three years and file an annual report with DEC by February 1. Lawn applications for hire also need a written contract, customer information and visual markers left up 24 hours. The state lawn fertilizer law limits phosphorus and application dates but sets no fertilizer license or record.

General information, not legal advice. Rules change and can depend on what you apply and where. Confirm what applies to your business with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), Bureau of Pesticides Management and the product label before you rely on anything here.

Who regulates lawn care applicators

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), through its Bureau of Pesticides Management, carries out and enforces the state pesticide law (Environmental Conservation Law Article 33 and parts of Articles 15 and 71). The pesticide regulations are in 6 NYCRR Parts 320 to 329; for lawn care the main ones are Part 325 (application of pesticides) and Part 326 (registration and classification of pesticides).

The lawn fertilizer law, the Nutrient Runoff Law, is ECL Article 17, Title 21. DEC’s water program publishes guidance on it.

Sources: DEC Pesticide Statutes, Regulations, and Policies, DEC Business/Agency Pesticide Information, ECL Article 17, Title 21 Nutrient runoff (§§ 17-2101 to 17-2105), DEC Lawn Fertilizer (NYS Nutrient Runoff Law)

Licenses you need

Certification: anyone making commercial pesticide applications must be certified by DEC and hold a valid DEC certification identification card, carried on their person and shown to DEC on request. Any application that is not on a farm or your own property is commercial, so treating a customer’s lawn for hire counts.
Category: lawn and turf work is Category 3, Ornamental and turf pest control. DEC lists it as 3A (Ornamentals, Shade Trees & Turf) and 3B (Turf). You may only apply in the category or subcategory shown on your ID card.
Technicians and apprentices: a Certified Commercial Pesticide Technician (at least 17) may apply general use pesticides without supervision, and restricted use pesticides only under the direct supervision of a certified commercial applicator. A Commercial Pesticide Apprentice (at least 16, uncertified, with the required training) works under a certified commercial applicator’s direct supervision.
Supervision: the supervising applicator must be on site when an apprentice applies restricted use pesticides or a product whose label requires it, and at day care facilities, schools and hospitals. Where off-site supervision is allowed, the supervisor must be reachable within 30 minutes.
Renewal: applicator and technician certifications and ID cards are valid for three years, then you recertify.
Business registration: every pesticide business must register with DEC, each location that offers or provides commercial application registers separately, and registration lasts three years at $900, with renewals due at least 45 days before expiry. The business must employ someone certified in each category it works in, applications must be made by its employees (not contractors), and it needs commercial general liability insurance of at least $1,000,000 per occurrence with a certificate naming NYSDEC as certificate holder.

Tip: Each vehicle or trailer carrying pesticides, and each ride-on application machine, must show two Registered Pesticide Business decals on opposite sides. During every application, have a copy of each pesticide’s label with you to show DEC on request.

Sources: ECL § 33-0905 Pesticide applicator certification, ECL § 33-0101 Definitions, DEC Pesticide Applicator/Technician Certification, 6 NYCRR § 325.7 (Cornell LII copy), ECL § 33-0907 Pesticide business and agency registration, DEC Business/Agency Pesticide Information, DEC Certification Categories and Credit Requirements, 6 NYCRR § 325.2 (Cornell LII copy)

What to record for each application

The Pesticide Reporting Law (ECL § 33-1205) requires every commercial applicator to keep a pesticide use record for each application with:

EPA registration number
Product name
Quantity of each pesticide used
Date applied
Location of the application by address, including the five-digit ZIP code
Dosage rate
Method of application
Target organisms (the pests being treated)

The regulation (6 NYCRR 325.25) also asks registered businesses to record the kind of pesticide and the use and place of application. DEC’s enforcement policy says records that meet the statute satisfy the regulation as long as they also record the place of each application precisely enough that someone could return and find the exact spot treated. The safest record holds every item above plus the exact place.

Commercial applicators who are not employed by a registered business keep the same records and file the same reports.

Sources: ECL § 33-1205 Recordkeeping and reporting, 6 NYCRR § 325.25 (Cornell LII copy), DEC OGC 3: Pesticide Recordkeeping and Reporting of Commercial Applicators

How long to keep records and who can ask for them

Pesticide use records: at least three years, available for inspection by DEC on request.
Annual report: every commercial applicator files a report of these applications with DEC by February 1 for the previous calendar year. Certified technicians who make applications file too. It must be filed electronically; DEC no longer accepts paper reports.
Lawn care contracts: keep a complete copy of each written customer contract for at least three years after it expires, and show it to DEC on request. DEC says contracts must state the year or years they cover so that period can be measured.
Neighbor notification declinations: where a county or city has adopted neighbor notification and you let neighbors decline further notices, keep a record of each declination for DEC.

Sources: ECL § 33-1205 Recordkeeping and reporting, 6 NYCRR § 325.25 (Cornell LII copy), DEC The Pesticide Reporting Law (PRL), DEC Pesticide Applicator/Technician Certification, 6 NYCRR § 325.40 (Cornell LII copy), ECL § 33-1001 Requirements and restrictions (commercial lawn applications), DEC Policy DSH-PES-05-11, Commercial lawn application regulations (PDF), 6 NYCRR § 325.41 (Cornell LII copy)

Customer notice, posting and lawn signs

Before any commercial lawn application you need a written contract with the property owner or the owner’s agent. It must give the approximate date or dates of application (DEC reads this as a span of no more than 21 consecutive days), the total number of applications and the total cost, and state prominently that the owner may ask for the specific dates; if asked, you must give them and put them in the contract.

Before the first application the customer must receive:

A list of the pesticides to be applied, with brand names and the generic names of the active ingredients
Any label warnings about protecting people, animals or the environment
Your company’s name, address, phone number and pesticide business registration number, and the applicator’s certification ID card number

The customer may choose to get this in written, digital or electronic form, but the applicator must also carry a written copy. If the contract does not say which of several pesticides will be used on a date, give the owner written notice of the specific one before applying. If a scheduled date falls through, give the owner oral or written notice of the new date and get their acceptance first. Before applying on the premises of a dwelling, give the occupants the label information, including warnings, in the format they choose; for multiple dwellings and non-residential buildings it goes to the owner or agent, who makes it available to occupants.

Every commercial lawn application must be marked with visual notification markers, posted before the application and left up at least 24 hours afterward:

At least 4 by 5 inches, rigid, yellow with black letters at least 3/8 inch tall, with the top at least 12 inches above the ground
Front: “PESTICIDE APPLICATION”, “PESTICIDE TREATMENT” or “PESTICIDES APPLIED”, plus “DO NOT ENTER”, “DO NOT REMOVE SIGN FOR 24 HOURS” and a warning symbol at least 1.5 inches across. Only your business name and phone number may be added to the front; anything else goes on the back
The date and time of the application, unless you give them to the owner right after the application and before leaving the property
Visible from outside the treated area, no more than 50 feet apart (100 feet for markers at least 5 by 6 inches), and at common entry points such as driveways and walkways, with at least two per treated property

Neighbor notification applies only in the counties and city that have adopted it. DEC lists Albany, Erie, Monroe, Nassau, Rockland, Suffolk, Tompkins, Ulster and Westchester counties and New York City, and says to confirm with the local government. There, give written notice at least 48 hours before a commercial lawn application to occupants of dwellings on abutting property within 150 feet of the application site, in English and Spanish. It must give the address to be treated; the applicator’s name, phone and business registration or applicator ID number; the date of each application with two alternate dates; the product names and EPA registration numbers; and DEC’s warning statement with the poison and health information line numbers. For a multiple-family dwelling that is itself being treated, the notice goes to the owner or agent, who passes it on. It does not apply to granular pesticides, spot treatments (a container of 32 oz or less, under 9 sq ft), direct injection, horticultural soaps and oils, EPA reduced-risk and minimum-risk pesticides, cemeteries and some other listed cases.

Sources: ECL § 33-1001 Requirements and restrictions (commercial lawn applications), 6 NYCRR § 325.40 (Cornell LII copy), DEC Policy DSH-PES-05-11, Commercial lawn application regulations (PDF), DEC Pesticide Commercial Lawn Care Contracts, ECL § 33-0905 Pesticide applicator certification, ECL § 33-1003 Visual notification, ECL § 33-1004 Lawn applications; certain municipalities, DEC Neighbor Notification, ECL § 33-1005 (second) Commissioner’s regulations

Fertilizer rules

The state law sets no fertilizer applicator license, nitrogen rate limit or fertilizer record. It covers phosphorus, dates, hard surfaces and water setbacks, and DEC says it applies to landscapers, lawn care professionals and pesticide applicators.

Phosphorus fertilizer (more than 0.67% available phosphate by weight; compost excluded) may not be applied to a lawn unless a soil test shows the lawn needs phosphorus, or the lawn is newly established and in its first growing season. DEC says this includes weed-and-feed products over 0.67% phosphorus.
No lawn fertilizer of any kind between December 1 and April 1.
Not on impervious surfaces such as parking lots, roads and sidewalks; pick up any that lands there at once.
Not within 20 feet of surface water, unless a continuous natural vegetated buffer at least 10 feet wide separates the lawn from the water, or you use a spreader guard, deflector shield or drop spreader and keep fertilizer at least 3 feet from the water.
DEC says penalties for anyone other than a household owner or occupant are up to $500 for a first violation and up to $1,000 for later ones.

Local governments may set stricter lawn fertilizer standards (those enacted after January 1, 2011 must first show DEC they are needed for local water quality). Suffolk and Nassau counties have their own fertilizer laws restricting nitrogen; DEC says to check them on the counties’ websites.

Sources: ECL Article 17, Title 21 Nutrient runoff (§§ 17-2101 to 17-2105), DEC Lawn Fertilizer (NYS Nutrient Runoff Law)

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

New York record items and GroundsQuote’s chemical application record
New York asks for	In GroundsQuote	Status
EPA registration number	EPA Reg. No., from the chemical’s setup	Recorded
Product name	Product name, from the chemical’s setup	Recorded
Quantity of each pesticide used	Total used	Recorded
Date applied	Date applied (the job’s finish)	Recorded
Address with five-digit ZIP code	Address, city, state, ZIP and county	Recorded
Dosage rate	Rate applied (per area)	Recorded
Method of application	Equipment used, set on the job (it starts from the chemical’s setup)	Recorded
Target organisms	Target pest (editable on the job)	Recorded
Kind of pesticide and its use (regulation)	Type, from the chemical’s setup, with the service, target pest and where on the property	Recorded
Exact place of application on the property	Where on the property (front lawn, beds, fence line… or a description), set on the job	Recorded

File the annual report with DEC yourself; GroundsQuote does not report to the state, but the records export in New York’s column order. Keep written contracts, neighbor notices and declinations under Chemical notices & contracts on the customer’s page; GroundsQuote keeps them but does not send the notices. The visit email can tell the customer what was applied (product name, EPA number, amount and your note), but it does not carry your business registration number, the applicator’s certification ID number, your address or the label warnings New York’s customer information requires, so keep handing those over yourself.

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), 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, 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, with each one’s standing (certified, registered technician, trained, not certified or registered), license 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, N-P-K and slow-release %, formulation, restricted-use flag, signal word, re-entry interval, and a copy of the label on file
Amounts:: Rate applied (per area), area treated in sq ft, total product used, mix ratio, water or carrier, gallons of mix applied, lb of N and P per 1,000 sq ft
Job:: Target pest and the equipment used (both set on the job), service and crew
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
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
Changes:: Corrections are saved as history; the earlier record is kept

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 York sources, checked on October 10, 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.

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Questions

When is New York’s annual pesticide report due?

By February 1, for the previous calendar year. Every commercial applicator, and every certified technician who makes applications, files it with DEC electronically; DEC no longer accepts paper reports.

Do I need to notify neighbors before treating a lawn in New York?

Only in the counties and city that have adopted the neighbor notification law. DEC lists Albany, Erie, Monroe, Nassau, Rockland, Suffolk, Tompkins, Ulster and Westchester counties and New York City, and says to confirm with the local government. There, notice goes to dwellings on abutting property within 150 feet at least 48 hours before the application.

Does New York require a fertilizer application record?

No. The state lawn fertilizer law sets no fertilizer applicator license, nitrogen rate limit or fertilizer record-keeping requirement. It limits phosphorus, application dates, hard surfaces and water setbacks.

Other states

Pesticide and fertilizer record rules by state →