New Colorado Department of Agriculture (CDA) regulation became effective January 1, 2016, requiring business entities who apply a general use pesticide on public property or at private business locations, including sensitive sites such as the property of hospitals and health care facilities required to be licensed from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, be trained in the core elements of pesticide safety and use prior to making pesticide applications. General use pesticides (GUPs) are over-the-counter products that do not require licensure to use. This applies to any business, public or private.
CDA's rule is based on new statutory requirements in the Pesticide Applicators' Act which were passed by the Colorado legislature in 2015. In addition to health facilities, it also applies to schools and day care centers across the state. CDA'S rule was finalized in December 2015. The new law requires training for persons using a pesticide that requires mixing of a concentrate into a separate container from the original at all sites. In addition, for the application of ready to use (RTU) general use pesticides (those that do not require mixing and loading, pre-mixed pesticides that remain in the original container, aerosols, etc.) when made at sensitive sites such as schools, day care and health facilities; training is required to use RTU's in these areas.
Fortunately, CDA and the Colorado State University have developed a free on-line pesticide safety training course to address this new requirement, which is available to all effected entities.
We encourage you to review the Rule requirements, which can be found in Part 16 of the Rules and Regulations Pertaining to the Administration and Enforcement of the Pesticide Applicators' Act(https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/sites/default/files/8%20CCR%201203-2%20Website%202016.pdf).
CSU offers a free online pesticide training course (https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/agplants/pesticides). On the web page, look under the heading "Colorado Department of Agriculture's Basic Pesticide Online Training for Non-Registered Limited Commercial and Public Applicators." The course is approximately 2.5 hours.
If you have any questions, please contact John Scott, Section Chief of the Pesticides Program at the Colorado Department of Agriculture, JohnW.Scott@state.co.us or 303-869-9056.
This blog publishes information typically sent to users of the Colorado Health Facilities Interactive (COHFI) system for health care entities regulated by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. Please note that COHFI is the official medium for business communication between the Department and licensed and/or Medicare/Medicaid certified health care entities. Health care entities should continue to monitor their email accounts routinely.
