Current through February, 2024
(a) The
procedures for certifying commercial applicators and renewal of commercial
applicator certifications are as follows:
(1)
For initial certification of commercial applicators and renewal of commercial
applicator certificates, the applicant shall be at1least eighteen years of age.
Application shall be made on forms prescribed by the head. Forms are available
at the department or on-line at
https://hdoa.hawaii.gov. The completed
form shall be submitted to the department, with the appropriate fee. Once the
form is received by the department, and the appropriate fee has been paid, the
applicant will be scheduled for examination. To gain entrance to the testing
facility, an applicant shall present a valid, government-issued photo
identification or other similarly reliable form of identification as proof of
identity and age. The applicant for certification as a commercial applicator
shall pass a written examination with a score of seventy per cent or better.
The core examination shall cover the general standards and procedures specified
in section 4-66-57. Category or subcategory examinations shall cover the
specific standards specified in section 4-66-58 (a).
(2) To be eligible to take category or
subcategory examinations, the applicant shall first obtain a passing score on
the core examination. If the applicant fails to pass the core examination, that
applicant is eligible to be re-examined no sooner than fourteen calendar days
after the date of the failed examination. A passing score on the core
examination will be valid for six months after the date of
examination.
(3) Certification in a
category or subcategory under section 4-66-58 requires a passing score of
seventy per cent or better on the category or subcategory examination. If the
applicant fails to pass any examination, that applicant is eligible to be
re-examined no sooner than fourteen calendar days after the date of the failed
examination. A passing score on the category or subcategory examination will
not be valid unless the applicant first obtains a passing score on the core
examination. A certificate may be issued if the applicant passes the core
examination and any other category and subcategory examinations, meets all
other requirements for certification, and complies with all other State and
federal requirements.
(4) For
renewal of commercial applicator certificates, application for renewal shall be
made no sooner than ninety days before and no later than thirty days after
expiration of certification. In order for a certified applicator's
certification to continue without interruption, the certified applicator shall
be recertified before the expiration of his or her current certification. An
applicant for recertification shall complete one of the following procedures:
(A) Continuing education. A certified
applicator may be found eligible for recertification upon successfully
completing a continuing education program by accumulating the prescribed number
of hours of training approved for each category or subcategory in which the
applicator is certified. The minimum number of training hours required for each
specific category is listed in the table below. Completion of the training must
be verified by documentation approved by the head. The training must be
completed prior to the expiration date on the applicator's certificate.
Training must be pertinent to the category or subcategory for which the
applicant is seeking to renew certification and shall be a continuing education
program of the quality, content, and quantity that will ensure the applicator
continues to maintain the level of competency required by sections 4-66-57 and
4-66-58.
|
Category
|
Applicator
|
Hours of Training Required
|
|
1(A)
|
Crop Pest Control..........
|
25
|
|
1(B)
|
Animal Pest Control........
|
20
|
|
1(C)
|
Soil and Non-soil Fumigant Pest Control..
|
30
|
|
2
|
Forest Pest Control.........
|
30
|
|
3
|
Ornamental and Turf Pest Control.........
|
30
|
|
4
|
Aerial Pest Control.........
|
25
|
|
5
|
Aquatic Pest Control.........
|
25
|
|
6
|
Right-of-Way Pest Control......
|
30
|
|
7(A)
|
Fumigation Pest Control.......
|
25*
|
|
7(B)
|
Termite Pest Control.........
|
20
|
|
7(C)
|
General Pest Control.........
|
30
|
|
7(D)
|
Institutional Pest Control......
|
30
|
|
7(E)
|
Vault Fumigation Pest Control..........
|
25*
|
|
7(F)
|
Specialty Categories.........
|
20
|
|
8
|
Public Health Pest Control......
|
24
|
|
9
|
Regulatory Pest Control.......
|
20
|
|
10
|
Demonstration, Research, & Instructional Pest
Control.........
|
30
|
|
11
|
Chemigation Pest Control.......
|
5*
|
*For asterisked items, five hours must be in specific subject
matter directly related to the category; or
(B) Written examination. Pass a written
examination as provided in section 4-66-60(a) (1).
(5) A certificate may be renewed if the
applicant has accumulated the required number of credits prior to the
expiration date on the applicator's certificate, or passed the written
examination, meets all other requirements for certification, and complies with
any other State and federal requirements,
(b) The procedures for certifying private
applicators and renewal of private applicator certifications are as follows:
(1) For initial certification of private
applicators and renewal of private applicator certificates, the applicant shall
be at least eighteen years of age. Application shall be on forms prescribed by
the head. Forms are available at the department or on-line at
https://hdoa.hawaii.gov. The
completed form shall be submitted to the department, with the appropriate fee.
Once the form is received by the department, and the appropriate fee has been
paid, the applicant will be scheduled for examination. To gain entrance to the
testing facility, an applicant shall present a valid, government-issued photo
identification or other similarly reliable form of identification as proof of
identity and age. The applicant for certification as a private applicator shall
pass a written examination with a score of seventy per cent or better. The
examination shall cover the general standards specified in section 4-66-57 and
the specific standards specified in section 4-66-58(b).
(2) The applicant shall pass a written
examination for private agricultural pest control applicator with a score of
seventy per cent or better to be eligible to take agricultural fumigation
applicator or agricultural chemigation pest control applicator examinations. A
passing score on the private agricultural pest control applicator examination
will be valid for six months after the date of examination. If the applicant
fails to pass any examination, that applicant is eligible to be re-examined no
sooner than fourteen calendar days after the date of the failed examination. If
the applicant passes the examination, meets all of the other requirements for
certification, and complies with any other State and federal requirements, a
certificate may be issued.
(3) For
renewal of private applicator certification, application for renewal shall be
made no sooner than ninety days before expiration of certification. In order
for a certified applicator's certification to continue without interruption,
the certified applicator shall be recertified before the expiration of his or
her current certification. An applicant for recertification shall complete one
of the following procedures:
(A) Continuing
education. A certified applicator may be found eligible for recertification
upon successfully completing a continuing education program by accumulating
twenty hours of training credits. Applicators certified in agricultural
fumigation, or agricultural chemigation, or both, must accumulate five hours of
training specific to each applicable category. Completion of training must be
verified by documentation approved by the head. The training must be completed
prior to the expiration date shown on the applicator's certificate and the
continuing education program shall be of the quality, content, and quantity
that will ensure the applicator continues to maintain the level of competency
required by sections 4-66-57 and 4-66-58; or
(B) Written examination. Pass a written
examination as provided in section 4-66-60(b) (1).
(4) Certification of private applicator under
special circumstances. An applicant for private applicator certification who is
unable to pass a written examination may request that the department provide
certain testing accommodations. The head shall review requests for testing
accommodation on a case-by-case basis. The applicant may be offered the
opportunity for testing under special circumstances if the head finds the
accommodation request is reasonable and will not result in public safety being
compromised. A finding by the head that the requested accommodation is
unreasonable or that public safety may be compromised by providing the
requested accommodation shall be in writing. Restrictions may be placed on a
private applicator who successfully passes certification testing under special
circumstances as deemed necessary by the head for the protection of the public
and environment. The head shall be solely responsible for determining what
constitutes successful passage of certification testing under special
circumstances. Renewal of certificates issued under this section can be granted
only through the procedures described in this paragraph.
Any applicant aggrieved by a determination of the head
relative to certification of private applicator under special circumstances may
request a hearing as provided in section
149A-34,
Hawaii Revised Statutes.
(c)
Procedures to obtain approval of certification credits for
continuing education training classes are as follows:
(1) A training class sponsor or provider
shall submit a written application to the head, requesting approval of
certification credits for each training class no less than thirty calendar days
prior to the scheduled date of each class. A fee for expedited approval of
certification credits may be assessed for approval requests received less than
thirty calendar days prior to the scheduled date of each class. Appropriate
subject matter for training classes is set forth in sections 4-66-57 and
4-66-58.
(2) The written
application shall include the name and contact information of the sponsor or
provider, instructor credentials, a substantive class description or outline of
sufficient detail so evaluation of the course content can be made, a sample of
any materials to be provided to the participants, who may attend the class, if
any fee will be charged, class evaluation method, and the dates, times, and
location of the class. The head shall approve or deny credits within ten
business days following receipt of the written application for certification
credit.
(3) Approval of training
class credit shall be valid for two years, after which time a new written
application requesting approval of certification credit shall be
submitted.
(4) The number of
credits issued for a training session shall be based on an evaluation of course
content, instructor qualifications, and the duration of the course by the head.
The number of credits approved by the head may be adjusted if department
monitoring of the course demonstrates that content and duration either exceeds
or fails to meet course description as approved.
(5) Credits shall be awarded to those
applicators whose attendance at the session is documented. The training class
sponsor or provider shall maintain a record of attendance at the approved
sessions.
(6) The record shall show
the name, certification number, arrival and departure time for each attendee
desiring credits toward certification renewal. The training class sponsor or
provider shall forward the record of attendance to the head within thirty
calendar days following the course. Failure to timely forward the training
class attendance record to the head may result in denial of future training
class or certification credit.
(7)
Requests to obtain training credit towards certification renewal from sources
other than in-person training class attendance may be approved on a
case-by-case basis at the sole discretion of the head.
(d) All certifications and renewals issued
under this section shall be valid for five years following date of issuance,
unless revoked. The date of issuance is the date the examination was passed.
Application for renewal shall be on forms prescribed by the head. Forms are
available at the department or on-line at https://hdoa.hawaii.gov.
(e) Changes to Certificates and Replacement
Certificates. A certification is valid only for the name, category, address,
and employer, if applicable, shown on the certificate or recorded on the
application for certification or certification renewal. Any changes to the
certificate must be reported to the head by the certificate holder within
thirty calendar days of any change. Forms to update the certificate holder's
information shall be prescribed by the head. Forms are available at the
department or on-line at https://hdoa.hawaii.gov. Failure to
notify the head within thirty days of any change in name, applicator category,
address, or employer may result in certification revocation, or may subject the
certificate holder to additional penalties as provided by law. Applicators may
request a replacement certificate to update information, to replace lost
certificates, and to consolidate certifications on different certificates. The
replacement certificate with appropriate changes shall be issued after payment
of appropriate fees. A replacement certificate will expire on the same date as
the original certification. If the certificate holder requests consolidation of
certificates onto a single certificate, then those certifications will expire
on the earliest certificate's expiration date.
(f) Should the certification of any
commercial applicator or private applicator be suspended or revoked, the
certified applicator shall participate in a remedial education program prior to
applying for reinstatement of certification.
