Title 7AgricultureRelease 119-73

§136i–1 Pesticide recordkeeping

Title 7 › Chapter CHAPTER 6— - INSECTICIDES AND ENVIRONMENTAL PESTICIDE CONTROL › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER II— - ENVIRONMENTAL PESTICIDE CONTROL › § 136i–1

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Certified applicators who use restricted-use pesticides must keep records like the ones commercial applicators keep in each State. If a State has no record rule, the applicator must record the product name, amount, approximate date, and location for each use and keep those records for 2 years. A commercial applicator must give a copy of the record to the person who hired them within 30 days. Federal or State agencies working on pesticide, health, or environmental issues can request those records. Agencies must not release information that would identify individual producers. Federal access goes through the Secretary of Agriculture; State access goes through the State’s lead agency. If a health professional needs the records to treat someone exposed, the applicator must provide them promptly, and immediately in an emergency. The Secretary of Agriculture enforces these rules. First violations can be fined up to $500; later violations must be at least $1,000 unless the person tried in good faith. The Secretary and the EPA Administrator must make a database and yearly reports to Congress by April 1, and they must write rules for their parts within 180 days after November 28, 1990. The requirements do not change other Federal or State laws.

Full Legal Text

Title 7, §136i–1

Agriculture — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)(1)The Secretary of Agriculture, in consultation with the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, shall require certified applicators of restricted use pesticides (of the type described under section 136a(d)(1)(C) of this title) to maintain records comparable to records maintained by commercial applicators of pesticides in each State. If there is no State requirement for the maintenance of records, such applicator shall maintain records that contain the product name, amount, approximate date of application, and location of application of each such pesticide used for a 2-year period after such use.
(2)Within 30 days of a pesticide application, a commercial certified applicator shall provide a copy of records maintained under paragraph (1) to the person for whom such application was provided.
(b)Records maintained under subsection (a) shall be made available to any Federal or State agency that deals with pesticide use or any health or environmental issue related to the use of pesticides, on the request of such agency. Each such Federal agency shall conduct surveys and record the data from individual applicators to facilitate statistical analysis for environmental and agronomic purposes, but in no case may a government agency release data, including the location from which the data was derived, that would directly or indirectly reveal the identity of individual producers. In the case of Federal agencies, such access to records maintained under subsection (a) shall be through the Secretary of Agriculture, or the Secretary’s designee. State agency requests for access to records maintained under subsection (a) shall be through the lead State agency so designated by the State.
(c)When a health professional determines that pesticide information maintained under this section is necessary to provide medical treatment or first aid to an individual who may have been exposed to pesticides for which the information is maintained, upon request persons required to maintain records under subsection (a) shall promptly provide record and available label information to that health professional. In the case of an emergency, such record information shall be provided immediately.
(d)The Secretary of Agriculture shall be responsible for the enforcement of subsections (a), (b), and (c). A violation of such subsection shall—
(1)in the case of the first offense, be subject to a fine of not more than $500; and
(2)in the case of subsequent offenses, be subject to a fine of not less than $1,000 for each violation, except that the penalty shall be less than $1,000 if the Secretary determines that the person made a good faith effort to comply with such subsection.
(e)The requirements of this section shall not affect provisions of other Federal or State laws.
(f)The Secretary of Agriculture and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, shall survey the records maintained under subsection (a) to develop and maintain a data base that is sufficient to enable the Secretary and the Administrator to publish annual comprehensive reports concerning agricultural and nonagricultural pesticide use. The Secretary and Administrator shall enter into a memorandum of understanding to define their respective responsibilities under this subsection in order to avoid duplication of effort. Such reports shall be transmitted to Congress not later than April 1 of each year.
(g)The Secretary of Agriculture and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency shall promulgate regulations on their respective areas of responsibility implementing this section within 180 days after November 28, 1990.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Codification Section was enacted as part of the Conservation Program Improvements Act, and also as part of the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990, and not as part of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act which comprises this subchapter.

Amendments

1991—Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 102–237, § 1006(d)(1), inserted closing parenthesis after “section 136a(d)(1)(C) of this title”. Subsec. (d)(1). Pub. L. 102–237, § 1006(d)(2), inserted “of” after “fine”.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

7 U.S.C. § 136i–1

Title 7Agriculture

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73