Compiled by NYSDEC

If you currently hold an active certification allowing you to make commercial pesticide applications in calendar year 2023, you are required by law to submit an acceptable annual report of your pesticide applications (or lack thereof) no later than FEBRUARY 1, 2024.  Regardless of employment status, ALL actively certified Commercial Applicators and Technicians, (including Aquatic Antifouling Paint Applicators) are REQUIRED to file an annual report.  Submitting an annual report is required even if you made NO pesticide applications during the year.  All annual reports must be submitted at www.nysprl.com or using our PRL Reporting Software. Use of forms created by non-Department software may be rejected.

The option to email report files to prlfiles@nysprl.com is no longer an acceptable submission route. ALL reports must be submitted using the DEC's reporting programs or the file upload function on www.nysprl.com.

If an annual report containing your certification ID number is not submitted by February 1, 2024, and found acceptable, you may be issued a Notice of Violation and a $250 fine for failure to report. If your employer states that they will be submitting an annual report on your behalf, you should confirm that your employer has submitted an acceptable report by the February 1, 2024 due date.

The Pesticide Reporting Law (PRL) was revised, effective June 19, 2022, to state:

"All commercial applicators shall file, at least annually, a report or reports containing such information with the department in an electronic format developed or accepted by the department consistent with system file specifications or on scannable forms, if developed by the department, on or before February first for the prior calendar year."

The Department has not developed a scannable form to capture pesticide sales data for direct upload to our database. Therefore, per the new PRL requirements, reports must be submitted in an electronic format that meets the Department's specifications.  The Department has developed electronic report forms and software for compliant report submission.  You may also submit files created with third-party software if they meet our file specifications.

February 1 is the deadline written in the law, and extensions cannot be granted. The Department's deadline for reviewing and reporting your data to the Governor and Legislature was also revised.  Therefore, providing correct and accurate reports by the February 1 deadline is extremely important. Failure to do so may result in being issued a Notice of Violation and a $250 fine.

Reporting Process Changes  

1) The PRL CHANGED. The way you have always reported may also need to change. DEC staff will not entertain disputes involving the way you have reported in the past.

2) Reports that are mailed to the Department on paper will be REJECTED. These reports will NOT be returned to you.

3) Scanned images or PDF files that are uploaded to the reporting website will be REJECTED.

4) Report files that do not match the specifications developed by the Department or the format of the files created by the DEC's FREE reporting programs or spreadsheets may be REJECTED.

If you cannot extract report data from your electronic records or if you keep paper records, you must manually type the report data into one of the DEC's reporting programs or spreadsheets.

Information about the reporting programs as well as the electronic reporting software is available at: www.nysprl.com.

Contact the Reporting Service Bureau at 1-800-281-7538 (607-255-9098 (outside NY)) or prlsupport@nysprl.com for electronic reporting questions.

How to Tell If My Report Has Been Accepted

All electronic reports initiate TWO email responses: the 1st is proof of submission, the 2nd will either notify you that your report has been accepted, or it will be an error report, notifying you that your report has not been accepted, with guidance on how to revise your report. If you do not receive the 2nd email within a few weeks of report submission, check your spam/junk email folders. You will ALWAYS receive a 2nd email. Your report is not accepted until it has passed the review process. If you do not revise a failed report, you will receive a Notice of Violation and a $250 fine for failure to report. You are responsible for ensuring that your report has passed the review process and has been accepted.

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Be sure to submit all files together in a single submission. Do not send parts of your annual report separately or multiple times. Review your report before submitting it to ensure that all the required information has been included. Reports with missing or invalid data will be rejected.

The Department is developing a video series to assist in using the reporting software; the videos will be available to watch on the reporting website soon. Visit www.nysprl.com for more information.  

For general reporting questions, or if you need assistance reporting that you made NO applications, email prl@dec.ny.gov or call 518-402-8748.

Be sure to update your contact information with the Department each time it changes, this will ensure you receive our notices in a timely manner.

If you would like to subscribe to the Pesticide Update listserv, go to: www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/298.html and follow the instructions.

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Common Reporting Issues

Common Annual Pesticide Report Issues for Applicators/Technicians- Electronic Report Form 44-15-26

Report Filing:  

• All Applicators and Technicians must file a report each year, even if no applications occurred during the year. 
• Some applicators believe their company or agency will/must file an annual report for them. Businesses are NOT required to file annual use reports for employees. If your company does, understand that this is a courtesy.
• If you or your employer incorrectly input your certification ID number on your report, you will be considered a non-reporter and will receive a Notice of Violation. Check your DEC-issued identification card for correct ID number.
• All reports must be submitted in an electronic format, compatible with the guidance at www.nysprl.com.

Column 1: EPA Registration Number - Required for ALL applications: 

• Report EPA Registration Numbers as they appear on the product labels.
• All EPA numbers have one or two hyphens; not dots or stars. 
• 62719-486-34704 is correct for Signature Dimension 0.10 Plus Fertilizer, 67219-468-34704, 11800-CA-001, 6271948634704, are all wrong.  
• Do not include products that do not have EPA Registration Numbers and are not pesticides, i.e., glue boards, mouse traps, fertilizer, adjuvants, and surfactants.
• Do not report FIFRA-exempt products.
• Report only ONE pesticide product per row, even if the application is a mixture of pesticide products.
• Use Special Local Need product numbers (SLN) if these products were applied.  

Column 2: Product Name - Required for ALL applications:

• Report the Product Name, NOT the Active Ingredient nor the manufacturer's name. 

Column 3: Quantity Used - Required for ALL applications: 

• Report the amount of product used. Input only numbers into this column. 
• If 10 grams of a product was used, input "10" in Column 3 and input "GM" in Column 4 (Units).
• Do not report the amount of product + diluent. Report only the amount of product used.
• Determine the amount of each product applied if a mixture is used. 
• Do not report the amount of active ingredient used, report the amount of product. 
• Do not report fractions; use decimals. For example, use 0.5 or .5 and not ½. Please check the decimal place.

Column 4: Units - Required for ALL applications:

• The acceptable units are: Gallons = GL, Quarts = QT, Fluid Ounces = FL, Dry Ounces = OZ, Pounds = LB, Liters = L, Milliliters = ML, Kilograms = KG, Grams = GM, Milligrams = MG.
• Do not report "pieces", "packs", "chunks', "G", "each", "bags", "spoons".  Input GL for gallons or GM for grams.
• Do not report the rate of application, or rate of dilution.

Column 5: Date of Application - Required for ALL applications: 

• Report the date of EACH application as follows: MM-DD or MM-DD-YY (May 9, 2023= 05-09 or 05-09-23).

Column 6: End Date of Application:

• This column is only to be used for 7G Cooling tower applications.

Column 7: County Code - Required for ALL applications:

• Enter the correct County Code; the list of codes is on the right side of the electronic Form 26 for your convenience. 

Column 8: Address - Required for ALL applications: 

• Report the nearest street address where the application was made. This cannot be a Post Office Box. 
• In cases where the nearest street address is not standard, use mile markers or cross-roads.

Column 9: Municipality - Required for ALL applications:

• Report the town/village/city that corresponds to the street address given in Column 8; NOT the County name

Column 10: Zip Code - Required for ALL applications: 

• Report the correct 5-digit zip code for the municipality reported in Column 9. 
• Do not report applications made outside of New York.

Contact Information

For general reporting questions call (518) 402-8748 or email prl@dec.ny.gov

For electronic reporting questions call 800-281-7538 (in NY) or 607-255-9098 (outside NY) or email prlsupport@nysprl.com.