Section 4-66-60 - Certification procedures; certificate renewal(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.[Eff. 07/13/81; am and comp DEC 16 2006] (Auth: HRS § 149A-33, 40 CFR §171.7) (Imp: HRS § 149A-33, 40 CFR §171.7)[Am and comp 8/23/2019] (Auth: HRS 40 CFR §§ 171.105, 171.107 ) (Imp: HRS 40 CFR §§ 171.105, 171.107 )