The IL Department of Agriculture is charged with enforcing both federal and state provisions related to pesticide sales and application.  Their regulatory program regularly reviews the records of pesticide dealers to assure proper recordkeeping and licensing.  It's important to remember that if IDA did not perform this function, the alternative is USEPA inspections.  Federal penalties for non-compliance have several more 0's in them than penalties outlined in the Illinois Pesticide Act.  

 

There are some penalties being issued by IDA regarding proper sales of Restricted Use Pesticide as well as licensing.  They are:

 

1.  No sales of a RUP can be made to someone who does not have a current, valid pesticide license for the use of that product.  When you split the pesticide invoices between the farmer, landlord or farm manager, those invoices MUST have the name of the farmer who applied the pesticide for that property and his pesticide license #  on the invoice.  An invoice is considered a bill of sale, and remember any bill of sale must be tied back to the applicator of the RUP with their name, license # and date of sale.  The penalty for failing to put the license # on the landlord invoice is $1,000 and is clearly stated in the statute and the penalty is non-negotiable.  
 

2.  If you sell any pesticides labeled for agricultural use in 2.5 gallon containers or greater, you must have a Pesticide Dealer License.  However, if your company also has a person who is a licensed commercial applicator, then the Pesticide Dealer License fee and the exam for a Pesticide Dealer license does not apply, BUT YOU STILL HAVE TO REGISTER AS A PESTICIDE DEALER.  There is a check box on the commercial applicator license form that you can simply check to register as a Pesticide Dealer in addition to being a commercial applicator.  Failure to register as a Pesticide Dealer if you are selling 2.5 containers or greater to customers is also a non-negotiable $1000 penalty.  If you are uncertain about your status, you can call IDA at 217.785.2427 or go to their website where you can lookup licensed dealers and applicators. Click here then scroll down to "Environmental Programs" to search for pesticide dealers, applicators and operators by name.