During CTPA’s virtual Annual Meeting, Diane Jorsey, DEEP’s Program Lead for the Pesticide Management Program, indicated that DEEP was in the process converting their certification and business registration programs to the statewide government e-licensing program. That conversion is now well underway, with the examination processes for the Arborist Licensing exam, other Pesticide Supervisory certifications and the Operator’s certification all now on-line. This is along with the Pesticide and Arborist Business Registrations, both new registrations and renewals.
To get to the e-licensing system, go to the e-licensing web site. Before you do, however, you might want to look through this post to get a few pointers. To help you with your specific questions, this page is broken up into several sections, as follows:
For Those Who Already Hold a Certification or License in the State and Want to Log on For the First Time
If you already have a pesticide supervisory certification, operator certification or arborist license, or if you have another state credential included in the e-licensing system, you should already be registered in the system. If so, even if you have not logged onto the system from the e-licensing page previously, do not set up a new account. Do not hit the “Register” button.
Instead, on the left-hand side of the page, where it gives you the opportunity to enter your User ID and Password – hit “Forgot User ID”. This will lead to a prompt for you to enter your email address. Once you do that , further information about how to log in will to be sent to that address.
If the email address associated with your DEEP records is one that you have stopped using, you will need to contact DEEP directly to get them to send you a temporary User ID and Password. Once you have logged in, you can make all of the necessary changes to your account, including updating your email account information.
This is all covered in this overview put together by the State.
For Those of You Who Wish to Renew or Create A Pesticide or Arborist Business Registration
The business registration account is separate from your personal account. You cannot use the same User ID or email address for both accounts.
For those people who have existing Arborist or Pesticide Business Registration accounts, your User ID and passwords will be sent out by DEEP within a couple of weeks (by mid-June).
If you have not previously registered your arborist or pesticide business with DEEP, go to the e-licensing page and click on the “Register” link. The first option after that is to choose whether you are registering as an individual or as a business. Click on “business” and proceed from there.
For Individuals with an Existing Commercial Pesticide Supervisory License Who Want to Add an Additional Pesticide License Category
The way things are set up in the system, adding a category to an existing Commercial Pesticide Certificate is very different from adding a new license, such as a Home Improvement License or a Pesticide Operator’s Certificate. We’ll take them one at a time.
If you have, say, an Arborist License and wish to add an additional category, say an Ornamental and Turf or a Right-of-Way Certification, according to the system, you are adding a new category to an existing Commercial Pesticide Supervisory License. The place where you need to go on-line to start the process is not all that obvious.
To start the process, first, be sure you are logged onto your account. Then, either at the bottom of the page, under “More Online Services” or at the top right hand corner of the page, under “Online Services”, find the link for “License Maintenance” – it is under “Activities”. Click on that link. It will bring you to a page that will ask you to select which credential you wish to work on. One choice (depending upon how many state licenses you hold) will be referenced under “Board” as “Pesticide Management Program”. To the left of that it will say “Start”. Click on “Start”. At this point, you then be given two choices – “Add an Additional Pesticide Category” or “Upload your Annual Pesticide Use Summary”. Make your choice and hit “Next” at the bottom of the page.
On the next screen, you will be asked to “Select and add the Pesticide Certification Category(s) being requested as part of this application”. Below that, you will see an “Add” button. After you hit that button you will be given a drop-down list of pesticide categories to choose from. Choose the one you want and then follow the subsequent instructions to register with DEEP for the exam in this category.
At the end of this process, you will be asked to pay a fee of $200 to DEEP. This fee must be paid electronically. Once that fee is paid, DEEP will begin the approval of your application. This may take a day or two. Once that has occurred, DEEP will send your name and email address to the company that does the actual testing. You will be getting an email from that company. Please see The Testing Process, below.
If you wish to take an exam that is not within the Commercial Pesticide Supervisory License, you must start the process in a completely different place. For instance, if you want to add a Home Improvement Contractor’s License or a Junior Pesticide Operator’s Certificate to your list of qualifications, on the Welcome Page (the first page you see when you log on) you must go the section on “APPLICATION FOR A NEW LICENSE, PERMIT OR REGISTRATION” and, in that section, click on the link for “Initial Application”. On the next page, you will be given a list of choices, including “Home Contractor” and “Pesticide Management Program (DEEP)”. Click on the area that seems most likely to be associated with the license or permit you are seeking and then pick up the process from there.
For Those Taking the Arborist Licensing Exam, any other Pesticide Supervisory Exam or Operators Certification, for the First Time
If you are not registered within the e-licensing system, then you must begin by creating an account. When you first arrive at the e-licensing web site, you will see a section on the page titled “INITIAL APPLICATION”, with a “Register” link listed under it. Start there.
After you indicate that you are seeking to register as an individual, you will be prompted to answer many questions, including your name, address and contact information, as well as additional personal information to be used as an identifier. You will be asked, at some point, what exam you would like to take. For the Arborist License, keep in mind that, under the Pesticide Management system, the Arborist License is a Commercial Pesticide Supervisory License under the DEEP Pesticide Management Program. You will have to progress through a couple of layers to get to the Arborist License listing.
Also, during the course of establishing your credentials, you will be asked for the name of your employer or of the company for whom you will be working once you have your license. If you are not working in the tree care field presently and/or, once licensed, do not anticipate working for the company with whom you are presently employed, feel free to indicate that you are to be self-employed.
Eventually, you will have given the system all of the required information that is needed. The last step of the exam registration process is approving a payment of $200 to the DEEP. This payment must be in the form of a credit card, debit card or e-check. Once this part of the process is completed, DEEP will take a couple of days to review your information and, once it has been approved, DEEP will send your name and email address to the company that does the actual testing. Please see The Testing Process, next.
The Testing Process
Once DEEP has confirmed your registration, the agency will send your name and email address to Everblue, the company with whom DEEP has contracted. While Everblue gives the exam, DEEP has drawn up the questions – it is their exam. Once Everblue is notified by DEEP, it then sends an email back to you, as the applicant. You then must completely fill out the application that Everblue has sent to you and pay a $21 fee for the online service. Once that is done, Everblue will send you two emails. One will be a receipt for the $21 and the other will provide you with a link to the exam.
Once you receive the link to the exam, they can take the test at any time of your choosing, whether day or night. Please note, however, that you must complete the exam within 60 days. After 60 days your registration with Everblue expires and you will have to re-apply and re-pay the Everblue fees.
When you go online to take the exam, you must be at a computer that has a camera and microphone. Before you will be allowed to proceed with the exam, you will be required to show a photo ID and then rotate your computer or its camera to do a 360 degree scan of the room you are in. It is important that you follow all of the rules and stay on camera the whole time while taking the exam. You will have 3 hours for the arborist’s written exam, with no breaks. Be sure to plan accordingly.
The good news is that, once you complete the test, you will learn how well you did almost immediately. If you do not pass (think positive!), you can re-take the exam after 30 days. One interesting feature of this testing process is that the questions from various previous DEEP exams can be scrambled, from test to test, so that no two exams are now likely to be the same.
If you are signed up to take the Arborist Licensing Exam, passing the written test is just the first part. You will then be invited to take the next available Tree ID and Oral Exam. These are given 4 times a year, in June, September, December and March. You will be notified of the date and location once you pass the written exam. There is no additional charge for this next part of the testing process.
Final Note
This is clearly a lot of information that will not all be of interest to everyone. If you have any questions regarding any of the DEEP licensing exams, feel free to contact the DEEP directly.