There are five submission methods from which you may choose:
Please mail any physical media or paper reports to NYSDEC at:
NYSDEC
Pesticide Reporting Section
P.O. Box 10699
12201-5699
Each diskette or CD-ROM sent out should include a label with the full name of
the certified applicator and/or business of origin and a contact phone number.
Please note: all electronic submissions must also contain the identity text file (identity.txt)
that was created for you from the registration screen within the software. This
file is located in the "c:\prlyyyy\identity.txt" (where yyyy is the reporting year,
2007 for example) directory.
For additional information on submitting paper reports see: The Pesticide Reporting Law (PRL) page on the NYSDEC web site.
Files that conform to one of the Electronic Reporting Options may be submitted
using the FTP technology. To minimize network impact, file sizes
of 10MB or less are best suited for this transmission option.
To maintain the level of security required, if you wish to use this service,
you must contact technical support.
Technical support will supply the information necessary to conduct a secure FTP
transmission of the Pesticide Reporting data. Upon request, the FTP configuration
information and password will be provided via Email, FAX, or verbally from technical
support. To ensure privacy of data, the password is changed for each new session.
To facilitate the FTP submission option, an FTP client program is recommended.
These are readily available from a number of sites on the Internet and can be
used for evaluation or for purchase.
You should send an email to
prlfiles@nysprl.com to submit your report electronically. Please
include your name, company name and the appropriate DEC-issued ID number
(certification ID, business registration ID or commercial permit ID) in the
body of the message. See the response to the
What information do I need to include in the body of my email submission? FAQ
for more information.
You should not put your report in the body of
the email; this will delay processing of the report. Instead, you
should send the report as an attachment to the email; you will have
to consult the help facility for your email service on how to do
this, as the procedures can vary quite substantially.
Always include the identity.txt file and all the files containing the report forms that you created.
Back to the Table of Contents Back to the Service Bureau HomepageThe actual report files are located in a folder that is created by the program when you run it. This folder is named "prl" (lower case) followed by the reporting year. Thus, for 2009 you will have a folder called "C:\prl2009", where the "C:\" is your hard disk. Similarly, for 2010 you would have a folder named "C:\prl2010", and so forth. The data files you need to attach live in that folder. It is also possible that you changed the folder for the report files to one of your own choosing.
Especially important is the file called identity.txt, which always lives in the "C:\prl..." folder, no matter where you might have moved your report files. This file contains the identification information we need in order to credit you with filing a report for the year.
Please do not send us the shortcuts (extension ".lnk") that are installed on your computer's desktop. These are empty files on your computer that we cannot access from the NY Pesticide Reporting Service Bureau. A shortcut can be identified by the small arrow that points up and to the right in the file icon. It can also be identified by checking the file properties. To do this use your mouse to right click on the file. Choose Properties. If a tab called "Shortcut" is visible in the Properties window, then the file is a shortcut.
If you are using the Spreadsheet eForm option (Option B), please do not send us any files from the "C:\Program Files\NYSPRL\OptionB" folder. These forms are empty. They are templates for starting a new report form.
Back to the Table of Contents Back to the Service Bureau HomepageFor all options including Option B, send the identity.txt text file. For all options except Option B, send report files as text files. The text files created by our software use the ".txt" extension. Option B report files are Microsoft Excel files, which have a ".xls" extension.
If your computer is not set up to display file extensions, use your mouse to right click on the file. Choose Properties. The extension is listed on the "General" tab in the Files of Type field.
Back to the Table of Contents Back to the Service Bureau HomepageClick the "My Computer" icon on your computer's desktop or use the Windows Explorer.
Back to the Table of Contents Back to the Service Bureau HomepageThis is the root program installation directory. Depending on what software option you are using it will contain an "OptionA," "OptionB," or "OptionC" subfolder. There is no reason for you to access any of the files in these folders. The report files you save are not kept here.
Back to the Table of Contents Back to the Service Bureau HomepageThis is the default directory for storing the report files that you save. See the response to the "Where are the report files and the identity.txt file located on my computer?" FAQ.
Back to the Table of Contents Back to the Service Bureau HomepageThere are many different email programs in use by the regulated pesticide community. Each of these programs uses different methods to attach files to an email message. In most cases, however, once the attachment window is open, the process of locating a directory within that window is quite similar.
To find the folder when attaching the files to the email message you will send to the Service Bureau, open up your email program's attachment window. Typically, the window will have a field at the top called "Look In", "Browse", or something similar. Click the down arrow at the left side of this field. A drop down list of folder names will appear. Point and click the mouse at the "Local Disk (C:)" folder. A new list of folders will be displayed in the large area below the "Look In:" field.
Use the scroll bar to scroll the list until "prl2009" appears. The scroll bar is a horizontal bar with outward facing arrows at either end. Click the arrows with the mouse to make the bar move and scroll the folder list. Alternatively, your email program's attachment window may have a vertical scroll bar. A vertical scroll bar is used in the same way as a horizontal scroll bar.
When you find the "prl2009" folder, click it with the mouse. Your report files and the identity.txt file will appear. Highlight each of these files by clicking them with the mouse. To select multiple files, hold down the CTRL key while clicking on each file. When finished, click the "Open" or "Attach" button at the bottom of the window. This will attach the files to your email message.
Back to the Table of Contents Back to the Service Bureau HomepageYes. Click the "Upload Report To NYSDEC Via Internet" button on the registration form.
A warning message is displayed which informs you that your computer must be connected to the Internet to use the upload feature. If you have any trouble using this feature, use one of the other submission methods (see the response to the How can I submit my report? FAQ).
Next you will be prompted by "Did you save your files in the PRL2009 directory? : Yes or No." This is the default directory where the program stores your files unless you have changed it by choosing another location.
If you answer "No," then a list of directories in the standard Windows format will display. Simply navigate to the directory where your files are located, select the directory and click Done.
These steps will bring you to the upload form. There are five steps to follow on the form:
Option A requires a computer with Windows 95 or higher, and needs 15–25 MB of free space on drive C (the hard drive). Option B requires a computer with Excel 97 or higher and Windows 95 or higher. Option C requires a computer with Windows 95 or higher, and needs ~5 MB of free space on drive C.
Back to the Table of Contents Back to the Service Bureau HomepageFor electronic submissions, two reply emails are sent. The first is simply an acknowledgement that we received your submission. It is sent to the email address that submitted the report.
The second is sent after we have successfully processed it. This email message is sent to the email that was typed into the registration form that is included with the Option A, B, and C software. If no email address, a bogus address, or an incorrect address was entered there, you will not receive a second email. The second email message is usually sent about two to three weeks after we receive your report. This delay is due to the large number of reports that applicators submit within a short time frame.
Back to the Table of Contents Back to the Service Bureau HomepageThis address is captured on the registration form that is included with the Option A, B, and C software. The second reply email is generated by a program that does not have access to the "Reply-To" field of the email that you submitted your report with. It is therefore crucial that you enter this address in the registration form of the software option you are using.
Back to the Table of Contents Back to the Service Bureau HomepageIt depends on how you submitted the report, and whether there were problems in the data formats. There is also the question of how much of a processing backlog there is at the time. Our turnaround goal is 15 business days. If there are problems with the data formats, we may in some cases be able to do some cleanup, but this will cause delays in processing your submission. If the problems are so widespread that attempting to clean the report would cause delays for processing other submissions, we will have to request that you do the cleanup yourself and resubmit.
Back to the Table of Contents Back to the Service Bureau HomepageAn e-convert is a report submission that does not use one of our standard software options. The standard software options are the three options available from the NYSPRL web site. In some cases we will work with businesses that store their data in formats that approximate our standard formats. This is done on a case-by-case basis each year. We reserve the right to reject any submission which uses a format that differs from our standard reporting options if the format cannot be reliably converted.
Once we receive your e-convert submission, we need to do some processing on your data to get them into the format used by our validation programs. For this reason, processing e-converts takes longer than the standard reports. The less data cleanup we have to do on your submission, the faster we will be able to process it. If there is so much work needed that it would cause delays in processing other submissions, we will have to request that you clean the data yourself. In some cases it is simply impossible for us to cleanup your data because required data items are missing. In this event you will be asked to supply the missing data.
Back to the Table of Contents Back to the Service Bureau HomepageYou should choose "Enable Macros." The software does not work correctly without macros enabled. For example, the registration form that is used to capture your identity information will not display. If this happens we may be unable to determine which business or applicator is filing the pesticide report we receive.
Back to the Table of Contents Back to the Service Bureau HomepageInformation on what macro settings need to be enabled and how to set them can be found here. Many of the features of the program will not operate correctly without macros enabled.
Back to the Table of Contents Back to the Service Bureau HomepageSee the response to the "What are the macro security settings that I need to have in Excel to submit my report electronically?" FAQ.
Back to the Table of Contents Back to the Service Bureau HomepageIn a few cases people that downloaded our software prior to November, 2006, encountered this error message when they ran the installation program. The message occurs when the cmd.exe program or a related file have been deleted from your computer. If you get this error message, try downloading a new copy of the software and installing it. If you still need help, please contact Technical Support. (See the contact information here.)
Back to the Table of Contents Back to the Service Bureau HomepageThe spaces for name and certification number are filled by the program using the data you entered in the registration form that is displayed when you open up the spreadsheet. If a registration form did not display, it is because the wrong macro security settings are in effect in your copy of Excel. Information on what macro settings need to be enabled and how to set them can be found here. Many of the features of the program will not operate correctly without macros enabled.
Back to the Table of Contents Back to the Service Bureau HomepageInclude the name and phone number of a contact person whom we can call if there are any problems with the submission.
If you are reporting for a registered pesticide business or a commercial sales business, include your business name and your business registration number or commercial permit number.
If you are reporting for a business that employs multiple applicators but that does not have a registered business number, include the business name.
If you are reporting for a single applicator, report his/her name and certification number.
Back to the Table of Contents Back to the Service Bureau HomepageAt the Service Bureau home page, click next to item 4 which is labelled:
"To download one of our electronic reporting options".This will
take you to the Electronic Reporting Options page. At the top of that
page is a list of links to various places further down the page; click
on "Download PRL Electronic Filing Options" to get to the download
section. Choose from one of the three options.
Please remember that
these software options are not "the files to send
to the Pesticide Service
Bureau" but rather blank templates to put on your computer so you can
enter your report data.
No, we do not provide online data entry for your pesticide report data. If you are a commercial applicator or technician who did not apply any pesticides during the report year or you are a commercial sales permittee who did not sell any pesticides, you may report to us online. Click next to item 1 which is labelled: "If you did not make applications or sales in 2009" on our home page and then follow the directions on the next page.
Back to the Table of Contents Back to the Service Bureau HomepageWhen you download and install the NY Pesticide Service Bureau software, it creates an icon on your desktop. This is a "shortcut" to the actual program, placed there for your convenience in accessing the program, just like many of your other desktop icons. It is important to remember that these icons are not the actual programs or data files. If you attach the shortcut to your submission, you are not attaching the data files we need—you are attaching a set of directions to your computer for how to find the data files or program. If you look at the list of files attached to your submission and you see any whose names end in ".lnk", then you have attached a shortcut. See the "Where are the report files and the identity.txt file located on my computer?" FAQ for where to find the files we actually need and additional information about shortcuts.
Back to the Table of Contents Back to the Service Bureau HomepageOn the NY Pesticide Service Bureau home page click next to item 5 which is labelled, "To check whether NYSDEC has received your calendar year 2009 pesticide report". The link will take you to an external webpage that allows you to access a database to see whether your report has been received. Please note that this database will not become active until December, 2009.
Back to the Table of Contents Back to the Service Bureau HomepageYou may check our "Reports Logged" database. This database contains all the certification numbers, business numbers, and commercial permit numbers contained in the reports that we have processed. Because of the volume of reports we receive, we cannot process your report as soon as we receive it. Standard reports that do not require any data cleanup may take up to 15 days to process.
See the "Where is the 'Reports Logged' database?" FAQ for how to access this database.
Back to the Table of Contents Back to the Service Bureau HomepagePeople often use different shorthand notations for dates. In order to process your submission in a timely fashion, we need to have all dates in a single format, rather than try to figure out what shorthand was meant. This date format is MM/DD/YYYY—in other words, 2 digits for month, followed by 2 digits for day-of-month, followed by 4 digits for year. Each part should be separated by the slash character "/".
Back to the Table of Contents Back to the Service Bureau HomepageNo, you are only required to report the names and certification numbers of the commercial applicators and technicians. You do need to report any pesticide applications made by apprentices.
Back to the Table of Contents Back to the Service Bureau HomepageIf you are making an electronic submission, then no, do not also submit your paper records. Sending both will only cause confusion and delay. Similarly, do not scan any records kept on paper into an image file and submit those—image files such as .GIFs or .PDFs cannot be processed at all and will just be returned to you.
If you have only kept your records on paper and are not comfortable with electronic submission, please send copies of the paper reports to the address at this link. (We strongly encourage you to submit electronically. You will get one immediate confirmation that your report was received, and electronic submission also saves the cost of postage.)
Back to the Table of Contents Back to the Service Bureau HomepageSee the contact information here.
Back to the Table of Contents Back to the Service Bureau HomepagePlease contact the NY Pesticide Service Bureau for assistance. You can find contact information here.
Back to the Table of Contents Back to the Service Bureau HomepageIf you have previously installed the software, you must first uninstall the existing version. Go to the Start menu. Choose Settings->Control Panel, and click on Add/Remove Programs. In the "Add/Remove" dialogue, navigate to whichever of OptionA, OptionB, or OptionC you previously installed, and click on it. Then click the "Change/Remove" button and follow the prompts to uninstall it. Once the old version is removed, you can go back to the Service Bureau website and install the new version.
Back to the Table of Contents Back to the Service Bureau HomepageYou may install the standard versions of Option A, B, or C. A separate installation file is no longer required for users of Microsoft Office97.
Back to the Table of Contents Back to the Service Bureau HomepageIn options A and B use form 26AE, "List of Commercial Applicators and Technicians," to report multiple applicators. If you are using option C, see the file layout in the documentation for form 26AE.
Back to the Table of Contents Back to the Service Bureau HomepageYou should receive the "1st" email within one hour of submitting your report to us. If you did not receive an email, you should contact us immediately. Your report may not have been received.
After we have successfully processed your report, you should receive a "2nd" email. This usually takes two to three weeks. See the response to the What is the difference between the "1st" and "2nd" emails? FAQ for more information about the "2nd" email. If you have not received this confirmation of acceptance email after 3 weeks, please contact us.
Back to the Table of Contents Back to the Service Bureau HomepageIf you cannot paste data into one of the option B forms, try "disabling" macros when you open up the form. Be aware that none of the software features will work when you "disable" the macros. After you paste in the data, save the form and close the software. The next time you open the form be sure to "enable" macros.
Back to the Table of Contents Back to the Service Bureau HomepagePlease refer to section 2 of the installation instructions.
Back to the Table of Contents Back to the Service Bureau Homepage