Option A User Guide

Overview

The Option A PRL eForm program is an application designed to assist you in electronically recording Pesticide Reporting Law (PRL) information and reporting it to the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation. Each time you run the program you are asked to enter or verify some basic contact information. You can then view and fill out electronic forms that are similar to the four paper forms used to report pesticide usage and sales. 

New in version 6.1 Option A replaces the file validation capability that used to reside in Option C.  You can now check whether ASCII text files that you (or a third-party program) have created conform to the the NYSDEC guidelines using Option A. The required file formats are described in the Text File Specifications.

Option A runs under Microsoft Windows^®.

After you download the Option A installation file, see the PRL Software Installation Guide to help you install the software on your computer.

If you need further assistance, contact the Pesticide Reporting Service Bureau.

Getting Started

There are a couple of ways¹ to open up the main window:

• Double-click the "PRL Option A" shortcut on your computer’s desktop.
• Click on the Windows Start button and navigate to Programs -> Pesticide Reporting -> PRL Option A.  Windows 8 users will have a  "PRL Option A" icon on their Start Screen.

A message box saying something like “Data directory created called 'C:\PRL2011'.” may appear. This is normal. The data directory is the location to which your data files will be written.  The Control Center then opens.

Entering Contact and Identity Information

Use the Control Center to tell us who to contact when we communicate with you about your report.  Please fill out all three fields under Pesticide Reporting Contact Person. You also need to provide identification information, so that we can associate your report with the correct applicator(s) or organization.

Are you in the pesticide application or sales business?

Pesticide application businesses should submit

• a certification ID,
• the Applicator Name associated with the certification ID,
• optionally, a business registration number, and
• optionally, the Business Name.

Pesticide applicators should submit

• a certification ID, and
• the Applicator Name associated with the certification ID.

Pesticide sales businesses should submit

• a commercial permit number,
• the Business Name,
• optionally, a certification ID, and
• optionally, the Applicator Name associated with the certification ID.
  
  

Decide Which Forms to Use

If you have multiple applicators to include on your report, we recommend using Form 26A to submit their information.  The pesticide applications they made should be entered on a single Form 26.  Choose one of the applicators to list in the header area of the Form 26.  If any applicators that you are reporting for made any applications during the report year, you should submit Form 26.

If you are reporting for a pesticide sales business and you sell restricted-use pesticides, use Form 25.  If you sell pesticides to private applicators, we will need a Form 27.  If you have a commercial permit number, you must submit either Form 25, Form 27, or both.

You can report two different types of sales on Form 25; report either sales to another commercial permit holder who will resell the products or sales to commercial applicators for their end use.  In Options A and B, there are a set of radio buttons in the Form 25 header where you can specify the sales type.  Options D and O have drop-down lists for specifying the sales type.  If you have both types of sales to report, please send us a separate form for each type.  However, you do not need to complete a form for the type of sales you did not make (but you still need to report even if you did not make any sales).

Opening up a Form

When you have decided which form(s) to use, click the corresponding radio button in the Report Forms area.  Do you want to start a new file or add to an existing one? To start a new file, click on the Blank Form button.  For an existing file, click the Existing Form button.  This will open up a dialog in which you can choose the file you want.

Validating Files

Option A is also designed to validate ASCII text files that were created using other software applications. Only text files can be validated. Files are checked for compliance with the PRL Text File Specifications. The specifications are also available on the Help menu under File Format Guidelines.

For step-by-step instructions on using Option A to validate your files, see text file validation steps.

More Control Center Functions

There are several buttons and menu items available on the Control Center that can help you prepare and submit your PRL report.

Report Forms

The PRL report forms are where you will enter the data that you need to report to the NYSDEC. Each form is used to report a particular type of pesticide-related activity.

Identity Fields

The identity fields in the header area of each form are filled with the values you entered on the Control Center.  With the exception of the commercial permit number, these fields are not editable. 

The commercial permit number field is editable so that you can report for multiple commercial permittees in one report submission.  Changes to the commercial permit number field on Form 25 or 27 do not update the field on the Control Center.

Form 26A also includes a business registration number column.  If your pesticide business has more than one business registration number, you may but are not required to include all of your business’s registration numbers on the Form 26A.

Reporting No Activity

On each of the forms you can indicate that there was no reportable activity for the report year.  See Reporting No Applications or Sales for more information.

Data Entry Grid

Below the header area of each form is a data entry grid.  If you have applications or sales to report, enter each pesticide application or sales record in its own row in the grid. Although the forms open with a limited number of rows, additional rows will be added to the grid as needed.

You can use the arrow keys, tab keys, Enter key, or mouse to move from one cell in the grid to another.

If you hover over a cell with your mouse, a tool tip containing a data description for that cell will display. Additional information about the fields on each form is available from the Data Dictionary.

Cells are validated as you move the insertion point to the next cell.  While it is possible to save and submit your files without correcting validation errors, the Pesticide Reporting Service Bureau may reject or return reports because of invalid data.

Report Form Menus and Controls

The forms have a set of menus and controls designed to assist you in creating your PRL report.

Record Layouts