Option B User Guide

Overview

The Option B Excel eForm 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 sale.  The forms are customized Microsoft Excel workbooks.

Option B runs under Microsoft Windows^®.

After you download the Option B 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.

Starting the Software

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 registration form then opens.

Other Registration Form Functions

There are several buttons and menu items available on the registration form 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 registration form.  Changing the identity fields here does not update the corresponding fields on the registration form.  While the certification number and applicator name are editable, there are preferred methods for reporting for multiple applicators.  The commercial permit number field is editable so that you can report for multiple commercial permittees  in one report submission. 

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.

Data Entry Grid

Most of the 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. Although the forms open with a limited number of lines, additional lines 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 description of the intended contents for that cell will display. Additional information about the fields in each form is available from the Data Dictionary for that form.

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 the invalid data.

The columns on each form are

Report Form Menus and Controls

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

Footnotes:

1 - It is also possible to run the program by clicking on the executable file, PRL_eForms.exe.  The program is installed by default to C:\Program Files\NYSPRL, but you may have changed this setting to another folder during installation.