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Nursery Licenses are issued by the California Department of Food and Agriculture. You can visit the CDFA website to apply for a license to sell nursery stock.
If you sell less than $1,000 of nursery stock, and sell only in Marin County our department will issue you a fee exempt nursery license.
To become certified, you must apply to a USDA-accredited certifying agent. They will ask you for information, including:
Organic Certification Process:
Annual Recertification Process:
Every operation operating in California that is producing, handling, or processing products sold as organic must register with the California State Organic Program. If an operation’s annual gross sales exceed $5,000 the operation must also be certified organic by a certifying agent.
Currently Marin Organic Certified Agriculture certifies operations located in Marin and southern Sonoma County.
Yes. Organic operations may use some specified pesticides for pest, weed, and disease control. Specified pesticides can be used only after pest prevention methods are employed and do not control pests sufficiently. A list of the pesticides allowed for organic use, and the conditions that apply to them, is located in the USDA National Organic Program Standards.
Yes. Pesticides used in organic operations are regulated exactly the same manner as all pesticides in the state of California, and their use must be reported to the County Agricultural Commissioner Department.
CPC’s always expire at the end of each calendar year and it is the responsibility of the producer to ensure his/her CPC is current when selling at a certified farmers' market. For renewal, contact our department with any changes to your certificate at least 2 weeks prior to expiration. For fee information see the fee schedule of our website. CPC’s may be revised any time during the year at no additional cost; however an additional site inspection may be required.
Contact our department to obtain an application.
Our fees are subject to change at any time, so the best resource for determining your current fee is to view our online fee schedule.
For residential issues about sick trees and plants, you should ask Marin County Master Gardeners. Please visit their very informative website or telephone them at (415) 473-4204.
If you suspect Sudden Oak Death disease visit: www.suddenoakdeath.org for diagnostic information, management guidelines, and pictures of symptoms. Hire a licensed certified arborist to inspect and assess your tree, and discuss possible treatment options. Contact our department and/or the University of California Master Gardeners for additional information.
If the elm tree is on public property in an unincorporated area of Marin County we can assess the tree and, if necessary, have it removed. The County will share the cost of a replacement elm.
The Marin County Right to Farm ordinance was enacted in 1995 to conserve, protect, enhance and encourage agricultural operations within the county. This ordinance is in the Marin County Code Chapter 23.03.
If you are in an unincorporated portion of the county enjoy your bees and use best management practices to avoid creating a nuisance. If you live in an incorporated town or city you must abide by the municipal code of where you live.
For resources and restrictions of backyard chickens, please visit the University of California’s “Grown in Marin” website.
To obtain professional licensing, please visit the California Department of Pesticide Regulation’s website. All pesticide-related licenses (Qualified Applicator License / Qualified Applicator Certificate) are issued by the State of California.
You are a Maintenance Gardener if your maintenance gardening activities include mowing lawns, engaging in general yard cleanup, and/or taking care of ornamental and turf plants in:
Before you conduct any work, you must register your maintenance gardener business license with the county agricultural commissioner's office in each county in which your business intends to perform pest control. Registration is required annually and expires on December 31st. There is a fee for registration (please see our fee schedule). Most counties require a fee for registration and registration is required annually and covers one calendar year (All registration expires on December 31st of each year).
To register your business in your HOME county, the individual who possesses the QAL card must make an appointment with our office and present the following items to the county agricultural commissioner's office for processing:
Note: please make checks payable to “Marin County Department of Agriculture.”
If Marin County is not your home county – that is, your main office is located in another County – you must first register with your home county, obtain current/valid imprinted PCO registration form from your home county.
Once you’ve registered with your home county, you can mail a copy of your registration to us along with:
You must possess a pest control business license if you are a person or business who performs pest control for hire (i.e., advertising, soliciting, or operating as a pest control business). This licensing requirement applies to both principle and branch locations.
Types of pest control business include but are not limited to:
Before you conduct any work, you must register your pest control business license with the county agricultural commissioner's office in each county in which your business intends to perform pest control. Registration is required annually and expires on December 31st. There is a fee for registration (please see our fee schedule). Most counties require a fee for registration and registration is required annually and covers one calendar year (All registration expires on December 31st of each year).
For both home based and out of county businesses, you may register by mail or in person every calendar year. The following is required to register your business:
To register your PCA License in your HOME county, the individual possessing the license must make an appointment with our office and present the following items to the county agricultural commissioner's office for processing:
If your PCA operation is headquartered outside of Marin County, you must first register with your home county Department of Agriculture.
If you are engaged in pesticide use for hire (or as an incidental part of your landscape business) or you are using pesticides on an agricultural commodity, you must report your pesticide use to the Marin Department of Agriculture.
For businesses engaged in Agricultural production, please call our office (415) 473-6700 to make an appointment to renew or obtain your operator ID number / restricted material permit. These are good for one calendar year (expire on December 31st every year) and must be renewed annually prior to your first pesticide application.
Please contact our office to make an appointment. We offer the exam at our office on the first Wednesday of every month. The test is offered between 8:30 and 11:30 am. Additionally, you can find some study materials available on Structural Pest Control Board’s website.
This is part of a proactive program to prevent the spread of the Spongy Moth into California. Contact our office and an Inspector will make an appointment with you to come out and inspect the outdoor items you brought with you. We inspect for any life stage of Spongy Moth.
If you have quite a lot of small moths in your house, they are likely eating either grains or fabric. Please see the University of California’s Integrated Pest Management webpage on clothing moths and / or their webpage on pantry pests.
Please refer to the University of California's Integrated Pest Management website (IPM) Website. It's an incredible resource to get started. If you can't identify the insect using the UC IPM guide, bring it in to our office at 1682 Novato Blvd, Suite 150-A in Novato, CA 94947. We or UC Cooperative Extension staff may be able to identify it. If you can’t identify your plant, bring a sample in to UC Cooperative Extension at 1682 Novato Blvd, Suite 150-B in Novato, CA 94947. We recommend giving them a call first, as they may be able to answer your questions without you making the trip: 415-473-4204.
Please refer to the Ants section of the UC IPM Online website for more information.
Please refer to the Bed bugs section of the UC IPM Online website for more information.
Please refer to the cockroaches section of the UC IPM Online website for more information.
Moles are insectivores, and do not feed on plants. Gophers do feed on plants. For more information, look at the UC IPM site on Gopher Control or contact the UC Cooperative Extension’s Master Gardeners.
The Marin/Sonoma Mosquito and Vector Control District offers free services to help you gain insight on the origins of rodent problems; they do not, however, provide any baiting, trapping, or exclusion services. They can be reached at 707-285-2200 or online at Marin/Sonoma Mosquito & Vector Control. For rodent control services, including baiting, trapping, and exclusion work, contact a licensed pest control company.
Please refer to the termites section of the UC IPM Online website for more information.
The Marin County Beekeepers Association maintains a "Swarm List" of beekeepers who will remove unwanted hives from your property. If you have wasps/yellow jackets, please see the question and answer below.
Wasp and yellowjacket control traps and products are available at retail garden and hardware stores. When using these products, always be sure to read and follow the instructions as written on the product label. For in-ground nests, the Marin/Sonoma Mosquito and Vector control can provide assistance with control. Their services can be requested online at Marin/Sonoma Mosquito and Vector Control or via phone at 707-285-2200. Residents may also consider hiring a licensed pest control company, which can maintain bait stations or traps and monitor the effectiveness of the control program.
Insect traps are deployed around the county by either Marin County Inspectors, or Inspectors working for the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA). These traps are placed and serviced at regular intervals to monitor the county for populations of highly invasive exotic pest insects. Prevention is a major part of protecting not only Marin County agriculture from these invasive pests but our natural resources as well. The county has residential traps in place monitoring for populations of Mediterranean Fruit Fly, Oriental Fruit Fly, Spongy Moth, Asian Citrus Psyllid, Glassy Winged Sharpshooter, and Japanese Beetle. If you see a trap in your tree, please do not tamper with it. If you have questions or concerns about its placement, please contact us at 415-473-6700.
A scanner/POS system is any computer or electronic system including, but not limited to, a Universal Product Code (UPC) system, a Price Look Up (PLU) system, a Stock Keeping Unit (SKU) system, price lookup codes or any other electronic price lookup system.
The Marin County Board of Supervisors has adopted a Point of Sale ordinance to charge an annual registration fee for the purpose of determining the pricing accuracy (through regular inspections) of retail establishments that use a scanner/POS system.
An inspection to verify that the scanner/POS system is computing items at the correct (lowest advertised/ displayed) price.
Our authority comes from the California Business and Professions Code, Chapter 5 and from Title 5, Business Regulations and Licenses, Chapter 5.45 of the Marin County Code.
We want to ensure your POS system is charging or computing items at the lowest price that is advertised, posted, marked, displayed or quoted within the store, in an ad, or online.
We randomly inspect 10 to 50 items from anywhere in the store, depending on the size of the store. We will need assistance from store personnel ringing up the items we have chosen for the inspection.
Accurate pricing: your store is required to charge consumers the lowest advertised, posted, marked, displayed or quoted price. If a sale has ended, but the expired sale tag is still up, you are required to give the customer the item at the sale price. If something is marked 2/$4.00 (as an example), then one of those items must be $2.00 unless the conditions of that sale are clearly stated.
Price display: the price of all goods and services must be displayed to the consumer at the POS system as they are being rung up.
If overcharges are found, a Notice of Violation will be issued to the store. If there are pricing discrepancies, they must be corrected before we leave the store. There will be a follow up inspection within 30 days. Follow up inspections will not be random, but will focus specifically on problem areas of the store. A Notice of Violation is not a fine, but an opportunity for us to work together to identify and correct problems in a timely manner. Our philosophy is to gain compliance through education and outreach.
Annual registration fee: An annual registration fee is charged and is based on the number of POS systems in the store. Please visit our website to view a current fee schedule.
Reinspection fee: If we find pricing errors and have to return for a follow up inspection, you will be charged a reinspection fee.
Civil Penalty: If we find pricing errors during our follow up inspection we may issue a Civil Penalty (a fine). Fine ranges are from $50-$1,000 depending on the severity of the pricing problems. In unusual circumstances where our department is unable to gain compliance, cases have been turned over to the District Attorney.
Routine inspections are approximately every two years, unless there are problems. If there are pricing errors and you receive a Notice of Violation, we will be back within 30 days for a follow up inspection.
All devices used for commercial purposes must be registered with the Department of Weights and Measures. Examples of devices are: scales; cordage, wire and fabric meters; taxi meters; water, gas and electric sub-meters; propane meters; vehicle tank meters; retail water meters and gas pumps. Routine inspections are conducted to check for accuracy of the device and to ensure they are being used correctly.
If you are using a device for commercial purposes, it must be approved by the State and tested and sealed by our department.
Examples of devices include: scales; cordage, wire and fabric meters; taxi meters; retail water meters; water, gas and electric sub-meters; propane meters, vehicle tank meters and gas pumps. You must register your device with us annually.
If you have a point-of-sale system, you must register with our department annually.
Pay close attention to all commercial transactions.
Check your receipt before you leave the store.
If the transaction involves a scale or meter, make sure you can see the device during the transaction.
Ask the cashier to do a price check on the item and detail where the item was picked up. The store should have a clerk go to the isle or display where you found the item, verify the price, and explain the apparent discrepancy. If you are not satisfied with the price explanation, still feel that you were overcharged, suspect that the pricing problem is not corrected, or have concerns regarding deceptive advertising, please forward your complaint to Weights and Measures at (415) 473-7888.
It must be of a type that has been previously approved for use by the State of California.
We place a county seal on every device we test. From time to time these seals can fall off so if you do not see a seal on a device and would like to know if we have tested it, please call our office.
The weight of a container or packaging materials.
By law, all items sold by weight must be priced for the net weight - the actual weight of the item being purchased, excluding any packaging.
Any person who, for hire or otherwise, weighs, measures, or counts any commodity and issues a statement or memorandum of the weight, measure, or count which is used as the basis for either the purchase or sale of that commodity or charge for service.
Here is a good guide for more information about the California State Weighmaster Program.
If you find a dead bird, please contact the California Department of Public Health through their website.
If you find a sick or injured bird, please contact Wildcare (an urban wildlife rehabilitation center) at (415) 456-7283.