Pesticide Related Laws Will Affect Pesticide Applicators

The North Dakota Pesticide Control Board is exploring options to implement a mechanism to comply with a financial responsibility requirement for commercial applicators that must go into effect on January 1, 1998.

Commercial applicators will need to provide proof of financial responsibility before a commercial applicator certificate can be issued or renewed starting January 1, 1998. The law requires that minimum financial responsibility must be demonstrated annually in the amount of $100,000. The financial responsibility can be demonstrated by a notarized letter from an officer of a financial institution or from a certified public accountant attesting to the existence of net assets equal to at least $100,000, a performance bond, or a general liability policy. The performance bond or insurance policy must contain a provision requiring the issuing company to notify the Commissioner of Agriculture at least ten days before the effective date of cancellation, termination or modification of the bond or insurance policy.

The Commissioner of Agriculture must immediately request suspension of the certificate of a person who fails to maintain the minimum financial responsibility requirements. Employees of commercial pesticide application businesses are not required to meet the financial requirements separately if the business documents compliance with the minimum financial requirements. Ranchers who must obtain a commercial applicators certificate to control noxious weeds on leased Federal lands as a condition of the Federal lease are exempt from the financial responsibility requirement.

A second piece of legislation passed by the North Dakota legislature allows the North Dakota Aeronautics Commission to serve a cease and desist order on any person engaged in aerial spraying when the commission has reason to believe that the person has violated or is attempting to violate the law and rules administered by the Aeronautics Commission.

A third piece of legislation establishes a minor use pesticide fund for the purpose of conducting or commissioning studies, investigations, and evaluations regarding the registration and use of pesticides for minor crops, minor uses, and emergency uses.

Other legislation provides continuation of the agricultural pesticide and pesticide container disposal program and provides appropriation for biological weed control program and computer system for pesticide registration.

The following information was obtained from the North Dakota Department of Agriculture database. These are the inspection and enforcement actions for the first and second quarters of fiscal year 1997. The pesticide division's fiscal year is from October 1 to September 30. The 1997 fiscal year began on October 1, 1996. This report is for the time period from October 1, 1996 to March 30, 1997.

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				    1997 Fiscal Year
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Ag follow-up  (complaints)	 	       2
Non-ag follow-up (complaints)	 	       1
Producer establishment (bulk chemical sales)  32
Applicator records			     147 
Restricted use dealer sales		     116 
Private records	 			       1
Non ag use inspections	 		       1
Ag use inspections	 		       0
Certifications revocations	 	       1
Certification conditioning	 	       2
Warnings				      45
Violations				      26
Penalties assessed	 		       8
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Over the last few years, EPA has made several changes to the Worker Protection Standard but has not updated the How to Comply Manual to reflect the changes.

The following information provides an overview of changes to the Standard and where changes should be made in the How To Comply Manual. The page numbers indicated apply to both EPA's and Gempler's versions.

WPS Change: Grace Period For Provided Worker Safety Training in the How To Comply Manual, this information replaces all of point 4 at the bottom of page 25 and top of page 26.

As of January 1, 1996 the agricultural employer shall assure that workers receive basic pesticide safety information before they enter a treated area on the establishment. This would provide basic safety information to workers while they wait for the complete WPS pesticide safety training which is required within 5 days of entering a treated area. The agricultural employer must assure that information is communicated to agricultural workers in a manner they can understand.

The basic pesticide safety information must include the following concepts:

• Pesticides may be on or in plants, soil, irrigation water, or drifting from nearby applications.
• Prevent pesticides from entering your body by:
• Following directions and/or signs about keeping out of treated or restricted areas.
• Washing before eating, drinking, using chewing gum or tobacco, or using the toilet.
• Wearing work clothing that protects the body from pesticide residues.
• Washing/showering with soap and water, shampoo hair and put on clean clothes after work.
• Washing work clothes separately from other clothes before wearing them again.
• Washing immediately in the nearest clean water if pesticides are spilled or sprayed on the body, and, as soon as possible, showering, shampooing, and changing into clean clothes.
• Further training will be provided within 5 days of entry into treated areas.

The basic pesticide safety information must be provided in a manner the worker can understand.

The retraining interval for workers and handlers is 5 years.

WPS Change: Crop Advisors (Specific to North Dakota)

The change to WPS affect certified or licenses crop advisors. Crop advisors not certified or licensed (see below) still must comply with the information as written on pages 95-98 of the How to Comply Manual. For certified or licensed crop advisors, replace the information beginning on pages 95 under "Specific Duties" through page 98 with the information below.

The changes involving crop advisors in North Dakota are as follows:

• After May 1, 1996, crop advisors wishing to enter fields during a pesticide application must be trained as WPS handlers and are subject to all provisions including personal protective equipment, training, decontamination sites, emergency assistance, and site specific knowledge.
• After May 1, 1996, all certified (see below) crop advisors doing crop advising tasks are exempt from WPS requirements when working in fields after the pesticide applications ends and only when performing crop advising activities. The exemptions apply to the following WPS requirements:
  -- Personal protective equipment.
  -- Knowledge of labeling and site-specific information.
  -- Decontamination requirements.
  -- Emergency assistance requirements.
• After May 1, 1996, employees under the direct supervision of a certified (see below) crop advisor are exempt from the listed WPS requirements except for pesticide safety training equivalent to WPS worker training if they will only enter fields after the restricted-entry interval (REI) expires. If employees are certified pesticide applicators they need no further training.

Crop advisors must determine and convey the following information to employees under their supervision:

• What is appropriate personal protective equipment for the task.
• What are appropriate decontamination supplies for the task.
• How to conduct the task safely.

Employees of crop advisors must be aware of the following information before entering a treated field:

• Pesticide(s) applied.
• Active ingredients applied.
• Method of application.
• Time of application.
• REI(s).
• Which tasks to undertake.
• How to contact the crop advisor.

On June 13, 1996, the North Dakota Department of Agriculture, Pesticide Division, released the final Crop Advisor WPS Exemption Policy.

A person will be considered for the crop advisor exemption under WPS if one of the two following criteria are met:

• An individual has passed the Certified Crop Advisor exams, both state and national, that have been approved by the North Dakota CCA Board; or
• An individual was CCA certified before the date of acceptance of CCA exams by North Dakota as meeting WPS training and has attended a commercial recertification meeting of the NDSU Extension Service Pesticide Program. This person does not have to be commercially certified to be exempt under this provision.

WPS Change: Early Entry Exception for Irrigation and Other Limited Contact Activities

For unforeseen economically significant irrigation or other limited contact tasks ONLY, the following information replaces that under the "Short-Term Tasks With No Hand Labor" on page 59, replaces the last 2 points (PPE and other precautions) under "Labeling Information and Instructions" on page 65, and is addition to the information under "Basic Responsibilities" on page 69 of the How to Comply Manual.

This exception allows workers the flexibility during an REI to perform irrigation or other limited contact tasks that could not have been foreseen and which, if delayed, would cause significant economic loss. The conditions of the exception are:

• The workers' contact with treated surfaces is minimal and is limited to the feet, lower legs, hands, and forearms.
• The pesticide product does not have a statement in the labeling requiring that workers must be notified both verbally AND by posting of these high toxicity pesticides.
• Personal protective equipment (PPE) for early entry is provided to the worker and must either conform with the label requirements or include at least coveralls, chemical resistant gloves, socks, chemical resistant footwear, and eyewear (if eyewear is required by the product labeling).
• No hand labor activity (such as hoeing, picking, pruning, etc.) is performed.
• The time in treated areas under an REI for any worker may not exceed 8 hours in a 24-hour period.
• The workers do not enter the area during the first 4 hours, and until applicable ventilation criteria have been met, and until any label specified inhalation exposure level has been reached.
• Before workers enter a treated area under a REI to do irrigation related tasks, the agricultural employer shall give them oral or written notification that: 1) the ag establishment is relying on this exception to allow worker entry into pesticide treated areas to complete limited contact tasks, 2) no entry is allowed for the first 4 hours after the application and until any inhalation/ventilation criteria are met, 3) the time spent in the restricted area should not exceed 8 hours per worker in a 24-hour period. The notification must be in a language that the workers understand.

WPS Change: Reduced Restricted Entry Intervals for Low Risk Pesticides No specific changes are required in the How to Comply Manual.

EPA has determined that reducing the Restricted-Entry Intervals (REI) for 114 pesticide active ingredients does not result in unreasonable risk to workers. This action allows pesticide registrants, whose products active ingredients meet the EPA's lower toxicity criteria to:

• Reduce the WPS REIs from 12 hours to 4 hours.
• Revise the labeling to reflect the reduced REI.

The pesticide label must contain the 4 hour REI before a pesticide can be used in that manner.

WPS Change: Substitute Languages On The Warning Sign

In the How to Comply Manual, include this information on page 43 under "Design and Size" and on page 102 under "Required Words".

If the predominant language of the workforce is neither English nor Spanish, the agricultural employer has the option of substituting an alternative language for the Spanish portion of the warning sign. This is an option for the agricultural employer and would not preclude the continued use of the English/Spanish sign, which would remain acceptable due to the center graphic that imparts the concept even if the words are not understood.

WPS Change: Use of Warning Signs Smaller Than 14 X 16 Inches in Greenhouses and Nurseries

In the How to Comply Manual, include this information after "Posted Warning Signs" on page 42. Also note the change in the sidebar on page 43. Also, include this information on page 102 under "Requirements for Warning Signs", point four-size exception.

WPS has always allowed the use of a warning sign smaller than the standard size (14 X 16 inches) when the treated area is too small (such as a single potted plant) to accommodate the standard sized sign. The use of smaller warning has now been expanded for the greenhouse and nursery industries to more clearly identify the treated areas. The minimum warning sign is 4.5 X 5 inches. When signs of this size are used they must be posted no more than 25 feet apart.

A 7 X 8 inch sign is also allowed. These signs must be posted no more than 50 feet apart.

WPS Change: Reduced Decontamination Time Interval For 4-Hour REI Pesticides

In the How to Comply Manual, this information should be inserted on page 29 after "When Must the Site Be Provided For Workers".

When using pesticides with a 4-hour restricted-entry interval (REI), the length of time for which decontamination supplies are required for workers is 7 days following the end of the REI. This applies only to 4-hour REI pesticides or combinations of 4-hour REI pesticides. The decontamination interval remains at 30 days for all pesticides with REIs greater than 4 hours and for combinations that contain pesticides with REIs greater than 4 hours.

If you have any questions or need further WPS information, please contact Ken Junkert, North Dakota Department of Agriculture,. 701-328-4764.

(Submitted by Kenneth S. Junkert, Program Coordinator, ND Dept. of Ag., Pesticide Division)