Volume 25, No. 3 July 2007
North
Dakota Legislature to Conduct Study of Agricultural Laws During the Interim
Focus
on Reciprocity
Coordinator's
Comments
Heat
Stress
Before the Legislature left town in April, it approved a request for a study of agricultural laws to be conducted during the interim. This was embodied in Senate Bill 2139:
AN ACT to require the legislative council to study laws relating to agriculture. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF NORTH DAKOTA: SECTION 1. LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL STUDY - AGRICULTURE LAWS. The legislative council shall study during the 2007-08 interim the provisions of the North Dakota Century Code which relate to agriculture for the purpose of eliminating provisions that are irrelevant or duplicative, clarifying provisions that are inconsistent or unclear in their intent and direction, and rearranging provisions in a logical order. The legislative council shall report its findings and recommendations, together with any legislation required to implement the recommendations, to the sixty-first legislative assembly.
In May, the Legislative Council reviewed hundreds of study proposal requests by the Legislature and selected a fraction of them to be conducted. Study 2139 was approved and was put in the hands of a 15-member House and Senate Agriculture Committee to be chaired by Rep. Phillip Mueller, with Sen. Ryan M. Taylor as vice chair.
The sheer size of this undertaking will be enormous and even daunting. However, for people who work and do business according to these laws, especially pesticide applicators and dealers, this is an excellent opportunity to have the Legislature hear concerns during the interim without having to deal with all the distractions and time constraints that typically occur during the actual legislative session.
At the time of this writing, the committee has not met to organize, but if you have access to the Internet, you can find meeting notices at www.legis.nd.gov/council/interim/meetings.
If you have an e-mail account, you can sign up for automatic notification of meeting dates, agendas and minutes at www.legis.nd.gov/information/services/email03.html.
If North Dakota law requires you to have a pesticide certification, you must hold a North Dakota certification. A valid certification from another state may help you obtain a North Dakota certificate, but it does not substitute for one. One way for a nonresident to obtain a North Dakota certificate is through reciprocity.
Reciprocity is the process by which North Dakota recognizes a pesticide applicator's credentials from another state, Minnesota for example, and after complying with the appropriate local rules and customs, North Dakota issues a North Dakota certificate to that applicator without having him or her satisfy the local examination requirements.
North Dakota may issue a certificate on a reciprocal basis, without examination, to nonresidents who are certified to use or sell restricted-use pesticides under an Environmental Protection Agency-approved program. Whether reciprocity can be granted depends on the other state's laws and how compatible they are with North Dakota. The decision to approve reciprocity therefore is made on a case-by-case basis.
Nonresident applicators can request reciprocity by:
• Payment of the appropriate certification fee
• Filing of proof of a valid pesticide credential from the state in which you have tested and trained
• Filing of proof of identity via a government-issued picture identification
• Being able to successfully pass a background check for suspensions, revocations or other serious enforcement actions
• Filing of proof of financial responsibility (applicators only)
• Filing of an appointment of agent
In any given year, the NDSU Pesticide Program issues approximately 250 reciprocity certificates from approximately 20 different states. This year, because of the extremely wet weather, our numbers are up by about 15 percent because aerial applicators from across the county are coming to North Dakota to help get the spraying done.
If you want additional information on obtaining reciprocity, visit our Web page and download the letters of instruction and application forms at www.ag.ndsu.nodak.edu/aginfo/pesticid/recip.htm.
You also may call (701) 231-7180 and we can fax you the appropriate letters and forms.
Be careful out there! They are listening and watching.
Sound paranoid to you? Worried about an inspector driving up to your shop? Nope, what I am referring to is the neighbors, and those neighbors talk. Most of the time they talk among themselves, but when something extraordinary happens, they talk to regulators, law enforcement and even the news media.
Case in point: On June 2, an applicator near Casselton was laying down some fungicides on a crop and a dairyman thought the applicator was getting too close to his hay and his animals. Fearing this would taint his milk with insecticides (he had no idea what the applicator was putting on), he called the Cass County sheriff. The next day, the television media reviewed the incident reports from the sheriff's office and decided they should investigate.
To make a long story short, the responsible applicator visited with the dairy farmer and quickly and diplomatically sorted out the problem. To be on the safe side, the North Dakota Department of Agriculture followed up on the incident and did not find any concerns. But the news media got ahold of it and, on the 22nd, did a television piece called "Danger in the Skies."
The title was not only inflammatory, but the reporter used stock video shot from the summer of 2006 of a spray rig that had nothing at all to do with the upset dairy farmer. By Saturday morning, June 23, the owner of this spray rig started getting calls from his customers wondering what was up. (They had watched the piece on the 10 o'clock news the night before and saw his equipment in the clip.) Before you know it, this chap was having to make explanations for something that he had no idea about simply because his equipment happened to fill a couple of seconds in this irrelevant story. On the plus side, he was able to explain things to his anxious customers who bothered to call. But what about the folks who did not bother to call? Are they simply silently taking their business elsewhere?
In summary, they are watching and they are listening. But to you applicators across the state, I say, be confident in your professionalism and do not let this get you down. Instead, take pride in doing a good job and know that many other people also are watching and listening and they are impressed with your skill and dedication. I know I am.
Best regards,
Andrew A. Thostenson
Pesticide Program Specialist
Editors note: Heat stress and pesticide poisoning can have very similar symptoms. That is why the Environmental Protection Agency's Worker Protection Standard emphasizes that in addition to pesticide safety training, pesticide handlers, early entry workers and other workers also need to be versed in understanding and managing heat stress. The following overview is an adaptation from the EPA's "Controlling Heat Stress in Agriculture" (EPA 750-F-95-001).
• Drink enough water to replace body fluid lost through sweating
• Gradually adjust to working in the heat
• Take periodic breaks in a shaded or air conditioned area whenever possible
• Monitoring by supervisors of environmental conditions and workers
• Training in how to control heat stress and to recognize, prevent and treat heat illnesses
• Accounting for the weather, workload, protective gear to be worn and condition of the workers
• Determining minimum amounts of water workers should drink
• Adjusting work practices for the conditions of each day
• Giving first aid when workers become ill
The following categories of heat stress are listed in progressive order from early illness to life-threatening heat stroke.
1. Early heat illness
• Symptoms - mild dizziness, fatigue or irritability; decreased concentration; impaired judgment
• Actual body reaction - reduced flow of blood to the brain may lead to heat exhaustion or heat stroke
• Treatment - loosen or remove clothing, rest in shade 30 minutes or more, drink water
2. "Prickly heat"
• Symptoms - tiny, blisterlike red spots on the skin; pricking sensations, commonly found on clothed areas of the body
• Actual body reaction - sweat glands become plugged and inflamed from unrelieved exposure of skin to heat, humidity and sweat
• Treatment - clean skin, apply mild drying lotion or cornstarch; wear loose clothing; preventable by regular bathing and drying the skin and by periodic relief from humid conditions of work; see physician if rash persists
3. Heat cramps
• Symptoms - painful spasms of leg, arm or abdominal muscles; heavy sweating, thirst; occurs during or after hard work
• Actual body reaction - loss of body salt in sweat; may be totally disabling
• Treatment - loosen clothing, drink lightly salted beverages (e.g., sports drinks); massage; rest
4. Heat exhaustion
• Symptoms
- Fatigue, headache, dizziness, muscle weakness, loss of coordination, fainting, collapse
- Profuse sweating; pale, moist, cool skin; excessive thirst, dry mouth; dark yellow urine
- Fast pulse if conscious, low
or normal oral temperature, rectal temperature usually 99.5 to 101.3 F- Also may have heat cramps, nausea, urge to defecate, rapid breathing, chills, tingling of the hands or feet, confusion, giddiness, slurred speech, irritability
• Actual body reaction
- Dehydration, lack of acclimatization, reduction of blood in circulation
- Strain on circulatory system
- Reduced flow of blood to the brain
- Person may resist treatment
- May lead to heat stroke
• Treatment
- Removal to cooler, shaded area as quickly as possible
- Rest lying down
- If conscious, have worker drink as much water as possible
- Do not give salt
- If unconscious or if heat stroke also is suspected, treat for heat stroke until proven otherwise
- Loosen or remove clothing
- Splash cold water on body
- Massage legs and arms
- If worker collapsed, get evaluation by physician, nurse or emergency medical technician before worker leaves for the day
-Shower in cold water; rest for balance of day and overnight
5. Heat stroke - Immediate treatment required - life-threatening medical emergency
• Symptoms
- Often occurs suddenly
- Headache, dizziness, confusion, irrational behavior, coma
- Sweating may slow down or stop
- Fast pulse, if conscious
- Rapid breathing
- Rectal temperature 104 F and higher
- Also may have convulsions, nausea, incoherent speech, very aggressive behavior
• Actual body reaction
- Sustained exertion in heat, lack of acclimatization, dehydration, individual risk factors; reduced flow of blood to the brain and other vital organs, body's temperature-regulating system fails, body cannot cool itself
- Risk of damage to vital organs, including the heart, brain, central nervous system, liver and kidney
- Worker may resist treatment
- Brain damage and death can result even with prompt treatment
• Treatment
- Move to a shaded area
- Remove outer clothing/shoes
- Immediately wrap in wet sheet, pour water on and fan vigorously, avoid over-cooling
- Treat shock if present once temperature is lowered
- If worker vomits, make sure all vomit is cleared from mouth and nose to prevent choking on vomit
- Transport to nearest medical treatment facility at once
- While awaiting or during transport, elevate legs, continue pouring on water and fanning
- If conscious, have worker drink as much water as possible
- Do not give salt
Contact:
NDSU Pesticide Training and Certification
Program
Box 5051, Fargo, ND 58105-5051
Tel: (701) 231-7180
Fax:
(701) 231-5907
E-mail: pesticid@ndsuext.nodak.edu
Internet: http://www.ndsupesticide.org/