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Regional/Field Initiatives

Information provided for informational purposes only

Note: This information is provided for reference purposes only. Although the information provided here was accurate and current when first created, it is now outdated.

Committee to Advise on
Reassessment and Transition

Paper # 13

Regional/Field Initiatives

Pesticide Applicator Certification and Training Program
  • The Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) and other key stakeholders, including USDA, state pesticide agencies, tribes and pesticide safety educators, (the Certification and Training Assessment Group, or CTAG), are reassessing the adequacy of current programs for training and certifying applicators on the use of restricted use pesticides.
  • These higher risk pesticides may be applied only by or under the direct supervision of specially trained and certified applicators.
  • States, territories, and tribes conduct these programs in accordance with national standards set by OPP.
  • The CTAG published (January 1999) recommendations for changes to guide the program’s future.
  • OPP has already begun to implement certain recommendations including national test validation workshops, public/private projects to develop training materials, and sharing of training materials through website postings.

Worker Protection National Reassessment
  • In 1999, OPP and the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) initiated with key stakeholders a national assessment of the implementation and enforcement programs for the worker protection regulation.
  • Recently, stakeholders met to discuss key issues and needs for improving these programs.
  • Future workshops are planned for this fall and winter.
  • The worker protection assessment group will develop a strategic plan for the national worker protection program and issue annual reports detailing accomplishments and progress towards achieving its goals.

Pesticide Management Plans (PMPs)

  • On June 26, 1996, EPA proposed the Ground Water and Pesticides Management Plan Rule.
  • This represents a new regulatory approach to the management of certain popular, problem pesticides that would otherwise be considered for cancellation due to their toxicity and their widespread occurrence and persistence in the environment.
  • Under this approach, States and Tribes would be allowed to continue to use these pesticides if they developed chemical-specific management plans for them, recognizing the variability in local hydrogeology, vulnerability, and use patterns.
  • This rule was developed with State and Tribal input and today, 22 States and one Tribe have voluntarily completed 'generic' management plans that have received Regional concurrence.
  • OPP has received thousands of individual comments on the proposal and is now preparing the final rule package, with expectations that it will be published later this year.

Endangered Species Program
  • OPP is working with an industry task force (the FIFRA Endangered Species Task Force, or FESTF) to develop an internet-based information management system (IMS).
  • This IMS will facilitate the risk-assessment process by helping both registrants and OPP managers find efficient, effective methods of protecting endangered and threatened species.
  • The system, expected to be completed in May 2001, will allow registrants and EPA risk assessors to analyze data such as pesticide active ingredients, agricultural-census data, and existing protections for endangered and threatened species.

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