Washington Begins Mandated Spray Study
As directed by the 2007 legislature, the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) is starting a 2-year, $150,000 voluntary notification study project concerning the application of Danger/Poison pesticides near schools, hospitals, nursing homes and adult/child daycares. This project will collect data to determine if notification is a significant factor in reducing pesticide exposures when agricultural pesticides are applied by aerial or airblast application methods near these facilities. The study will be limited to Chelan, Kittitas and Yakima Counties and will run from October 1, 2007 to October 1, 2009. It will focus on pesticides labeled with the signal words Danger/Poison that are applied either by air or by airblast application equipment. A voluntary notification register will be maintained by the Department and made available for applicators to check contact information if they plan on making specific types of applications near facilities.
The primary source of information regarding location of facilities and facility contact information will be the WSDA website. Contact information will also be available by phone for those applicators who do not have access to the Internet. Being a voluntary notification project, no regulatory action will be taken against any applicator that fails to notify a nearby facility nor against any facility that does not want to be notified. However, it is hoped that by providing an easy and practical way for applicators to let facilities know in advance that an application is anticipated, communication will be enhanced and the potential for pesticide exposures reduced. The WSDA will contact both state certified or licensed facilities and applicators in the three counties to inform them of the project. Applicators will be informed on where they can find information on facilities that want to be notified. As a requirement for a facility to be listed on the WSDA website for notification, the facility must agree to completing a questionnaire.
WSDA will not be collecting specific information on the pesticides applied or the applicator. Data will be collected on the number and type of facilities participating, the number of notifications received, any actions taken by a facility as a result of the notification, and any increase or decrease in the number of drift complaints reported to WSDA due to increased awareness of applications. (Beyond Pesticides Daily News blog, 11/14/07).
