December 2013

Agricultural & Environmental Safety unit — http://www-aes.tamu.edu

Dr. Janis Reed Joins AES PSEP Team

Dr. Janis Reed joined the AES specialist team inDecember to work with applicators in the structural,public health, and consumer pest management sectors. She will also work with applicators in animalectoparasite as well as education and pest research.

Dr. Reed received her Ph.D. from Texas A&MUniversity in 2013 in Entomology. Her research thereinvolved red imported fire ants, a parasitoid fly of fireants, and distribution studies of both organisms inurban environments. Prior to working with AES, sheworked for more than 10 years as the technicaldirector and trainer at ABC Home and CommercialServices in Austin, Texas. The experience she gainedthere was extensive, including technician training,legal compliance, product selection, treatmentprotocol development, quality assurance, andcustomer service.

She has been a Board Certified Entomologist with theEntomological Society of America since 2007. Anative of Austin, Texas, she currently resides in Bryanwith her husband.

New TDA CEU Policy

Effective November 18, 2013 the TDA implementedrevised procedures for reviewing and approving CEUcourses for agricultural and structural pest controlapplicators.

All recertification course providers will be required tofollow these procedures explicitly. Failure to do somay result in disapproval of credits for recertificationcourses, CEU privileges modified, suspended, orrevoked.

Briefly:

1. Courses in excess of 3 hours must be submitted 30 days in advance of a planned activity.

2. Submit TDA form (PA-409) and a course outlineto insure subject matter appropriateness (see page3 of the guide).

3. Within 14 days of program or activitycompletion, submit via email TDA form (PA411E) “Recertification Course Roster” foragricultural applicator courses to TDA as anExcel file.

4. Within 14 days of program or activitycompletion, submit via email TDA form (PA418E) “Recertification Course Roster” forStructural Pest Control Service courses to TDAas an Excel file.

5. On all recertification rosters insure applicator’sprint their names legibly, include theirapplicators license number (driver’s license orsocial security numbers will not be accepted),and mailing address. CEAs can download theTDA applicator license data base or provide acomputer at the registration site to facilitate theprocess. If you have gathered participantinformation on a handwritten form, it has to betransferred to the excel form and emailed to theaddress on the form. ONLY licensed applicatorsshould sign the roster. A separate form can beused for non-licensed participants to satisfyagency accountability requirements.

6. Strictly adhere to TDA procedures relating tocourse length, subject matter, and participantattendance. CEU credit(s) will not be given toparticipants who do not remain in an activity forthe allotted time (leaving to answer phone calls,lingering outside, etc.).

The “Recertification Guide”, fillable form PA-411Efor agricultural applicator recertificationprograms/activities, fillable form PA-418E for SPCSapplicator recertification programs/activities, andfillable form PA-409 for CEU course approval aswell as the fillable PDF Course description form canbe downloaded from the AES website under the“CEA Resources” link.

Please take a moment and thoroughly review all ofthe documents to insure we are providing top qualityservice to our customers.

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Pollinator Protection StandardsA New Effort to Protect Bees

Many plants, including many fruit and vegetablecrops, rely on pollinators for successful cropproduction. Overall, there has been a reduction in thenumber and health of pollinators, specifically thehoney bee. The consensus among scientists is thatthere is a complex set of stressors affecting honey beecolonies including pests, reduced genetic diversity,pesticide exposure, and poor bee managementpractices.

The USDA and EPA are leading an effort to studyColony Collapse Disorder (CCD) and overall honeybee populations and honey bee health. CCD occurswhen a large number of worker bees disappear andleave behind a queen, nurse bees, and plenty of food. In most cases of CCD, there are very few, if any, deadbees in the vicinity of the hive. If large numbers ofdead bees are found, this is indicative of acutepesticide exposure. Declining numbers of commercialhoney bees have intensified focus on bee managementpractices, pesticide use, and pests and pathogens thatattack bees. Recently, the number of CCD cases hasdecreased, but the disorder and overall bee health isstill a major concern. Research recently published didnot indicate that pesticides are the culprit in ColonyCollapse Disorder, however the research did show thatpesticides, in combination with other factors, might beassociated with the reduction in bee populations.

In an effort to reduce pesticide exposure, especiallypesticides that can negatively impact bee populations,new label language will apply to all neonicotinoidproducts (for example: imidacloprid, dinotefuran,acetamiprid, and thiamethoxam) used outdoors,without regard to formulation type. This languagemay already be on labels in your distributors stock. You will begin seeing a new “EPA Bee AdvisoryBox” on pesticide labels that help the user determinethe potential hazard to bees as well as whenapplication is allowed.

The Bee Advisory Box can be found at the end of theChemogram for your convenience.

Risk management of pesticides should be based onsound scientific practices and proper research. Surveys are being conducted to elucidate theincidence of CCD and the current state of bee colonyhealth. Bee samples are being analyzed for pests,pathogens, and pesticide exposure. Finally, mortalityis being slowed by implementing preventive measuresto improve bee health.

TDA is NOT the Only Agency RegulatingPesticides in Texas

As CEAs and specialists, we spend 90% of our timehelping applicators comply with laws and regulationsenforced by the Texas Department of Agriculture(TDA), including the Structural Pest Control Service(SPCS). TDA regulations address certification,recertification, worker protection/safety, endangeredspecies protection, and storage and disposal ofpesticides.

However, in Texas and nationally, Clean Water Act(CWA), Clean Air Act (CAA), and Worker Right-To-Know (RTK) laws are enforced by theEnvironmental Protection Agency (EPA) and theOccupational Safety and Health Administration(OSHA), an agency within the Department of Labor.

During the past three years, we have helpedapplicators comply with new regulations under theCWA (Texas Pollutant Discharge EliminationSystem Permit [TPDES]) and OSHA (GlobalHarmonization System [GHS] Labeling and SafetyData Sheet (SDS) requirements.

As we visit with the regulated community anddecision makers, it is important that the message bemade clear, obtaining and maintaining an applicatorslicense requires knowledge about multiple federaland state agency laws and regulations.

Recently, each of you received an email explainingthe GHS requirements for training employees on therequirements (new label and SDS formats/sections). In case any of you did not receive the information,read the recap below:

The Occupational Safety & Health Administration(OSHA) adopting International Standards relating toUnited Nations (UN) adopted and implemented“Globally Harmonized System of Classification andLabeling of Chemicals” (GHS) system ofinformation relating to chemicals of alltypes. Pesticides, being chemicals, are included. EPA did not adopt the GHS system as it relates toinformation found on pesticide labels, or the formatin which the information would be organized on aGHS pesticide label.

Conversely, OSHA did accept the GHS system forinformation found on Material Safety Data Sheets,now called “Safety Data Sheets”. SDSs have beenreorganized into a 16 section format, with eachsection providing specific information for user,environmental, and public health (including first

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responders) protection(s). Under the GHS, businessowners of all types (from pesticideapplicators/companies to restaurants) are required toprovide documented training of their employees on orbefore December 1, 2013 to comply with thestandard. We have been conducting/providingtraining to affected businesses since early 2013.

OSHA’s required 16 section format for SDSs fordistribution to business owners to facilitate employeetraining, as well as a Gramoxone SDS PDF used totrain program participants on the 16 sections and whatinformation can be found in each section can be foundin our password protected CEA Resources section ofour website at:http://agrilife.org/aes/pesticide-safety-education-resources/private-applicator-pesticide-certification-training/safety-data-sheets-sds/.

Lastly, the 9 different “Pictograms” which may appearon either a SDS or pesticide label can be found both inour CEA Resources section of the Agricultural andEnvironmental website, and at the end of thisChemogram.

The majority of private applicators will not berequired to provide training, unless they haveemployees who use/apply pesticides. Moreimportantly, TDA nor EPA will enforce theseregulations, which further demonstrates the value ofour CEAs and their ability to help our customerscomply with the multiplicity of federal and stateenvironmental regulations (CWA, CAA, ESA, OSHA,DOT…). If anyone needs additional information,contact our office at your convenience.

New AgriLife Extension Service CEA andSpecialist PSEP Quarterly Reporting System

The AgriLife Extension Service administrationworked with the AES Unit and AgriLife Extension ITspecialists to design a PSEP “Applicator Certificationand “Recertification Quarterly Reporting System”. The system has been piloted and will be available foruse beginning in January, 2014.

Unlike reporting to the TexAS accountability system,faculty involved in conducting certification andrecertification activities will log onto the AES websiteand provide information on a quarterly basis. Thesedata will be captured, collated, and reported toExtension administrators, TDA, and EPA to satisfystate and federal PSEP regulatory requirements.

2014 Last Chance Video Course Numbers

The TDA has issued Last Chance Video (LCV)numbers for 2014. While each video will have aseparate course number, as in the past, now eachsegment will be counted in 1 hour increments ONLY.

LCV number 1, which consists on 1 ½ hours of Laws& Regulations (L&Rs) and ½ hour of Safety willnow only count for 1 CEU in L&Rs and 1 CEU inGeneral Safety. The remaining ½ hour in L&Rs willnow be counted towards the remaining ½ need tocomplete 1 CEU in Safety.

Likewise, LCV number 3, which consists of 1 ½hours of Drift Minimization and ½ hour of GeneralSafety will now only count for 1 CEU in DriftMinimization and 1 CEU in General Safety.

LCVs number 2 and number 4 will remain the same. LCV 2 allows participants to receive 2 CEUs in IPMamd LCV 4 allows participants to receive 2 CEUs inGeneral Safety.

The LCVs developed specifically for aerialapplicators have been grouped together to allowaerial applicators to receive 2 CEUs in DriftManagement relating to aerial application ofpesticides.

The 2014 course numbers are assigned as follows:

Last chance video #1 – “laws & regulations”, course0685932, 1 L&R, 1 General

Last chance video #2 – “Integrated pest management”,course 0685935, 2 IPM

Last chance video #3 – “drift minimization”, course0685936, 1 Drift minimization, 1 General

Last chance video #4 – “Safety”, course 0685937,2 general

Aerial requirement video “Two-hour drift combo”, course0685938, 2 Drift minimization

Please adhere to the CEU allowance procedures foreach LCV based on the new TDA recertificationguidelines.

The information given herein is for educational purposes only.Reference to commercial products or trade names is made with theunderstanding that no discrimination is intended and no endorsementby the Extension Service is implied. Educational programs of theExtension Service are open to all citizens without regard to race, color,sex, disability, age or national origin.

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Agenda in Outline Format

Information of each presentation for CEU credit:

Date of Presentation Total Instruction

Time:

Presentation Title:

Speaker Name:

Method of Instruction: Lecture Video/Webinar

____Demonstration

____Field Trials

____Correspondence Course

____Computer-based Training

____Other (please explain)

________________________________________________________________

Brief description of information to be presented (basically, what information will be relevant to a pesticide applicator):

HCS Pictograms and Hazards