United States
     Environmental Protection
     Agency
               Office of Enforcement
               & Compliance Assurance
               Washington, DC 20460
EPA305-F-01-013
August 2001
www.epa.gov
                                                              ^-rr-HT"^?
                                                 Ag Center
                                                         Helping Agriculture Comply with
                                                         Environmental Requirements
FOCUS
O  N
        Q&A's on  Central  Posting on

        Large or Non-contiguous

        Establishments
        The Agricultural Worker Protection Standard (WPS) is a regulation issued by the U.S.
        Environmental Protection Agency in 1992 and amended in 1995. It covers pesticides that are
        used in the production of agricultural plants on farms, forests, nurseries, and greenhouses.  The
        WPS requires you to take steps to reduce the risk of pesticide'related illness and injury if you (I)
        use such pesticides, or (2) employ workers or pesticide handlers who are exposed to such
        pesticides.
        This fact sheet will help you understand how to comply with WPS requirements for displaying
        information about pesticide applications. These questions were submitted to the Agency by
        people seeking clarification on this part of the regulation, and have been answered by EPA's
        Office of Compliance.
        What is required for central
        posting when an agricultural
        establishment is particularly
        large or has separate workforces
        on non-contiguous sites?
        The rule requires that certain
        information (30-day listing of pesticide
                           applications and associated REIs, safety
                           poster, and emergency medical care
                           information) must be displayed in a
                           central location on the agricultural
                           establishment, in a place accessible to
                           workers and handlers. EPA anticipated
                           that there would be one central posting
                           location on the agricultural
                           establishment.

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However, if because of the size of the
establishment or the separate nature of
the workforce, there is not one central
location that is accessible to all workers,
then an employer will need more than
one central posting to comply with the
accessibility requirement in the rule. By
accessible, EPA means that the
information must be in a location where
it can be readily seen and read and must
be unrestricted in that it need not be
requested.
    The posting makes clear that there
    are other central locations.
    Any worker or noncommercial
    handler that enters any area of the
    agricultural establishment has been
    informed of the central location
    covering that area
    Each central location meets all
    other WPS requirements for a
    central location including display of
    a safety poster and emergency
    information.
When an agricultural employer
uses more than one central
location on the agricultural
establishment, what information
may be provided at each
location?

The agricultural employer has two
options. Option 1 is to post complete
information for the entire establishment
at all locations. Option 2 is to post
information on applications made only
to the part of the agricultural
establishment served by the central
location, if the following conditions are
met:
1.  Each central location clearly
    indicates the area covered by the
    application list. The central posting
    states that it is site-specific and is
    only a partial listing of the
    applications on the establishment.
Note: If an agricultural employer has a
central posting location displaying
information about all applications,
he/she may post site-specific information
at other locations on the establishment.
The above three conditions do not have
to be met for this additional
information.
Ag Center Fact Sheet Series
Agrichemicals/WPS - Central Posting on Large Establishments
                                 Page 2

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  Agrichemicals
The Ag Center
welcomes comments
on this document and
its other services.
For more information
To get more facts about compliance,
contact the Ag Center by phone, fax, or
mail.  Call the toll-free number to ask
compliance questions or order
publications. At the Ag Center's web
site, www.epa.gov/agriculture, you can
explore compliance information and
order or download publications. For a
complete publications list, request
document 10001, "Ag Center
Publications."
                            National Agriculture Compliance
                            Assistance Center
                            901 N. 5th Street
                            Kansas City, KS 66101

                            Toll-free:     1-888-663-2155
                            Internet:     www.epa.gov/agriculture
                            Fax:        913-551-7270
                                    United States Environmental
                                    Protection Agency
                                    Washington, DC 20460
                           Ag Center Fact Sheet Series
                                                                              Page 3

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