United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of Enforcement
& Compliance Assurance
Washington, DC 20460
EPA305-F-01-013
August 2001
www.epa.gov
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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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