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. ------- 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 ------- 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 ------- |