&EPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of Enforcement
& Compliance Assurance
Washington, DC 20460
EPA 305-F-98-027a
September 1998
www.epa.gov
             t" »
                                                                             Ar  i*  ^*   T
                                                                     g Center
                                                                       Helping Agriculture Comply with
                                                                       Environmental Requirements
             FOCUS     ON
    Information  Displayed at a

    Central  Place -  Part  I

   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 (1)
   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. The questions answered here were submitted to the
   Agency by people seeking clarification on this part of the regulation. The questions and answers
   were released by EPA's Office of Compliance on March 15, 1995.
                      WPS requires employers to
                      "display" specific information
                      about pesticides for 30 days after
                      their application on the
                      agricultural establishment or the
                      expiration of any Restricted
                      Entry Interval (REI). Does this
                      mean that the information must
                      be displayed like posters, so that
                                         all the information is in view at
                                         once, or may the information be
                                         displayed on sheets of paper that
                                         are in a binder or in another
                                         convenient manner?
                                         WPS requires that the information on
                                         applications be accessible, legible, and
                                         displayed in a central location on the
                                         farm, or in the nursery or greenhouse (or
                                         in or near a forest, where workers or
                                         handlers are likely to congregate or pass
                                         by) "where it can be readily seen and

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                 ...... iv |i ...... "i'M!1
                                read" by workers [40 CFR §§170.122
                                and 170.135] and handlers [40 CFR
                                §§170.222 and 170.235]. It also
                                requires that workers and handlers be
                              I informed of the location and allowed
                             *™^pcessiJ9^t.	EPA used the word	
                            .i^ii "display" to indicate that this access
                            \«IH must be unrestricted in that it need not
                            :,'''li'iliiilEliil "" '"' ' • • I1, "i,1 '•! i '',ii:'i" ' ' ..."H"!'	'i 	'•'! ''', 1||l'i,' • 	i" ' ' 	•''!" '',' ' >.i	Juii'1 ,• ••'"  : i
                                be requested.  However, any manner of
                             .^djsplay that meets these criteria is-
                             ^gj acceptable, including sucH approaches
                             :"!! as page-oh-page lists stapled at the top
                             • |i^arig,ugeio^icleyices such as^ciipboards or
                             :"!~!•! binders.
                        i^jfji; Lriiiljf^. grower buys a WPS-labeled
                                product and non-WPS-labeled
                                product, is he required to list any
      ....... IWPSldlxl need not
           • ;"i 'IS	J'
li.'IIL'J1 j
:ii ilihiiiiiij! i
                                    lications ..... of the ..... hbn^
                          ,., .......... ,!; ..... i .............. .labeled product on his centrally
                                located information sheet
                          '.::»;; .....   concerning applications of
                          11 ........................... " pesticides?
                          ':|''*lli!l" ....... :™ No. He is required to list only
                         ':'3f: ....... ' S| applications of WPS-labeled products.
                         ''.'• '•"'' . Is! Nonetheless, the Agency encourages
                          'iFifliijjjjij:!!,, , iiViJij, ( .'if ',! J'vlfjiWiiiiiifr   "Y- ' ' ""i ..... • r  ........... • ................... 11
                                growers to display intormation on all
                         '^jjp; ':^ applications as a matter of providing
                         : '*|!||:!!l:1, i!^ protection to the workers.
                              ,,:;;:: Section	170.122 requires the
                                display of certain information
                              IMIllii!!: nlj"J	'	'	9	 	 ""	 '	'  ':
                              i!,:;:; when, workers are_ on i an	
                                establishment where pesticides
 have been applied. Does this
 mean anywhere on the
 agricultural establishment? Does
 it apply only to a contiguous
 property?


 (First: question) Yes. Whenever workers
 or handlers employed by the agricultural
 establishment are anywhere on that
 establishment, certain information must
 be displayed. (Second question) No, it
 does not necessarily apply only to
 contiguous property.  It applies anytime
 they are anywhere on the agricultural
 establishment.

 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
 worker? and hipdiers. EPA anticipated
1 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 fipt one central location that is
                                Ag Center Fact Sheet Series
                                Agrichemicals/WPS - Information Display 1
                                                                                                           Page 2

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                          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 Ag Center
welcomes comments
on this document and
its other services.
For more information
You can get more facts about
compliance by calling the Ag Center's
toll-free number.  Materials can be sent
to you by fax or mail, or you can talk to
an Ag Center representative. For a list
of all publications available from the Ag
Center, request document number
10001, "Ag Center Publications."
                            National Agriculture Compliance
                            Assistance Center
                            901 N. 5* Street
                            Kansas City, KS 66 1 01

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

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