A 2015 update of the EPA’s Agricultural Worker Protection Standard required that farmworkers who handle or apply pesticides be at least 18 years old. Now, the EPA announced, it “has initiated a process to revise certain requirements in the WPS” and expects, by next September, to ask for public comment “on proposed revisions” to the minimum-age rule. The announcement did not identify possible changes in the rule.
The agency said it also will review provisions that create exclusion zones to keep farmworkers away from newly applied pesticides and that allow workers to name a “designated representative” to collect copies of pesticide records kept by farmers. A day before the EPA acted, Bloomberg reported that the three areas would be examined. Farm and forestry groups say the current provisions are unduly restrictive.
Despite the review, there will be no change in compliance dates for the 2015 update, said the EPA. The compliance and training provisions are scheduled to take effect on May 22, 2018. Before the 2015 update, there had been no minimum-age requirement for pesticide applicators. “There is an exception for a minimum age of 16 for noncertified applicators using RUPs [restricted use pesticides] on a farm under the supervision of a private applicator who is a member of their immediate family,” said the EPA. RUPs are the most acutely toxic pesticides or pesticides that must be applied with special care. The chemicals are not available to the general public.