Enforcement Considerations. EPA’s Strategic Plan Goal 5 is to enforce environmental laws. The pesticide compliance and enforcement activities grantees perform help monitor, identify, correct, and deter noncompliance and reduce chemical risks. Compliance monitoring activities help support other Agency goals including reducing chemical risks and protecting underserved and vulnerable populations. Grantee activities should be consistent with the national Compliance Monitoring Strategy when finalized.
Enforcement Considerations. EPA’s goal for the Worker Protection requirements is to help create a safe work environment in which agricultural workers, their employers, and pesticide handlers can perform tasks without concern about pesticide exposure. For this reason, grantees must conduct agricultural use inspections focused on WPS compliance. Enforcements activities include: • Grantees should track each WPS inspection as either a Tier I or Tier II inspection. WPS tips and complaints should be included in establishing a priority setting plan. • The appropriate number of inspections to be conducted should be consistent with the number of farms and farm employees covered by WPS. The appropriate number of WPS inspections is to be negotiated between grantees and regional offices.
(1) timing inspections during periods of pesticide application to ensure compliance with key worker provisions; (2) visiting sites with labor intensive crops and/or those crops that traditionally require a lot of hand labor; (3) timing inspections during the growing season to coincide with high risk labor practices and worker exposure scenarios; and (4) timing inspections during times when high risk pesticides would be applied at a specific time of year as a matter of general crop practice. • States should follow the EPA WPS Agricultural Inspection Guidance. State enforcement actions should be reported in the work plan accomplishments report with a brief narrative description about each noteworthy civil or criminal penalty enforcement action resulting from a WPS inspection. The EPA believes that it is important to communicate to the public the impact of the WPS compliance and enforcement program to protect pesticide workers beyond numerical targets. • States should provide information on the number of other enforcement actions resulting from WPS inspections such as stop sale/use orders and warning letters in each of the reporting categories. • Particular attention should be given to follow-up inspections at agricultural establishments where prior enforcement actions for WPS violations were taken. Follow up inspections should occur in a timely manner as the grantee deems appropriate. A regional review of WPS actions should be included as part of mid- and end-of-year regional reviews to ensure enforcement actions are consistent with state enforcement response policies. Regions should review no less than 10 percent of the case files as part of their oversight responsibilities.
Enforcement Considerations. Monitor compliance with certification requirements, and focus on sale/distribution of restricted use pesticides (RUPs) to applicators in fumigation sector(s) of concern due to the high potential for severe, acute incidents from exposure.
Enforcement Considerations. For FY2015-2017, grantees should focus on product and user compliance with special emphasis on agricultural retailers/distributors that repackage pesticide into refillable containers, as well as RUP and Tox 1 category products. This emphasis was selected to focus on the highest risk, both in terms of the hazard of the pesticides and the sector that does the most repackaging of all pesticides into refillable containers. The Agency is aware that certain states may have inspectional jurisdiction for pesticide containment and pesticide production or labeling divided between two state agencies. When inspectional jurisdiction is divided, the state lead agency should coordinate with other state entities having inspectional jurisdiction to ensure that the state agencies are working in cooperation. In states where this situation occurs, the state lead agency should note the jurisdictional issues, that the other agency is aware of the requirements, and report on the relevant activities of each state agency.
Enforcement Considerations. Reducing risk is ultimately accomplished through compliance with and enforcement of new labels that require protective buffer zones around treated fields, comprehensive fumigation management plans for applications, and training for certified applicators supervising fumigations, among other measures. Grantees should conduct use inspections to ensure compliance with the new soil fumigation label requirements. Grantees should also consider establishing relationships with other federal, state, tribal and local agencies within their region to assist in compliance and enforcement activities.
Enforcement Considerations. States and tribes are expected to monitor compliance with pesticide water quality risk mitigation measures, and respond to pesticide water contamination events especially where water quality standards or other reference points are threatened. .
Enforcement Considerations. OECA is not requiring targeted endangered species use inspections. However, an inspector should document user compliance with a specific bulletin if it can be determined during a routine use inspection that an applicator used a pesticide for which an Endangered Species Bulletin exists.
Enforcement Considerations. Enforcement considerations/actions related to the inappropriate use of pesticides for bed bugs include:
1) Monitor product and user compliance;
2) Focus on the prompt investigation of the illegal pesticide products and the illegal use of products not registered for control of bed bugs;
3) Investigate misuse/overuse of existing pesticides labeled for bed bugs;
4) As state laws permit, examine false advertising and illegal claims associated with bed bug products;
5) Monitor 25(b)products labeled for bed bugs, and ensure their labeling is compliant;
6) Monitor internet advertisement/sales/distribution of pesticides labeled for bed bugs, and take the appropriate enforcement action for violations.
Enforcement Considerations. Grantees should monitor compliance with pollinator protection label language. The EPA Bee Incident Investigation Guidance, or similar state or tribal guidance, should be followed (available online at: xxx.xxx.xxx/xxxxxxxxxx/xxxxxxxxx/xxxxxxxx/xxxxxxxxxx/xxxxx/xxx-xxxxxxxxxx-xxxxx.xxx). Additionally, grantees should conduct inspections and enforcement actions directed at detecting and stopping distribution of unregistered or misbranded pesticides that could adversely affect pollinators and/or the quality of hive products.
Enforcement Considerations. This approach does not authorize state compliance assurance or enforcement in Indian Country.
