Rules and Regulations – This fact sheet list many of the rules and regulations discussed in your training manual. It includes links to the laws themselves or explanations of the laws.

Calibration Sheet – This is a grid of amounts (in both fluid ounces (fl. oz.) and milliliters (ml) that an applicator needs to catch from a nozzle at a specified GPA, speed, and nozzle width.

Dual Notice List – A list of Dual Notice pesticides registered for use in Wisconsin. Employers must notify workers by warning them orally AND by posting warning signs at treated sites before using one of these products.

Field Application Techniques – A bulletin giving tips on proper field application techniques of pesticides.

Laundering Pesticide-Contaminated Work Clothes – If you are a pesticide applicator your work clothes can have some pesticides on them at the end of the day. North Dakota State University published this document to give some guidance on how to deal with laundering your work clothes to avoid contamination of your home or family member’s clothes.

Managing Pesticide Drift in Wisconsin: Field Sprayers – A bulletin describing how an applicator can reduce spray drift.

On-Farm Posting Flow Chart – Posting can be a confusing thing, this flow chart can help in understanding when to post and how to.  Try our Posting Tool below.

Pesticide Drift – Produced and hosted by the NPM program.

Pesticides and Homeowners – Ever use a “Weed and Feed” on your lawn? The “weed” part is a pesticide, a herbicide. “Pesticides and Homeowners” is a resource for you if you want to learn more about the pesticide you might use.

Posting Tool – Posting and notification of pesticide applications can be a complicated process. This tool will walk you through when, where, and how you have to post and notify people of pesticide applications.

Recordkeeping Form – A form applicators can use to record their pesticide use.

Registration Form [ Private ] – Registration form to order, by mail, training manuals, and/or register to attend a training session.

School Posting Flowchart – A flowchart to help applicators determine their posting responsibilities when making pesticide applications on school grounds.

Special-Use Permit Flowchart – This flow chart helps applicators determine whether they need to obtain a special permit before using certain pesticides for the control of mammals, birds, or aquatic pests.

Sprayer Calibration Worksheet – This is a great worksheet that you can work through to calibrate your sprayer for area applications. Developed by Dan Marzu (ANR County Educator Lincoln County) for UW Extension and the PAT Program.

Pesticides In The Home Front:

 How Many Pesticides Do You Use: The Answer May Surprise You

Questions about pesticides?

Start an IPM Plan for Your Home

Storing and Disposing of Pesticides

What’s on a Pesticide Label?

Using Caution When Mixing Pesticides

Proper Pesticide Application

Calibrate a Hand Sprayer

Calibrate a Drop or Rotary Spreader

What to Wear When Handling Pesticides

How to Select a Pesticide

Professional Application Services: What You Should Know

Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.

How to Comply Manuals – DATCP provides several “How to Comply” manuals. They provide manuals for Agricultural, Aquatic & Mosquito, Turf and Landscape and Structural applicators. These manuals provide checklists and other information to help you comply with the regulations involved in pesticide use.

Landscape Registry – Property owners can be notified of landscape applications by registering on the Landscape Registry. Commercial applicators who apply pesticides in Turf & Landscapes have to check this Registry and provide notification of the application to people who have signed up and are within one block of where they will be applying pesticides. List of registered properties.

Worker Protection Standard (WPS).

Environmental Enforcement Specialists – List of DATCP’s inspectors by region.  DATCP’s Environmental Enforcement Specialists are a great source of information. Also, they are great at asking about “gray” areas.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Restricted Use Pesticides – EPA List of all RUPs in the US.

Consolidated Lists of Lists – This consolidated list of chemicals subject to reporting requirements under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA), Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), and Section 112(r) of the Clean Air Act. Remember, that SARA Title III stuff we mentioned in the emergency section of the training? Some pesticide inventories have to be reported to Wisconsin Emergency Management and your county’s Local Emergency Planning Committee. At certain levels, Emergency Management Plans are required.

Worker Protection Standard (WPS)

The Federal Worker Protection Standard is a law meant to protect agricultural workers from exposure to pesticides. It has been significantly revised over the past couple of years. The following links take you to more information about WPS.

Worker Protection Standard How to Comply Manual

Worker Protection Standard Quick Reference Guide – If you own or manage a farm, production forest, greenhouse or nursery and employ non-family members you have to comply with WPS.  This Quick Guide can help you figure out what you have to do to be compliant.

WPS Respiratory Protection Guide – Under the Worker Protection Standard (WPS) as revised in 2015, there are new requirements for pesticide handlers when pesticide labels require the use of a respirator.

Pesticide Educational Resource Collaborative (PERC) – Need training materials for WPS?

WPS Safety Posters

“Agricultural commodity” means any plant or part of a plant, animal, or animal product produced by a person primarily for sale, consumption, propagation, or other use by humans or animals. “Agricultural commodity” includes industrial hemp. [ 94.67(2) ]

Bulk Pesticide: “Any liquid pesticide in a container larger than 55 gallons (208 liters) or dry pesticide in undivided quantities greater than 100 pounds (45 kilograms).” Bulk pesticides fall under the rules outlined in ATCP 33. [ ATCP 29.01(8m) ]

Certified:  DATCP will certify an applicator when they determine that the applicator has met the pesticide applicator training knowledge requirements. They do this by passing a certification exam. Certification must be renewed every 5 years.

Commercial Applicator Types:
Commercial Applicator For-Hire
You are a commercial applicator for hire if you apply or direct the use of pesticides for others on a contract basis and make those applications on property not owned by yourself or your employer. (Excepted from this definition is anyone who performs janitorial, cleaning, or sanitizing services if the person uses no pesticides other than sanitizers, disinfectants, and germicides.)

Commercial Applicator Not-for-Hire
You are a commercial applicator not-for-hire If you apply or direct the use of pesticides only to sites that your employer controls, and do not contract out your pesticide application services. (Excepted from this definition is anyone who applies only nonrestricted-use pesticides at their own home.)

Mixer-Loader
If you mix or load (or direct the mixing or loading of) pesticides but do not apply them, you can be considered a mixer-loader. To determine whether you are for hire or not-for-hire, use similar criteria to those used above for commercial applicators. For example, if you mix or load pesticides for a commercial application business that contracts out its services, you are a mixer-loader for hire.

Temporary Commercial Applicator Trainee Registration
A noncertified and nonlicensed individual beginning employment for a commercial applicator business may register as a trainee with DATCP to apply pesticides on a temporary basis (maximum 30 days). A trainee registration allows an individual to use non-restricted-use pesticides during his/her “hands-on” training conducted by the individual’s employer in preparation for that individual to become a certified, licensed applicator.

DATCP: The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. This is the regulatory agency that deals with among other things, pesticide use in Wisconsin.

Direct the Use:  To “direct the use” of a pesticide means to select or control the use of a pesticide, where the selecting or controlling individual has supervisory authority over the person using the pesticide.

Dual Notice Agricultural Pesticide: Is an agricultural pesticide whose label requires agricultural employers to do both of the following: a) Post application sites with worker protection warning signs and b) Give workers oral notice of applications. [ ATCP 29.60(9) ] [ List of Dual Notice Pesticides ].

Licensed:  A license from the DATCP authorizes a certified applicator to use pesticides. The license must be renewed annually. (You can compare certification to getting a driver’s license, and licensing to registering your vehicle: even with a driver’s license, you need to register your vehicle annually to be allowed to drive it.)

Landscape: Turf, ornamental and mulched areas, and areas being prepared for those purposes, that are located in or around residential premises, public or commercial facilities, parks, workplaces, care facilities, recreational areas, and public lands. “Landscape” does not include utility or transportation right−of−way areas, greenhouses, nurseries, or areas used for agricultural production, forest production, or commercial turf production.  Applications to the above definition have to follow the landscape rules.

PAT Number: This is a unique number given to you when you receive your training materials.

Private Applicator: A Private Applicator is an applicator who applies restricted use pesticides in order to produce an agricultural commodity AND does this on property they or their employer owns or rents.

Restricted-Use Pesticide (RUP): FIFRA directs the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to compare the benefits and risks of using a pesticide before the product can be sold in the United States; if the benefits outweigh the risks, the EPA will register the product for sale and use. However, if the EPA believes that the benefits of using a pesticide will outweigh the risks only when the pesticide is used by trained persons, it will classify the pesticide restricted use. This classification must appear on the product label.

Use:  Use of a pesticide includes the following activities: mixing, loading, or applying a pesticide; handling an open pesticide container (other than an empty container that has been triple rinsed or cleaned to label specifications); disposing of pesticide or pesticide rinsate; cleaning or rinsing an open pesticide container, pesticide application equipment, or a mix or nurse tank; and any other activities which the pesticide label requires of the mixer, loader, or applicator.

This web page addresses the changes as they relate to the State of Wisconsin.

NOTE: We will update this web page as the State of Wisconsin rules adjust to the new requirements. Last updated: November 10, 2022.

Postponed Again mostly due to COVID: States were given till 2024 to match their state laws with the Federal laws that were enacted in 2015. The State of Wisconsin is presently trying to get its plan accepted by the EPA.

Postponed: The new rules were posted in the Federal Register on January 4, 2017, then pushed back to June 5, 2017 [EPA–HQ–OPP–2011–0183; FRL–9962–94], then pushed back again to May 22nd, 2018 [EPA–HQ–OPP–2011–0183; FRL–9963–34]. Presently the State of Wisconsin is proposing its plan to the EPA for approval. The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection is presently going through the EPA approval process of its compliance plan.

When these new rules go into effect, it will take time before the new requirements are implemented in Wisconsin. States have three years to modify existing state plans to comply with the new requirements (presently being done), and an additional two years may be granted by the EPA if requested. The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) is preparing to submit its plan that will have to be accepted by the EPA and then the State Codes will have to be opened and changed to fit the new C&T rules. So, we still have some time before these rules kick in.

Be aware that although State law has to meet these new requirements, a State can exceed the requirements. Meaning that a State can require additional requirements beyond those listed in the new rules.

DATCP’s How to Comply Manuals: [ https://datcp.wi.gov/Pages/Programs_Services/HowToComplyManuals.aspx ]

To purchase Training materials for certification: [ https://patstore.wisc.edu/secure/default.asp ]

What is this Certification & Training Thing?

As part of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA: CFR 40 part 171) applicators who use restricted-use pesticides (RUPs) have to go through a certification process that requires some form of training. Approximately 5% of pesticides are registered as restricted use.  The basis of this rule is set by the EPA, then each state can add to it as needed. In Wisconsin, an example of an added rule is that commercial applicators that apply any pesticide (RUP or not) have to be certified.

The EPA has recently reviewed its portion of the Certification & Training rule and made revisions. This page will highlight some of the rules and how they relate to Wisconsin pesticide applicators. If you are reading this from another state, please look to the Pesticide Safety Education system or your state regulatory agency within that state.

The following information has been mined from various EPA Public Documents, predominantly from the “Detailed Comparison of Revisions to EPA’s Certification of Pesticide Applicators Rule (40 CFR 171).” [ https://www.epa.gov/pesticide-worker-safety/certification-pesticide-applicators-revised-rule-comparison ]

General EPA site for the rule – [ https://www.epa.gov/pesticide-worker-safety/revised-certification-standards-pesticide-applicators ]

Enhance Private Applicator Competency Standards

There are specific topics that have to be covered in the training. The topics are:

• Label and Labeling comprehension
• Safety
• Environment
• Pests
• Pesticides
• Equipment
• Application techniques
• Laws and regulations
• Responsibilities for supervisors of noncertified applicators
• Stewardship

Updated: Changes to AEZ Requirements are still in the courts.

The Worker Protection Standard (WPS) is a set of Federal standards designed to protect agricultural employees from occupational exposure to pesticides. The WPS was originally established in 1992 and revised in 2016. The new revisions go into effect in two stages. The first stage will go into effect on January 2nd, 2017, and the second stage on January 2nd, 2018. Below are some of the highlights of WPS. Not all the details are provided on this page, to get more detail see the Code of federal regulation 170.

This manual provides a “how to” guide for complying with the WPS: How to Comply with the Worker Protection Standard

Pesticide Educational Resource Collaborative (PERC) Quick Reference Guide

National Worker Protection Standard (WPS): A Manual for Trainers of Agricultural Workers and Pesticide Handlers (English) / Ley Nacional de Proteccion al Trabajador: Manual para Capacitoadores

Scope

This regulation covers pesticides that are used in the production of agricultural plants on farms, forests, nurseries, and greenhouses. So, if you employ people and use pesticides in the production of an agricultural commodity the WPS applies to you.

Definition of an Agricultural Plant:

“Agricultural plant” means any plant, or part thereof, grown, maintained, or otherwise produced for commercial purposes, including growing, maintaining, or otherwise producing plants for sale or trade, for research or experimental purposes, or for use in part or their entirety in another location. Agricultural plant includes but is not limited to, grains, fruits, and vegetables; wood fiber or timber products; flowering and foliage plants and trees; seedlings and transplants; and turf grass produced for sod. The agricultural plant does not include pasture or range land used for grazing.

Who Needs Training?

PERC Training Suite

Pesticides in Forestry (approval # “EPA Worker PST 00003”)

Safety in the Greenhouse: Understanding and Applying the Worker Protection Standard. (EPA Worker PST 00026)

Worker Protection Standard (WPS) for Agricultural Workers – Great video for WPS for Workers on the farm [ EPA Worker PST 00028 ].

Covered Employee Types

The WPS groups employees into two groups. 1. Workers and 2. Handlers.

• Worker: Workers perform hand labor tasks such as harvesting, weeding, or pruning in a pesticide-treated area within 30 days after an application.
• Handler: employees, including self-employed persons, who perform tasks that directly involve pesticides. Handlers are those who mix, load or apply a pesticide or work on pesticide application equipment. Handlers must be at a minimum 18 years old.

Note that “Immediate Family” members are exempt from some (but not all) WPS requirements. Under the WPS, immediate family members include spouse, parents, stepparents, foster parents, father-in-law, mother-in-law, children, stepchildren, foster children, sons-in-law, daughters-in-law, grandparents, grandchildren, brothers, sisters, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, and first cousins. NEW: first cousins were added, expanding the definition of the immediate family.

Three Main Principles

The WPS uses three main principles to describe its requirements:

• Information: Informing employees about the possible risks/hazards related to working with and around pesticides is the first step in them being able to avoid them. Some who may be employed may not have any knowledge of pesticides and not being informed may lead to an accident. If workers do not know that pesticides take time to break down and contact with plants, soil, equipment, etc., can be dangerous, they may not know how to avoid exposing themselves to pesticides after an application. Giving employees information includes annual training, posting the pesticide safety poster, and having a listing of what products have been used.
• Protection: Employees may understand the possible risks/hazards related to working with and around pesticides, but if they are not provided the tools to avoid these risks/hazards accidents may happen. Employers must provide notification of which fields have been treated, and provide Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), Safety Data Sheets (SDS), and labels to the people who use pesticides.
• Mitigation: No matter how well we train and prepare for accidents, they still can happen. If accidental exposure happens, it is important to have in place ways to reduce the impacts of those accidents. This includes supplying decontamination sites, eye flush supplies, transportation to medical facilities, and having the information needed to facilitate medical help.

Let’s look at each of these in a little more detail.

Information

Annual Training

NEW: In the past, training had to be conducted every five years. The new rules require all workers and handlers to go through annual training.

All handlers require annual training before they perform any pesticide-handling activity. Employers must provide training before working in pesticide-treated areas, performing tasks in treated areas, or performing handler tasks.  A treated area is any area that has been treated with a pesticide up to 30 days after any “Restricted-Entry Interval*” expires. Workers or handlers that are certified applicators do not require annual training (their certification IS their training).

Who can Train

Any certified applicator (Private or Commercial) can provide the training. Individuals who have gone through an EPA-approved “Train the Trainer” program can also provide training. DATCP and the UW PAT Program recommend the Pesticide Educational Resources Collaborative’s online Course for educating people to become WPS trainers: [ PERK Online Training for Trainers ].

Training Requirements

• EPA-Approved training materials have to be used in the training. These materials will cover the many topics that are required. As in the past, there will be movies available to use in training. These training materials are being developed by the Pesticide Educational Resource Collaborative. Click their logo below to go to the site.

• See Appendix A below for a detailed list of required training topics.
• The trainer must be present during the whole training.
• Training records have to be taken and kept by the employer for 2 years:
  • Employee’s name (printed and signature)
  • Date of training
  • Information identifying which EPA-approved training material was used
  • Trainer’s name and documents showing that the trainer met requirements (pesticide certification number, “train the trainer” certificate number)
  • Employer’s name
• Training has to be given in a manner that the employees understand. Training materials will be provided in several different languages to aid in this.
• Worker and handler training have many of the same requirements, however, handler training is more extensive and covers topics that workers do not require.
• Provide specific information to your employees regarding YOUR specific operation, for example, where your information will be posted, how you are going to notify them regarding treated areas, etc.

NEW: New topics were added. Warnings regarding take-home exposure were strengthened. Warnings not to take pesticide or their containers home, information about laundering work clothes, the increased risks to pregnant women and children, etc.

The Safety Poster

The new safety poster is available and will require posting after Jan 2nd, 2018.  The poster is available at the PERC Web Site – Safety Poster

EPA released poster – Safety Poster

The safety poster is to be posted:

• In a common area where employees will gather,
• at permanent mixing & loading sites and,
• at any decontamination site where 11 or more employees are working.

The safety poster should be filled out, providing the information for the nearest medical facility.

NEW: In the new poster and rules you will have to include the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection’s contact information. Each state will have different contact information.

Access to Specific Application Information

The WPS requires that specific application information be posted. This is to be posted in the general access location, typically where your safety poster is posted. Pesticides without “Agricultural Use Requirements” do not have to be posted. However, if it is labeled in Agriculture, it probably has one of these.  The following information must be posted:

• Location of treatment
• Product name
• EPA Registration Number
• Active ingredients
• Date and approx. start and stop times
• Duration of Restricted-Entry Interval (REI)

This information has to be posted for 30 days after the last REI expires.

NEW: as part of WPS posting requirements, employers need to make Safety Data Sheets (SDS) of all agricultural use products available. You can find product SDSs at www.cdms.net or ask your dealer. One idea is to put all SDSs in a binder and leave that binder in the same location where you post your applications.

Notification

Agricultural employers must inform workers of where pesticide applications have taken place and of the entry restrictions for each situation. They must provide this notification before workers are within ¼ miles of the treated area if they are to be in contact with agricultural plants. Workers that do NOT come in contact with treated plants, soil, water, or equipment are exempt from this. There are different ways to notify workers (oral, posting warning signs, or both) and different situations when to use one method or another. See your training manual for more information about this notification.

NEW: the posting of signs is required if the label requires it (Dual Notice Products) or if the product being used has an REI greater than 48 hours (outdoor applications) or greater than 4 hours (enclosed applications).

Applications

Employers must assure that handlers under their employ are not applying pesticides in such a manner as to expose other handlers, workers, or other people.  Employees that are not immediate family and who do handler tasks (load, mix, and apply) must be a minimum of 18 years of age.

Notification to Commercial Applicators

If you contract with a commercial applicator it is your obligation to notify the employer of the commercial applicator if the applicator is to be within ¼ miles of any areas under a REI. You are also required to warn them of any restrictions that may be on the label.

Application Exclusion Zone (AEZ)

The application exclusion zone is something that has been added with the latest WPS revision.

The AEZ is a 25 or 100-foot exclusion zone where if anybody (excluding the applicator) enters, the application has to stop. The application can continue once the applicator can assure there is no risk of exposure to other people, essentially once the persons have left the AEZ.  Immediate family is exempt from all aspects of the AEZ.

The AEZ is enforced within the boundaries of the agricultural establishment.  “Immediate family members of farm owners are now exempted from all aspects of the AEZ requirements. Farm owners and their immediate family are now able to shelter in place inside closed buildings, giving farm owners and immediate family members flexibility to decide whether to stay on-site during pesticide applications, rather than compelling them to leave even when they feel safe remaining” (EPA News Release).

100-foot AEZ for the following applications – Aerially, air blast, fumigants, smoke, mist, or fogs. Fine sprays were used (median diameter less than 294 microns).

25-foot AEZ for the following applications – Applications greater than 12  inches above the target with medium or larger droplet sizes. (Medium to coarse is given at a volume median diameter greater than 294 microns. See the specs of the nozzles you are using for indications of droplet size.)

Personal Protection Equipment (PPE)

It is the responsibility of the employer to provide additional PPE other than everyday work clothes.

• Shoes, socks, long pants, long-sleeved shirt, everyday work clothes – Employees’ responsibility
• Gloves, respirators, rubber boots, aprons, spray suits, coveralls, eye protection – Employer’s responsibility

Required PPE will be listed on the label of the product being used. The employer has to assure that the PPE is maintained in the recommended manner by the manufacturer and is clean.

Respirators

When doing applications where the label requires respirators, an employer is responsible for assuring that respirators are provided, that the respirator fits the employee properly, and is maintained according to the manufacturer’s specifications.

NEW: It is the employer’s responsibility to assure that employees receive respirator fit-testing, training, and medical evaluation.

Mitigation

No matter how well you prepare for an emergency or how you protect your employees, accidents can still happen. The WPS requires a standard of response when an accident occurs.

Decontamination Supplies

When a pesticide gets on our skin or in our eyes it starts to adsorb into our bodies. The hazard of this depends on many things including the specific product involved, the amount of exposure, and the product’s formulation. The longer that pesticide remains on our skin, the more that can potentially get into our bodies. Decontamination sites and supplies provided where workers and handlers are performing tasks expedite the removal of pesticides from the body.

Decontamination Supplies Include

Decontamination sites require the following:

• 1 gallon of clean water/worker and 3 gallons/handler.
• Plenty of soap.
• Enough single-use towels to dry the body.
• When using pressurized equipment or products that require eye protection, provided a system to flush eyes.
• Provide coveralls or change of clothing for handlers.

Decontamination Supplies Location

Decontamination supplies have to be located within ¼ miles of workers and handlers working in treated areas. They also have to be provided at mixing and loading sites.

Medical Emergencies

if there is reason to believe that a worker or handler has been poisoned or injured by a pesticide used on the agricultural establishment the employer must make sure transportation to a medical facility is available. Employers can “make transportation available” by:

• Taking the employee to the emergency medical facility.
• Calling an emergency vehicle, such as an ambulance.
• Making sure the employee has a ride to the medical facility with someone else.

Take or send the following along to the medical facility:

• the SDS
• Product name, EPA registration number, and active ingredient(s)
• Description of how the pesticide was used
• How the employee might have become exposed to the pesticide

Retaliatory Responses

An employer can not retaliate for any of the provisions afforded to workers and handlers by the WPS.

Request for Information

Employers must provide application information to past employees or their representatives up to 2 years after employment. The rule about allowing a representative to request information has been reopened and is being debated.

APPENDIX A

The following is taken directly from the Federal Code of Regulations.

170.401(c)(2) Minimum training topic requirements for Workers

(i) Where and in what form pesticides may be encountered during work activities.

(ii) Hazards of pesticides resulting from toxicity and exposure, including acute and chronic effects, delayed effects, and sensitization.

(iii) Routes through which pesticides can enter the body.

(iv) Signs and symptoms of common types of pesticide poisoning.

(v) Emergency first aid for pesticide injuries or poisonings.

(vi) How to obtain emergency medical care.

(vii) Routine and emergency decontamination procedures, including emergency eye flushing techniques.

(viii) Hazards from chemigation and drift.

(ix) Hazards from pesticide residues on clothing.

(x) Warnings about taking pesticides or pesticide containers home.

(xi) Requirements of this subpart designed to reduce the risks of illness or injury resulting from workers’ occupational exposure to pesticides, including application and entry restrictions, the design of the warning sign, posting of warning signs, oral warnings, the availability of specific information about applications, and the protection against retaliatory acts.

EPA will provide Training materials that will cover the following:

(i) The responsibility of agricultural employers to provide workers and handlers with information and protections designed to reduce work-related pesticide exposures and illnesses. This includes ensuring workers and handlers have been trained on pesticide safety, providing pesticide safety and application and hazard information, decontamination supplies and emergency medical assistance, and notifying workers of restrictions during applications and on entering pesticide-treated areas. A worker or handler may designate in writing a representative to request access to pesticide application and hazard information.

(ii) How to recognize and understand the meaning of the posted warning signs used for notifying workers of restrictions on entering pesticide-treated areas on the establishment.

(iii) How to follow directions and/or signs about keeping out of pesticide-treated areas subject to a restricted-entry interval and application exclusion zones.

(iv) Where and in what forms pesticides may be encountered during work activities, and potential sources of pesticide exposure on the agricultural establishment. This includes exposure to pesticide residues that may be on or in plants, soil, tractors, application, and chemigation equipment, or used personal protective equipment, and pesticides may drift through the air from nearby applications or be in irrigation water.

(v) Potential hazards from toxicity and exposure that pesticides present to workers and their families, including acute and chronic effects, delayed effects, and sensitization.

(vi) Routes through which pesticides can enter the body.

(vii) Signs and symptoms of common types of pesticide poisoning.

(viii) Emergency first aid for pesticide injuries or poisonings.

(ix) Routine and emergency decontamination procedures, including emergency eye flushing techniques, and if pesticides are spilled or sprayed on the body use decontamination supplies to wash immediately or rinse off in the nearest clean water, including springs, streams, lakes, or other sources if more readily available than decontamination supplies, and as soon as possible, wash or shower with soap and water, shampoo hair, and change into clean clothes.

(x) How and when to obtain emergency medical care.

(xi) When working in pesticide-treated areas, wear work clothing that protects the body from pesticide residues and wash hands before eating, drinking, using chewing gum or tobacco, or using the toilet.

(xii) Wash or shower with soap and water, shampoo hair, and change into clean clothes as soon as possible after working in pesticide-treated areas.

(xiii) Potential hazards from pesticide residues on clothing.

(xiv) Wash work clothes before wearing them again and wash them separately from other clothes.

(xv) Do not take pesticides or pesticide containers used at work to your home.

(xvi) Safety data sheets provide hazard, emergency medical treatment,, and other information about the pesticides used in the establishment they may come in contact with. The responsibility of agricultural employers to do all of the following:

(A) Display safety data sheets for all pesticides used in the establishment.

(B) Provide workers and handlers information about the location of the safety data sheets on the establishment.

(C) Provide workers and handlers unimpeded access to safety data sheets during normal work hours.

(xvii) The rule prohibits agricultural employers from allowing or directing any worker to mix, load or apply pesticides or assist in the application of pesticides unless the worker has been trained as a handler.

(xviii) The responsibility of agricultural employers to provide specific information to workers before directing them to perform early-entry activities. Workers must be 18 years old to perform early-entry activities.

(xix) Potential hazards to children and pregnant women from pesticide exposure.

(xx) Keep children and nonworking family members away from pesticide-treated areas.

(xxi) After working in pesticide-treated areas, remove work boots or shoes before entering your home, remove work clothes, and wash or shower before physical contact with children or family members.

(xxii) How to report suspected pesticide use violations to the State or Tribal agency responsible for pesticide enforcement.

(xxiii) The rule prohibits agricultural employers from intimidating, threatening, coercing, or discriminating against any worker or handler for complying with or attempting to comply with the requirements of this rule, or because the worker or handler provided, caused to be provided, or is about to provide information to the employer or the EPA or its agents regarding conduct that the employee reasonably believes violates this part, and/or made a complaint, testified, assisted, or participated in any manner in an investigation, proceeding, or hearing concerning compliance with this rule.

170.501 Training Requirements for Handlers

 170.501(c)(2) Minimum training topic requirements

(i) Format and meaning of information contained on pesticide labels and in labeling, including safety information such as precautionary statements about human health hazards.

(ii) Hazards of pesticides resulting from toxicity and exposure, including acute and chronic effects, delayed effects, and sensitization.

(iii) Routes by which pesticides can enter the body.

(iv) Signs and symptoms of common types of pesticide poisoning.

(v) Emergency first aid for pesticide injuries or poisonings.

(vi) How to obtain emergency medical care.

(vii) Routine and emergency decontamination procedures.

(viii) Need for and appropriate use of personal protective equipment.

(ix) Prevention, recognition, and first aid treatment of heat-related illness.

(x) Safety requirements for handling, transporting, storing, and disposing of pesticides, including general procedures for spill cleanup.

(xi) Environmental concerns such as drift, runoff, and wildlife hazards.

(xii) Warnings about taking pesticides or pesticide containers home.

(xiii) Requirements of this subpart that must be followed by handler employers for the protection of handlers and other persons, including the prohibition against applying pesticides in a manner that will cause contact with workers or other persons, the requirement to use personal protective equipment, the provisions for training and decontamination, and the protection against retaliatory acts.

EPA will provide Training materials that will cover the following:

(i) All the topics required by §170.401(c)(3). (same topics required for worker training), plus,

(ii) Information on proper application and use of pesticides.

(iii) Handlers must follow the portions of the labeling applicable to the safe use of the pesticide.

(iv) Format and meaning of information contained on pesticide labels and in labeling applicable to the safe use of the pesticide.

(v) Need for and appropriate use and removal of all personal protective equipment.

(vi) How to recognize, prevent, and provide first aid treatment for heat-related illness.

(vii) Safety requirements for handling, transporting, storing, and disposing of pesticides, including general procedures for spill cleanup.

(viii) Environmental concerns, such as drift, runoff, and wildlife hazards.

(ix) Handlers must not apply pesticides in a manner that results in contact with workers or other persons.

(x) The responsibility of handler employers to provide handlers with information and protections designed to reduce work-related pesticide exposures and illnesses. This includes providing, cleaning, maintaining, storing, and ensuring proper use of all required personal protective equipment; providing decontamination supplies; and providing specific information about pesticide use and labeling information.

(xi) Handlers must suspend a pesticide application if workers or other persons are in the application exclusion zone.

(xii) Handlers must be at least 18 years old.

(xiii) The responsibility of handler employers to ensure handlers have received respirator fit-testing, training, and medical evaluation if they are required to wear a respirator by the product labeling.

(xiv) The responsibility of agricultural employers to post treated areas as required by this rule.

​Label restrictions have been updated for three Dicamba products that are registered until December 20, 2025. The products are:​

• Engenia Herbicide®, made by BASF
• Xtendimax®, made by Bayer CropScience​
• Tavium® Plus, made by Syngenta

These herbicides are intended for post-emergent use on soybeans that have been genetically modified to resist damage from the chemical. The registration for these products is set to expire in 2025, barring changes from the EPA. Because of numerous drift problems, crop damage, and complaints, the EPA has implemented extensive requirements to try and lessen the problems, while still allowing their use.

Following are just SOME of the requirements you need to know about, and use, before applying these products. Please read the label thoroughly for all regulations. Remember, the label is the law.

All the products above are registered as Restricted-Use Pesticides (RUPs). This means you must be a Certified Pesticide Applicator to both buy AND apply (this includes mixing and loading) these products.

Training

To use the three dicamba products listed above an applicator must be certified and go through additional product training. This additional training is dictated by the pesticide labels. And we all know from our training that “the label is the law.”  Wisconsin will accept training provided by the three companies that make the products or approved training provided by other states. You need to have proof that you got training to apply these products. You can find the three manufacturer training by using the following links.

• Bayer Training
• BASF Training
• Syngenta Training

Bulletins Live and Buffer Zones

The EPA has a bulletin system to help protect endan­gered species from exposure to certain pesticides. Some pesticide labels will direct you to the EPA’s Bul­letins Live Two (BLT) website to find specific use restrictions (based on county) for the product to protect en­dangered and threatened species. All three of the over-the-top dicamba products will direct you to check the BLT website. In certain counties, the bulletin will require you to have both a 310-foot in-field wind-directional spray drift buffer and a 57-foot infield buffer on other field edges.

You can find more information on Bulletins Live and buffer zones at the following links.
EPA Bulletins Live Two website
DATCP dicamba brochure.

Other Resources

Example of a recordkeeping form – This example is for Engenia™, BASF.

Example of a recordkeeping form – This example is for XtendiMax™, Monsanto

List of Apps that might be of use – CropLife: “Mobile Apps, Online Tools for Dicamba Applications.”