The EPA recently released interim guidance and additional materials to support the regulatory community in implementing the requirements of the final rule for the Agricultural Worker Protection Standard (WPS) Application Exclusion Zone (AEZ).
An AEZ is defined as an area immediately surrounding pesticide application equipment during an outdoor pesticide application. The final rule defines additional requirements to protect workers and bystanders.
“The AEZ only exists during the application, moves with the equipment during application, and can extend outside of an agricultural establishment (e.g., school grounds, residential neighborhoods),” according to an EPA news release. “It may have a 25-foot or 100-foot radius, depending on the application type and droplet size used. When the application is complete, the AEZ ceases to exist (although any post-application restrictions, such as a restricted entry interval, would apply to the treated area).”
Appropriately trained and equipped handlers are the only people allowed in an AEZ “that is within the boundaries of the agricultural establishment when the application is occurring.” Agricultural employees are only responsible for AEZs within the boundaries of the establishment because their authority doesn’t extend beyond those boundaries.
Regulation background
The WPS regulation was created to protect more than 2 million agricultural workers (and their families) and pesticide handlers who work on over 600,000 agricultural establishments.
The WPS was significantly changed in 2015 to reduce pesticide exposure incidents. At that time, the AEZ was created.
“Prior to the effective date of the 2020 AEZ Rule, petitions were filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) and in the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals challenging the 2020 Rule,” continues the EPA release. “The SDNY issued an order granting the petitioners’ request for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction enjoining the effective date of the rule. As a result, the 2020 AEZ Rule never went into effect.
“In 2021, EPA began reviewing the 2020 AEZ Rule in accordance with Executive Order 13990, Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science to Tackle the Climate Crisis. The Agency determined that the provisions in the 2020 AEZ Rule that weakened protections for farmworkers and nearby communities from pesticide exposure should be rescinded. The proposed rule to reinstate several provisions of the 2015 rule was published in March of 2023, and finalized in October 2024. It reinstates AEZ protections, extends protections for neighboring communities, makes requirements easier to understand, and provides flexibilities for family farms without compromising protections.”
The interim guidance and additional information can be found on the EPA’s AEZ and WPS webpages.