The American Association of Pesticide Control Officials (AAPCO) held its annual spring meeting March 6-8 in Arlington, Va., and Chava McKeel, director of government affairs, represented GCSAA at the meeting. Members of AAPCO consist of the officers charged by law with the execution of the state, territorial, provincial and federal pesticide laws in the U.S., including all its territories and in Canada. Key discussion topics included Zika virus and funding; state level implementation of Managed Pollinator Protection Plans; and the status of neonicotinoid bans and legislation across the country.

The newly appointed acting head of the EPA Office of Pesticide Programs Rick Keigwin provided an overview of current FY2017 EPA priority issues including:

• Continued progress in the registration and Registration Review programs
• Collaboration with states to implement recent rulemakings (Worker Protection Standard rule and Certification and Training rule)
• Continue to support the CDC with the Zika virus and other emerging health issues
• Continuing to work with the Services (USFWS, NMFS, etc.) on the implementation of an Endangered Species Act consultation process

In 2016, EPA finalized the Certification and Training rule which provides stronger standards for people who apply restricted use pesticides (RUPs). The final rule specifically:

• Establishes a nation-wide minimum age of 18 for certified applicators and persons working under their direct supervision.
• Establishes a maximum recertification interval of 5 years for commercial and private applicators.
• Requires specialized certifications for people using specific application methods (fumigation and aerial).

EPA officials talked about the rule’s implementation timeline at the AAPCO meeting. The rule gives the certifying authority (SLAs) 3 years to submit revised certification plans demonstrating their compliance with the new requirements. If submitted within 3 years, existing plans remain in effect until EPA approves revised plan. Timeframe for implementation/compliance with revised certification plan will be decided on a case-by-case basis as part of EPA’s review and approval of each revised certification plan.

Just one week after the conclusion of the AAPCO spring meeting, EPA officials confirmed the effective date of the certification and training rule has been delayed until May 22, 2017. As stated in the notice, “EPA is taking this action to give recently arrived Agency officials the opportunity to learn more about these regulations to decide whether they would like to conduct a substantive review of any of these regulations.  If Agency officials decide to conduct a substantive review of any of those regulations, EPA will take appropriate actions to conduct such a review, including, but not limited to, issuing a document in the Federal Register addressing any further delay of the effective date of such regulation.  If Agency officials decide not to conduct a substantive review of a regulation listed in the table below, it will become effective on May 22, 2017.”