UNIT 6 - Owner Exemptions and Crop Advisors

 The WPS exempts owners of agricultural establishments from many WPS requirements, and it contains specific protections for crop advisors. This unit describes these owner exemptions and crop advisor provisions.
Agricultural Owner Exemptions

Protections for Crop Advisors

Agricultural Owner Exemptions

 Owners of agricultural establishments and members of their immediate family are exempt from many WPS requirements. However, EPA encourages owners to provide themselves and their families with all WPS protections.


Immediate family includes only spouse, children, stepchildren, foster children, parents, stepparents, foster parents, brothers, and sisters.

Owner: Any person who has a present possessory interest (fee, leasehold, rental, or other) in an agricultural establishment covered by the WPS. A person who has both leased such agricultural establishment to another person and granted that same person the right and full authority to manage and govern the use of such agricultural establishment is NOT an owner under the WPS.

Examples:
You do not qualify for the agricultural owner exemptions if:

  1. you have rented out or leased out your farm, forest, nursery, or greenhouse to another person AND you have no part in the management or profit/loss from it. The person to whom you have rented or leased your property is the "owner" for the purposes of the WPS.
  2. you are hired to operate a farm, forest, nursery, or greenhouse, but the person who owns the property makes some of the decisions as to the management of it or shares in the profit/loss from it.

The WPS does NOT allow any exemptions for owners of commercial pesticide handling establishments or for persons who operate or manage, but do not own, an agricultural establishment.

Agricultural owners must provide all protections required by the WPS to persons who are NOT members of their immediate family. These persons include:

Requirements Agricultural Owners Must Comply With

The following requirements and provisions DO apply to owners of agricultural establishments and to members of their immediate family:
  1. Employer information exchange.
  2. Restrictions during handling tasks:
  3. Restrictions during applications:
  4. Restrictions during restricted-entry intervals:
If agricultural owners or members of their immediate family enter a treated area and contact treated surfaces during a restricted-entry interval, they must:
  • .Personal Protective Equipment During REI's
    Early-Entry PPE for Early Entry "With Contact": Crop advisors who enter a treated area during a restricted-entry interval, and whose crop advisor activities involve contact with anything that has been treated with a pesticide, including soil, water, and surfaces of plants, may wear the PPE listed on the pesticide labeling for early-entry tasks (instead of the PPE listed for handling tasks), if: No PPE for "No Contact" Early Entry: Crop advisors who enter a treated area during a restricted-entry interval and whose crop advisor activities do NOT involve contact with anything that has been treated with the pesticide to which the restricted-entry interval applies are not required to wear personal protective equipment. Required Protections After the REI

    1. Independent (Commercial) Crop Advisors
      When independent (commercial) crop advisors enter any area on an agricultural establishment where no application is underway and no restricted-entry interval is in effect, their employers need NOT provide them with any WPS protections.
    2. Employees of the Agricultural Establishment
      When crop advisors who are employees of the farm, forest, nursery, or greenhouse enter any area on the agricultural establishment where no application is under-way and no restricted-entry interval is in effect, their employer must provide them with the WPS protections required for agricultural workers. For specific information about each of these protections, see the pages referenced below. The protections include:
      • Information at a central location

        Certain information (pesticide safety poster, application list, location of emergency facility) must be displayed at a central location whenever (1) the crop advisor is on the agricultural establishment, and (2) a pesticide has recently been applied.

      • Pesticide safety training for workers

        Crop advisors must be trained about general pesticide safety before they accumulate 5 days (15 days until October 20, 1997) of entry into treated areas on the establishment where, within the past 30 days, a pesticide has been applied or a restricted-entry interval has been in effect.

      • Decontamination sites

        A decontamination site for washing off pesticide residues must be provided to any crop advisor who is working in an area where a pesticide has recently been applied and who is doing tasks that involve contact with anything that has been treated with the pesticide, including soil, water, or surfaces of plants.

      • Emergency assistance

        Emergency assistance must be provided to the crop advisor if there is reason to believe that the employee has been poisoned or injured by a pesticide used on the agricultural establishment-for example, through apolication, spills, splashes, drift, or contact with pesticide residues.

      • Notice about applications

        With a few exceptions, the crop advisor must be notified about areas on the agricultural establishment where pesticide applications are taking place or where restricted- entry intervals are in effect.

      • Restrictions during and after applications
        (See also Nurseries and Greenhouses).

        The crop advisor must be protected during pesticide applications and during restricted-entry intervals on the agricultural establishment.

    Crop advisors may enter treated areas during an application or during a restricted-entry interval if they receive handler-type protections.

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