EPA wants pesticide spray buffer-zone rule to exclude adjoining properties, members of farm families

Photo from Successful Farming

The Environmental Protection Agency wants to drop a rule that established no-spray buffer zones for pesticides around crop fields and orchards.

"The current rules stipulate that the so-called Application Exclusion Zone can range from anywhere between 25 and 100 feet from the site of application and can reach beyond a farm’s property line. EPA wants to shrink those exclusion zones by ordering that enforcement of the AEZ can’t extend outside of property boundaries, Liz Crampton reports for Politico's Morning Agriculture. "The proposal would also exempt farm family members from exclusion-zone requirements. During spraying, members would choose whether to leave or stay on the farm."

In the post on the Federal Register, the agency said the changes to the Agricultural Worker Protection Standards will simplify rules for outdoor application of pesticides, but critics say the rule could harm farmworkers and family members by making it more likely that they'll be around harmful pesticides, Crampton reports. The EPA is taking public comments on the proposal for 90 days.

The buffer zone is meant to minimize damage from pesticides like dicamba, which is notorious for vaporizing and drifting to nearby fields after application. EPA said in its notice, “As currently written, the off-farm aspect of this provision has proven very difficult for state regulators to enforce. Off-farm bystanders would still be protected from pesticide applications due to the existing ‘do not contact’ requirement that prohibits use in a manner that would contact unprotected individuals.”

"At present, a buffer zone of 25 feet is required around sprayer rigs that release large droplets more than 12 inches above the ground, and a 100-foot zone is required for aerial, air blast, and ground applications that release fine or very fine droplets as well as fumigations, mists, and foggers," Chuck Abbott reports for Successful Farming. "The EPA rule would revise the buffer zone to 25 feet for all ground applications and to 100 feet for aerial, air blast, air-propelled, fumigant, smoke, mist, and fog pesticide applications."