Farmers urged to comment on EPA pesticide proposals

The comment deadline on the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed rule changes for applying pesticides has been extended until Jan. 22.

The Corn Producers Association of Texas (CPAT) is encouraging farmers to make their voices heard about the proposed rule change, which has the potential to greatly affect Texas farmers. There are four proposed changes of which the CPAT wants farmers to be aware:

**Agricultural handlers need to be compliant to the Worker Protection Standard,

**Applicators supervising noncertified applicators must be licensed,

**In order to be certified as a private or commercial applicator, one must now be 18 years of age, and

**The certification period is proposed to change to a maximum of three years for both commercial/noncommercial applicators and private applicators. Current Texas law allows for a one-year certification period for commercial/noncommercial applicators and a five-year certification period for private applicators.
   
The docket number for these rule changes is EPA-HQ-OPP-2011-0183