WSR 16-23-142

PREPROPOSAL STATEMENT OF INQUIRY

[Filed November 22, 2016, 9:05 a.m.]

Subject of Possible Rule Making: Chapter 296-307 WAC, Safety standards for agriculture.

Statutes Authorizing the Agency to Adopt Rules on this Subject: RCW 17.21.010, 15.58.040, 49.17.280, chapter 34.05 RCW.

Reasons Why Rules on this Subject may be Needed and What They Might Accomplish: In November 2015 the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued new requirements for agricultural employers and handler employers in the Worker Protection Standard, 40 C.F.R. Part 170. Most of the new federal regulation goes into effect January 2017 with a few requirements going into effect January 2018. EPA standards are designed to reduce the risks of illness or injury resulting from workers' and handlers' occupational exposures to pesticides used in the production of agricultural plants on farms or in nurseries, greenhouses, and forests and also from the accidental exposure of workers and other persons to such pesticides. It requires workplace practices designed to reduce or eliminate exposure to pesticides and establishes procedures for responding to exposure-related emergencies.

Other Federal and State Agencies that Regulate this Subject and the Process Coordinating the Rule with These Agencies: The department of labor and industries is coordinating the adoption of these rules with the department of agriculture.

Process for Developing New Rule: Parties interested in the proposed reformatting and redesign of these rules may contact the individual listed below. The public may also participate by commenting after amendments are proposed by providing written comments or giving oral testimony during the public hearing process.

Interested parties can participate in the decision to adopt the new rule and formulation of the proposed rule before publication by contacting Josefina Magana, Administrative Regulations Analyst, Department of Labor and Industries, Division of Occupational Safety and Health, P.O. Box 44600, Olympia, WA 98504, phone (360) 902-4233, e-mail magk235@lni.wa.gov.

November 22, 2016

Joel Sacks

Director