SENATE BILL REPORT
SB 5943
AS PASSED SENATE, MARCH 11, 1993
Brief Description: Changing the responsibilities of the pesticide incident reporting and tracking review panel.
SPONSORS: Senators Loveland and M. Rasmussen
SENATE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE
Majority Report: Do pass.
Signed by Senators M. Rasmussen, Chairman; Loveland, Vice Chairman; Anderson, Barr, Bauer, Newhouse, and Snyder.
Staff: John Stuhlmiller (786‑7446)
Hearing Dates: March 2, 1993
BACKGROUND:
The Pesticide Incident Reporting and Tracking Review Panel was created in 1989 and is currently responsible for:
1)Establishing guidelines for centralizing the receipt of information involving pesticide incidents;
2)Reviewing and making recommendations for procedures for the investigation of pesticide incidents;
3)Monitoring the time periods for response to reports of pesticide incidents by the Departments of Agriculture, Health, and Labor and Industries;
4)Upon request, reviewing pesticide incidents of unusual complexity or which cannot be resolved;
5)Identifying inadequacies in state and/or federal law that result in insufficient protection of public health, with specific attention to examining pesticide re-entry intervals as established by the EPA; and
6)Reviewing and preparing an annual report.
SUMMARY:
The Pesticide Incident Reporting and Tracking Review Panel's authority to study and recommend re-entry intervals which are different from the standards established by the EPA is removed from statute, in order to eliminate duplicate authority.
Appropriation: none
Revenue: none
Fiscal Note: none requested
TESTIMONY FOR:
The bill is needed to eliminate duplicate effort at the state and federal level. The EPA is already spending great amounts of time and money on establishing re-entry intervals and the state does not have the resources or expertise to duplicate that effort.
TESTIMONY AGAINST: None
TESTIFIED: Mark Triplett, Washington Horticulture Association (pro)