BILL REQ. #:  H-2460.2 

READ FIRST TIME 02/28/07.   

     AN ACT Relating to monitoring pesticide drift and its impacts on environmental health; and adding a new section to chapter 70.104 RCW.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   A new section is added to chapter 70.104 RCW to read as follows:
     (1)(a) The legislature finds that discussion of public policies, enforcement activities, and educational programs related to pesticides should be based on sound science and must include data on the types and concentrations of pesticides in the air. The legislature also finds that workers, business owners, and other people have the right to know about pesticides in the air with which they and their children may come in contact.
     (b) It is the intent of the legislature to help ensure the health and welfare of our citizens and the continued prosperity of our agricultural sector through a limited monitoring program that identifies whether exposure to off-site migration of pesticides constitutes a health or safety concern to nearby populations. It is not the intent of this monitoring program to infringe on or affect the ability of agricultural interests to use pesticides in a lawful manner.
     (2) The legislature therefore directs that a pilot air monitoring project be initiated that supports the collection of data for use in evaluating the human health implications, or lack thereof, to workers and the public from pesticides moving off-target via the air.
     (3) The department shall, in cooperation with state agencies, Washington State University, and the University of Washington design and implement a scientific-based pilot project to monitor and collect data on the concentrations of pesticides in the air in agricultural areas of the state, including conventional and organic cropping systems and various application methods as appropriate, resulting from pesticides moving off-target via the air. The department shall:
     (a) Design the air monitoring project;
     (b) Implement sample collection and analysis;
     (c) Analyze the resulting data with respect to risks to human health;
     (d) Make monitoring results accessible to the public;
     (e) Report the results of the monitoring to policymakers and the public in conjunction with the annual pesticide incident reporting and tracking (PIRT) report and through other forums. The department shall convene an advisory committee composed of representatives of interested parties such as growers, workers, teachers, environmental organizations, the Washington state department of agriculture, the department of ecology, and the department of labor and industries;
     (f) Assess the data using available reference concentrations and reference doses from the peer-reviewed literature and/or state or federal governmental agencies; and
     (g) Analyze data in reference to: Inhalation, absorption, and various exposure risks over time, including cumulative risks.
     (4) The department shall consult with and is authorized to negotiate interagency agreements as appropriate with the department of ecology, the department of agriculture, the University of Washington, and Washington State University to assist in carrying out the project.
     (5) The definitions in this subsection apply throughout this section unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
     (a) "Department" means the department of health.
     (b) "Pesticide drift" means off-target migration of pesticides, during or after applications.
     (c) "Reference concentrations" and "reference doses" means a numerical estimate of exposure to the human population, including sensitive subgroups such as children, that is not likely to cause harmful effects. Reference concentrations and reference doses are generally used for health effects that are thought to have a threshold or low dose limit for producing effects.
     (6) The department shall submit a report to the appropriate committees of the legislature by April 1, 2009, including a summary of the air monitoring project findings and recommendations for public policies and program activities to protect human health from off-target movement of pesticides via the air.