WASHINGTON STATUTES AND CODES

70.104.090 - Pesticide panel -- Responsibilities.

*Pesticide panel — Responsibilities.

The responsibilities of the *review panel shall include, but not be limited to:

     (1) Establishing guidelines for centralizing the receipt of information relating to actual or alleged health and environmental incidents involving pesticides;

     (2) Reviewing and making recommendations for procedures for investigation of pesticide incidents, which shall be implemented by the appropriate agency unless a written statement providing the reasons for not adopting the recommendations is provided to the *review panel;

     (3) Monitoring the time periods required for response to reports of pesticide incidents by the departments of agriculture, health, and labor and industries;

     (4) At the request of the chair or any *panel member, reviewing pesticide incidents of unusual complexity or those that cannot be resolved;

     (5) Identifying inadequacies in state and/or federal law that result in insufficient protection of public health and safety, with specific attention to advising the appropriate agencies on the adequacy of pesticide reentry intervals established by the federal environmental protection agency and registered pesticide labels to protect the health and safety of farmworkers. The *panel shall establish a priority list for reviewing reentry intervals, which considers the following criteria:

     (a) Whether the pesticide is being widely used in labor-intensive agriculture in Washington;

     (b) Whether another state has established a reentry interval for the pesticide that is longer than the existing federal reentry interval;

     (c) The toxicity category of the pesticide under federal law;

     (d) Whether the pesticide has been identified by a federal or state agency or through a scientific review as presenting a risk of cancer, birth defects, genetic damage, neurological effects, blood disorders, sterility, menstrual dysfunction, organ damage, or other chronic or subchronic effects; and

     (e) Whether reports or complaints of ill effects from the pesticide have been filed following worker entry into fields to which the pesticide has been applied; and

     (6) Reviewing and approving an annual report prepared by the department of health to the governor, agency heads, and members of the legislature, with the same available to the public. The report shall include, at a minimum:

     (a) A summary of the year's activities;

     (b) A synopsis of the cases reviewed;

     (c) A separate descriptive listing of each case in which adverse health or environmental effects due to pesticides were found to occur;

     (d) A tabulation of the data from each case;

     (e) An assessment of the effects of pesticide exposure in the workplace;

     (f) The identification of trends, issues, and needs; and

     (g) Any recommendations for improved pesticide use practices.