Pesticide application comm.

AN ACT Relating to extending the pesticide application safety 1
committee; amending RCW 70.104.110; amending 2019 c 327 s 1 2
(uncodified); providing an effective date; providing expiration 3
dates; and declaring an emergency. 4
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:5
Sec. 1. RCW 70.104.110 and 2019 c 327 s 2 are each amended to 6
read as follows: 7
(1) The pesticide application safety committee is established. 8
Appointments to the committee must be made as soon as possible after 9
the legislature convenes in regular session. The committee is 10
composed of the following members: 11
(a) One member from each of the two largest caucuses of the house 12
of representatives, appointed by the speaker of the house of 13
representatives; 14
(b) One member from each of the two largest caucuses of the 15
senate, appointed by the president of the senate; 16
(c) The director of the department of agriculture, or an 17
assistant director designated by the director; 18
(d) The secretary of the department of health, or an assistant 19
secretary designated by the secretary; 20
H-0252.1
HOUSE BILL 1294
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session
By Representatives Dent, Reeves, Timmons, and Hill
Read first time 01/14/25. Referred to Committee on Agriculture &
Natural Resources.
p. 1 HB 1294
(e) The director of the department of labor and industries, or an 1
assistant director designated by the director; 2
(f) The commissioner of public lands, or an assistant 3
commissioner designated by the commissioner; 4
(g) The dean of the college of agricultural, human, and natural 5
resource sciences at the Washington State University, or an assistant 6
dean designated by the dean; 7
(h) The pesticide safety education coordinator at the Washington 8
State University cooperative extension; and 9
(i) The director of the University of Washington Pacific 10
Northwest agricultural safety and health center, or an assistant 11
designated by the director. 12
(2) The committee shall be cochaired by the secretary of the 13
department of health, or the assistant secretary designated by the 14
secretary, and the director of the department of agriculture, or the 15
assistant director designated by the director. 16
(3) Primary responsibility for administrative support for the 17
committee, including developing reports, research, and other 18
organizational support, shall be provided by the department of health 19
and the department of agriculture. The committee must hold its first 20
meeting by September 2019. The committee must meet at least three 21
times each year. The meetings shall be at a time and place specified 22
by the cochairs, or at the call of a majority of the committee. When 23
determining the time and place of meetings, the cochairs must 24
consider costs and conduct committee meetings in Olympia when this 25
choice would reduce costs to the state. 26
(4)(a) An advisory work group is created to collect information 27
and make recommendations to the full committee on topics requiring 28
unique expertise and perspectives on issues within the jurisdiction 29
of the committee. 30
(b) The advisory work group shall consist of a representative 31
from the department of agriculture, two representatives of employee 32
organizations that represent farmworkers, two farmworkers with 33
expertise on pesticide application, a representative of community and 34
migrant health centers, a toxicologist, a representative of growers 35
who use air blast sprayers, a representative of growers who use 36
aerial pesticide application, a representative of growers who use 37
fumigation to apply pesticides, and a representative of aerial 38
applicators. The secretary of health, in consultation with the 39
director of the department of agriculture and the full committee, 40
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must appoint members of the advisory work group, and the department 1
of health must staff the advisory work group. The letter of 2
appointment to the advisory work group members must be signed by both 3
cochairs. 4
(c) The advisory work group must hold meetings only upon the 5
committee's request. ((To reduce costs, the advisory work group must 6
conduct meetings using teleconferencing or other methods, but may 7
hold one in-person meeting per fiscal year.))8
(d) Members of the advisory work group shall be reimbursed for 9
mileage expenses in accordance with RCW 43.03.060.10
(e) The advisory work group must provide a report on their 11
activities and recommendations to the full committee by November 9th 12
of each year. 13
(5) The first priority of the committee is to explore how the 14
departments of agriculture, labor and industries, and health, and the 15
Washington poison center collect and track data. The committee must 16
also consider the feasibility and requirements of developing a shared 17
database, including how the department of health could use existing 18
tools, such as the tracking network, to better display multiagency 19
data regarding pesticides. The committee may also evaluate and 20
recommend policy options that would take action to:21
(a) Improve pesticide application safety with agricultural 22
applications; 23
(b) Lead an effort to establish baseline data for the type and 24
quantity of pesticide applications used in Washington to be able to 25
compare the number of exposures with overall number of applications;26
(c) Research ways to improve pesticide application communication 27
among different members of the agricultural community, including 28
educating the public in English and Spanish about acute and chronic 29
health information about pesticides; 30
(d) Compile industry's best practices for use to improve 31
pesticide application safety to limit pesticide exposure;32
(e) Continue to investigate reasons why members of the 33
agricultural workforce do not or may not report pesticide exposure;34
(f) Explore new avenues for reporting with investigation without 35
fear of retaliation; 36
(g) Work with stakeholders to consider trainings for how and when 37
to report; 38
(h) Explore incentives for using new technology by funding a 39
partial buy-out program for old spray technology; 40
p. 3 HB 1294
(i) Consider developing an effective community health education 1
plan; 2
(j) Consult with community partners to enhance educational 3
initiatives that work with the agricultural workforce, their 4
families, and surrounding communities to reduce the risk of pesticide 5
exposure; 6
(k) Enhance efforts to work with pesticide manufacturers and the 7
environmental protection agency to improve access to non-English 8
pesticide labeling in the United States; 9
(l) Work with research partners to develop, or promote the use of 10
translation apps for pesticide label safety information, or both;11
(m) Evaluate prevention techniques to minimize exposure events;12
(n) Develop more Spanish language and other language educational 13
materials for distribution, including through social media and app-14
based learning for agricultural workforce communities;15
(o) Explore development of an agricultural workforce education 16
safety program to improve the understanding about leaving an area 17
being sprayed; and 18
(p) Work with the industry and the agricultural workforce to 19
improve protocols and best practices for use of personal safety 20
equipment for applicators and reflective gear for the general 21
workforce. 22
(6) The committee must provide a report to the appropriate 23
committees of the legislature by May 1, 2020, and each year 24
thereafter. An initial report on the progress of the committee must 25
be provided in January 2020. The report may include recommendations 26
the committee determines necessary, and must document the activities 27
of the committee and report on the subjects listed in subsection (5) 28
of this section. The department of health and the department of 29
agriculture must provide staff support to the committee for the 30
purpose of authoring the report and transmitting it to the 31
legislature. Any member of the committee may provide a minority 32
report as an appendix to the report submitted to the legislature 33
under this section. 34
(7) This section expires July 1, ((2025)) 2035.35
Sec. 2. 2019 c 327 s 1 (uncodified) is amended to read as 36
follows: 37
(1) In 2018, the legislature passed Engrossed Second Substitute 38
Senate Bill No. 6529. The bill recognized that farmers, farmworkers, 39
p. 4 HB 1294
and the broader community share an interest in minimizing human 1
exposure to pesticides. It also recognized that gains have been made 2
in reducing human exposure to pesticides and that collaboration 3
between state agencies and the farming community could further reduce 4
agricultural workers exposure to pesticide drift. 5
(2) The legislation established a pesticide application safety 6
work group that would make recommendations for improving pesticide 7
application safety. Work group members included legislators from both 8
chambers and caucuses, as well as representation from state agencies 9
and the commission on Hispanic affairs. The work group sought public 10
participation to learn more about pesticide application safety. Many 11
stakeholders including but not limited to local farm hosts, the 12
agricultural industry, and members of the agricultural workforce 13
contributed valuable assistance and input. 14
(3) The work group reached two noteworthy recommendations 15
regarding what can be done now to improve pesticide application 16
safety. The recommendations are to: 17
(a) Expand training because the department of agriculture lacks 18
sufficient resources to meet the training demand from pesticide 19
applicators and handlers; and 20
(b) Establish a new pesticide application safety panel to provide 21
an opportunity to evaluate and recommend policy options, and 22
investigate exposure cases. 23
(4) The work group concluded that legislation is warranted to 24
expand funding for a training program and set up a new pesticide 25
application safety panel with clear objectives. 26
(5) This section expires July 1, ((2025)) 2035.27
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. This act is necessary for the immediate 28
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of 29
the state government and its existing public institutions, and takes 30
effect July 1, 2025.31
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