United States Office of Enforcement 

& Compliance Assurance 

Washington, DC 20460 

EPA 305-F-01-010 

Environmental Protection August 2001 

Agency www.epa.gov 

Agrichemicals 

WPS – Commercial Handlers 

Must Inform Growers 

Ag Center 

Helping Agriculture Comply with 

Environmental Requirements 

F O C U S O N 

Information Commercial 

Handlers Must Provide to 

Growers 

The Agricultural Worker Protection Standard (WPS) is a regulation issued by the U.S. 

Environmental Protection Agency in 1992 and amended in 1995. It covers pesticides that are 

used in the production of agricultural plants on farms, forests, nurseries, and greenhouses. The 

WPS requires you to take steps to reduce the risk of pesticide-related illness and injury if you (1) 

use such pesticides, or (2) employ workers or pesticide handlers who are exposed to such 

pesticides. 

This fact sheet will help you understand how to comply with WPS requirements concerning the 

information that commercial handlers must provide to their customers about pesticide-treated 

areas. These questions were submitted to the Agency by people seeking clarification on this part 

of the regulation, and have been answered by EPA’s Office of Compliance. 

Information provided by 

commercial handlers to growers 

Commercial pesticide handlers (custom 

applicators) must make sure that their 

customer -- the operator of the farm, 

forest, nursery, or greenhouse -- knows 

certain information about the pesticide 

before it is applied on the establishment. 

If the pesticide is not applied as 

scheduled, the customer must be 

informed of the corrected time and date 

of the application. Make the correction 

before the application takes place or as 

soon as practicable thereafter. 
How can commercial 

handlers comply with 

the requirement for 

notifying growers in 

advance about pesticide 

applications? 

Commercial pesticide handlers must 

inform their customers about: 

C the specific location and description 

of the area(s) on the agricultural 

establishment that are to be treated 

with a pesticide. 

C time and date the pesticide is 

scheduled to be applied. 

C product name, EPA registration 

number, and active ingredient(s) 

C restricted-entry interval for the 

pesticide. 

C whether the pesticide labeling 

requires both treated-area posting 

and oral notification. 

C any other specific requirements on 

the pesticide labeling concerning 

protection of workers and other 

people during or after application. 

Your customers -- the operators of 

agricultural establishments -- must have 

this information to protect their 

employees as required by the WPS. 

If the initial notification of an 

application cannot be made 

because of difficulty in reaching 

the grower (agricultural 

employer), can notification be 

made after application? 

No. There are no provisions for allowing 

notification after application because of 

earlier difficulty in contacting the 

grower (agricultural employer). 

How soon before an application 

must a commercial handler 

(handler employer) provide the 

information to the grower 

(agricultural employer)? 

The WPS requires that the information 

be provided by the commercial handler 

to the grower anytime before the 

application takes place. [40 CFR section 

170.224] 

The WPS requires that, before 

the application of any pesticide 

on an agricultural establishment, 

a commercial handler must 

provide certain information 

about the pesticide and the 

application, or must assure that 

the customer -- the operator of 

the farm, forest, nursery, or 

greenhouse -- is aware of the 

information. [40 CFR 170.224]. 

What constitutes compliance 

with this requirement? 

EPA recommends that the operator of 

the agricultural establishment 

(agricultural employer) and the 

commercial pesticide handler (handler 

employer) agree on a notification 

process that will ensure that workers will 

not be in an area while it is being 

treated or under a restricted entry 

interval (REI). For example, they could 

Ag Center Fact Sheet Series Page 2 

Agrichemicals/WPS – Commercial Handlers Must Inform Growers 
Agrichemicals

Worker Protection Standard for Information Commercial Handlers 

Agricultural Pesticides Must Provide to Growers 

agree that without prior mutual 

agreement, an application will never 

occur before the scheduled time, and 

the grower (agricultural employer) will 

not permit workers into the area to be 

treated until he/she receives notification 

from the commercial handler that: 

C either the application will not take 

place until a specified future time at 

the earliest, or 

C the application has taken place and 

specific information required by the 

WPS is provided to the grower. 

Examples of compliance: 

1. An oral exchange of the required 

information between the 

commercial handler and the grower 

before an application would comply 

with WPS notification 

requirements. 

2. Leaving a complete message on a 

telephone answering machine before 

the application would constitute 

compliance if the message was 

actually received by the grower 

before the application. 

3. Leaving a complete message on the 

answering machine before the 

application would constitute 

compliance if the commercial 

handler and grower had agreed that 

by leaving a complete message on 

the answering machine, notification 

could be accomplished. In this 

example, the commercial handler 

would have satisfied his/her 

obligations under the WPS even if 

the message was not checked by the 

grower before the application. The 

grower, however, would remain 

responsible if workers were sent into 

treated areas in violation of any 

portion of the WPS. 

For more information 

To get more facts about compliance, 

contact the Ag Center by phone, fax, or 

mail. Call the toll-free number to ask 

compliance questions or order 

publications. At the Center's web site, 

www.epa.gov/agriculture, you can 

explore compliance information and 

order or download publications. For a 

complete publications list, request 

document 10001, "Ag Center 

Publications." 

National Agriculture Compliance

Assistance Center

901 N. 5 th Street

Kansas City, KS 66101

Toll-free: 1-888-663-2155 

Internet: www.epa.gov/agriculture 

Fax: 913-551-7270 

United States Environmental 

Protection Agency 

Washington, DC 20460 

Ag Center Fact Sheet Series Page 3