United States Office of Enforcement 

& Compliance Assurance 

Washington, DC 20460 

EPA 305-F-01-009 

Environmental Protection August 2001 

Agency www.epa.gov 

Agrichemicals 

WPS – Growers Must Inform 

Commercial Handlers 

Ag Center 

Helping Agriculture Comply with 

Environmental Requirements 

F O C U S O N 

Information Growers Must 

Provide to Commercial Handlers 

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 growers must provide to commercial handlers about pesticide-treated areas. 

Information provided by growers 

to commercial handlers 

Operators of farms, forests, nurseries, 

and greenhouses must make sure that, 

whenever a commercial pesticide 

handler will be doing pesticide handling 

tasks (including tasks as a crop advisor) 

on their establishment, the commercial 

handler's employer knows specific 

information concerning treated areas on 

the agricultural establishment. 

Operators of agricultural establishments 

must provide the following information 

to the commercial pesticide handlers 

they hire: 

• Specific location and description of 

any areas on the agricultural 

establishment: 

--may be treated with a pesticide or 

be under a restricted-entry interval 

while the commercial handler will 

be there, AND 

--the commercial handlers may be in 

(or walk within 1/4 mile of) 

• Restrictions on entering those areas. 
The Ag Center 

welcomes 

comments on this 

document and its 

other services. 

Operators of commercial pesticide 

handling establishments must have this 

information to protect their employees 

as required by the WPS. They must 

make sure that, whenever one of their 

handlers will be doing pesticide 

handling tasks (including tasks as a 

crop advisor) on an agricultural 

establishment, he or she is aware of the 

required information concerning 

pesticide-treated areas on the 

agricultural establishment. 

For example, if custom applicators are 

scheduled to use ground equipment to 

apply a pesticide on a farm, they need 

to be informed of any nearby areas on 

the farm that they should stay out of 

because the area has an REI in effect. 

Or if commercial crop advisors are 

scheduled to scout in an area on a farm 

that remains under an REI, they need 

to be told what personal protective 

equipment they should wear while in 

that area. 

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. 5th 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 2 

Agrichemicals/WPS – Growers Must Inform Commercial Handlers