Science & Technology 1400 Independence Ave, SW

Monitoring Programs Division Room 0611, Stop 0276

Washington, DC 20250

PDP July through September 2016 Program Plan, v1.0 Page 1 

May 13, 2016

TO: See Distribution List

FROM: Diana Haynes

Director, Monitoring Programs Division

SUBJECT: Program Plan (July through September 2016) – Pesticide Data Program,

Version 1.0

This Program Plan serves as the current Statement of Work for the period July through 

September 2016 for each of the States participating in the Pesticide Data Program (PDP).

The contents of the Plan have been discussed with the U.S. Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

I. ADMINISTRATIVE UPDATES

A. Summary Status:

The 2014 PDP Annual Summary was released on January 11, 2016 and posted to the 

PDP website. Printed copies have arrived and are enroute.

B. Cooperative Agreements/Financial:

Final Cooperative Agreements for Fiscal Year 2016 have been issued to all PDP 

participating States.

C. Program Meetings:

PDP Federal/State Meeting: The PDP Federal/State Meeting was held April 19-21, 

2016 in Sacramento, California. Attendees included PDP Administrative Managers, 

Sampling Managers, Technical Program Managers, and Quality Assurance Officers as 

well as representatives from the California Department of Food and Agriculture, the 

California Farm Bureau Federation, USDA, EPA, FDA, and industry.

D. Advisory Committees:

Sampling Advisory Group: Members of the Sampling Advisory Group (SAG) are Ken 

McManus (Maryland), Saeed Akhtar (New York), and Don Gallegos (Colorado). Ken 

McManus serves as the Presiding Member of the SAG.

DIANA 

HAYNES

Digitally signed by DIANA HAYNES 

DN: c=US, o=U.S. Government, ou=Department 

of Agriculture, cn=DIANA HAYNES, 

0.9.2342.19200300.100.1.1=12001000170119 

Date: 2016.05.13 07:01:26 -04'00'
PDP July through September 2016 Program Plan, v1.0 Page 2 

Technical Advisory Group: Members of the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) are 

Sarva Gunjur (California), Karen Stephani (New York), and Lida Ogg (Ohio). Sarva 

Gunjur serves as the Presiding Member of the TAG.

E. PDP Fiscal Year 2016 Proficiency Testing Program: The PDP FY2016

Proficiency Testing (PT) program schedule (v 1.3) is posted on the PDP Extranet site.

Refer to SOPs PDP-ADMIN and PDP-QC for PT program requirements, reporting 

procedures, acceptability criteria, and requirements for potential follow-up actions.

F. Standard Operating Procedures:

SOPs Released February 1, 2016

x PDP-DATA: Data and Instrumentation

x PDP-QC: Chemical Compounds, PDP Commodity Grouping, Method Validation, 

and Quality Control

SOPs Released May 1, 2016

x PDP-ADMIN: Administrative Procedures for the Pesticide Data Program

SOPs to be Released July 1, 2016

x PDP-LABOP: Sample Processing and Analysis

G. Electronic Transfer of Data

RDE Version Upgrades:

The Monitoring Programs Division (MPD) staff is currently developing a new, 

distributed RDE application that will be built in MS-Access and installed at each 

participating laboratory. This system will replace the Web-based RDE system used by 

participating laboratories. The Web-RDE system uses outdated software components 

that are no longer supported and does not allow easy fixes or modifications. 

The new RDE system will allow easy implementation of changes to table structures to 

expand field sizes, add new fields, or even add new data tables, which the existing WebRDE restricts because of registration problems with the separate .DLL components that 

handle the data import process. Compatibility and security issues with the web browser 

environment will also be eliminated, such as problems with generating/displaying reports 

in Web-RDE and importing files using the Java runtime applet. The local database will 

give labs access to data entered so that ad-hoc queries or customized reports can be run 

for State-required production reports. Transfer of completed datasets will be handled by 

e-mail or posting to the PDP Extranet site. This distributed RDE system will allow 

laboratories to continue PDP data entry, review, and reporting activities when USDA 

Web resources are shut down. MPD expects the new, distributed RDE system to be 

ready for deployment by the end of 2016 or early 2017. A pilot project will be conducted 

with two or three labs using the new RDE system prior to full roll-out. An upgrade to the 
PDP July through September 2016 Program Plan, v1.0 Page 3 

RDE e-SIF system (V5.0) to capture new and larger field entries is expected to be ready 

ahead of the lab RDE system.

LIMS-to-RDE Import Database Checker App: MPD has developed a version upgrade 

(V3) of the stand-alone, MS-Access application that is used by participating laboratories 

to check and find data discrepancies in the RDEImport.mdb database for the LIMS-toRDE Import process. The new version includes an option for generating a data summary 

report that shows record counts and ranges of values reported for the seven data tables 

that are imported. The new report will allow the laboratory personnel to easily spot and 

fix other data discrepancies before the data are imported to RDE. The updated 

application and instructions are available for download as a ZIP file from the PDP

Extranet site.

e-SIF Manager App: MPD is currently revising and re-testing the new stand-alone, MSAccess application that can be used by State Sampling Managers to import all the e-SIF 

text files received from samplers into a database so that the managers can easily browse, 

sort, query, and generate summary reports for the e-SIF records. This e-SIF Manager 

application was developed to support the establishment of a sampler review process, 

where pictures of the packing and samples that are taken by the collectors can be 

compared against the e-SIFs. It can be used to more easily track down missing e-SIFs 

and to monitor individual and combined performance by samplers. In mid-May 2016, 

customized CDs holding the application and database populated with 2015/2016 e-SIF

records will be sent to the four States and one lab that have already requested the 

application. The app can be provided to other States upon request.

H. Presumptive Tolerance Violation Reporting

Data for Presumptive Tolerance Violations (PTVs) are communicated to FDA and EPA 

on a monthly basis. FDA utilizes the PTV reports in choosing commodities that require 

extra sampling. EPA uses the data for dietary risk assessments and pesticide 

reregistration decisions. MPD is also providing the data to USDA’s Office of Pest 

Management Policy (OPMP) for communication to grower groups, the Foreign 

Agricultural Service (FAS) to assist in facilitating the export of domestic commodities,

and the National Organic Program (NOP) to inform them of any potential PTVs detected 

on claimed organic samples. PDP States may request a copy of the monthly PTV report 

by contacting MPD.

An expanded tolerance table was issued on April 8, 2016 containing tolerances for all 

commodities in the program at that time. The next tolerance table is expected to be issued 

in October 2016 and will include the commodities entering the program in October 2016.

II. PROGRAM SAMPLING AND TESTING UPDATES

A. Sampling Changes and Rotations: Shipping charts are distributed quarterly to 

Sampling Managers by MPD. A draft Shipping Chart for the 3rd quarter of calendar year
PDP July through September 2016 Program Plan, v1.0 Page 4 

2016 is attached to this document. Actual shipping dates and fact sheets will be sent 

under separate cover with the final version of the Shipping Chart.

Sampling Deletions

Egg collection ends August 31, 2016. 

Sampling Additions

No changes.

Sampling Continuations

Apples, cucumbers, eggs, grapefruit, grapes, green beans, lettuce, milk, oranges, 

pears, potatoes, spinach, strawberries, sweet potatoes, and tomatoes continue to be 

sampled. Sampling of apples, green beans, strawberries, and tomatoes end September 30, 

2016.

PDP Sampling Commodity Counts

January 1, 2016 through March 31, 2016 = 14 commodities

x Remove nectarines

x Add milk

April 1, 2016 through June 30, 2016 = 15 commodities

x Remove cherries

x Add sweet potatoes

x Add eggs

July 1, 2016 through August 31, 2016 = 15 commodities

x No changes

September 1, 2016 through September 30, 2016 = 14 commodities

x Remove eggs

B. Testing Deletions and Changes:

Testing Deletions

Egg collection ends August 31, 2016. This ends multi-residue testing of eggs by the

AMS National Science Laboratory (NSL, US2).
PDP July through September 2016 Program Plan, v1.0 Page 5 

Testing Additions

No changes.

Testing Continuations

Apples, cucumbers, eggs, grapefruit, grapes, green beans, lettuce, milk, oranges, 

pears, potatoes, spinach, strawberries, sweet potatoes, and tomatoes continue to be 

tested. Sampling and testing of apples, green beans, strawberries, and tomatoes end

September 30, 2016.

C. Web Site for PDP Information:

For Pesticide Data Program information check out our Internet Web Site:

http://www.ams.usda.gov/pdp

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