Science & Technology 1400 Independence Ave, SW

Monitoring Programs Division Room 0611, Stop 0276

Washington, DC 20250

PDP January through March 2016 Program Plan, v1.0 Page 1 

November 13, 2015

TO: See Distribution List

FROM: Diana Haynes

Director, Monitoring Programs Division

SUBJECT: Program Plan (January through March 2016) – Pesticide Data Program,

Version 1.0

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

through March 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 is under Department review and is anticipated to be 

released before the end of the calendar year.

B. Cooperative Agreements/Financial:

Partial Cooperative Agreements for Fiscal Year 2015 have been issued to all PDP 

participating States. Final Cooperative Agreements are expected to be issued shortly.

C. Program Meetings:

PDP Federal/State Meeting: A PDP Federal/State Meeting is planned for Spring 2016 

in Sacramento, California. Attendees are anticipated to include PDP Administrative 

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

Officers as well as representatives from the California Department of Food and 

Agriculture, USDA, EPA, and FDA.

D. Advisory Committees:

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

Brian Regan (Michigan), Ken McManus (Maryland), and Dan Milo (Ohio). Brian Regan 

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: 2015.11.13 07:54:20 -05'00'
PDP January through March 2016 Program Plan, v1.0 Page 2 

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

Dannis Tamplin (Presiding Member, Texas), Sarva Gunjur (California), Karen Stephani 

(New York), and Lida Ogg (Ohio). Dannis Tampling serves as the Presiding Member of 

the TAG.

E. PDP Fiscal Year 2015 Proficiency Testing Program: The PDP FY2016

Proficiency Testing (PT) program schedule (v 1.2) 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 to be Released January 1, 2016

x PDP-DATA: Data and Instumentation

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

and Quality Control

SOPs to be Released April 1, 2016

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

G. Electronic Transfer of Data

RDE Version Upgrades:

The current version (Build 16) of the web-based RDE System was installed in April 

2015. This version fixed the report/print problems that surfaced after the migration of 

AMS Web applications to a new server in February 2015. A new version (v4.1) of the 

electronic Sample Information Form (e-SIF) software, which works on Windows-based 

desktops, laptops, tablets, and netbooks, was developed and distributed in May 2015. 

This version eliminated the requirement for entering “N/A” values in several fields for 

not-collected samples.

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 
PDP January through March 2016 Program Plan, v1.0 Page 3 

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 during 2016. A pilot project will be conducted with two or three

labs using the new RDE system by the end of 2015 or early 2016. An upgrade to the 

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

ahead of the lab RDE system.

RDE Supporting Applications:

MPD completed development of a stand-alone app that can be used by State Sampling 

Managers to import all the e-SIF text files received from samplers into an MS-Access 

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. The new app is currently being tested by two States and 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 July 9, 2015 containing tolerances for all 

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

in January 2016 and will include the commodities that entered the program in October 

2015 and January 2016. Additionally, tolerances for the April 2016 replacement 

commodity will be included if the commodity is known at that time.

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 1st quarter of calendar year

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.
PDP January through March 2016 Program Plan, v1.0 Page 4 

Sampling Deletions

Nectarine collection ends December 31, 2015.

Sampling Additions

Milk will be added January 1, 2016. Milk will remain in the program for two years. All 

samples will be shipped to the Califlornia (CA1) laboratory. Refer to the current 

commodity fact sheet for sample selection, packaging, and shipping guidelines.

Sampling Changes

Cherries will continue to be sampled through March 31, 2016.

Green beans will continue to be sampled through September 30, 2016.

Sampling Continuations

Apples, cherries, cucumbers, grapefruit, grapes, green beans, lettuce, oranges, 

pears, potatoes, spinach, strawberries, and tomatoes continue to be sampled.

Sampling of cherries ends March 31, 2016.

PDP Sampling Commodity Counts

October 1, 2015 through December 31, 2015 = 14 commodities

x Remove sweet corn

x Add grapefruit

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

x Remove nectarines

x Add milk

B. Testing Deletions and Changes:

Testing Deletions

Nectarine collection ends December 31, 2015. This ends multi-residue testing of 

nectarines by the California (CA1) laboratory.

Testing Additions

Milk will be added January 1, 2016. Milk will remain in the program for two years. 

Multi-residue testing will be performed by the California (CA1) laboratory. Commodity 
PDP January through March 2016 Program Plan, v1.0 Page 5 

specific requirements regarding analytes of interest are listed in the memorandum posted 

to the PDP Extranet site.

Testing Changes

Cherries will continue to be sampled through March 31, 2016.

Green beans will continue to be sampled through September 30, 2016.

Testing Continuations

Apples, cherries, cucumbers, grapefruit, grapes, green beans, lettuce, oranges, 

pears, potatoes, spinach, strawberries, and tomatoes continue to be tested. Sampling 

and testing of cherries ends March 31, 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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