Science & Technology 1400 Independence Ave, SW

Monitoring Programs Division Room 0611, Stop 0276

Washington, DC 20250

February 13, 2015

TO: See Distribution List

FROM: Diana Haynes

Director, Monitoring Programs Division

SUBJECT: Program Plan (April through June 2015) – Pesticide Data Program,

Version 1.0

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

June 2015 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 2013 PDP Annual Summary was released on December 19, 2014. Printed copies are 

expected to be available in Spring 2015.

B. Cooperative Agreements/Financial:

Cooperative Agreements and amendments for Fiscal Year 2015, representing full year 

funding, have been issued to all PDP-participating States.

C. Program Meetings:

PDP Federal/State Meeting: A PDP Federal/State Meeting will be held April 21-23,

2015, in Albany, New York. The meeting will focus on program planning, 

administrative, sampling, technical, and quality assurance issues. Attendees will include 

PDP Administrative Managers, Sampling Managers, Technical Program Managers, and 

Quality Assurance Officers as well as representative from stakeholders including 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.

PDP April through June 2015 Program Plan, v1.0 Page 1 

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: 2015.02.13 08:50:33 -05'00'
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).

E. PDP Fiscal Year 2015 Proficiency Testing Program: The PDP FY2015

Proficiency Testing (PT) program schedule (v 1.0) 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 January 1, 2015

x PDP-DATA: Data and Instrumentation

x PDP-Glossary: Glossary

SOPs to be Released April 1, 2015

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

SOPs to be Released July 1, 2015

x PDP-LABOP: Sample Processing and Analysis 

G. Electronic Transfer of Data

RDE Version Upgrades:

The current version (Build 15) of the web-based RDE System was installed in June 2012. 

The current version (v4.0) of the electronic Sample Information Form (e-SIF) software, 

which works on Windows-based desktops, laptops, tablets, and netbooks, was distributed 

in March 2011. The Monitoring Programs Division (MPD) staff has started development 

of 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 consolidation of 

AMS network/web services with USDA department-level resources will likely require 

MPD to employ the required e-Authentication login mechanism for the Web-based RDE 

system, which would require an additional user account for each Web-RDE user that has 

to be activated in-person at a USDA Service Center. A distributed RDE system will 

PDP April through June 2015 Program Plan, v1.0 Page 2 
eliminate that e-Authentication requirement. The local database would give labs access 

to data entered so that ad-hoc queries or customized reports could be run for Staterequired production reports. Transfer of completed datasets will be handled by e-mail or 

posting to the PDP Extranet site. A 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 at 

the end of 2015.

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.

An expanded tolerance table was issued on July 22, 2014 containing tolerances (and 

MRLs) for all commodities in the program at that time along with the tolerances (and 

MRLs) for the new commodities, which entered the program in October 2014 and 

January 2015. The only commodity that is not in the July 22, 2014 edition of the 

tolerance table is peanut butter, which will enter the program on April 1, 2015. A list of 

current tolerances for compounds in peanut butter will be provided to AMS’ National 

Science Laboratory (NSL) and the MPD database manager by March 13, 2015. This will 

enable MPD staff to issue the revised tolerance table in July 2015, thereby returning its

dissemination back to the original January/July schedule.

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 2nd quarter of calendar year

2015 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

None.

Sampling Additions

Peanut butter will be added April 1, 2015. Peanut butter will be sampled from April 1, 

2015 through August 31, 2015 for a total of 300 samples. All samples will be shipped to 

AMS’ National Science Laboratory (NSL). Refer to the current commodity fact sheet for 

sample selection, packaging, and shipping guidelines.

PDP April through June 2015 Program Plan, v1.0 Page 3 
Sampling Changes

Green beans will continue to be sampled through September 30, 2015.

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

Nectarines continue to be sampled, with all samples being sent to the California (CA1) 

laboratory.

Sampling Continuations

Apples, cherries, grapes, green beans, nectarines, oranges, peaches, pears, potatoes, 

spinach, strawberries, sweet corn, tomatoes, and watermelon continue to be sampled.

Sampling of peaches and watermelon ends June 30, 2015.

PDP Sampling Commodity Counts

October 1, 2014 through December 31, 2014 = 14 commodities

x Remove grape juice, dairy-based formula, soy-based formula, and summer squash

x Add apples, strawberries, sweet corn, and tomatoes

January 1, 2015 through March 31, 2015 = 14 commodities

x Remove blueberries, broccoli, carrots, celery, and canned/frozen green beans

x Add grapes, oranges, pears, potatoes, and spinach

April 1, 2015 through June 30, 2015 = 15 commodities

x Add peanut butter

B. Testing Deletions and Changes:

Testing Deletions

None.

Testing Additions

Peanut butter will be added April 1, 2015. Peanut butter will be sampled from April 1, 

2015 through August 31, 2015 for a total of 300 samples. All samples will be shipped to 

AMS’ National Science Laboratory (NSL). Commodity specific requirements regarding 

analytes of interest are listed in the memorandum posted to the PDP Extranet site.

PDP April through June 2015 Program Plan, v1.0 Page 4 
Testing Changes

Green beans will continue to be sampled through September 30, 2015.

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

Nectarines continue to be sampled, with all samples being sent to the California (CA1) 

laboratory.

Testing Continuations

Apples, cherries, grapes, green beans, nectarines, oranges, peaches, pears, potatoes, 

spinach, strawberries, sweet corn, tomatoes, and watermelon continue to be tested. 

Sampling and testing of peaches and watermelon ends June 30, 2015.

C. Web Site for PDP Information:

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

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

Attachment

PDP April through June 2015 Program Plan, v1.0 Page 5