Science & Technology 1400 Independence Ave, SW

Monitoring Programs Division Room 0611, Stop 0276

Washington, DC 20250

PDP June through September 2018 Program Plan, v1.0 Page 1 

May 29, 2018

TO: See Distribution List

FROM: Diana Haynes

Director, Monitoring Programs Division

SUBJECT: Program Plan, June through September 2018 – Pesticide Data Program

(PDP), Version 1.0

Replaces PDP Program Plans April through June 2018, Version 1.0 and 

July through September 2018, Version 1.0

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

September 2018 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 2016 PDP Annual Summary was released February 8, 2018. Printed copies were 

mailed May 1, 2018.

B. Cooperative Agreements/Financial:

Final Cooperative Agreements for Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 are being processed for all PDP 

participating States.

C. Program Meetings:

PDP Federal/State Meeting: The PDP 2018 Federal/State Meeting was held February 

20-22, 2018 in Crystal City, Virginia. Attendees included PDP Administrative Managers, 

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

well as representatives from USDA, EPA, FDA, and industry.

Diana 

Haynes

Digitally signed by Diana 

Haynes 

Date: 2018.05.29 06:12:34 

-04'00'
PDP June through September 2018 Program Plan, v1.0 Page 2 

D. Advisory Committees:

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

Gallegos (Colorado), Nathan Chambers (Washington), and Barbara Sparkman (Texas).

Don Gallegos serves as the Presiding Member of the SAG.

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

Parker (Florida), Hugh Robinson (Texas), and Frank Barretta (Michigan). Gail Parker 

serves as the Presiding Member of the TAG.

E. PDP Fiscal Year 2018 Proficiency Testing Program: The PDP FY2018

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.

The PDP FY2019 PT program schedule is under development and will be released once 

the 2019 FAPAS schedule has been released and discussed among program participants.

F. Standard Operating Procedures:

SOPs Released February 1, 2018

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

Validation and Quality Control

SOPs Released April 1, 2018

x PDP-DATA: Data and Instrumentation

SOPs to be Released July 1, 2018

x PDP-LABOP: Sample Processing and Analysis

x PDP-SAMP: Sampling Procedures for PDP

SOPs to be Released October 1, 2018

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

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 
PDP June through September 2018 Program Plan, v1.0 Page 3 

handle the file 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. Transfer of completed 

datasets will be handled by e-mail or posting to the PDP Extranet site. The target 

completion date for the new, local RDE system is August 2018. The target retirement 

date for the Web-RDE system is before the end of 2018. 

File import functions stopped working in the Web-RDE system in February 2018 and 

USDA was not able to fix the problem. All labs that were importing datasets from their 

LIMS into RDE are now e-mailing the import databases to MPD and the data are being 

imported directly into the RDE database using a local importing tool. This procedure 

will likely be in place until the local RDE system is rolled-out.

The e-SIF Clearinghouse system is rolling-back all e-SIFs to the old (V4.1) format when 

the e-SIF text files are generated for import to Web-RDE and delivery to labs. Once a lab 

is ready to use the new distributed RDE application, e-SIFs in the new (V5.0) format will 

be sent. Sample data that were left off the rolled-back e-SIF will be restored when the 

group/set holding the sample is uploaded from RDE into the central PDP calendar-year 

database at MPD. All State samplers are now using RDE e-SIF V5.0, which makes the 

data review process at the receiving labs easier and faster.

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 updated tolerance table was issued on January 31, 2018 containing tolerances for all 

commodities in the program at this time including those that entered the program in 

October 2017, January 2018 and April 2018. The table shows tolerances (and FDA action 

levels for organochlorines) for pesticides on all current and upcoming PDP commodities. 

With almost 700 pesticides and metabolites, there is information for over 10,000 

pesticide/commodity pairings. This table includes permanent, interim, regional, and 

section 18 emergency tolerances as stated in the electronic Code of Federal Regulations 

(eCFR) or the Informa Agrow Pesticide Chemical News Guide (PCNG), online version. 

Blank spaces in the table indicate that no tolerance is established or referenced in the 

PCNG or the eCFR, part 40, section 180.
PDP June through September 2018 Program Plan, v1.0 Page 4 

II. PROGRAM SAMPLING AND TESTING UPDATES

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

Sampling Managers by MPD and will be issued under separate cover along with 

applicable Commodity Fact Sheets.

Sampling Deletions

Sweet potato collection ended March 31, 2018. 

Sampling Additions

Kiwis were added April 1, 2018. Kiwis will remain in the program for two years. All 

samples will be shipped to the Michigan (MI1) laboratory. Refer to the current 

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

Heavy cream will be added June 1, 2018 and will be sampled through August 31, 2018.

Double sampling will be done in July/August 2018 in order to collect the targeted 315 

samples within the 3-month timeframe so that laboratory analyses can be completed in 

FY 2018. All heavy cream samples will be shipped to AMS’ National Science Laboratory 

(NSL/US2). Refer to the current commodity fact sheet for sample selection, packaging, 

and shipping guidelines.

Sampling Changes

Cranberry collection rotated from fresh/frozen to canned April 1, 2018.

Sampling Continuations

Asparagus, cabbage, cranberries (canned), garbanzo beans (canned), green onions, kale, 

kiwis, mangoes, olives (canned), peaches (canned), plums/prunes (dried), raisins, snap 

peas, and wheat flour continue to be sampled. Cranberries (canned), garbanzo beans 

(canned), mangoes, olives (canned), and dried plums/prunes end September 30, 2018.

PDP Sampling Commodity Counts

January 1, 2018 through March 31, 2018 = 14 commodities

x Removed bottled water, milk, onions, and pineapple (canned)

x Added green onions, peaches (canned), raisins, and wheat flour

April 1, 2018 through May 31, 2018 = 14 commodities

x Removed sweet potatoes

x Added kiwis

June 1, 2018 through August 31, 2018 = 15 commodities

x Add heavy cream
PDP June through September 2018 Program Plan, v1.0 Page 5 

September 1, 2018 through September 30, 2018 = 14 commodities

x Remove heavy cream

B. Testing Deletions and Changes:

Testing Deletions

Sweet potato collection ended March 31, 2018. This ends multi-residue testing of sweet 

potatoes by the Michigan (MI1) laboratory.

Testing Additions

Kiwis were added April 1, 2018. Kiwis will remain in the program for two years. All 

samples will be shipped to the Michigan (MI1) laboratory. Refer to the current 

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

Heavy cream will be added June 1, 2018 and will be sampled through August 31, 2018.

Double sampling will be done in July/August 2018 in order to collect the targeted 315 

samples within the 3-month timeframe so that laboratory analyses can be completed in 

FY 2018. Multi-residue testing will be performed by AMS’ National Science Laboratory 

(NSL/US2). Commodity specific requirements regarding analytes of interest are listed in 

the memorandum posted to the PDP Extranet site.

Testing Changes

Cranberries rotated from fresh/frozen to canned April 1, 2018. All cranberries are tested 

by the Texas (TX1) laboratory. Refer to the current commodity fact sheet for sample 

selection, packaging and shipping guidelines.

Testing Continuations

Asparagus, cabbage, cranberries (canned), garbanzo beans (canned), green onions, kale, 

kiwis, mangoes, olives (canned), peaches (canned), plums/prunes (dried), raisins, snap 

peas, and wheat flour continue to be tested. Cranberries (canned), garbanzo beans 

(canned), mangoes, olives (canned), and dried plums/prunes end September 30, 2018.

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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