Science & Technology 1400 Independence Ave, SW

Monitoring Programs Division Room 0611, Stop 0276 

 Washington, DC 20250

PDP Januray 2019 through June 2019 Program Plan, v1.0 Page 1 

 

November 15, 2018 

TO: See Distribution List 

FROM: Sitra Abubeker 

Acting Director, Monitoring Programs Division 

 

SUBJECT: Program Plan, January 2019 through June 2019 – Pesticide Data Program, 

Version 1.0 

This Program Plan serves as the current Statement of Work for the period January 2019 

through June 2019 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 2017 PDP Annual Summary is being drafted and is anticipated to be released before 

the end of the calendar year. 

B. Cooperative Agreements/Financial: 

PDP is operating under a Continuing Resolution until December 7, 2018; therefore, 

partial funding Cooperative Agreements were sent to those States operating on a fiscal 

year (FY). Agreements for States operating on a calendar year and FY amendments will 

be prepared/sent after the next budget determination on or about December 7, 2018. Final 

reimbursement requests for FY States are due no later than December 31, 2018 for 

authorized charges that occurred in FY18. 

C. Program Meetings:

PDP Federal/State Meeting:

The PDP 2018 Federal/State Meeting is tentatively scheduled to be held in April/May 

2019 in Tallahassee, Florida. Attendees will include PDP Administrative Managers, 

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

well as representatives from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer 

Services, USDA, EPA, FDA, and industry.

SITRA 

ABUBEKER

Digitally signed by 

SITRA ABUBEKER 

Date: 2018.11.15 

07:16:39 -05'00'
PDP Januray 2019 through June 2019 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 2019 Proficiency Testing Program: The PDP FY2019 

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 July 1, 2018 

x PDP-LABOP: Sample Processing and Analysis 

x PDP-SAMP: Sampling Procedures for PDP 

SOPs to be Released April 1, 2019 

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

SOPs to be Released May 1, 2019 

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

and Quality Control 

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 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 January 2019. The target retirement 

date for the Web-RDE system is by May 2019. 
PDP Januray 2019 through June 2019 Program Plan, v1.0 Page 3 

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 in October 2018 containing tolerances for all 

commodities in the program at this time including those that will enter the program in 

October 2018 and January 2019. 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. 

II. PROGRAM SAMPLING AND TESTING UPDATES 

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

Sampling Managers by MPD. Draft shipping Charts for the 1st and 2nd quarter of calendar 

year 2019 are attached to this document. Actual shipping dates and fact sheets will be 

issued under separate cover. 
PDP Januray 2019 through June 2019 Program Plan, v1.0 Page 4 

Sampling Deletions 

Green onion collection ends December 31, 2018. 

Kale collection ends December 31, 2018. 

Peach (Canned) collection ends December 31, 2018. 

Raisin collection ends December 31, 2018. 

Snap pea collection ends December 31, 2018. 

Wheat flour collection ends December 31, 2018. 

Sampling Additions 

Radishes will be added January 1, 2019. Radishes will remain in the program for two 

years. All samples will be shipped to the Florida (FL1) laboratory. Refer to the current 

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

Hot peppers will be added January 1, 2019. Hot peppers will remain in the program for 

one year. Samples will be shipped to the Ohio (OH1) Laboratory. Refer to the current 

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

Mustard greens will be added January 1, 2019. Mustard greens will remain in the 

program for one year. All samples will be shipped to the Michigan (MI1) and New york 

(NY1) laboratories. Refer to the current commodity fact sheet for sample selection, 

packaging and shipping guidelines. 

Dried garbanzo beans will be added January 1, 2019. Dried garbanzo beans will remain 

in the program for one year. All samples will be shipped to the New York (NY1) 

laboratory. Refer to the current commodity fact sheet for sample selection, packaging and 

shipping guidelines. 

Bananas will be added January 1, 2019. Bananas will remain in the program for two 

years. Samples will be shipped to the Ohio (OH1) laboratory. Refer to the current 

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

Oats will be added January 1, 2019. Oats will remain in the program for one year. All 

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

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

Sampling Continuations 
PDP Januray 2019 through June 2019 Program Plan, v1.0 Page 5 

Asparagus, cabbage, kiwi, rice, strawberries (frozen), basil/cilantro, peas 

(cannned/frozen) and spinach (canned/frozen) continue to be sampled. Asparagus and 

cabbage sampling ends June 30, 2019.

PDP Sampling Commodity Counts 

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

x Added heavy cream 

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

x Removed heavy cream 

October 1, 2018 through December 31, 2018 = 14 commodities 

x Removed canned cranberries, canned garbanzo beans, mangoes, canned olives, 

and plums (dried)/prunes 

x Added basil/cilantro, peas (canned/frozen), rice, spinach (canned/frozen), and 

strawberries (frozen) 

January 1, 2019 through June 30, 2019 = 14 commodities 

x Remove green onion, kale, peach (canned), raisin, snap peas and wheat flour 

x Add radishes, hot peppers, mustard greens, dried garbanzo beans, bananas and 

oats 

B. Testing Deletions and Changes:

Testing Deletions 

Green onion collection ends December 31, 2018. This ends multi-residue testing of 

green onions by the Florida (FL1) laboratory. 

Kale collection ends December, 31, 2018. This ends multi-residue testing of kale by the 

Ohio (OH1) laboratory. 

Peach (canned) collection ends December 31, 2018. This ends multi-residue testing of 

canned peaches by the Michigan (MI1) and New York (NY1) laboratories. 

Raisin collection ends December 31, 2018. This ends multi-residue testing of raisins by 

the New York (NY1) laboratory. 

Snap pea collection ends December 31, 2018. This ends multi-residue testing of snap 

peas by the Ohio (OH1) laboratory. 

Wheat flour collection ends December 31, 2018. This ends multi-residue testing of 

wheat flour by the California (CA1) laboratory. 

Testing Additions 
PDP Januray 2019 through June 2019 Program Plan, v1.0 Page 6 

Radishes will be added January 1, 2019. Radishes will remain in the program for two 

years. Multi-residue testing will be performed by the Florida (FL1) laboratory. 

Commodity specific requirements regarding analytes of interest are listed in the 

memorandum posted to the PDP Extranet site. 

Hot peppers will be added January 1, 2019. Hot peppers will remain in the program for 

one year. Multi-residue testing will be performed by the Ohio (OH1) laboratory. 

Commodity specific requirements regarding analytes of interest are listed in the 

memorandum posted to the PDP Extranet site. 

Mustard greens will be added January 1, 2019. Mustard greens will remain in the 

program for one year. Multi-residue testing will be performed by the New York (NY1) 

and Michigan (MI1) laboratories. Commodity specific requirements regarding analytes of 

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

Garbanzo beans (dried) will be added January 1, 2019. Dried garbanzo beans will 

remain in the program for one year. Multi-residue testing will be performed by the New 

York (NY1) laboratory. Commodity specific requirements regarding analytes of interest 

are listed in the memorandum posted to the PDP Extranet site. 

Bananas will be added January 1, 2019. Bananas will remain in the program for two 

years. Multi-residue testing will be performed by the Ohio (OH1) laboratory. Commodity 

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

to the PDP Extranet site. 

Oats will be added January 1, 2019. Oats will remain in the program for one year. Multiresidue testing will be performed by the California (CA1) laboratory. Commodity 

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

to the PDP Extranet site. 

Testing Continuations 

Aspargus, cabbage, kiwi, rice, strawberries (frozen), basil/cilantro, peas (canned/ frozen), 

and spinach (canned/frozen) continue to be sampled and tested. Asparagus and cabbage 

sampling ends June 30, 2019.

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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