Science & Technology 1400 Independence Ave, SW 

Monitoring Programs Division Room 0611, Stop 0276 

Washington, DC 20250 

February 12, 2021 

TO: See Distribution List 

Digitally signed by BRENDA BRENDA FROM: Brenda Foos FOOS 

Date: 2021.02.12 11:15:21

Director, Monitoring Programs Division FOOS -05'00' 

SUBJECT: Program Plan, April through September 2021 – Pesticide Data Program, 

Version 1.0 

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

September 2021 for each of the States participating in the Pesticide Data Program (PDP). 

Aspects of the Plan have been coordinated with the U.S. Environmental Protection 

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

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the PDP participating states for their 

continuing collaboration with PDP and dedication to the program in 2021. I look forward 

to working with each of you on the activities described in this Program Plan. 

I. ADMINISTRATIVE UPDATES 

A. Summary Status: 

The 2019 PDP Annual Summary and dataset were posted to the PDP website on October 

27, 2020, and printed copies have been ordered. The draft 2020 PDP Annual Summary 

will be prepared after all of the 2020 data have been received from the laboratories; as a 

reminder, the deadline for 2020 data submission is March 31, 2021. 

B. Cooperative Agreements/Financial: 

Cooperative agreement amendments for Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 full funding will be 

issued to all PDP participating States once we have received our budget allocation for the 

year. 

The current FY ends on September 30, 2021 for States with FY funding 

agreements. Ensure all expenses have been obligated on or prior to this date. For States 

with calendar year agreements, ensure all expenses have been obligated on or prior to 

December 31, 2021. 

PDP April through September 2021 Program Plan, v1.0 Page 1 
PDP April through September 2021 Program Plan, v1.0 Page 2

C. Program Meetings:

PDP Federal/State Meeting:

The March 2020 meeting that was scheduled to be held in Tallahassee, Florida was

postponed. The dates for the next meeting will be announced after COVID-19 related 

travel restrictions are lifted. Attendees will include PDP Administrative Managers, 

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

well as representatives from the host state, USDA, EPA, FDA, and industry.

D. Advisory Committees:

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

Barbara Sparkman (Texas) and Brian Regan (Michigan). Barbara Sparkman serves as the 

Presiding Member of the SAG.

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

Robinson (Texas) and Lucy Kaminski (Ohio). Hugh Robinson serves as the Presiding 

Member of the TAG.

E. PDP Fiscal Year 2021 Proficiency Testing Program: The PDP FY2021

Proficiency Testing (PT) program schedule (v 1.1) 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):

SOPs to be Released March 1, 2021

• PDP-DATA: Data and Instrumentation

SOPs to be Released June 1, 2021

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

SOPs to be Released September 1, 2021

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

and Quality Control

G. Electronic Transfer of Data

Remote Data Entry (RDE) Version Upgrades:

That latest version of the local/distributed RDE tool used by PDP laboratories is Build 4,

which was released in December 2020. This version includes a new feature for importing 

results for an existing group/set and samples from an Excel file, which can greatly decrease 
PDP April through September 2021 Program Plan, v1.0 Page 3 

the amount of manual data entry needed by labs that do not import PDP data from a 

Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS). Labs should continue to report 

identified glitches and suggested enhancements to the MPD staff for inclusion in a future 

RDE build. 

MPD is planning to initiate a contracted project for developing a new RDE e-SIF system 

to replace the one that has been used by State sample collectors since 2003. Ideally, the 

software will work on multiple platforms, i.e. smartphones, tablets, and laptops running 

Apple iOS, Android, and Windows operating systems, to give sample collectors greater 

flexibility and mobility. This modernization will allow the capture of commodity photos 

and barcode data, which will improve the detail and accuracy of captured sample 

information. 

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 registration review 

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 emailed in October 2020 containing tolerances for all 

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

October 2020. The table shows tolerances (and FDA action levels for organochlorines) for 

pesticides on all current PDP commodities. With over 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 U.S. Tolerance 

Tracker online version. Blank spaces in the table indicate that no tolerance is established 

or referenced in the U.S. Tolerance Tracker or the eCFR, part 40, section 180. 

1. PROGRAM SAMPLING AND TESTING UPDATES

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

Sampling Managers by MPD. The draft shipping charts for the 2nd and 3rd quarters of 

calendar year 2021 will follow this document. Final shipping dates and fact sheets will be

issued under separate cover.
PDP April through September 2021 Program Plan, v1.0 Page 4

Sampling Deletions

Bell pepper collection ends June 30, 2021.

Cantaloupe collection ends June 30, 2021.

Sampling Additions

Celery will be added July 1, 2021. Celery 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 sampling selection, packaging, and shipping guidance.

Corn grain will be added July 1, 2021. Corn grain will remain in the program for one year. 

All samples will be collected by USDA Federal Grain Inspection Service personnel and 

will be shipped to the USDA National Science Laboratory (US2).

Plums will be added July 1, 2021. Plums will remain in the program for two years. All 

samples will be shipped to the Washington (WA1) laboratory. Refer to the current 

commodity fact sheet for sampling selection, packaging, and shipping guidance.

Sampling Continuations

Blueberries, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, eggplant, grape juice, green beans, mandarins 

(tangerine), peaches, pears, summer squash and winter squash continue to be sampled.

PDP Sampling Commodity Counts

January 1, 2021 through March 31, 2021 = 14 commodities

• Remove apple juice, bananas, and radishes

• Add grape juice, peaches, and pears 

April 1, 2021 through June 30, 2021 = 14 commodities

• No changes

July 1, 2021 through September 30, 2021 = 15 commodities

• Remove bell peppers and cantaloupe

• Add celery, corn grain, and plums 
PDP April through September 2021 Program Plan, v1.0 Page 5 

B. Testing Deletions and Changes:

Testing Deletions

Cantaloupe collection ends June 30, 2021. This ends multi-residue testing of cantaloupe 

by the Washington (WA1) laboratory. 

Bell pepper collection ends June 30, 2021. This ends multi-residue testing of bell peppers 

by the Florida (FL1) laboratory. 

Testing Additions

Plums will be added July 1, 2021. Plums will remain in the program for two years. Multiresidue testing will be performed by the Washington (WA1) laboratory. Commodity 

specific requirements regarding analytes of interest will be listed in the memorandum 

posted to the PDP Extranet site. 

Corn grain will be added July 1, 2021. Corn grain will remain in the program for one year. 

Multi-residue testing will be performed by the USDA National Science Laboratory (US2). 

Commodity specific requirements regarding analytes of interest will be listed in the 

memorandum posted to the PDP Extranet site. 

Celery will be added July 1, 2021. Celery will remain in the program for two years. Multiresidue testing will be performed by the Florida (FL1) laboratory. Commodity specific 

requirements regarding analytes of interest will be listed in the memorandum posted to the 

PDP Extranet site.

Testing Continuations

Blueberries, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, eggplant, grape juice, green beans, mandarins 

(tangerine), peaches, pears, summer squash and winter squash continue to be sampled. 

C. Web Site for PDP Information: 

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

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