Science & Technology 1400 Independence Ave, SW

Monitoring Programs Division Room 0611, Stop 0276

Washington, DC 20250

November 14, 2014

TO: See Distribution List

FROM: Diana Haynes

Director, Monitoring Programs Division

SUBJECT: Program Plan (January through March 2015) – Pesticide Data Program,

Version 1.0

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

through March 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 has been drafted and is under Departmental review.

B. Cooperative Agreements/Financial:

The Federal Government is operating under a Continuing Resolution until December 11, 

2014. Partial Cooperative Agreements for Fiscal Year 2015 have been issued to those 

States operating on the Federal Fiscal Year.

C. Program Meetings:

PDP Federal/State Meeting: A PDP Federal/State Meeting was held June 3-4, 2014, in 

Manassas, Virginia. The meeting focused on program planning, administrative,

sampling, technical, and quality assurance issues. Attendees included PDP 

Administrative Managers, Sampling Managers, Technical Program Managers, and 

Quality Assurance Officers as well as representative from stakeholders including USDA, 

EPA, FDA, and industry.

PDP plans to hold a Federal State Meeting in spring 2015 with the dates and location to 

be determined. The meeting will focus on program planning, administrative, sampling, 

technical, and quality assurance issues.

PDP January through March 2015 Program Plan, v1.0 Page 1 

DIANA 

HAYNES

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DN: c=US, o=U.S. Government, 

ou=Department of Agriculture, cn=DIANA 

HAYNES, 

0.9.2342.19200300.100.1.1=12001000170

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Date: 2014.11.14 07:03:11 -05'00'
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.

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 2014 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 August 1, 2014

x PDP-LABOP: Sample Processing and Analysis

SOPs Released October 1, 2014

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

Validation, and Quality Control

SOPs to be Released January 1, 2015

x PDP-DATA: Data and Instrumentation

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 

PDP January through March 2015 Program Plan, v1.0 Page 2 
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 

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 in 

the second half 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 currently in the program along with the tolerances (and 

MRLs) for the new commodities entering the program in October 2014 and January 

2015.

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

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

Blueberry collection ends December 31, 2014.

Broccoli collection ends December 31, 2014.

Carrot collection ends December 31, 2014.

Celery collection ends December 31, 2014.

PDP January through March 2015 Program Plan, v1.0 Page 3 
Canned and frozen green bean collection ends December 31, 2014.

Sampling Additions

Grapes will be added January 1, 2015. Grapes will remain in the program for two years.

All samples will be shipped to the Ohio (OH1) laboratory. Refer to the current 

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

Oranges will be added January 1, 2015. Oranges 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.

Pears will be added January 1, 2015. Pears will remain in the program for two years.

All samples will be shipped to the Ohio (OH1) laboratory. Refer to the current 

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

Potatoes will be added January 1, 2015. Potatoes will remain in the program for two

years. 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.

Spinach will be added January 1, 2015. Spinach will remain in the program for two

years. 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. 

Sampling Changes

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

Nectarines will continue to be sampled, but samples will be sent to the California (CA1) 

laboratory effective January 1, 2015.

Sampling Continuations

Apples, cherries, green beans, nectarines, peaches, 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

PDP January through March 2015 Program Plan, v1.0 Page 4 
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

B. Testing Deletions and Changes:

Testing Deletions

Blueberry collection ends December 31, 2014. This ends multi-residue testing of 

blueberries by the California (CA1) and Michigan (MI1) laboratories.

Broccoli collection ends December 31, 2014. This ends multi-residue testing of broccoli 

by the Florida (FL1) laboratory.

Carrot collection ends December 31, 2014. This ends multi-residue testing of carrots by

the Ohio (OH1) laboratory.

Celery collection ends December 31, 2014. This ends multi-residue testing of celery by 

the California (CA1) and New York (NY1) laboratories.

Canned/frozen green bean collection ends December 31, 2014. This ends multi-residue 

testing of canned/frozen green beans by the New York (NY1) laboratory.

Testing Additions

Grapes will be added January 1, 2015. Grapes 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.

Oranges will be added January 1, 2015. Oranges 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.

Pears will be added January 1, 2015. Pears 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.

Potatoes will be added January 1, 2015. Potatoes will remain in the program for two 

years. 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.

PDP January through March 2015 Program Plan, v1.0 Page 5 
Spinach will be added January 1, 2015. Spinach will remain in the program for two 

years. Multi-residue testing will be performed by the Michigan (MI1) and New York 

(NY1) laboratories. Commodity specific requirements regarding analytes of interest are 

listed in the memorandum posted to the PDP Extranet site.

Sampling Changes

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

Nectarines will continue to be sampled, but samples will be sent to the California (CA1) 

laboratory for analysis effective January 1, 2015.

Testing Continuations

Apples, cherries, green beans, nectarines, peaches, 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 January through March 2015 Program Plan, v1.0 Page 6