Science & Technology 1400 Independence Ave, SW

Monitoring Programs Division Room 0611, Stop 0276

Washington, DC 20250

May 15, 2015

TO: See Distribution List

FROM: Diana Haynes

Director, Monitoring Programs Division

SUBJECT: Program Plan (July through September 2015) – Pesticide Data Program,

Version 1.0

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

September 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 

were mailed earlier this month.

B. Cooperative Agreements/Financial:

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

funding, have been issued to all PDP-participating States. Continue to send the 270 

reimbursement requests monthly as required by the Cooperative Agreements.

C. Program Meetings:

PDP Federal/State Meeting: A PDP Federal/State Meeting was held April 21-23, 2015,

in Albany, New York. 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 representatives from the New York Department of 

Agriculture and Markets, USDA, and EPA.

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 July through September 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: 2015.05.15 09:23:56 -04'00'
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 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 

SOPs to be Released October 1, 2015

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

and Quality Control

G. Electronic Transfer of Data

RDE Version Upgrades:

The current version (Build 16) of the web-based RDE System was installed in April 

2015. That version fixed the report/print problems that surfaced after the migration of 

AMS Web applications to a new server in February 2015. A new version (v4.1) of the 

electronic Sample Information Form (e-SIF) software, which works on Windows-based 

desktops, laptops, tablets, and netbooks, has been developed and is being prepared for

distribution by the end of May 2015. This version will eliminate the requirement for 

entering “N/A” for not-collected samples.

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 July through September 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 at 

the end of 2015 or early 2016. An upgrade to the RDE e-SIF system (V5.0), to capture 

new and larger field entries is expected to be ready by the end of 2015 ahead of the lab 

RDE system.

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 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. An interim tolerance table will be issued in mid-May 2015 and a full 

revision will be issued July 1,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 3rd 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

Peach collection ends June 30, 2015.

PDP July through September 2015 Program Plan, v1.0 Page 3 
Watermelon collection ends June 30, 2015.

Peanut butter collection ends August 31, 2015.

Sampling Additions

Cucumbers will be added July 1, 2015. Cucumbers 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.

Lettuce will be added July 1, 2015. Lettuce 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 sample selection, packaging, and shipping guidelines. 

Sampling Changes

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

Green beans will continue to be sampled through September 30, 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, pears, potatoes, spinach, 

strawberries, sweet corn, and tomatoes continue to be sampled. Sampling of sweet 

corn ends September 30, 2015.

PDP Sampling Commodity Counts

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

July 1, 2015 through August 31, 2015 = 15 commodities

x Remove peaches and watermelon

x Add cucumbers and lettuce

PDP July through September 2015 Program Plan, v1.0 Page 4 
September 1, 2015 through Septemer 30, 2015 = 14 commodities

x Remove peanut butter

B. Testing Deletions and Changes:

Testing Deletions

Peach collection ends June 30, 2015. This ends multi-residue testing of peaches by the 

Florida (FL1) laboratory.

Watermelon collection ends June 30, 2015. This ends multi-residue testing of 

watermelon by the Washington (WA1) laboratory.

Peanut butter collection ends August 31, 2015. This ends multi-residue testing of 

peanut butter by the AMS National Science Laboratory (US2).

Testing Additions

Cucumbers will be added July 1, 2015. Cucumbers 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.

Lettuce will be added July 1, 2015. Lettuce will remain in the program for two years. 

Multi-residue testing will be performed by the Washington (WA1) laboratory. 

Commodity specific requirements regarding analytes of interest are listed in the 

memorandum posted to the PDP Extranet site.

Testing Changes

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

Green beans will continue to be sampled through September 30, 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, pears, potatoes, spinach, 

strawberries, sweet corn, and tomatoes continue to be tested. Sampling and testing of 

sweet corn ends September 30, 2015.

PDP July through September 2015 Program Plan, v1.0 Page 5 
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 July through September 2015 Program Plan, v1.0 Page 6