Science & Technology 1400 Independence Ave, SW

Monitoring Programs Division Room 0611, Stop 0276 

 Washington, DC 20250

PDP April through June 2017 Program Plan, v1.0 Page 1 

 

February 15, 2017 

TO: See Distribution List 

FROM: Diana Haynes 

Director, Monitoring Programs Division 

 

SUBJECT: Program Plan, April through June 2017 – Pesticide Data Program, Version 

1.0 

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

June 2017 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 November 10, 2016. Printed copies are 

expected to be available Spring 2017. 

B. Cooperative Agreements/Financial: 

PDP is operating under a second Continuing Resolution until April 2017. Partial funding 

Cooperative Agreements were sent to to States operating on a calendar year (CY). 

Amendments were sent to those States operating on a fiscal year to provide additional 

funding. Final reimbursement requests for CY States are due no later than March 31, 

2017, for authorized charges that occurred in FY16. 

C. Program Meetings:

PDP Federal/State Meeting: The PDP 2017 Federal/State Meeting will be held May 2-

4, 2017 in Reynoldsburg, Ohio. Attendees will include PDP Administrative Managers, 

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

well as representatives from the Ohio Department of Agriculture, USDA, EPA, FDA, and 

industry. 

For Diana Haynes SHANKER REDDY 

2017.02.15 08:12:28 -05'00'
PDP April through June 2017 Program Plan, v1.0 Page 2 

D. Advisory Committees: 

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

McManus (Maryland), Saeed Akhtar (New York), and Don Gallegos (Colorado). Ken 

McManus serves as the Presiding Member of the SAG. 

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

Sarva Gunjur (California) and Karen Stephani (New York). Sarva Gunjur serves as the 

Presiding Member of the TAG. 

E. PDP Fiscal Year 2017 Proficiency Testing Program: The PDP FY2017 

Proficiency Testing (PT) program schedule (v 1.2) 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 February 1, 2017 

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

SOPs to be Released April 1, 2017 

x PDP-DATA: Data and Instrumentation 

SOPs to be Released May 1, 2017 

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

SOPs to be Released July 1, 2017 

x PDP-LABOP: Sample Processing and Analysis 

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 data 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. The local database will 

give labs access to data entered so that ad-hoc queries or customized reports can be run 

for State-required production reports. Transfer of completed datasets will be handled by 
PDP April through June 2017 Program Plan, v1.0 Page 3 

e-mail or posting to the PDP Extranet site. This 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 2017. A pilot project will be conducted with two or 

three labs using the new RDE system prior to full roll-out. 

An upgrade to the RDE e-SIF system (V5.0) was developed and distributed to State 

Sampling Managers in October 2016. The new version captures the package/container 

type separate from the commodity type, accepts larger entries in text fields like the Lot# 

and facility name, and eliminates the postharvest fungicide labeling entry. The e-SIF 

Clearinghouse system at MPD was modified to process incoming e-SIFs in both the old 

(V4.1) and new (V5.0) formats. All e-SIFs received in the new (V5.0) format are being 

rolled-back 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. 

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 January 3, 2017 containing tolerances for all 

commodities in the program at that time. The next tolerance table is expected to be issued 

in July 2017 and will include the commodities entering the program in July 2017. 

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 2nd quarter of calendar year 

2017 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 

No changes.
PDP April through June 2017 Program Plan, v1.0 Page 4 

Sampling Additions 

Honey will be added April 1, 2017 and will be sampled through August 31, 2017 for a 

total of 315 samples. All honey 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 Continuations 

Applesauce, bottled water, fresh/frozen cranberries, cucumbers, grapefruit, kale, 

lettuce, milk, olives, onions, canned pineapple, snap peas, sweet potatoes, and 

canned tomatoes continue to be sampled. Sampling of cucumbers and lettuce end June 

30, 2017.

PDP Sampling Commodity Counts 

October 1, 2016 through December 31, 2016 = 14 commodities 

x Remove apples, green beans, strawberries, tomatoes 

x Add applesauce, fresh/frozen cranberries, olives, canned tomatoes 

January 1, 2017 through March 31, 2017 = 14 commodities 

x Remove grapes, oranges, pears, potatoes, and spinach 

x Add bottled water, kale, onions, canned pineapple, and snap peas 

April 1, 2017 through June 30, 2017 = 15 commodities 

x Add honey 

B. Testing Deletions and Changes:

Testing Deletions 

No changes.

Testing Additions 

Honey will be added April 1, 2017 and will be sampled through August 31, 2017 for a 

total of 315 samples. 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. 
PDP April through June 2017 Program Plan, v1.0 Page 5 

Testing Continuations 

Applesauce, bottled water, fresh/frozen cranberries, cucumbers, grapefruit, kale, 

lettuce, milk, olives, onions, canned pineapple, snap peas, sweet potatoes, and 

canned tomatoes continue to be tested. Sampling and testing of cucumbers and lettuce 

end June 30, 2017.

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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