Idaho Comments on 11/12/09 Conference call 1 Idaho comments regarding NPDES reporting requirements. Resulting from NPDES Conference Call discussions on 11/12/09

9.1 Annual Report.

Will applicators that do not meet minimum thres holds limits be expected to keep and possibly submit the information required in the annual report. How will they be notified?

Identification information: Perhaps the titles are defined elsewhere, but mo st of the information in the Annual Report is designed to identify the permittee. The fourth line requests information for the contact person. Why are these not the same? Are there different roles in the process for the permittee and the contact person? There are differences in contact information for the tw o different individuals, such as phone number and address.

For the calendar year: The two bullets under this part we re probably designed to provide information that can be cross referenced, but that is not how it will be re corded. Jurisdictions, quantities and pests will probably be listed as lump sums. For example, an applicator might list the jurisdictions as Ada County, Canyon County and Gem County; quantit y directly to water as 25 pounds of cypermethrin and 200 gallons of malathion; quantity applied over or near waters as 5,432 gallons of malathion, 282 gallons of naled; and pests targeted a mosquitoes. Then for description of locations: streams, la kes, ponds and rivers in the listed counties.

If you want to be able to verify that a product was used according to the label, you will need to require an EPA Reg. No., so that you know whic h specific label to reference. Most active ingredients are in multiple products and the labels can have very different use directions on them.

If the intent is to receiv e general information, the EP A Reg. No. is not necessary.

If you are expecting each applicati on to have details, you will need to specify what information is required (such as Longitude and Latitude of locations). If you want specific information for each application, then you must state what inform ation to provide for each site. Also, bear in mind that many irrigation districts and mosquito abatement districts make multiple applications to the exact same location. Many mosquito abatem ent districts also operate by complaint. When their customers start calling and complaining about the mosquitoes, the district comes out the next day and treats the area. Th ere is a lot of this type of routine spraying done in Idaho and applications after flooding or heavy rains are rare.

If you expect a record for each application, you will have to plan for over 500,000 records per year per region (storage may be a problem, especi ally if records involve multiple pages). You will also need to be prepared to make copies of these records for the public records requests.

When the 6 th district first ruled that the NPDES pe rmits would be required, there were over 40 notices of lawsuits filed in California in a very short time. Additionally, those records will need to be entered into databases and progra mming written to make the data usable.Idaho Comments on 11/12/09 Conference call 2 The following is an excerpt from the PowerPoi nt presentation you sent us before the first

conference call: OPP estimates that approximately 5.6 million su ch applications annually are performed by 365,000 applicators for these types of pesticide uses.

500 different pesticide active ingredients ar e contained in approximately 3,700 product

labels.

9.2 Adverse Incident Reporting

This seems like a very subjective requirement. Who decides when the incident becomes

adverse?

Will individuals that do not exceed minimum requi rements to submit an NOI be expected to report adverse incidents? How will they be notified of what is expected of them?

Applicators will not voluntarily submit these forms. Submitting this form will probably guarantee that an applicator or permittee will be su ed. Even though the purpose of this form is to help refine the NPDES permit process, it will be an open invitation to litigation by admitting to

violations of the Clean Water Act. Unless thes e forms are protected from release to the public, compliance will probably be low. Additionally, the applicator may claim that he did not file the form, because he did not believe the incident was adverse enough.

What role will state investigation reports play in this notification? One of the requirements in this section is to notify the State Lead Agency for pesticide investigations, once the permittee is

notified or becomes aware of an adverse incide nt. Most state departments of agriculture primarily document whether a pesticide was used acco rding to the label. A determination that an

incident had adverse effects is no t typically a part of the investig ation and should not be expected to be a part of their investiga tion narrative. Additionally, label violations can occur, without an adverse incident taking place, such as failing to wear required protective equipment or having the proper pesticide license category. SLAs would not typically check for an NPDES permit for the application, unless the label requires it.

Contact information for Questions on these comments: George Robinson, Bureau Chief Idaho State Dept of Agriculture (208) 332-8593 George.Robinson@agri.idaho.gov