PROPOSED RULES
Original Notice.
Preproposal statement of inquiry was filed as WSR 00-03-076.
Title of Rule: Chapter 16-202 WAC, Application of pesticides and plant nutrients through irrigation systems -- Chemigation.
Purpose: To clarify rules and address issues and concerns raised since implementation of the original rules in 1998. These rule revisions address the proper operation and system configuration required to protect the environment and human health from chemigation applications.
Other Identifying Information: Chemigation is the distribution of pesticides through irrigation systems.
Statutory Authority for Adoption: Chapters 15.58 and 17.21 RCW.
Statute Being Implemented: Chapters 15.58 and 17.21 RCW.
Summary: The proposed rules contain significantly more explanatory provisions than the current rule. However, the actual numbers of additional provisions are few, and most of them are addressed in the small business economic impact statement. Intended to be as much of a reference document as a regulation, the proposed chemigation rule and fertigation rule incorporate or reference relevant provisions of chapters 16-200, 16-201, 16-228, 16-229 WAC, WAC 16-202-1000, and 16-202-2000 as well as chapters 15.54 and 17.21 RCW.
Many of the supplementary provisions to current rule are addressed in the small business economic impact statement, and they follow:
1. Manual shutoff valves must be placed on the main outlet of application tanks (WAC 16-202-1009 and 16-202-2005).
2. Application tanks must contain "who to contact" information in a minimum of two-inch lettering on a contrasting background (WAC 16-202-1008 and 16-202-2004).
3. Application tanks containing product must be periodically monitored (WAC 16-202-1010 and 16-202-2006).
4. Chemigation and fertigation applications must be periodically monitored (WAC 16-202-1023 and 16-202-2019).
5. For chemigation, a tank size limitation of 2,500 gallons and a cumulative application tank capacity of 3,000 gallons (with a soil fumigation exception of 6,500 gallons for a fourteen-day period) per injection site (WAC 16-202-1010).
6. For fertigation, a tank size restriction of 6,500 gallons and a cumulative application tank capacity of 10,000 gallons per injection site (WAC 16-202-2006).
7. An inspection port or other access point to assess the integrity and operation of irrigation mainline check valve and the low pressure drain, provided such devices are deemed necessary, must be installed (WAC 16-202-1002, 16-202-1013, 16-202-2002, and 16-202-2009).
8. Department of Health approved backflow prevention devices must be installed on systems that are cross-connected to a public water supply (WAC 16-202-1013, 16-202-1024, 16-202-2009, and 16-202-2020).
Presented below are proposed provisions not specifically addressed in the small business economic impact statement that may require a financial outlay by the system owner, lessee, or renter. However, a potential cost associated with a proposed provision may be nominal due to requirements of correlated rules, to conditions on the pesticide label, or to adherence with accepted industry practice.
1. All system components must be compatible with injected materials, water containing injected materials, or system pressure (WAC 16-202-1003 and 16-202-2003).
2. The application must be continuously observed whenever sensitive areas are at risk of being exposed to drift, runoff, or overspray (WAC 16-202-1003 and 16-202-2003).
3. Overflow from an irrigation pond contaminated with product cannot enter a public waterway, off-farm irrigation supply ditch or conveyance system, or sensitive area (WAC 16-202-1009 and 16-202-2005).
4. Barometric loops can only be used on systems pumping from a surface water source. The barometric pipe loop must be located in the main water line immediately downstream of the irrigation water pump. It must be designed with sufficient elevation differential to compensate for backflow. The bottom of the barometric loop apex must be at least thirty inches above the highest water-emitting device or of any portion of the irrigation application system. The chemical injection port must be located downstream of and at least thirty inches below the bottom of the pipe loop apex (WAC 16-202-1014, 16-202-1020, 16-202-2010, and 16-202-2016).
5. Mixing or loading activities cannot occur within and an application tank cannot be placed closer than twenty feet of a sensitive area, wellhead, public waterway, off-farm irrigation supply ditch or conveyance system, and irrigation water source (WAC 16-202-1009 and 16-202-2005).
6. For a chemigation operation (WAC 16-202-1010):
| Product can remain in an application tank for a period not to exceed fourteen days between chemigation applications; | |
| An application tank containing product must be inspected at least daily or monitored with remote access volumetric measuring devices; and | |
| An application tank must be removed at the end of the irrigation or application season, whichever is shorter, but in no event, not to exceed nine months. At the end of this period, the application tank must be emptied, cleaned, visually inspected for integrity, and serviced. The tank must be removed from the site, or the tank must be decommissioned and clearly tagged with the words "Out-of-Service," or the tank must be managed as a permanent storage facility. |
| Product can remain in an application tank for a period not to exceed nine consecutive months during an irrigation or application season; | |
| An application tank containing product during the nonapplication or nonirrigation season is subject to the secondary and operational area containment rules; and | |
| The application tank must be removed at the end of the irrigation or application season, whichever is shorter but in no event, not to exceed nine months. At the end of this period, the application tank must be emptied, cleaned, visually inspected for integrity, and serviced. The tank must be removed from the site, or the tank must be decommissioned and clearly tagged with the words "Out-of-Service," or the tank must be managed as a permanent storage facility. |
For additional information, contact the WSDA Chemigation and Fertigation Technical Assistance Program at (509) 766-2574, or write Tom Hoffmann or Byron Fitch at WSDA Pesticide Management, 821 East Broadway, Suite 4, Moses Lake, WA 98837.
Reasons Supporting Proposal: The proposal is the result of numerous meetings with a technical advisory committee comprised of representatives of agricultural suppliers, producers, the United States Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the Washington State Department of Ecology. The revisions address a number of issues that have arisen since implementation of the chemigation rule in 1988.
Name of Agency Personnel Responsible for Drafting and Implementation: Ann Wick, 1111 Washington Street, Olympia, WA 98504, (360) 902-2051; and Enforcement: Cliff Weed, 1111 Washington Street, Olympia, WA 98504, (360) 902-2036.
Name of Proponent: Department of Agriculture, governmental.
Rule is not necessitated by federal law, federal or state court decision.
Explanation of Rule, its Purpose, and Anticipated Effects: The proposal contains backflow prevention requirements for the purpose of protecting the environment and ground water from contamination. These rules also address the proper operation and system configuration required to protect the environment and human health from chemigation applications. The rules went through a thorough review by a technical advisory committee described above. In addition, the department received input from the state departments of Health and Ecology during the rule revision process.
Proposal Changes the Following Existing Rules: See Summary above.
A small business economic impact statement has been prepared under chapter 19.85 RCW.
1. Labeling requirements under chemigation (WAC 16-202-1008) and fertigation (WAC 16-202-2004) require tank contents and owner information to be visible and securely affixed to each application tank. Lettering that displays the contact name, telephone number, and tank identifier have to be a minimum of two inches in height and in a color contrasting to the background.
Cost Analysis:
&sqbul; Chemigation: Current rules require labeling of undiluted product in tanks with the EPA product label. Approximately 20% of all tanks in use for chemigation contain undiluted product and thus currently require labeling. This means approximately 80% of some 12,000 tanks used for chemigation could have a cost associated with the rule change or 9,600 tanks.
Manufacturers usually provide product labels, however the tank owner would still need to affix his or her contact name, telephone number, and tank identifier. The average cost for materials to do this is $2.00. The cost for labor is estimated at $10 an hour with installation time taking approximately ten minutes per tank.
The cost then to install needed information per tank is $3.67. If dealers own two-thirds of the tanks statewide, and 80% of those tanks require this information to be affixed, then their total cost would be 8,000 tanks *80% = 6,400 tanks *$3.67 = $23,488 statewide. These costs would primarily be incurred by large businesses. Growers represent the remaining 4,000 tanks requiring the identifying information to be installed; some of whom would be classified as small businesses. This would equal 4,000 tanks *80% = 3,200 tanks *$3.67 = $11,744 statewide.
If there are sixty dealers, the cost per dealer is $391.15 per dealer.
If growers have two tanks on average that need to meet this requirement, the cost per grower is $7.34.
&sqbul; Fertigation: All tanks would require some work to meet these requirements.
Per dealer this equals 8,000 tanks *$3.67 = $29,360/60 dealers = $489.33.
Per grower this equals $7.34 for two tanks.
Mitigation Factors: The Washington State Chemigation and Fertigation Technical Assistance Program staff based in Moses Lake would document tanks that require identification and would set up an agreement with growers as to when they would meet this requirement either through a solicited technical assistance audit or through the notice of correction process. If this requirement was not met after the agreed upon timeframe, then the grower could be cited.
2. The proposed rules require system operators to monitor chemigation applications every four hours (WAC 16-202-1023), and fertigation applications daily (WAC 16-202-2019).
Cost Analysis:
&sqbul; Chemigation: The current chemigation rule requires "frequent monitoring." Agricultural representatives on the Technical Advisory Committee for this rule making indicated that the four-hour requirement is already standard practice. Therefore it is determined that there is no financial impact.
&sqbul; Fertigation: The current fertigation rule has no requirements for monitoring daily. If the average wage per hour is estimated at $10 and the inspection takes two hours (including travel time), then the cost per day would be $20 to inspect each system. Due to the fact that monitoring systems daily is considered standard practice according to the Technical Advisory Committee, this requirement is considered a minimal impact. In addition, these costs would primarily be incurred by large businesses since they usually have more systems to inspect.
Mitigation Factors: None.
3. The fertigation rule requires secondary containment for all tanks larger than 6,500 gallons that are used during a fertigation operation (WAC 16-202-2006(2)). Currently, the WSDA secondary and operational area containment rules (chapter 16-201 WAC) require secondary containment for all fertilizer tanks 10,000 gallons or greater. The cost analysis is based on the difference between the new gallonage limitation of 6,500 gallons and the secondary containment requirement of 10,000 gallons.
Cost Anaylsis:
&sqbul; Chemigation: Not applicable.
&sqbul; Fertigation: The average cost of a 6,500 gallon tank is $3,520. It is estimated that there are only a dozen 10,000 gallon tanks that would need to be replaced with smaller tanks and only one tank per dealer. Many of these tanks are typically rented or leased by the grower from dealers. This means the cost would primarily be borne by dealers and their cost is estimated at $3,520.
Mitigation Factors: The Washington State Chemigation and Fertigation Technical Assistance Program staff based in Moses Lake would document tanks that need replacement and would set up an agreement with growers as to when they would meet this requirement through a solicited technical assistance audit or through the notice of correction process. If this requirement was not met after the agreed upon timeframe, then the grower could be cited.
4. The proposed chemigation rule (WAC 16-202-1009(4)) and the fertigation rule (WAC 16-202-2005(4)) both require tank outlet ports to be fitted with manual shutoff valves. Although the current rules do not have this requirement, the current industry practice provides manual shutoff valves for all newer tanks. This means only the older tanks would need to be retrofitted. Less than 1% of tanks will require this retrofit, equaling about 80 tanks statewide.
Cost Anaylsis:
&sqbul; Chemigation: The cost of the valve is $20. The cost of labor is $10 per hour. This equals $30 per tank.
&sqbul; Fertigation: Same as above.
Mitigation Factors: The Washington State Chemigation and Fertigation Technical Assistance Program staff based in Moses Lake would document tanks that require this retrofit and would set up an agreement with growers as to when they would meet this requirement either through a solicited technical assistance audit or through the notice of correction process. If this requirement was not met after the agreed upon timeframe, then the grower could be cited.
5. Both the chemigation rule (WAC 16-202-1013 (1)(b)) and the fertigation rule (WAC 16-202-2009 (1)(b)) require an inspection port or a direct access point to allow for visual and manual inspection of the check valve and the low pressure drain. The inspection port or access point has to be at least four inches in diameter. If this is not feasible, an alternative access system must be devised.
Cost Analysis:
&sqbul; Chemigation: The cost of installing an inspection port would be borne by the grower. The parts equal approximately $30 and the labor $10, costing the grower $40 per installation. On average, a grower might have six to eight systems requiring an inspection port to be installed equaling $320 per grower. These costs would primarily be incurred by large businesses because they may have more systems to retrofit.
&sqbul; Fertigation: Same as above.
Mitigation Factors: The Washington State Chemigation and Fertigation Technical Assistance Program staff based in Moses Lake would document systems that require inspection ports and would set up an agreement with growers as to when they would meet this requirement through either a solicited technical assistance audit or through the notice of correction process. If this requirement was not met after the agreed upon timeframe, then the grower could be cited.
A copy of the statement may be obtained by writing to Ann Wick, Pesticide Management Division, Washington State Department of Agriculture, P.O. Box 42589, Olympia, WA 98504-2589, phone (360) 902-2051, fax (360) 902-2093.
Section 201, chapter 403, Laws of 1995, does not apply to this rule adoption. The Washington State Department of Agriculture is not a listed agency in section 201.
Hearing Location: Natural Resources Building (NRB), 2nd Floor, Room 271, 1111 Washington Street S.E., Olympia, WA 98504-2589, on Tuesday, April 24, 2001, at 1:00 p.m.; at the Washington State Department of Agriculture Yakima, 21 North First Avenue, Conference Room 238, Yakima, WA 98902, on Tuesday, May 1, 2001, at 6:30 p.m.; at Columbia Basin College, Gjerde Multipurpose Center, Sections 1 and 4, 2600 North 20th Avenue, Pasco, WA 99301-3379, on Wednesday, May 2, 2001, at 6:30 p.m.; and at the Big Bend Community College Auditorium, Building 1400, 7662 Chanute Street, Moses Lake, WA 98837, on Thursday, May 3, 2001, at 6:30 p.m.
Assistance for Persons with Disabilities: Contact Laurie Mauerman by April 12, 2001, TDD (360) 902-1996.
Submit Written Comments to: Laurie Mauerman, Washington State Department of Agriculture, P.O. Box 42560, Olympia, WA 98504-2560, fax (360) 902-2093, by May 4, 2001.
Date of Intended Adoption: May 21, 2001.
March 7, 2001
Bob Arrington
Assistant Director
Reviser's note: The material contained in this filing exceeded the page-count limitations of WAC 1-21-040 for appearance in this issue of the Register. It will appear in the 01-07 issue of the Register.