The Department of Agriculture administers FIFRA and state pesticide laws and regulations, including the WPS.86 The Department of Labor and Industries administers the Washington Industrial Safety and Health Act meaning the agency can step in to enforce the WPS in contexts limited to employer–employee disputes.87 This would exclude jurisdiction over instances of pesticide drift, where the farmworker. [...] In 1989, the legislature created the PIRT Panel with the intent “that the various state agencies responsible for pesticide regulation coordinate their activities in a timely manner to ensure adequate monitoring of pesticide use and protection of workers and the public from the effects of pesticide misuse.”118 However, the panel was disbanded in 2017.119 In 2019, the legislature created the Pestici. [...] The purpose was to have a united council to advise the relevant agencies on their responsibilities regarding pesticides.123 The council was also valuable to advocates because its meetings were open to the public and were a reliable source of information about the pesticide program.124 However, the group ultimately met the same fate as Washington’s PIRT Workers’ skepticism of state agricultural Pan. [...] The purpose of the SENSOR program is to “build and maintain occupational illness and injury surveillance capacity within state health departments.”168 Yet, as of 2020, only 11 states participate in the program.169 Only three of the participating states received federal funds170 despite the program’s design to provide funding and technical support to states. [...] The rate of violations resulting from inspections is high and the rate of enforcement actions taken in response to violations is low Even considering the difficulty of identifying violations—due to poor inspection quality, lack of evidence, or growers’ ability to get into compliance just for the inspection—violation rates remain high across the country.
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- Pages
- 52
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- United States of America
