Updates to Compendium Volume 3, Restricted Materials and Permitting: Recommended Permit Conditions for Mitc-Producing Metam Sodium, Metam Potassium, and Dazomet

This letter announces updates to Volume 3, Restricted Materials and Permitting, one of eight volumes of the Pesticide Use Enforcement Program Standards Compendium. Updates are enclosed and will be available online at the link below. Please have your staff begin using these updates as soon as possible. Hard copies of the updates will not be distributed.

This letter supersedes the recommended permit conditions for all applications of the MITC-producing products containing metam sodium, metam potassium, and dazomet field soil fumigations found in Enforcement letter ENF 12-21 (amended) dated March 7, 2013.

The revised recommended permit conditions (see enclosures) mitigate hazards associated with offsite movement of metam sodium, metam potassium, and dazomet and apply to all applications when used as a field soil fumigant. Most of the revisions are in response to recent improvements to fumigant product labeling, summarized in the Department of Pesticide Regulation letter ENF 12-16 and further explained in ENF 13-09. Those improvements enabled DPR to streamline the recommended permit conditions, as follows:

• Removed certain recommended permit conditions because the restrictions are now on product labeling. For example, soil moisture restrictions and buffer zones extending into properties of occupied structures or bystander areas.
• Revised definition of “occupied structure” and of “bystander areas.”
• Removed the recommended permit condition for applications to multiple blocks. The labeling restrictions on overlapping buffer zones now address the same concerns.
• Removed the terms “standard area” and “sensitive area” with the other terms, including additional restrictions beyond those on the labeling for schools.
• Clarified the difference between required routine post application water treatment seal versus emergency water availability to suppress offsite movement.
• Compared the permit-condition buffer zone tables with those from labeling, and when possible, developed composite buffer tables for each application method.
• Revised application method 2 (drench) to a minimum of two water seals as required by the labeling.
• Removed certain exemptions.

To print the revised portions of the manual, select from the enclosures or go to www.cdpr.ca.gov/docs/enforce/compend/vol_3/rstrct_mat.htm. It is recommended the sections be printed back-to-back, where applicable. For best results, print each section separately. Remove the old sections from the manual and insert the new sections.

Table of Contents

Updated page L-1 with a new title page for Appendix L

Appendix L (formerly Appendix C, Subsection C.7.2) “Metam Sodium, Metam Potassium, and Dazomet Field Soil Fumigation Recommended Permit Conditions”

Updated DPR recommended permit conditions for the following application methods:

1. Dazomet Field Soil Fumigation
2. Metam Sodium and Metam Potassium Field Soil Fumigation Drench
3. Metam Sodium and Metam Potassium Field Soil Fumigation Drip
4. Metam Sodium and Metam Potassium Field Soil Fumigation Flood
5. Metam Sodium and Metam Potassium Field Soil Fumigation Power Mulcher and Rotary Tiller (Rototiller) Applications
6. Metam Sodium and Metam Potassium Field Soil Fumigation for Rod Bar
7. Metam Sodium and Metam Potassium Field Soil Fumigation for Shank
8. Metam Sodium and Metam Potassium Field Soil Fumigation for Spray Blade with Soil Cap Applications
9. Metam Sodium and Metam Potassium Field Soil Fumigation for Sprinkler

If you have any questions, please contact the Enforcement Branch Liaison assigned to your county.

Sincerely,