Revised Oversight Inspection Procedures Manual

Enclosed is the Department of Pesticide Regulation’s (DPR’s) revised Oversight Inspection Procedures Manual (OIPM). Effective January 1, 2003, these are the procedures that will be used by Senior Pesticide Use Specialists (SPUSs) when conducting oversight inspections with County Agricultural Commissioner (CAC) staff. This manual had been previously provided to you in Enforcement Letter ENF 02-34 with a request for review and comment.

The OIPM has been revised based on comments received from your association’s Pesticide Regulatory Affairs Committee (PRAC) Oversight Inspection Subcommittee. These changes were made to address concerns expressed by the CACs and to avoid confusion with industry regarding the CAC’s authority over pesticide use activities. The new procedures incorporate the following significant changes:

• The SPUS will not interact with industry personnel throughout the inspection process. If necessary, the SPUS will work through the biologist to make additional observations or ask questions.
• County biologists will provide the SPUS with the yellow copy of his/her inspection form at the time the inspection is completed.
• There will be no review or discussion of discrepancies between the biologist’s and the SPUS’s inspection at the inspection site. In no instances will industry receive the DPR inspection instead of the county inspection. The county’s liaison SPUS will address discrepancies with the CAC.
• The procedure for addressing an imminent hazard has been modified. If the SPUS observes an activity that creates an imminent hazard, the SPUS will encourage the biologist to issue a Stop Work Order or a Cease and Desist. If the biologist does not wish to do so, the SPUS will temporarily halt the activity and immediately contact the CAC. The CAC will decide how the situation will be handled.

Additional changes include:

• References to the Compliance Workgroup (CWG) have been changed to the County Regulatory Oversight Workgroup (CROW). The CWG initially established the OIPM. However, the CWG was reassigned to address a broader scope of issues pertaining to county regulatory programs and was renamed.
• In order to address the reorganization of SPUS staff, avoid confusion and allow DPR managers greater flexibility, the following terms will be used throughout the manual to designate the personnel involved in carrying out the procedures:
  • Specialist – the person performing the oversight inspection. In most cases this will be a SPUS; however, in some circumstances the person could be a Pesticide Use Specialist, a Supervising Pesticide Use Specialist, or a Program Specialist.
  • Liaison Senior – the SPUS who is assigned the liaison and evaluation responsibilities for the county in which the oversight inspection is performed. The liaison senior is responsible for all oversight follow-up activities and for all issue resolution activities with the CAC. In many cases the liaison senior will perform the oversight inspection as well as all necessary follow-up activities.
  • Biologist – the CAC staff person conducting the Pesticide Use Enforcement Inspection.

The OIPM manual remains a working document; however, rather than revising it and reissuing it every time changes are recommended, we will begin revising it annually in February. As we gain experience with implementation of the OIPM this year and next, please continue to forward your comments to your PRAC subcommittee representative for DPR consideration. The subcommittee will have a report for your association at the interim meeting in February 2003.

As always, if there are aspects of this program that present a problem for you or your county, please feel free to contact me or your liaison senior.

Sincerely,