This week the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is announcing a final rule to restore the pesticide Application Exclusion Zone (AEZ) requirements under the 2015 Agricultural Worker Protection Standard (WPS). The AEZ is an area surrounding outdoor pesticide application equipment where people are prohibited while pesticides are applied. This rule finalizes the agency’s 2023 proposed rule without change and advances the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to environmental justice, protecting farmworkers, pesticide handlers, their families and agricultural communities. It reinstates AEZ protections, extends protections for neighboring communities, makes requirements easier to understand, and provides flexibilities for family farms without compromising protections.
 
These changes include creating the “Application Exclusion Zone” (AEZ), an area with additional requirements to protect workers and bystanders. This area immediately surrounds the pesticide application equipment during an outdoor pesticide application. The AEZ only exists during the application, moves with the equipment during application, and can extend outside of an agricultural establishment (e.g., school grounds, residential neighborhoods). The 2015 regulation required that pesticide applicators suspend their applications if anyone is in the AEZ. It also required employers to ensure that the AEZ requirements are understood and followed and prohibited employers from directing or allowing any of their workers to enter an AEZ. By requiring additional precautions in an AEZ, the 2015 regulation aimed to prevent pesticides from contacting farmworkers and bystanders.
 
Final Rule Provisions

With today’s action, EPA is finalizing its 2023 proposed rule without change. The final rule reinstates several 2015 WPS provisions protecting farmworkers and bystanders, including:
 
1. The AEZ suspension requirement will apply beyond the boundaries of the agricultural establishment.
2. The AEZ suspension requirement will apply in easements on the establishment (for example, easements for utility workers to access telephone lines).
3. The AEZ distance for ground-based applications will be:

Additionally, the final rule includes two revisions that the agency believes provide clarity and flexibility for growers and farming families without increasing risk to farmworkers and bystanders:

1.  An “immediate family exemption” that allows farm owners and their immediate family to remain inside enclosed structures or homes during pesticide application. This exemption, which is limited to farming families, provides them the flexibility to decide whether to stay on-site during pesticide applications, rather than compelling them to leave even when they feel safe remaining in their own homes.
2.  A clarification that suspended pesticide applications can resume only after people leave the AEZ.
 
The new rule will be effective 60 days after publication of the federal register notice and will be available in docket EPA-HQ-OPP-2022-0133 at the Regulations.gov page.