The
responsibilities of the *review panel shall include, but not be
limited to:
(1) Establishing guidelines for centralizing the receipt of
information relating to actual or alleged health and
environmental incidents involving pesticides;
(2) Reviewing and making recommendations for procedures for
investigation of pesticide incidents, which shall be implemented
by the appropriate agency unless a written statement providing
the reasons for not adopting the recommendations is provided to
the *review panel;
(3) Monitoring the time periods required for response to
reports of pesticide incidents by the departments of agriculture,
health, and labor and industries;
(4) At the request of the chair or any *panel member,
reviewing pesticide incidents of unusual complexity or those that
cannot be resolved;
(5) Identifying inadequacies in state and/or federal law
that result in insufficient protection of public health and
safety, with specific attention to advising the appropriate
agencies on the adequacy of pesticide reentry intervals
established by the federal environmental protection agency and
registered pesticide labels to protect the health and safety of
farmworkers. The *panel shall establish a priority list for
reviewing reentry intervals, which considers the following
criteria:
(a) Whether the pesticide is being widely used in
labor-intensive agriculture in Washington;
(b) Whether another state has established a reentry interval
for the pesticide that is longer than the existing federal
reentry interval;
(c) The toxicity category of the pesticide under federal
law;
(d) Whether the pesticide has been identified by a federal
or state agency or through a scientific review as presenting a
risk of cancer, birth defects, genetic damage, neurological
effects, blood disorders, sterility, menstrual dysfunction, organ
damage, or other chronic or subchronic effects; and
(e) Whether reports or complaints of ill effects from the
pesticide have been filed following worker entry into fields to
which the pesticide has been applied; and
(6) Reviewing and approving an annual report prepared by the
department of health to the governor, agency heads, and members
of the legislature, with the same available to the public. The
report shall include, at a minimum:
(a) A summary of the year's activities;
(b) A synopsis of the cases reviewed;
(c) A separate descriptive listing of each case in which
adverse health or environmental effects due to pesticides were
found to occur;
(d) A tabulation of the data from each case;
(e) An assessment of the effects of pesticide exposure in
the workplace;
(f) The identification of trends, issues, and needs; and
(g) Any recommendations for improved pesticide use
practices.
[1991 c 3 § 364; 1989 c 380 § 69.]
NOTES:
*Reviser's note: The "pesticide incident reporting and tracking review panel" was eliminated pursuant to 2010 1st sp.s. c 7 § 132.
Effective date -- 1989 c 380 §§ 69, 71-73: "Sections 69 and 71 through 73 of this act shall take effect on January 1, 1990." [1989 c 380 § 90.]
Severability -- 1989 c 380: See RCW 15.58.942.