EPA’s Application Exclusion Zone (AEZ) Rule Finalized – Includes Areas Off of Agricultural Establishments

Last week the EPA announced that they have finalized the Application Exclusion Zone (AEZ) rule. The AEZ was first introduced in 2015 as part of the Worker Protection Standards (WPS) revisions. The intent of the AEZ was to provide protection to anyone, whether they are pesticide workers or bystanders, who are close to a pesticide application. The AEZ is a circular area around the sprayer that moves with the sprayer. If someone enters the AEZ, then the pesticide applicator is required to stop the application.

After the AEZ was first proposed, EPA heard from NAAA and numerous other agricultural groups about concerns with the AEZ. First and foremost was the fact it’s a burdensome and duplicative rule. Pesticide labels already prohibit drift onto people – adding another rule with more restrictions covering something that’s already illegal really offers no stronger protection. Another major concern was that the AEZ extended to areas outside of an agricultural establishment. This could have the effective of preventing applications to be made along field borders adjacent to public property or land owned by someone else if the person(s) occupying those areas refused to move.

After listening to the concerns of the ag community, the EPA revised the rule in 2020. The revision limited the AEZ to only include areas within an agricultural establishment. This meant that if someone on a public road or other property refused to move, the application could continue once the applicator evaluated the situation and determined it was safe to resume, with the assumption that the label requirements to not drift on any person(s) would protect the bystander. However, a lawsuit resulted in EPA suspending and then abandoning the 2020 revisions. The final 2024 rule reverts to the AEZ as originally established in 2015.

The final 2024 rule includes the following provisions:

• When any person(s) enters the AEZ, the pesticide applicator must immediately suspend the application.
• The AEZ extends beyond the boundaries of the agricultural establishment – it doesn’t matter whose property the person(s) is on, the application must be suspended
• The AEZ also includes all easements on the establishment (for example, easements for utility workers to access telephone lines).
• The AEZ distance for aerial applications is 100 feet regardless of droplet size or wind direction.
• Farm owners and immediate family members are exempt provided they are within an enclosed building during the application
• The application cannot be resumed until the person(s) has left the AEZ.