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COVID-19: NJDEP Updates Pesticide Certification Exam Launch Date
NJ PPE Access Program For NJ Businesses
On the New Jersey COVID-19 Information Hub, there is news that NJ Businesses can receive discounts to purchase PPE from approved retailers. There is a 10% discount on PPE products for all businesses, and qualified small businesses may receive an additional 25% discount. If you are planning your PPE purchases for the winter or next season, this may be an opportunity to save some money in the process. The site links to participating vendors, has tools to determine if you qualify for additional discounts and estimating your PPE needs, as well as letting you sign up for notifications of future discount programs.
If you have questions about the program, you can ask them at SmallBusinessPPE@njeda.com.
Governor Murphy’s Executive Order No. 192
Governor Murphy issued Executive Order (EO) No. 192 on October 28 which goes into effect November 5, 2020. Note: This does not only apply to agriculture, but all employers and employees. This EO reenforces what has been in several EO over the year. The main points follow:
- Requires that individuals at a worksite maintain at least six feet of distance from one another to the maximum extent possible. If the distance can not be maintained employees must wear masks provided by the employer and install physical barriers between each workstation wherever possible.
- Requires employees, customers, visitors, and other individuals entering the worksite to wear cloth or disposable face masks while on the premises. The employer may be required to provide a customer or visitor who declines to wear a mask due to a disability services or goods via a reasonable accommodation unless the accommodation would pose an undue hardship on the employer’s operation. However, the employer or employee can not ask the individual for medical documentation.
- Employers must make available, at their expense, face masks for their employees
- Employers may deny entry to the worksite to any employee who declines to wear a face mask. If an employee states, they cannot wear a face mask for medical reasons the employer can require the employee to produce medical documentation.
- The employer must provide sanitization materials such as alcohol (at least 60%) hand sanitizers and wipes to employees, customers, and visitors at no cost to those individuals.
- Employers may require employees to wear gloves if so, the employer must provide the gloves.
- There must be a routine cleaning and disinfect program for high-touch areas in accordance with NJDOH and CDC guidelines.
- Prior to beginning to work there must be daily health checks of employees. This can be temperature screenings (temperature below 100.4 F), visual symptoms checking, self-assessment checklists and/or health questionnaires consistent with CDC guidance and confidentiality requirements.
- Immediately separate and send home employees who appear to have symptoms and promptly notify all employees of any known exposure, consistent with ADA confidentiality requirements.
- Clean and disinfect the worksite in accordance with CDC guidelines when an employee at the site has been diagnosed with COVID-19.
- The Commissioner of the Department of Labor and Workforce Development (DOLWD) has setup a complaint system process.
- The DOLWD is to provide compliance and safety training for employers and employees plus informational materials.
EPA Announces 2020 Dicamba Registration Decision
Today, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler announced that EPA is approving new five-year registrations for two dicamba products and extending the registration of an additional dicamba product. All three registrations include new control measures to ensure these products can be used effectively while protecting the environment, including non-target plants, animals, and other crops not tolerant to dicamba.
“With today’s decision, farmers now have the certainty they need to make plans for their 2021 growing season,” said EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “After reviewing substantial amounts of new information, conducting scientific assessments based on the best available science, and carefully considering input from stakeholders we have reached a resolution that is good for our farmers and our environment.”
Through today’s action, EPA approved new registrations for two “over-the-top” (OTT) dicamba products—XtendiMax with VaporGrip Technology and Engenia Herbicide—and extended the registration for an additional OTT dicamba product, Tavium Plus VaporGrip Technology. These registrations are only for use on dicamba-tolerant (DT) cotton and soybeans and will expire in 2025, providing certainty to American agriculture for the upcoming growing season and beyond.
To manage off-site movement of dicamba, EPA’s 2020 registration features important control measures, including:
- Requiring an approved pH-buffering agent (also called a Volatility Reduction Agent or VRA) be tank mixed with OTT dicamba products prior to all applications to control volatility.
- Requiring a downwind buffer of 240 feet and 310 feet in areas where listed species are located.
- Prohibiting OTT application of dicamba on soybeans after June 30 and cotton after July 30.
- Simplifying the label and use directions so that growers can more easily determine when and how to properly apply dicamba.
The 2020 registration labels also provide new flexibilities for growers and states. For example, there are opportunities for growers to reduce the downwind spray buffer for soybeans through use of certain approved hooded sprayers as an alternative control method. EPA also recognizes and supports the important authority FIFRA section 24 gives the states for issuing locally appropriate regulations for pesticide use. If a state wishes to expand the federal OTT uses of dicamba to better meet special local needs, the agency will work with them to support their goals.
This action was informed by input from state regulators, grower groups, academic researchers, pesticide manufacturers, and others. EPA reviewed substantial amounts of new information and conducted assessments based on the best available science, including making Effect Determinations under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). With this information and input, EPA has concluded that these registration actions meet Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) registration standards. EPA believes that these new analyses address the concerns expressed in regard to EPA’s 2018 dicamba registrations in the June 2020 U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Further, EPA concluded that with the control measures now required on labels, these actions either do not affect or are not likely to adversely affect endangered or threatened species.
To view the final registration of the dicamba products, visit docket EPA-HQ-OPP-2020-0492 at www.regulations.gov.
Background
The United States is the world’s leading soybean producer and second-leading soybean exporter and also serves as the world’s third-largest cotton producer and the leading cotton exporter. Today, there are limited cost-effective options to control herbicide-resistant weeds affecting these commodities. In 2018, approximately 41 percent of U.S. soybean acreage was planted with dicamba-tolerant (DT) seed and almost 70 percent of U.S. cotton acreage was planted with DT seed in 2019. Relative to alternative herbicide programs, postemergence dicamba may reduce weed control costs for some growers, possibly by as much as $10 per acre, or over five percent of net operating revenue, not accounting for all measures growers will have to take to control off-field movement of dicamba.
Following reports of damage resulting from the off-site movement of dicamba, EPA amended the dicamba registration labels in 2017 and in 2018. In June 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit vacated the registrations for three dicamba products: XtendiMax with VaporGrip Technology, Engenia Herbicide, and DuPont FeXapan Herbicide. As a result of the Court’s decision, EPA issued cancellation orders outlining limited circumstances under which existing stocks of the three affected products could be distributed and used until July 31, 2020.
Pre-register Today by 5pm to Apply for NJ Economic Development Authority Small Business Emergency Grants
The Atlantic County Economic Alliance shared this important news:
~ IMPORTANT! LAST DAY! ~
This is an important reminder from the New Jersey Economic Development Authority that preregistration for phase III of New Jersey’s emergency grants program for eligible small businesses is open until 5 p.m. today, Oct. 27.
Any small business that would like to apply for a grant must preregister. For more information and to preregister, please do so by clicking HERE and follow the instructions and links found on the FAQ page.
By preregistering, many small businesses and restaurants can join the many others that have already teamed up with the EDA to receive vital funding that has allowed them to remain open.
The ACEA Team
609-245-0019
Reminder: October Nursery Twilight this Thursday (2 CORE-CREDITS)
Thursday, October 22nd, 2020
6:00-7:00 pm
Click here to register for the twilight meeting
Registration password: nursery
Click here to upload your government issued Photo ID and Pesticide License prior to the meeting
Please join us for a CORE (2) credit bearing session where Pat Hastings will be discussing regulatory requirements for pesticide applicator certification, recertification, and licensing in New Jersey. Administrative changes to certification, recertification, and license renewal processes in New Jersey; includes interim COVID-19 exemptions. Will walk through use of online systems in place for manuals, examinations, and license renewal; resource guide with links provided. Revisions to New Jersey pesticide regulations NJAC 7:30 (April 2020), including certification by examination and Worker Protection. Special emphasis on key differences for ag employers and trainers between NJ regulations and 2015 federal Revised Worker Protection Standard. Explanation of federal WPS training policy for COVID-19. A handout: Resources for New Jersey Licensed Pesticide Applicators will also be made available.
Note: If you uploaded materials for the September Nursery Twilight you do NOT need to for the October meeting.
Upload directions: If you click on the photo ID upload link using a smart phone/tablet you will have the option of simply taking a photo of your ID and uploading it directly into the system. Otherwise, you can scan a copy of your photo ID into a computer and follow the directions at the upload link. If you are unable to upload documentation prior to the meeting, please contact Tim Waller for assistance (twaller@njaes.rutgers.edu).
October 2020 Nursery Crop Twilight Meeting (CORE)
NJ Pesticide License Recertification credits anticipated: CORE (2)
Online Program
5:30pm Webinar opens and visual attendance check
–Timothy Waller, Rutgers Cooperative Extension Agriculture Agent for Cumberland County
(Recording begins) : Welcome Remarks
6:00pm Pesticide Regulatory Review for Pesticide Applicators, Businesses, and Agricultural Employers
-Patricia Hastings, Extension Pesticide Safety Education Program Coordinator
(Recording ends)
7:00pm Additional questions; Adjourn
In cooperation with the NJNLA, NJLCA, and NJCTGA
Instructions:
- Register for event at the above link
- Include your pesticide license number and date of birth if you would like recertification credits
- After registration you will receive a confirmation email with a link to the actual twilight meeting.
- Upload a copy of your government issued photo ID and pesticide license at the link above
- Day-of: click the link in the registration confirmation email and select “join by browser-New” around 5:30pm
- Day-of: Have your video on if you wish to obtain credits
Required to be eligible to receive pesticide applicator recertification credits for this twilight program:
1. Attend the entire meeting with live VIDEO feed on, seated in the center of the frame. Those without a webcam or phone attendees without a live video feed are not eligible to receive credits. Call-ins (audio only) are not eligible for pesticide recertification credits as of now; you need a computer/phone/tablet with *live* video capability. If you choose to access via your smartphone, it is recommended that it is fully charged or plugged in; and that any background applications are not running.
2. Attendees must participate throughout the entire session, staying to the end. Individuals are not eligible for credits if they arrive after the start of the first training topic or leave before the end of the last topic. Polls will be randomly scheduled, and attendance will be visually monitored to verify attendance.
3. In order to meet NJDEP-required identity verification requirements, each attendee must provide a copy of a Government issued photo ID (passport, driver’s license, municipal, or county ID) and their New Jersey Pesticide Applicator License as part of their registration.
Please upload files of your photo ID and applicator license to the link above as;
a) “Last name_ First_ Photo ID”
b) “Last name_ First_ Pesticide License”
Note: Licensed applicators with a recertification period expiring October 31, 2020 or October 31, 2021 will be given an exemption from the NJDEP online credit cap of 25% and are eligible for all credits, otherwise this exemption does not apply.
Rutgers is dedicated to protecting your privacy and keeping your personal information safe. Upon upload, your files will be encrypted and stored to Rutgers Connect. Your information will be kept strictly confidential; used solely to meet NJDEP ID verification protocol for recertification credit; and will not be used for any other purpose. Your files will be deleted within 60 days after the training event.