At the end of 2020, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) revised the Application Exclusion Zone (AEZ) from the original requirements laid out in the 2015 Worker Protection Standard (WPS). NAAA and other agricultural groups had supported the 2020 revisions as an improvement over the original AEZ. Before the 2020 revisions could take effect, though, the EPA was sued in two separate cases over the changes to the AEZ laid out in the revision. A preliminary injunction from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York stayed the effective date of the 2020 rules, meaning the 2015 AEZ rules are still in effect.
The 2015 AEZ rules, which are currently the law of the land, define the AEZ as an area surrounding the application equipment that must be free of all persons. For aerial applications, the distance is 100 feet. The applicator must suspend the application if any person enters the AEZ, even if the person is not on the property being treated. This suspension must occur for both workers and other persons within the AEZ. The only exception is for properly trained and equipped pesticide handlers. Property owners and their families are required to leave homes or buildings if they are within the AEZ. The 2015 AEZ rules do not clarify that the application suspension is meant to be temporary—it simply states the application must be suspended when someone enters the AEZ. For more information on the AEZ rules, visit here.
The preliminary injunction on the 2020 rules, which are still not being implemented, was to remain in effect until August 2022. However, according to a recent EPA publication in the Federal Register, the EPA will be starting a new rulemaking effort to address the AEZ. This rulemaking process may modify the original 2015 AEZ, the 2020 revisions or both. The EPA expects to issue a proposal for its new AEZ rules sometime in 2022. NAAA will closely monitor this rulemaking process to ensure the EPA does not return to the original 2015 AEZ requirements, which did not recognize the impact that wind has on drift or that applicators cannot control people who are not on the property being treated.
 from the original requirements laid
out in the 2015 Worker Protection Standard (WPS). Before the 2020 revisions could take effect, the EPA was sued in two separate cases over the changes to the
AEZ laid out in the revision. A preliminary injunction from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York stayed the
effective date of the 2020 rules, meaning the 2015 AEZ rules are still
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