NEVADA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE SECTION
PROGRAM OVERVIEW 

     Chapter 561, section 245 of the NRS gives the Department authority to 'cooperate with and execute agreements with the  federal government or any governmental department..".  The Nevada Department of Agriculture (NDOA) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) entered into an agreement in 1975 to maintain a comprehensive pesticide enforcement, surveillance, sampling, and pesticide laboratory analysis program and to certify individuals who use or supervise the use of restricted use pesticides. 

     The program has been operated continuously since its inception in 1975 to ensure that pesticides perform their prescribed functions without causing unintended deleterious effects on man or the environment.        

      Pesticides have uses other then just for insect and weed control in agricultural and urban sites.  Pesticides are commonly used for a number of different purposes including, but not limited to, sanitation, wood preserving, disease management, rodent control, bird control, and disinfection.  

 Related to this, the Department wide, strategic planning process was completed recently that directs the activities of the Environmental  Compliance Section.  The Department wide mission of protecting the agricultural industry and benefitting all citizens is met by assuring that pesticides are used safely and that they remain available as a valuable tool in an integrated approach to pest management.      

The Nevada Department of Agriculture is responsible for administering and enforcing relevant statutes of Nevada law dealing with the sale, storage, distribution and use of pesticides.  Pesticide related inspections and complaint investigations are an ongoing activity.  These include use inspections of government, private, and commercial application of pesticides and inspections of establishments where pesticides are marketed and produced.  Pesticide use records kept and maintained by applicators and restricted use dealerships are inspected on a regular basis. The Department of Agriculture has entered into a cooperative agreement with the USDA-AMS Pesticide Records Branch to monitor record keeping practices of private applicators who use or supervise the use of restricted use pesticides.

   EPA enforcement program components can be broken down further into various programmatic area.  The core program assures, through the inspection process, that pesticides are used, produced, and distributed safely.  Other important program activities included as part of the annual work program are designed to reduce the human health and environmental risks associated with the use of pesticides. 
 

 

The  worker protection program assures that agricultural and nursery workers are trained and are aware of the hazards associated with the use of pesticides in nurseries and on farms. In the groundwater protection program, the framework has been established to develop a pesticide monitoring network designed to prevent groundwater resources from becoming contaminated by pesticides.  

 
In a few instances, pesticides may jeopardize endangered species, so there is a need to regulate the use of some pesticides near endangered species habitat. 

The annual program of work also includes educational and outreach projects designed to protect urban residents from illegal use and distribution of non-registered pesticide products.


 

The certification program is designed to assurethat only competent individuals are certified to use or supervise the use of hazardous pesticide products in the State of Nevada.  In cooperation with the Nevada Cooperative Extension, training programs are held in various locations throughout the state for persons who apply pesticides.  At the conclusion of the training, these applicators must pass a competency examination.  If successful, credentials are issued to the individual which certify that competency requirements are met.  Applicators must renew the certificates every four years.