
          Texas Leads in Pesticide Right-to-Know
          By Davenport, ElaineElaine Davenport
          Vol. 10, No. 2, 1988, p. 7
          
          One of Texas Agricultural Commissioner Jim Hightower's pet projects
has come to fruition, and he is calling it "the beginning of a new
age of enlightenment in the agricultural workplace."
          On January 1, Texas became the first state to require farm
operators to provide workers with specific information about chemicals
they may be exposed to in agricultural jobs. Known as the Farm worker
Right-to-Know Law, it applies to employers with a gross annual payroll
of $50,000 or more for permanent workers or $15,000 or more for
seasonal workers.
          "That would apply to almost all vegetable and citrus growers, or
they shouldn't be in business," says program coordinator Beltran
Chavez. In fact, the law is not meant to apply to small operators.
          Chavez estimates at least 10,000 employers are covered by the new
law and must maintain a list--by crop--of every chemical used or
stored on the farm in excess of fifty-five gallons or five hundred
pounds. The employer must keep the records for thirty years, or send
them to the Texas Department of Agriculture for storage and
retrieval.
          The Texas Department of Agriculture and the Texas A&M Extension
Service are jointly responsible for training agricultural employees
about the proper use of agricultural pesticides. This mandate differs
from similar laws for other industries, which put the training burden
on the employer.
          The TDA and Extension Service are developing bilingual crop
information sheets about the chemicals most widely used, their health
effects, emergency procedures, employers' responsibilities and
workers' rights. These sheets will be provided to employers for
distribution to farm workers. Video training materials are also
available.
          The TDA has hired three staff persons for the project and five
Right-to-Know specialists to work in the field. Despite recent hard
economic times in Texas, the legislature authorized about $400,000 per
year for the new program.
          "Agriculture is the last major recognized industry to come on
board with right-to-know," says Chavez, who previously
administered farm worker health programs at migrant clinics in both
Texas and California. "That's probably because of the strength of
the agricultural and chemical lobbies."
          Surprisingly perhaps, there have been few harsh responses from
employers. "We have had forty or fifty requests from producers for
information," says Chavez. "They seem to have realized that
some law was eventually going to affect them, so there was some
measure of acceptance."
          Chavez says that he expects other states to have right-to-know laws
for agriculture soon, probably not through legislation as in Texas but
through regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency and other
U.S. government agencies which will be extended to cover
agriculture.
          Commissioner Hightower has made the Right-to-Know program a
priority because he thinks agriculture should stop and take a look at
chemicals. "They are a habit and an expense," says
Hightower. "We should see if chemicals are warranted in terms of
the long-run ecological effect."
          
            Freelance reporter Elaine Davenport divides her time
between Austin, Texas, and London, England.
          
        
