On June 20, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it is seeking input from stakeholders on ways to make bilingual pesticide labeling accessible to farm workers and to implement a plan to ensure that farm workers have access to bilingual pesticide labeling by December 2025, as required by the Pesticide Registration Improvement Act of 2022 (PRIA 5). 88 Fed. Reg. 39845. PRIA 5 requires EPA to begin to seek stakeholder input on ways to make bilingual pesticide labeling accessible to farm workers by June 30, 2023. Comments are to be submitted in docket EPA-HQ-OPP-2023-0270 and are due on or before August 21, 2023.

PRIA 5, enacted on December 29, 2022, amended the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) requiring Spanish language translation for sections of the end-use pesticide product labels where translation is available in the EPA Spanish Translation Guide for Pesticide Labeling. According to EPA, the Spanish Translation Guide for Pesticide Labeling contains translations of the health and safety portions of pesticide product labels. The Spanish Translation Guide for Pesticide Labeling is available here.  Specifically, it has Spanish translations of the following statements: 

• “Keep out of reach of children”;

• Restricted Use Pesticide Statements;

• Signal Word;

• First Aid;

• Precautionary Statements;

• Personal Protective Equipment;

• Misuse Statement; and

• Storage and Disposal Instructions Statements.

The Spanish Translation Guide for Pesticide Labeling also has examples of pesticide product label language for the agricultural use requirements section that includes restricted entry interval information and precautionary statements.

EPA states that PRIA 5 requires the Spanish language translation for sections of the end-use pesticide product labels, where the translation is available in the EPA Spanish Translation Guide, must appear on the pesticide product container or provide a link to such translation via scannable technology or other electronic methods readily accessible on the product label. These translations are required on a rolling schedule from December 2025 to December 2030 depending on the type of pesticide product and the toxicity category.

EPA is seeking feedback from stakeholders on ways to make bilingual pesticide labeling accessible to farm workers. The feedback will aid in the development of a plan to ensure that farm workers have access to bilingual pesticide labeling. EPA states public input that includes environmental justice perspectives with solutions will be key in helping EPA to develop a strong starting point for addressing historical disadvantages for farm workers.

EPA is interested in suggestions focusing on how to make bilingual pesticide labeling accessible to farm workers but states it is not seeking input or comments about any specific products or other topics outside of that scope. EPA suggests some questions to consider when providing comments on making bilingual pesticide labeling accessible to farm workers:

• What communication approaches, processes, or strategies should EPA consider to ensure bilingual pesticide labels are accessible to farm workers? What specific approaches should EPA avoid or adopt when implementing efforts to best ensure access by farm workers to bilingual pesticide labels?

• What technologies, mobile applications, and Internet access should EPA consider? Would web-based labels be accessible to farm workers? How should EPA overcome Internet connectivity issues that some farm workers may face?

• How can EPA effectively share health and safety information on pesticide labels with farm workers? What should on-the-ground logistics look like? Which entities (e.g., community-based organizations) should EPA work with to provide label information to farm workers?

• As EPA implements actions to meet this requirement, how can EPA effectively increase farm worker access to bilingual pesticide labels (e.g., communication plans, outreach strategies)?