In September 2024, EPA finalized a rule to restore the pesticide Application Exclusion Zone (AEZ) requirements under the 2015 WPS. The rule will go into effect 60 days after the publication date in the Federal Register. It can be found on www.regulations.gov using Docket ID EPA-HQ-OPP-2022-0133.

EPA plans to revise this guidance over time in response to various stakeholders’ questions and needs. Suggestions for additional guidance topics and improvements can be submitted to opp_occupational_pesticide_safety@epa.gov.

No AEZ is required when the pesticide is applied in a manner other than those covered above (i.e., equal to or less than 12 inches from the soil with medium or larger spray quality).

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Under the AEZ requirements, the AEZ must be a minimum of 100 feet horizontally in all directions when the pesticide is applied:

The AEZ exemption allows farm owners and the farm owners’ immediate family to remain inside enclosed structures or homes in the AEZ during pesticide applications.

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The Application Exclusion Zone (AEZ) is an area with additional requirements to protect workers and bystanders. This area immediately surrounds the pesticide application equipment during an outdoor pesticide application. The AEZ only exists during the application, moves with the equipment during application, and can extend outside of an agricultural establishment (e.g., school grounds, residential neighborhoods). It may have a 25-foot or 100-foot radius, depending on the application type and droplet size used. When the application is over, the AEZ ceases to exist (although post-application restrictions, such as a restricted entry interval, apply to the treated area).

Anyone who is not an immediate family member of the owner who is within an owner’s house or other closed building is not exempt from the AEZ, and therefore, applications would need to be adjusted or suspended if non-family members are also within the AEZ.

The immediate family exemption is a new exemption that will be available for farm owners once the 2024 AEZ rule becomes effective (60-days after publication).

This exemption also permits handlers to proceed with an application when owners or owners’ immediate family members remain inside closed buildings, provided the following conditions are met:

Under a 2024 AEZ rule, EPA refined how it defines spray quality by using the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) Standard 572 (S572).