Wisconsin's PAT Program History
In 1960, the Administrator of the USDA Cooperative Extension Service (CES--now the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service [CSREES]) asked all State Extension Directors to designate a staff member to receive information from CES on pesticide use. A couple of years later, the President's scientific advisory committee identified a need to minimize possible risks from pesticides. As a direct result, the CES in 1964 funded one Extension specialist in each state to be the state's "pesticide coordinator." The charge of the Extension pesticide coordinator was to give leadership in coordinating the state's educational effort dealing with pesticides, and ensure that everyone had the latest information.
When Congress amended the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) in 1972, it approved several major revisions to the existing pesticide laws. Some of them required the newly created (1970) Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to:
- Register (i.e., review and evaluate data) each pesticide before it can be distributed or sold in the U.S.
- Classify pesticides that might result in an unreasonable adverse effect on human health and/or the environment as "Restricted-Use Pesticides" (RUPs).
- Require certification of pesticide applicators using products classified as RUPs.
FIFRA directed the CES to manage and conduct the educational efforts related to certification of pesticide applicators. Standards for certification of pesticide applicators were published in the Federal Register on October 9, 1974, and in 1975 the CES Pesticide Applicator Training (PAT) program was officially established.
Today, the PAT programs in the 50 states and 6 territories train over 500,000 pesticide applicators annually.
The amended FIFRA required that each state have an EPA-approved State Plan for Certification of Commercial and Private Pesticide Applicators of Restricted-Use Pesticides. Wisconsin's first State Plan was adopted in 1977. It mirrored the standards for certification for the 12 pest control categories as set forth in the Federal Register (since then, Wisconsin deleted 3 categories and added 10 other categories and subcategories). It also adopted the 5-year recertification requirement. In anticipation of completion of the State Plan and enabling state legislation, the first training sessions in Wisconsin occurred during the winter of 1976-77.
Training sessions at that time were divided into 2 components: Phase I dealt with the general principles of pest control; Phase II dealt with specific areas of pest control. All applicators, private and commercial, attended Phase I training together. Phase II training for private applicators immediately followed Phase I; thus they were able to complete their training the same day. Commercial applicators, on the other hand, were required to return at a later date to complete their Phase II training.
All applicators used the EPA training manual Applying Pesticides Correctly: A Guide for the Commercial Applicator (U.S. Government Printing Office, 1975). The audiovisual slide presentations were prepared by Colorado State University for national use.
1983 was a pivotal year for Wisconsin's pesticide applicator training program. It abandoned the Phase training approach and combined both general and specific principles of pest control into a one-day training session. To accomplish such, the training sessions became category specific. Wisconsin also replaced EPA's training manual with a series of newly developed training materials geared for Wisconsin's conditions; they too were category specific. Wisconsin was one of few states at that time to produce a comprehensive, in-depth manual specifically written for pesticide applicator use. New audiovisual slide presentations also were geared for local conditions and current application practices. It also was in 1983 that Wisconsin implemented user fees for pesticide education.
Although the training materials have undergone several revisions and major metamorphosis since 1983, the concept of category specific training materials continues today.
Wisconsin's first Extension pesticide coordinator, and the one who organized Wisconsin's pesticide applicator training effort, was Dr. Ellsworth H. Fisher, Entomology. After his retirement, Dr. Ronald E. Doersch, Agronomy, accepted the responsibility and tasks of the pesticide coordinator's position until his retirement. The current pesticide coordinator is Dr. Chris M. Boerboom, Agronomy.
Today, Wisconsin's PAT program trains over 5,500 pesticide applicators annually.