a. PESP Grant EPA had published an RFP to administer a five year Pesticides and Environmental Stewardship Program (PESP) grant. Because of the time-frame involved (less than 5 days), the need to amend the Constitution and By-Laws, and the general concern over how to administer an outside grant the Board recommended against applying for the grant.

b. Committee Structure New committees and memberships were announced. The Board recessed to allow the new committees to meet and refine the charge given by the President (see Minutes from the Board of Directors Meeting 10 March 1998).

c. Report from the President The annual Report from the President was summarized giving the five major goals:

a. USDA PAT Budget. John Impson briefly mentioned last year’s budget and where USDA is in the FY99 budget. USDA administration has included $1.5 million in the CSREES budget for PAT. The President’s budget proposal will be marked up in May or early June. Dr. Impson warned that PAT could be removed from the budget again.

b. FQPA. PAT could help USDA and EPA communicate the impact of FQPA to pesticide users.

c. Civil Rights Initiative. Several of the civil rights initiatives developed by CSREES involve PAT or related programs. Recommendations include working with health care providers to recognize pesticide-related injuries, support for the record keeping program, and support for ExToxNet. The total amount of funding being recommended to support these programs/initiatives is $5.5 million.

A question was asked regarding how PAT would be marketed to the health care community. Dr. Impson stated that PAT coordinators could actually conduct train the trainer programs for health care professionals. Dr. Impson then introduced Kevin Keaney, Acting Branch Chief for EPA’s Certification and Worker Protection Branch, who stated that EPA and USDA’s Agriculture Marketing Service are supporting outreach programs for the health care community. EPA is sponsoring a meeting on April 23-24, 1998 for health care providers to raise the consciousness of the unique position health care providers have in agriculture. CSREES is expected to be an active player in developing a national strategy for the whole nexus of agriculture and health care providers.

Dr. Impson said there would not be any mandated programs as a result of Civil Rights Initiative funding. He is interested in providing seed money to get a program started that would address the concerns identified in the recommendations.

d. EPA support for PAT. Kevin Keaney is concerned about a proposal by USDA to impose an 8-10 percent overhead on pass-through funds. EPA may consider an alternative means of distributing the funds.

John stated that he would send the coordinators an email or a copy of the letter of credit (LOC) being sent to each of their institutions. Apparently some coordinators are not notified when the LOC is received and don’t know how much money they have for PAT.

e. Consumer Education. Joanne Kick-Raack (OH) asked how much of the USDA funding can be used for consumer education versus traditional FIFRA type audiences. John Impson replied that what is important is that educational program mitigate the problem. Coordinators need to maximize partnerships and they can do that with funding. There was further discussion about how to do consumer education with limited resources. Mary Grodner (LA) asked if anyone had approached the National Association of State University Land Grant Colleges for support. No one was aware of any contact with NASULGC.

The question was asked if USDA funding could be used for urban education. Dr. Impson said that all the money did not have to go for agriculture.

f. Special Projects. There are several special projects currently being funded by PAT including a spray drift video by Bob Wolf (IL), hands-on workshop using software developed by the Spray Drift Task Force (Mike Weaver, VA) and revisions to the aerial applicator and aquatic pest control manuals. There is still about $300,000 available for project funding. However, this includes $160,000 from IPM which has been melded into the formula funds sent to the states. Dr. Impson asked for thoughts on how these funds should be used.

Amy Brown (MD) stated that one of the high priority recommendations made by the CTAG Infrastructure and Delivery Working Group, and the Education and Internet Committee was to put money in developing a national PAT web site. This could help the PAT programs in every state. She suggested that the recommendations from the CTAG working groups be used to guide which projects to fund. Dr. Impson stated that he is waiting for a proposal from Paul Guillebeau (GA) to develop a web site. When asked if anyone could submit a proposal to develop a national PAT web site, Dr. Impson said he would consider all proposals.

g. Government Performance and Results Act. The PAT GPRA is about 99.9% done. All suggestions given by the committee have been considered and incorporated where needed. The GPRA will include a survey form to make reports more meaningful and amenable to collating across the states. GPRA will be on the agenda for discussion at the NC and western regional meetings in May. Conference calls with other regions will be set up to get their input. Coordinators will not have to do anything for the next few months except estimate the numbers to be included in their annual plans of work. The template should be out within six weeks.

There is a lot of concern within CSREES related to how to address GPRA. A draft of the PAT GPRA template was developed by a group of regional representatives in Columbus Ohio. Special thanks go the meeting participants (Paul Baker, Pat O’Conner-Marer, Phil Nixon, Larry Tidemann, Joanne Kick-Raack, Roger Flashinski, Natalia Clifton, George Hamilton, Suzanne Deatherage, Norm Nesheim) and to Dr. Lee Frost-Kumpf, the facilitator. Paul Baker (AZ) suggested that states in the western region use the template to develop their state reports for their Reno meeting in May. This will help identify problems in filling it out.

h. Other Issues. John asked Kevin Keaney to introduce three of his staff. Kevin introduced Jeanne Heying, working on the CTAG report, Don Eckerman, working on the Worker Protection Standard, and Dr. Ana Marie Osorio, working with health care providers. He also mentioned that there are concerns regarding WPS and how it should be approached. EPA is going to have to rethink the training tools.

a. Nominations and Election Committee (Pat O’Conner-Marer, CA). An ad hoc Nominations and Election Committee was appointed this year to elect a new Secretary. The Committee included one member from each region (Candace Bartholomew, Tom Dean and Joanne Kick-Raack). The election was conducted by mail ballot, one vote per state. Howard Deer (UT) and Gene Burgess (TN) were nominated by the Committee. Gene Burgess was elected.

Barry Brennan pointed out that the standing Nominations and Election Committee is composed of four individuals, one from each region. He asked each region to identify a member to serve. Members need to be officially appointed at least six months prior to the next election. Barry also pointed out that identifying a member to serve on the committee is a responsibility of the regional representatives.

b. Membership and Public Relations (Rhonda Ferree, IL) The Association has 78 members for 1997-98 with members in all but six states. There are 65 full members. The committee has turned the membership list over to the Treasurer, Carol Ramsay. The membership committee needs to have at least one member from each region. The goals of the committee are to increase membership and to promote AAPSE by getting AAPSE’s name into various publications.

c. Strategic Planning Committee This is an ad hoc committee whose goal is to develop a strategic plan for AAPSE. A tentative list of members include: Ed Vitzthum (NE) as chair, Mary Grodner, Melanie Zavala (CA), Natalia Clifton, Bob Bellinger (SC), Julie Haigler (NC-SLA), Sherman Takatori (ID), Steve Bennet (DoD), Jeanne Heying (SPA HQ), Charles Rock (Novartis), Elin Miller (Dow AgroSciences), Tom Delaney (Professional Lawn Care Association of America). Barry Brennan will meet with Ed Vitzthum to develop the committee’s charge.

d. Committee on Committees (Pat Hipkins). This committee will be responsible for keeping a current list of active committees and chairs. The committee is still working on their mission statement. Barry Brennan provided a suggested list of committee functions based on those developed by the Pacific Branch of the Entomological Society of America. The Committee on Committees will maintain a committee handbook for future reference.

e. Pesticide Education / Internet Committee (Mike Weaver and Paul Guillebeau, co-Chairs). Committee members include Carol Ramsay (WA) and Larry Schulze (NE). The focus of the committee will be provide advice on developing a web site (or sites) that will facilitate the sharing of training and educational materials between state PAT programs. This recommendation had been identified by both the CTAG Content Working Group and the Infrastructure and Delivery Working Group.

Although Paul Guillebeau was unable to attend the Spring meeting, the committee discussed a proposal to develop a series of web pages linked to the AAPSE home page. This proposal appeared to be similar to one made by Paul Guillebeau and Beth Kane at the Southern Regional meeting in October. However, the committee’s proposal differs from the Guillebeau/Kane proposal in that it appears to include additional information (see below). Many members stated that they were unsure how to respond to a request from Beth Kane to provide information about state training materials.

John Impson responded that he had not received a proposal from Paul Guillebeau but was familiar with it from the presentation he had made at the regional meeting. The proposal from Paul will now be reviewed as any other competitive grant proposal. Kevin Keaney suggested that the Guillebeau/Kane proposal, which he has not seen, might be melded into one being proposed by the Pesticide Education/ Internet Committee.

The committee suggested that the web site include the following topics:

What’s new?

Certified applicator training resources (initial and recertification)

General pesticide education resources

Training opportunities for applicators

Training opportunities for educators

What’s planned?

Each state program would be responsible for maintaining their own site or making their materials available via another program or state/s web site. There would be a link on the AAPSE home page to the states with PAT web sites. Carol Ramsay suggested that a few dollars might be given to each state to get information on the network. Sorrell Brown (IA) mentioned that there are different groups at each university that are good at putting information on the Internet, but that the effort should remain under AAPSE’s control. Barry Brennan stated that he felt AAPSE’s role should be advisory. Mike Weaver mentioned that the AAPSE home page already has links to some state PAT programs.

f. Constitution and By-Laws Committee (Carol Ramsay) An attorney hired to review the Association’s Constitution and By-Laws recommended that they be amended to permit the Association to incorporate. This involves changing the Constitution to an Articles of Incorporation. Other recommendations included clarifying the length of offices for the secretary and treasurer so that it is clear that the secretary will serve no more than two consecutive terms. Dues notices would be sent in October instead of January, and the Nominations and Election Committee would include two candidates for each office to be elected.

A discussion then ensued regarding specific wording. Someone suggested "The Nominations and Election Committee will endeavor to include at least two candidates". It was suggested that this could be a big burden on the Nominations and Election Committee. Some felt that there should not be a specific number. Carol Ramsay agreed to work on the wording.

In response to an inquiry, there were no additional recommendations for changes to the Constitution.

g. Audit Committee (Paul Baker, AZ and Jeff Jenkins, OR). The auditing committee reported that they had examined the financial records for accuracy and completeness and found them to order.

h. 98 Spring Meeting Program Committee (Suzanne Deatherage, TX) The Spring Meeting focuses on professional training. Three sessions are planned: curriculum development, marketing, and hands-on training with the Spray Drift Task Force software.

i. Resolutions, Recognition and Awards Committee (Candace Bartholomew, CT) The committee will draw up guidelines and submit them to the Committee on Committees.

j. Issues and Evaluation Committee (Norm Nesheim). The committee will address issues assigned by the President or that come from the members. Currently the committee is looking at the relationship between FQPA and PAT, specifically "What is the role of the PAT program in implementation of FQPA?"

The committee is also looking at a January 9 FR proposed rule on National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES), proposed regulations for revision of the water pollution control programs addressing storm water discharge. Tom Delaney of the Professional Lawn Care Association of America brought this to AAPSE’s attention. The public role dealing with limited use of garden chemicals is of concern. Another point of concern is that the public might choose to participate as actively involved partners in program planning, development, and implementation, aid in the development and distribution of educational materials, and provide public training activities. PAT coordinators play a significant role in publication of educational materials, including master gardeners and others. The committee will review PLCAA’s concerns and develop comments.

Barry Brennan noted that he would like to make a change to the By-Laws stating that the President-Elect will serve as chair of the Issues and Evaluation Committee.

k. Turf and Ornamental Technician Committee (Paul Baker) The committee was able to recruit several members (Amy Brown, Mike Weaver, Cary Foss (WA), Fred Whitford, Joanne Kick-Raack) to write a column for Turf and Ornamental Service Technician, a trade magazine. Paul Schrimpf, had met with AAPSE at the Columbus meeting and asked members to submit a regular column and to recognize T&O Service Tech as a recommended source of educational material. The committee views this opportunity as a means of developing name recognition for AAPSE. T&O is published five times per year.

Larry Schulze asked if any effort was being made to submit articles to other magazines? Barry Brennan responded that AAPSE had only been asked to do so by T&O Service Technician. When we write articles we should consider mentioning that we are members of AAPSE.