Canadian Regulatory Goals and Proposed Approach to Buffer Zones

The approach outlined in this document is a concept that is being considered by the Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA), Health Canada, and will involve consultation with all stakeholders, which may result in modification of this approach. The toxicity of a pesticide to non-target organisms is an inherent property of the pesticide’s active ingredient and is used by the PMRA to establish pesticide-specific buffer zones. As agricultural pesticides are applied across Canada under a wide range of conditions, there is a need to refine the way in which buffer zones are determined to reflect the variability between sensitive habitats, operational configurations (i.e., meteorological conditions and sprayer configurations), and advances in application technology. This document outlines a proposed strategy for a new flexible approach to modify pesticide-specific buffer zones for agricultural applications of pesticides. This approach will allow applicators to modify the labelled pesticide-specific buffer zones by a site-specific multiplier based on the characteristics of the sensitive aquatic habitat, the application equipment and meteorological conditions. In this manner, the observed buffer zone will be pesticide-, site-, and operationally-specific. It is believed that the proposed approach is ‘risk neutral’; that is, it will provide the PMRA and the applicator with considerably more flexibility than is presently allowed without increasing risk to the environment