The National Pest Management Association's PestWorld convention is being held in Phoenix on October 22-25. Attending PestWorld is an outstanding opportunity to network with pest management professionals from all over the world. The relationships formed at this event may well become lifelong friendships both personally and professionally. This year, PestWorld will have a special Kentucky connection as one of our own, Kevin Pass, presides over PestWorld as NPMA President. Our best wishes to Kevin during PestWorld 2013!

At this time there is not much happening with any regulation changes. However, there does seem to be confusion within the Pest Management industry regarding the IPM in Schools regulation. The KPMA Board is intending to work with KDA to discuss possible revisions to this regulation.

If anyone has any interesting news regarding their company for submission in the KPMA newsletter, please forward the information to me at donnieblake@opcpest.com and I will forward the information to NPMA for inclusion in the next newsletter.

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In order to be in compliance with the revised OSHA Hazard Communication Standard, each person dealing with chemicals in your company must be verifiably trained by December 1, 2013. Attend this webinar to learn what you need to know to ensure your team's compliance.

In a recent cover story, Time magazine labeled the decline of bee health "the second Silent Spring." Consequently, with each passing week governments throughout the world are taking action to limit or restrict pesticide use to better protect pollinators.

A good example is the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's recent label revisions to some neonicotinoid pesticide products that prohibit applications where bees are present. The changes apply to all products that have outdoor foliar use directions (except granulars) containing the active ingredients imidacloprid, dinotefuran, clothianidin or thiamethoxam regardless of formulation, concentration, or intended user.

The new language that will appear in the Directions for Use section on non-agricultural product labels states "Do not apply [insert name of product] while bees are foraging. Do not apply [insert name of product] to plants that are flowering. Only apply after all flower petals have fallen off." The new language will be accompanied by a bee icon to underscore the significance of the language.

A Pollinator Advisory Box will also appear on product labels. Click here to read additional information. Registrants must submit the label changes to EPA by September 30 and the new labels will appear on products in early 2014. This label revision is likely the first in a series of label changes aimed at protecting bees.

NPMA staff is deeply engaged in the bee health issue and is taking a number of steps to raise awareness of the issue within the industry while also working with federal and state regulatory officials to educate them about the importance of retaining key PMP use patterns. Specific actions include:  

• Meeting with senior EPA officials this month to provide them with information on important PMP uses and suggestions for label language that is both protective of bees, while allowing critical PMP uses to continue,
• Sending a stewardship email out to all NPMA members, 
• Scheduling a webinar/conference call with the NPMA government affairs and technical committees and PPMA scientific advisory group for early September to further discuss the issue, and 
• Working with the Association of State Pest Control Regulatory Officials to provide EPA employees with an educational workshop about PMP uses and pollinator health in October.