Pesticide Education
Share this
The West Virginia Pesticide Safety Education Program works closely with the West Virginia Department of Agriculture to provide education and training that address a range of pesticide safety topics. Our primary mission is to provide objective information to certified and non-certified pesticide applicators, farmworkers and the public to ensure the proper and legal use of pesticides.
Anyone in the state of West Virginia who purchases or uses a restricted-use pesticide on their property must be a private applicator, and anyone who uses, supervises, recommends or sells restricted-use pesticides or general-use pesticides for hire or as part of their employment must be a certified pesticide applicator with the WVDA Pesticide Regulatory Programs Unit. For information about pesticide certification and licensing, visit WVDA Pesticides.
For information about your current pesticide license, approved continuing education meetings or pesticide products registered in the state of West Virginia, visit the WVPlants Homepage.
For additional information regarding the West Virginia PSEP, please contact Ronnie Helmondollar.
Latest Pesticide Education News
Upcoming EPA changes and how they will affect pesticide use in agriculture
The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) governs the registration, distribution, sale and use of pesticides in the U.S. FIFRA gives to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) the authority to regulate pesticide enforcement. However, the EPA must meet obligations under other acts, including the Endangered Species Act (ESA) (Figure 1).
The ESA is overseen by the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). The ESA establishes protections for fish, wildlife and plants that are listed as threatened or endangered and provides for adding and removing species from the list of threatened and endangered species, and preparing and implementing plans for their recovery. The ESA also provides for interagency cooperation and for issuing permits for otherwise prohibited activities, provides for cooperation with states and implements the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna.