Aquatic buffer zones associated with the use of pesticides via hand-held equipment

Regulatory Update: 12/2016
Issued: 26th July 2016

Purpose

This Regulatory Update is to announce a change to the arrangements that apply to aquatic buffer zones associated with the application of pesticides via hand-held equipment. The change will allow products to be applied where the buffer zone for conventional crop sprayers exceeds 5m.

Aquatic buffer zones for hand-held equipment

The application of pesticide products via hand-held sprayers is permitted to within 1m of the top of the bank of a water body providing the aquatic buffer zone for conventional crop sprayers is 5m or less. Such use is currently prohibited where the buffer zone exceeds 5m.

To remove this restriction, the current arrangements that apply to aquatic buffer zones associated with the use of pesticides via hand-held equipment are being amended to allow use in line with largest buffer zone for horizontal boom sprayers (without drift reduction technology (DRT)) on the label.

The current arrangements, which state:

'Where the buffer zone of a pesticide product is 5m or less, then spray from hand-held sprayers must not be allowed to fall within 1m of the top of the bank of a static or flowing water body.'

are therefore being replaced by the following:

Where the product has a buffer zone of 5m or less (for horizontal boom sprayers without DRT) – a buffer zone of 1m from the top of the bank of a static or flowing water body will apply for hand-held spray application
Where the product has a buffer zone of ›5m (for horizontal boom sprayers without DRT) – the same buffer zone from the top of the bank of a static or flowing water body will apply for hand-held spray application

These arrangements will apply for all crops/uses where the product is applied via a horizontal boom sprayer without DRT and has an aquatic buffer zone.

When does this apply?

HSE will apply these new arrangements for aquatic buffer zones for application of pesticide products via hand-held equipment from 1st September 2016.