5.6 Pre-Application Site Assessment & Sensitive Area Management
Key Takeaways
A pre-application site assessment identifies what is downwind, downslope and downstream before the tank is filled - it is the single highest-value drift prevention step and costs nothing.
Arkansas's buffer distances are class-specific and stack: 300 feet for Class D when the wind cannot be managed, one quarter mile for Class F from susceptible crops, one to four miles for Class F in the general-buffer provisions, and one quarter to one mile for Class H depending on what is protected.
Sensitive crop and apiary registries such as FieldWatch let applicators locate specialty crops and beehives before spraying; Arkansas's Class F and Class H rules already require the applicator to know what susceptible crops lie within one mile.
Class E and Class F records must state the distance from and direction to any susceptible crop within a one-mile radius, which makes the site assessment a recordkeeping requirement rather than an optional courtesy.
Waivers from susceptible-crop producers are the only lawful way to apply inside a Class F general buffer zone, must be on the Department's form, must be copied to the applicator, and must be retained for two years.
5.6 Pre-Application Site Assessment & Sensitive Area Management
Core Concept: Nearly every Arkansas drift case could have been prevented by ten minutes of work before the tank was filled. The site assessment is that ten minutes: identify every sensitive receptor around the field, determine which way the wind will carry the spray and which way water will carry the residue, and choose the product, nozzle, buffer, and timing accordingly. In Arkansas it is not optional - the Class E and Class F record rules require you to know what susceptible crops sit within a mile.
The Three Directions
Work the field in three directions before you spray.
| Direction | What you are looking for |
|---|---|
| Downwind | Non-tolerant crops, certified organic fields, commercial specialty crops, vineyards, orchards, gardens, greenhouses, apiaries, homes, schools, livestock, and research stations |
| Downslope | Ditches, field drains, tailwater recovery ponds, bayous, sloughs, streams, ponds, and any low corner where runoff concentrates |
| Downstream and below | Wells, springs, sinkholes, karst features, shallow water tables, and municipal water intakes |
Record what you find. In Arkansas, for Class E and Class F applications the record must include the distance from and direction to any susceptible crops within a one-mile radius of the treated crop - which means the assessment produces a mandatory record entry, not just situational awareness.
Arkansas Buffer Distances Are Class-Specific
This is the table students most often get wrong, because they memorize one number and apply it everywhere.
| Rule | Buffer | What is protected |
|---|---|---|
| Class D (2 CAR Sec. 70-109(b)) | 300 feet minimum | Desirable vegetation, waterways, or where human health or the environment could be adversely impacted - required only when those receptors cannot be kept out of the downwind path |
| Class F baseline (Sec. 70-111(d)) | 1/4 mile | Susceptible crops, at any time |
| Class F general provisions (Sec. 70-111(e)(3)) | 4 miles aerial / 1 mile ground | Susceptible crops (cotton, when applying 2,4-D) outside the ten-county window area |
| Class F hardship permit (Sec. 70-111(e)(2)(D)(iv)) | Applications within 4 miles of susceptible crops require wind blowing at least 2 mph away from them | Susceptible crops |
| Class H (Sec. 70-113(c)(2)) | 1 mile research stations; 1/2 mile certified organic and commercial specialty crops; 1/4 mile non-dicamba-tolerant crops | Named receptors, April 16 - June 30 |
| Class I quinclorac (Sec. 70-114) | 1/2 mile to 4 miles depending on equipment, tank mix, wind direction and receptor | Incorporated towns and commercial solanaceae plantings |
Remember the stacking rule: each class carries the restrictions of the classes before it, so a Class F product also carries the Class D wind-direction and 300-foot provisions.
Registries and Neighbour Communication
- FieldWatch registries (DriftWatch for specialty crops, BeeCheck for apiaries, CropCheck for row crops in participating states) are voluntary online maps where growers and beekeepers register sensitive sites so applicators can see them. Checking a registry before the job is a professional standard and strong evidence of due care if a complaint follows.
- Bulletins Live! Two is the EPA system delivering enforceable endangered species Pesticide Use Limitation Area bulletins. Where a label references it, the bulletin is part of the labelling and must be obtained no more than six months before the application.
- Direct communication with adjoining landowners is the cheapest insurance available. A neighbour who knows you are spraying, what you are spraying, and when, is far less likely to file a complaint - and far more likely to tell you before you spray that the field you thought was cotton was planted to tomatoes.
- Arkansas's Class H rule protects certified organic and commercially grown specialty crops, defining a specialty crop as a minimum of 1,000 plants or average annual crop sales over the previous three years exceeding $25,000. You need to know which neighbouring plantings clear that bar.
The Class F Waiver
Arkansas provides exactly one lawful route to spray inside a Class F general buffer zone, and its mechanics are testable:
- The owner or supervisor of the field to be treated obtains a waiver from the producers of all susceptible crops within the buffer zone - not some, all.
- The waiver is developed by the Department and provided to those producers by the field's owner or supervisor.
- A copy of the waiver must be provided to the applicator who sprays the field.
- The applicator retains the record for two years.
- Even with a waiver, at the time of application the wind must be blowing away from susceptible crops.
There is no equivalent waiver mechanism for Class H buffers.
Turning the Assessment Into Decisions
| Finding | Decision |
|---|---|
| Non-tolerant soybeans 200 yards downwind of a planned in-crop dicamba application | Stop. 200 yards is inside the quarter-mile Class H buffer. Choose a different chemistry or wait for a wind shift |
| Registered apiary a half mile away, product toxic to bees | Apply in the evening after foraging ends, avoid blooming weeds in the field margin, and notify the beekeeper |
| Field drains directly to a bayou 40 feet from the last pass | Leave an untreated setback, use a coarser droplet, avoid application before forecast rain, and consider a vegetative filter strip |
| Sinkhole in an Ozark pasture | Treat it as a direct conduit to groundwater; do not mix, load, rinse, or apply near it |
| Certified organic vegetable operation with 3,000 plants a third of a mile downwind | Inside the half-mile Class H specialty and organic buffer. Do not apply |
Warning
Exam Trap: A Buffer Is Measured to the Receptor, Not to the Property Line Arkansas buffer language reads "in all directions from" the protected crop or facility. The measurement runs to the protected crop itself, and it applies in all directions - not only downwind. An applicator who leaves a quarter mile downwind but sprays to within 100 yards on the crosswind side of a non-dicamba-tolerant field has still violated the Class H buffer.
An applicator is planning an in-crop dicamba application on June 10. Site assessment finds a certified organic vegetable operation with about 3,000 plants located one-third of a mile away, a University of Arkansas research station three miles away, and a conventional soybean field one-half mile away. What is the correct decision?
Proceed, because all three receptors are farther than the one-quarter mile buffer that applies to dicamba.
Proceed after obtaining a waiver from the organic producer on the Department's waiver form.
Proceed only if the wind is blowing away from the organic operation, since buffers apply only in the downwind direction.
Do not apply, because certified organic crops require a one-half mile buffer and the organic operation is only one-third of a mile away.
A producer wants to apply a Class F 2,4-D product inside the general buffer zone that protects a neighbouring cotton field. What does Arkansas require?
The producer may simply notify the cotton grower by telephone before spraying.
The buffer may never be entered under any circumstances.
The owner or supervisor of the treated field must obtain waivers from the producers of all susceptible crops in the buffer zone on the Department's form, provide a copy to the applicator who retains it for two years, and the wind must still be blowing away from susceptible crops at the time of application.
The producer may enter the buffer if he first obtains the $100 hardship permit, which supersedes all buffer requirements statewide.
Which statement about Bulletins Live! Two is correct?
It is an EPA advisory service; following the bulletins is recommended but never legally enforceable.
It applies only to aerial applicators and only within federally designated wilderness areas.
It is Arkansas's state sensitive crop registry and replaces the Class F waiver process.
Where a label references it, the applicable bulletin is part of the labelling and must be obtained no more than six months before the application.
Sections you finish are checked off in the contents.