7.4 Transporting Pesticides Safely and Legally
Key Takeaways
- ATCP 29.40(1) imposes seven affirmative duties on anyone storing or transporting pesticides, including securing them against access by children, the public, and animals, and keeping them separated from food and feed.
- ATCP 29.40(2) prohibits storing or transporting a pesticide in a manner inconsistent with the label, or in a visibly broken, defective, or improperly sealed container unless that container is enclosed in another container that prevents foreseeable spillage.
- Pesticides must never ride in the passenger compartment of a vehicle, where vapors accumulate and a spill contaminates upholstery that cannot be decontaminated.
- Labels must be protected from foreseeable damage during transport, because a shipment arriving with an illegible label creates both a legal and an emergency-response problem.
- A spill on a public road is still governed by ATCP 29.48: contain, recover, and clean immediately, and notify the DNR at 1-800-943-0003.
One Rule Covers Both Storage and the Road
Wisconsin does not write a separate transport chapter. ATCP 29.40, "Storing and transporting pesticides," governs both, which tells you something about how the state views the two activities: a pesticide in a pickup bed on a county highway is under the same duty of care as a pesticide on a shelf in a locked building.
The Seven Affirmative Duties — ATCP 29.40(1)
Persons storing or transporting pesticides shall do all of the following:
| Duty | What it means on the road | |
|---|---|---|
| (a) | Store and transport according to label directions, in a manner that avoids reasonably foreseeable and reasonably preventable hazards to persons, property, and the environment | Temperature limits, upright orientation, and any transport statement on the label are binding |
| (b) | Store bulk pesticides according to ch. ATCP 33 | Bulk liquid over 55 gallons or dry over 100 pounds triggers the bulk storage rules |
| (c) | Secure pesticides and containers against access by children, the general public, domestic animals, and wild animals | A load left unattended in an open truck bed at a gas station fails this |
| (d) | Keep pesticides adequately separated from food, feed, and other products so they will not contaminate or be mistaken for them | Never haul pesticides with feed, seed for planting, groceries, or animal water |
| (e) | Thoroughly clean pesticide residues from storage areas and transport vehicles before reusing them for other purposes | The truck that hauls herbicide on Monday cannot haul feed on Tuesday without cleaning |
| (f) | Protect containers and labels from reasonably foreseeable damage or destruction | Secure the load; a jug that shifts and abrades its label has lost its labeling |
| (g) | Inspect containers when removed from outer shipping containers, to ensure they are intact and properly sealed and that labels are intact and fully legible | Do the inspection at pickup, not at the field |
The Two Prohibitions — ATCP 29.40(2)
No person may:
- (a) Store or transport a pesticide in a manner inconsistent with the pesticide label; or
- (b) Store or transport a pesticide in a visibly broken, defective, or improperly sealed container, unless that container is enclosed in another suitable container which effectively prevents foreseeable spillage.
Prohibition (b) is the rule for what to do with a leaking jug you discover at the dealer's loading dock: it may be moved only inside an overpack that will actually contain the leak. It may not simply be set on a tarp and driven home.
Never the Passenger Compartment
The rule against carrying pesticides in a cab is not written as a numbered subsection; it follows directly from ATCP 29.40(1)(a) and (c) and from every pesticide safety curriculum, and it is heavily tested.
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| WHERE PESTICIDES MAY AND MAY NOT RIDE |
| |
| NEVER: Passenger compartment / cab / crew seat |
| - Vapors accumulate in an enclosed, occupied space |
| - Spilled product soaks upholstery and carpet permanently |
| - A crash puts concentrate on the occupants |
| |
| NEVER: Loose in an open bed with food, feed, seed, or drinking water |
| |
| OK: Secured in the bed or a dedicated locked box, upright, blocked |
| against shifting, away from the cab, with a spill kit aboard |
| |
| BEST: Locked, ventilated, corrosion-resistant transport box with a |
| liquid-tight bottom, dedicated to pesticides only |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Load Securement in Practice
- Upright and blocked. Containers stand upright with closures up, blocked or strapped so they cannot tip, slide, or roll. Most transport spills happen in a hard stop or a sharp turn.
- Separate incompatibles. Keep oxidizers away from organics, and keep dry products above liquids so a leak cannot contaminate the dry material.
- Cover the load. Protect from rain, sun, and road debris, and prevent anything from blowing out.
- Never leave an unattended load unsecured. Lock the box or the topper. This is the ATCP 29.40(1)(c) securement duty and it is also basic security.
- Carry a spill kit. Absorbent, a shovel, containment bags, heavy-duty gloves, eye protection, and a way to overpack a leaker.
- Carry the labeling and emergency information. Product labels and Safety Data Sheets should ride with the load, protected from the weather, so that a responder can identify the product immediately.
- Plan the route. Prefer routes that avoid surface water crossings, wellhead protection areas, and school zones where practical.
Federal Hazardous Materials Rules
Some pesticide shipments are also regulated by the U.S. Department of Transportation as hazardous materials. Whether DOT applies depends on the product's hazard class, the packaging, and the quantity carried. When a shipment is regulated, DOT requirements can include proper shipping papers, package markings and labels, vehicle placarding, and hazmat training for the driver.
The practical exam takeaway is not the DOT tables — it is knowing that ATCP 29.40 always applies, and DOT may apply on top of it, and that an applicator hauling a large load of concentrate should confirm the shipping requirements with the supplier rather than assume that a state pesticide credential covers federal transport rules.
When a Spill Happens on the Road
The obligations do not change because the spill is on pavement. ATCP 29.48(1) requires a person who spills a pesticide to immediately take appropriate measures to contain the spill, recover the spilled pesticide, and clean surfaces exposed to it. ATCP 29.48(2) requires immediate notification of the Department of Natural Resources.
Road-specific sequence:
- Protect yourself and the public first. Move upwind, keep bystanders back, and set out warning devices. Do not walk through the product.
- Call 911 if there is injury, fire, a public roadway blockage, or a release toward a storm drain or waterway.
- Notify the DNR spill hotline: 1-800-943-0003, which is the 24-hour number in the note to ATCP 29.48.
- Contain with absorbent and berms before recovering. Keep the material out of storm drains, ditches, and culverts — a storm drain is a direct route to surface water.
- Recover and clean. Collect contaminated absorbent and soil into sealed, labeled containers.
- Do not store recovered material below ground level — ATCP 29.48(3) prohibits it.
- Contact DATCP's spill response coordinator at (608) 224-4500. DATCP administers the Agricultural Chemical Cleanup Program and can reimburse certain cleanup costs, which is a strong practical reason to report rather than to quietly clean up and say nothing.
The Three Cs from section 7.3 — Control, Contain, Clean up — apply on the shoulder of a highway exactly as they apply on a mixing pad.
An applicator picks up four cases of herbicide from a dealer. One jug in the second case has a hairline crack and is weeping product. Under ATCP 29.40(2)(b), what may the applicator legally do?
A pickup carrying pesticide containers is struck at an intersection and a five-gallon container of concentrate ruptures, spreading toward a storm drain 20 feet away. What is the correct order of actions?