Testimony of Judy Carlson
Project Safe Send Coordinator
House Bill 1066
January 17,2003
10:30 a.m.
House Agriculture Committee
Peace Garden Room

Chairman Nicholas, Committee members, I'm Judy Carlson, the Project Safe Send coordinator for the department of agriculture. HB1066 continues "Project Safe Send" (PSS), the unusable pesticide collection and the pesticide container recycling program for another two years.

This biennium, we facilitated thirty-seven collection events throughout the state. The pounds collected continue to increase. Over 700 participants brought in 338,616 pounds of unusable waste pesticides.

The amount of pesticides collected demonstrates the continued need for this program and the concern of North Dakota agricultural producers for the environment. PSS makes it economically feasible for individuals to get rid of their unusable pesticides.

The funding for PSS is included in the department of agriculture's budget (SB 2009). Funding for this program is from pesticide registration fees that are deposited into the Environment and Rangeland Protection (EARP) Fund.

In 2000, we commissioned the North Dakota Agricultural Statistics Service to survey farm and ranch operations on PSS using questions similar to a survey completed in 1995. The results are included in the legislative report. The percentage of producers with unusable pesticides and the quantities continue to show a need for the program.

The Project Safe Send advisory board recommended that the commissioner submit legislation to continue this program.

Attached to this testimony are copies of the legislative report which includes the survey report.

Thank you for your consideration.