• About Us
• Grants
• PESP Membership
• Awards

Membership Commitments and Advantages
Membership Eligibility and Performance Measures
Strategy Development and Reporting
Pesticide Environmental Stewardship Program Brochure (print version, 2 pp, 2MB, About PDF)

Membership Commitments and Advantages

Membership Commitments

The Pesticide Environmental Stewardship Program (PESP) understands that its members come from a variety of organizations—both for-profit and not-for-profit. Membership commitments are tailored to reflect this with commitment details for these two sectors outlined in the Member Handbook (25 pp, 245k, about PDF). PESP requires that its members make commitments in four areas: Performance, Participation, Responsibility, and Education.

Membership Advantages

PESP has three membership tiers: Bronze, Silver, and Gold. New PESP members enter the program at the Bronze level. This tiered structure allows members to choose their level of commitment to the program and rewards each member based on its commitment level and demonstrated results.

Top of Page

Membership Eligibility and Performance Measures
When PESP members develop their IPM strategies, they are encouraged to consider evaluating their performance in up to three categories: Risk Reduction, Education/Promotion, and Economic Benefits. PESP does not currently collect data from members on their overarching membership commitments or progress toward strategic goals. Progress through the tiered program is based on a general commitment to the promotion and implementation of IPM, passing an EPA complaince screening, and third-party certification.

Bronze members are encouraged to develop an IPM strategy, consider independently measuring improvement against performance metrics, and appoint an IPM leader in their organization. Following PESP's annual members compliance screening, organizations in good standing are elevated to the Silver PESP membership.

When Bronze members independently develop their IPM strategies, they may elect to collect data on those risk reduction measures relevant to their operations. Members are encouraged to use these measures within their organizations to document achievement of or significant progress toward their IPM own goals.

Silver PESP members expand upon the commitments that they made as Bronze members. To remain in good standing, Silver members are encouraged to expand their IPM activities and to seek third-party certification of their IPM-related practices. After spending one year at this tier, organizations in good standing and which have attained a third-party certification, such as Green Pro, GreenShield, or EcoWise, can be elevated to Gold PESP membership.

Gold membership is reserved for PESP's outstanding environmental stewards. These members’ demonstrated commitment to pesticide risk reduction makes them models for other PESP members. To remain in good standing, Gold members look for opportunities to grow their IPM commitment, and independently measure their progress against performance metrics, and have a designated IPM leader in their organization.

Gold members may consider independently collecting data on all of the sample Risk Reduction, Economic Benefits, and Education/Promotion measures relevant to their operations. Members are encouraged to independently measure progress toward their IPM strategy goals.

Top of Page

Strategy Development and Reporting
PESP strategies use a goal-oriented approach to focus PestWise's cooperative efforts in reducing pests and pesticide risks. Strategies should:

• Convey the member's organizational goals for the next five years as they relate to one or more of sample performance measure categories
• Identify the challenges and opportunities that the member may face in achieving its goals
• Describe the method the member will use to determine if it is successful
• Provide a means for EPA to recognize the member for its accomplishments

Detailed guidelines for preparing PESP strategies and progress reports can be found in the Member Handbook (25 pp, 245k, about PDF).

Goals
When joining PESP, all members commit to develop and use innovative practices that reduce risk to human health and the environment and pledge that environmental stewardship is an integral part of their pest management program To help realize the overarching risk-reduction goal of PESP, members think about their efforts in a five-year timeframe. Members' strategies encompass:

• Discussion of the major pest/pesticide issues facing their industry
• What they envision doing to try to resolve these issues
• Whether practical, problem-solving activities are available to resolve these issues that will be accepted by key stakeholders
• What might EPA be able to do or facilitate to help resolve these issues
• How they will determine whether they have been successful in achieving their intended results
• Economically-feasible measures of success that they can utilize to track progress toward goals

Members' goals are not expected to change annually; however, it is important that they are reassessed regularly to be sure they still fit the organization's current member standing. If a member's pesticide issues/goals changed substantially over the past year, it would be important to reassess its PESP strategy. A member's strategies and tactics should easily flow from its goals and lay out the path it will take over the next five years to achieve its risk reduction goals.

Tactics
In the tactics section, members should describe the efforts that their organization will make in the coming five years to attain their risk reduction goals. For example, if an association's goal is to implement IPM, one of the tactics could be to educate its members on a specific IPM technique.

Focus on tactics that can affect change within five years. For longer-term or more open-ended goals, the tactic may be only a single phase of a multi-phase effort.

In addition to describing the tactic, indicate how it links with organizational goals and how it will ultimately reduce pesticide risk. While the expected impacts of some projects may be obvious, other projects may impact risk in more subtle or distant ways.

Finally, members should describe how they will measure the success of each tactic. Ideally, they will be able to measure the actual change that occurs as a result of their activities.

Submitting a New Strategy
Members will be able to develop and submit their strategies in the near future.

Future Reporting and Strategies

While members' strategies will be in place for five years, they will be asked to report annually on the outcomes of their tactics and progress toward their stated goals.

Annual reporting gives members the opportunity to highlight their successes, document their challenges, and share their lessons learned. Reports should quantify progress whenever possible. Quantifiable information will give EPA a better picture of members' accomplishments and help EPA measure the success of PESP.

Strategies are active for five years following submission. At any time during those years, members have the opportunity to revise their strategy or to restate their goals or tactics. Members will soon be able to develop and submit their report for their organization.

Top of Page

---

---

GET INFORMED

Area Navigation

• Area Home

  ---

• About Area Name
• Where You Live
• Recent Additions
• Link
• Link
• Link
• Link