Executive Summary
TO: Project Management Committee/Administrative Advisors/ Meeting Attendees
FROM: Sherrilynn Novack & Van Starner
DATE: November 23, 2009
SUBJECT: Fall 2009 Project Management Committee (PMC) Meeting Minutes
Please find attached the October 2009 PMC meeting Executive Summary and minutes from discussions October 27-28 at IR-4 HQ in Princeton, NJ
If you have any questions about this report, please feel free to contact the appropriate PMC or Headquarters Staff member listed by the agenda item, or us, for clarification.
October 2009 PMC Meeting - Executive Summary
The IR-4 Project Management Committee (PMC) held its Fall 2009 meeting on October 27-28 at IR-4 HQ in Princeton, NJ. The meeting was held in conjunction with the IR-4 National Research Planning Meeting (NRPM). The following items were discussed:
General Items
· Monte Johnson reported: NIFA is pleased with the budget moving the timing up; RFA published 10/19/09; submission deadline 11/30/09; money to arrive in 4/10
· CSREES is now the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA)
ARS/Regions/HQ Updates
· ARS/IR-4 will have a peer review Mar 16-17, 2010; Larry Chandler will chair the panel. ARS is working to resolve critical lab productivity backlog issues in Tifton
· Northeast Region – A lab closing timeframe was presented and the PMC supports the plan.
· North Central Region – The “broader-than-usual” search committee is working well, and they should have a new lab director by year end
· Southern Region – KUDOS to IR-4 from the FL citrus industry for their help in securing 24c registrations for low-volume citrus psyllid control to manage citrus greening, within a 6-month period.
· Western Region – Furloughs or 10% salary cuts are in effect in CA for state-funded faculty and staff; the Western region is in need of personnel: QA, lab and field
· HQ – IR-4 accomplished a great deal this year. However, we are facing some internal and external challenges; IR-4 must re-dedicate itself to meeting submission timelines and submitting the highest possible quality data
· CLC – The idea of a “training” for new CLC members to learn how/what to do “on the Hill” is a good one.
Other items
· Increased funding for the IR-4 Project is to be $180K this year
· AAs commented IR-4 received a unanimous vote by Agricultural Experiment Station Directors for continued funding ($485,000 Hatch). IR-4 is perceived as a very strong program.
· The QAU reported fewer (only 6 so far) EPA inspections than last year.
· Ornamental Horticulture 2010/2011 priorities were discussed and a 2010 planning budget offered for grant submission knowing that minor modifications will be made after the program conference call to establish regional allocations.
· IR-4 has a new Public Health Pesticide Program Manager, Karl Malamud-Roam. He gave a brief overview of his background and vision for the new program
· A new logo design is moving forward, and PMC asked to see designs in various formats.
· FUW priorities were reviewed as were 2009 changes in NRPM processes.
· Value Program – the extent of the 2010 efficacy/crop safety projects depends on what funds PMC dedicates to this expanded effort per the 2009-2014 Strategic Plan.
· IR-4 reiterated it will not work on projects that are only for economic benefit, or that are not supported by the registrants.
· E. Pfeil, chair of the Laboratory Scientific Review Committee gave a presentation that covered the goals of the committee, the state of the labs, and equipment lease/purchase options. The labs, if given a choice, would prefer IR-4 contracting out triazole analyses vs. getting new equipment.
· IR-4’s potential role in biotechnology was discussed. Staying with existing policy, IR-4 will only get involved when a commodity group is supportive. This is an issue that is not going away as more glyphosate resistant crops are being cultivated outside the U.S.
A proposed budget distribution for 2010 was presented and was approved, in principle, pending finalization of the field research plan at the NRPM.
· The draft peer review response was found acceptable to PMC, and should be finalized.
A draft Business Plan was presented and a MOTION was approved to accept it, with any possible minor modifications deemed necessary later.
· NRSP4 Renewal Document is due 1/15/10, and it will be ready then.
· Marty Marshall was voted in to remain chair of the PMC for next two years.
October 2009 PMC Meeting Minutes
The IR-4 Project Management Committee (PMC) held its Fall 2009 meeting on October 27-28, at IR-4 HQ, Princeton, NJ
Attendees:
Ø Jerry Baron - IR-4 Executive Director
Ø Tammy. Barkalow - IR-4 Assistant Director, Quality Assurance
Ø Michael Braverman – Biopesticide and Organic Support Program Manager
Ø Doug Buhler - North Central Region Administrative Advisor
Ø Debbie Carpenter – Registrations Manager
Ø Mary Duryea – Southern Region Administrative Advisor
Ø Bob Hollingworth - North Central Region Director
Ø Monte Johnson – National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) National Program Leader
Ø Dan Kunkel - IR-4 Associate Director, Food and International Programs
Ø Rocky Lundy - Commodity Liaison Committee Chair
Ø Marty Marshall - Southern Region Director and PMC Chair
Ø Karl Malamud-Roam - IR-4 Public Health Pesticides Program Manager
Ø Marion Miller - Western Region Director (via teleconference)
Ø Sherrilynn Novack – IR-4 Public Relations & Communications Manager
Ø Cristi Palmer – IR-4 Ornamental Horticulture Program Manager
Ø Mark Robson – Northeast Region Administrative Advisor
Ø Paul Schwartz - ARS Regional Director
Ø Dave Soderlund - Northeast Region Director
Ø Van Starner - IR-4 Assistant Director, Research Planning and Outreach
The PMC met with Regional Laboratory Coordinators, Regional Field Coordinators, Quality Assurance Unit members and Headquarters staff for an “All-Hands meeting the afternoon of October 28. This was held in conjunction with the National Research Planning Meeting, and a summary of key outcomes of that meeting were captured and distributed separately.
Tuesday, October 27 th
Approval of Minutes/new agenda items: Minutes of the Summer 2009 PMC meeting held July 9-10, 2009, in Halifax, NS, were approved. Rocky added an agenda item to discuss IR-4’s role in Specialty Crop Biotech.
Brief updates:
Administrative Advisors –. At the National Agricultural Experiment Station Directors meeting, IR-4 was given a 43-0 yea vote for continued support of the program (a total of ~$481,000 in state Hatch Act funds). This is VERY rare and M. Duryea wanted to make sure the PMC knows that the Directors unanimously agree that IR-4 is a strong program.
CSREES/NIFA – M. Johnson reported NIFA is pleased with the budget, moving the timing up and having the RFA published 10/19 with a due date of 11/30. He expects the review to take place in the Dec/Jan timeframe with the panel teleconference to be held at the end of Jan. Then the Office of Awards Management should receive the recommendation Feb/Mar and awards should be made in April. The NC region had issues with the timing in that it seems they only have ~ 3 weeks to gather all information they needed to submit the proposals. This is due to the Thanksgiving holiday falling in the middle of the when the RFA was published and the due date. Submitting as a renewal is an option (actually 2 renewals of the original, for 3 years).
Some personnel changes at NIFA: Leonard Randolph has left, Ruth Dunmore will take his place; she is familiar with the project because she has reviewed the IR-4 grants previously; Janet Schmitt is the other major reviewer; Mary Peet is the new NPL for horticulture and organic systems. National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) is the new name for CSREES. M. Johnson handed out a new NIFA brochure which indicates the names of the sub-institutes under the NIFA umbrella (IR-4 fits in several areas). M. Robson stated this change is to make the USDA more in line with the National Institute of Health and other Federal research agencies. M. Duryea stated they are looking to double competitive grants and are seeking more competitive grant funding. Hiram LaRue is the person at NIFA closely tracking international activities.
ARS – P. Schwartz reported they will be able to do 341 Food 259 Ornamental trials, but this will be pared down somewhat at NRPM. There are problems with the Tifton lab completing ASRs – it ; has been 18 months since a final ASR has come from T. Hendricks. Tom is dedicating significant time to preparing ASRs, and P. Schwartz will continue to monitor this situation.
The IR-4 component of ARSis having its peer review Mar. 16 &17, 2010, and Larry Chandler will chair the panel (Dr. Chandler chaired the NIFA Peer Review Panel of IR-4), and J. Baron will participate.
HQ – J. Baron reported that IR-4 accomplished a great deal this year (see report). However, we are facing some challenges. Some are external: courts are getting more involved in regulating pesticides (endangered species, point source “contamination”, etc.). IR-4 is a non-paying customer under PRIA (some complaints about IR-4 “misuse” of the IR-4 PRIA fee exemption, which are being discussed with EPA). Some are internal: we are missing timelines for bundling data, companies are taking back projects because of the perception of not meeting our stated timelines, and we have submitted some questionable data. All this adds up to poor quality and tarnishes the IR-4 reputation. We need to rededicate ourselves to the mission of the program - meeting timelines and submitting the highest possible quality data. M. Duryea stated, “We need to nip this in the bud to protect the integrity of IR-4,” and asked for action items to put in place to quickly fix this. Jerry will talk about this at the “All Hands” meeting and solicit input for improvement from the coordinators, study directors, laboratory personnel and QA.
North Central Region – B. Hollingworth reported field trials are going well and the lab is doing better than last year. By end of year should finish 70 trials internally and hope to have hired a new Lab Director (interviewing 2 candidates in November). B. Hollingworth stated the hiring committee worked very well together and is broader than typical search committees, with HQ and SOR represented. There is a need to address funding for equipment needs. On a more serious note, the governor of Michigan threatened to use line item veto power to not include the $64 million Ag. Exp Station funding or Extension Programs funds.
Northeast Region – D. Soderlund noted that field and QA programs are going as planned; they have new FRDs in 2 locations. Dave presented a timeframe for the lab closure, and PMC supports this layoff model.
Southern Region – M. Marshall reported doing fine in field and lab. They hired an associate lab coordinator, Gail Mahnken (who ran the NC State satellite lab), to do residue analysis, and they’ll hire a second person with chemist responsibilities. R. Adkins is doing QA work as a backup and this is working out well. Also A. Hogle is doing QC as a backup, but she is not doing calculations because this falls as a technical activity for M. Foo. Great news about how IR-4 helped the citrus industry in its fight against citrus greening - UF got a grant in February and within 6 months IR-4 had helped secure 24c labels for 3 chemistries already registered for use on citrus (covering all citrus) for low volume applications between 2-10 GPA. IR-4 worked closely with EPA in the study design, and citrus growers were very thankful.
Western Region –M. Miller reported dealing with budget issues particularly with faculty and staff. For state-funded positions, furloughs or 10% salary cuts are in place. Fortunately, this will not directly affect full time IR-4 employees. Greg Hull has retired and Paul Kuzmicky has replaced him and will take over the computer work. The lab purchased a new LC/MS/MS 6430 from the money earned doing Canadian sample analyses, and M. Hengel feels the lab backlog has been reduced, and they’re working to decrease the ASR backlog in Hawaii. They have only one small Canadian project this year. . There are some issues still unresolved with the Colorado State FRD, who is well-trained but still does not have a boss (since S. McDonald left the university). The West is in desperate need for personnel in all areas - QA, lab, and field. They’re currently working on a job description for QA when Jim retires. The lab needs one more person. B. Sisco needs additional help in the field. All this will impact the budget.
The West has taken on a lot of much more complicated projects (SO2 figs, etofenprox all crops study, etc.) that require significant training and extra money. Both lab and field personnel feel many projects are a lot more complicated than they were even 5 years ago. They feel they are at times doing double and triple the work and this complexity needs to be considered when planning trials at the NRPM. Increased workloads keep coming up as an issue. Another example of complexity was the inconsistent residue levels on hops coming from different field sites; S. Flanagan thought it had to do with the different drying techniques, although R. Lundy mentioned the hops industry has a standard drying approach.
CLC- R. Lundy reported no major crisis. Commodities in general are all depressed due to the economy; prices are low. He would like for IR-4 to hold a luncheon or reception on the Hill in March 2010 if possible, and he liked the idea of a “training” for new CLC members to learn how/what to do “on the Hill.”. It is even more important to target spring of 2011 for another event because there may be new legislators to educate out of the next election cycle in the fall of 2010.
EPA Registrations, Work Plans, FDB/ASR Completion Status, Timeline Status, EPA Update –
D. Kunkel
Behind on EPA completions versus last year - will probably not reach 1000 new tolerances this year. Some submissions are delayed because registration packages required as part of our submissions are delayed from the manufacturers. There is also a delay in HQ receipt of ASRs which delays QA and petitions being submitted. Field data books are in good shape, but there is a concern with reports from Jonathon Crane as he is now acting station director of Homestead. PMC asked if a system of reminder email alerts could be developed to go out about 6 weeks before an ASR or field data book is due, but all agreed that the extra $s needed to make this happen may not be worth it. PMC agreed that we need to shift the mind set of being able to send difficult samples outside rather than ‘I can do it’ regardless of the actual situation. IR-4 labs need to determine as early as possible in a study if sample analyses can’t be completed as planned, so a decision can be made to move samples to another lab to avoid significant delays. Estimated experiment termination and study completion dates will be put on protocols starting this year.