Three issues affecting the aerial application industry’s future
emerged in the mid-1990s: new and improved aerial application
technologies; expanding urban encroachment of rural farmlands;
and a demand by the general public for “a risk free environment,
including safer, more environmentally friendly” crop protection
products. Industry leaders seized the opportunity to shape their
own future and, in 1996, established the PAASS program to
overcome these challenges. The Louisiana AAA hosted the first
presentation in January 1998. Given a choice, most people will
choose self-education over government regulation. NAAA and
NAAREF pioneered this voluntary educational program—PAASS—and
attracted supporters from all segments of related industries and
levels of government. The National Coalition On Drift
Minimization agreed to endorse industry training efforts that
focus on reducing drift. EPA officials prefer educational
programs in lieu of regulations to minimize drift, but have
stipulated that the industry must be a