The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently issued a proposed rule that revises the pre-harvest agricultural water requirements in the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Safety Rule. Pre-harvest agricultural water is water that directly contacts produce during growing, such as water for irrigation. If finalized, the proposed rule would replace pre-harvest water testing and microbial quality criteria with requirements for systems-based pre-harvest agricultural water assessments. The requirements would apply to pre-harvest agricultural water used for covered produce (other than sprouts) on farms covered by the Produce Safety Rule. FDA invites public comments on the rule until April 5, 2022. For more information, visit go.usa.gov/xtEre (case-sensitive) or contact Tucker Diego at Tucker.Diego@vermont.gov or (802) 622-4412.