The Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry has agreed to help migrant workers with limited English language skills understand rights and protections. The deal is part of a larger agreement reached in December with the Environmental Protection Agency that arose after some workers said they could not communicate about repeated exposure to pesticides.

EPA investigated after receiving a complaint from the group Southern Migrant Legal Services.

EPA's Office of Civil Rights then launched a broader examination of the state agency's policy on communication with migrant workers.

One of the key issues was a state agriculture department that complaint interviews be done in person.

Although in-person interviews are not required by law or regulation, the state agency had the discretion to implement such a policy, EPA said.

Southern Migrant Legal Services staff members said 13 of the workers involved in its complaint already had returned to Mexico but a 14th worker would have been available for a telephone interview had the agriculture department permitted.

However, the Louisiana agency insisted interviews must be done in person and at the Baton Rouge office, according to EPA findings.

—AP newswire report; information from The Advocate, http://theadvocate.com