BILL NUMBER: ACR 117	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Laird

                        MARCH 13, 2008

   Relative to the light brown apple moth.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   ACR 117, as introduced, Laird. Light brown apple moth.
   This measure would memorialize the Department of Food and
Agriculture, the Department of Pesticide Regulation, the Office of
Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and any other applicable
state departments and agencies involved in the light brown apple moth
eradication effort of the need to address the unresolved health,
scientific, and efficacy issues concerning the 2007 light brown apple
moth eradication effort, and would request those departments and
agencies to respond to existing concerns by providing the public with
independent analysis of specified impacts on public health and the
environment, to provide information on how they intend to respond to
the citizen health complaints arising from their 2007 light brown
apple moth eradication activities, and to provide the public with
independent analysis to ensure that the elements of the Department of
Food and Agriculture's 2008 Action Plan to eradicate the light brown
apple moth are not harmful to human health and the environment and
with the properties of the new pheromone-based pesticide to be
aerially sprayed. The measure would request the Department of Food
and Agriculture, the Office of Environmental Health Hazard
Assessment, and any other applicable state departments and agencies
involved in the light brown apple moth eradication effort to publish
a formalized plan on health effect monitoring and tracking. The
measure would also request the Department of Food and Agriculture to
explain whether it intends to adopt certain recommendations relating
to air testing for health effects.
   Fiscal committee: yes.



   WHEREAS, In February 2007, the Department of Food and Agriculture
(department) and the United States Department of Agriculture
confirmed the first recorded North American detection of the light
brown apple moth (LBAM) in Berkeley. Large infestations of the LBAM
have since been detected throughout the San Francisco Bay and the
Monterey Bay areas; and
   WHEREAS, According to the department, the LBAM is a threat to over
2,000 species of native and ornamental plants, fruits, and
vegetables, as well as several species of trees; and
   WHEREAS, To eradicate the LBAM, the department began hand placing
pheromone-treated twist ties in the summer of 2007 in areas with
small infestations and determined that the larger infested areas
could only be treated by aerial application of a microencapsulated
pheromone-based pesticide product called CheckMate; and
   WHEREAS, The department concluded that, as a declared emergency,
its aerial spraying and ground-based operations could be undertaken
without an environmental review; and
   WHEREAS, During September 2007, the department aerially sprayed a
pheromone-based pesticide over portions of Monterey County. During
October and November, the department carried out additional aerial
applications over expanded areas in Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties;
and
   WHEREAS, Before each aerial application, the department received
requests from state, county, and local officials and hundreds of
residents to delay spraying until critical health and environmental
questions were addressed; and
   WHEREAS, Immediately following the aerial application of a
pheromone-based pesticide, numerous residents reported to state and
local elected officials, public health officers, and the department
adverse health effects, including, but not limited to, irritated
throats, shortness of breath, headaches, and nausea; and
   WHEREAS, In October 2007, the Department of Pesticide Regulation
and the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (agencies)
issued a Consensus Statement "to provide information on the toxicity
of microencapsulated pheromones and the potential for exposure, and
to provide recommendations"; and
   WHEREAS, The agencies acknowledged that the Consensus Statement
was not "a detailed human-health risk assessment (or) an
epidemiological study of exposed individuals" and that they could not
"provide a definitive cause for" the symptoms reported by many
residents; and
   WHEREAS, The Consensus Statement concluded, ". . .the toxicity
data on the pheromone active ingredients, as well as on
microencapsulated pheromone product formulations, suggest that
exposure to a high dose of airborne CheckMate microcapsule particles
could cause eye, skin or respiratory irritation. The application
rates were extremely low, and it is likely that exposure occurred at
levels below those that would be expected to result in health effects"
; and
   WHEREAS, As recommended by the agencies to the department, the
2008 LBAM Action Plan notes, "OEHHA (Office of Environmental Health
Hazard Assessment) will work with local health officers to ensure
physicians and other health care providers" are informed about
reporting requirements and are trained on pesticide poisoning
recognition and management. Further, "OEHHA will team with other
public health organizations to develop and oversee a program for the
reporting, tracking and scientific evaluation of reported illness
incidents"; and
   WHEREAS, The Consensus Statement included a recommendation that
the state consider air sampling to evaluate "overall ambient air
particulate load" as well as a "formalized study and tracking program
that looks at several factors including, but not limited to, both
long- and short-term health outcomes, exposed and unexposed persons";
and
   WHEREAS, In December 2007, state and local government officials
were presented with over 600 complaints, logged by concerned
individuals and citizen groups, claiming negative health effects
believed to be the result of the spraying. The department, in its
report to the Legislature, acknowledges 330 health complaints; and
   WHEREAS, The 2008 LBAM Action Plan, released by the department in
February 2008, states that eradication will require multiple tools,
and the "primary tool for eradication will be the aerial application
of pheromone for mating disruption." In 2008, the department intends
to integrate several new tools, including new pheromone carrier
methods for aerial applications that would last longer; ground
treatments, including a ground-level bacteria application; releasing
stingless trichogramma wasps; applying moth attractant insecticide;
and expanded use of pheromone-treated twist ties; and
   WHEREAS, After carrying out two rounds of aerial application of a
pheromone-based pesticide in the Monterey Bay area, the department is
conducting studies in New Zealand of several carrier methods,
including microcapsules, paste-like droplets, and flakes. According
to the department's 2008 Light Brown Apple Moth Program Questions and
Answers sheet, the products are being evaluated for "efficacy,
longevity and ease of application." The department intends to have
results of its evaluations by April 2008 with the goal of aerial
applications resuming over the Monterey Bay area in June and the San
Francisco Bay area in August; and
   WHEREAS, One year has passed since the LBAM was first detected in
California and nearly six months have passed since the first round of
aerial application of a pheromone-based pesticide, and questions
raised by the public, as well as state and local officials, still
remain inadequately addressed; now, therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate
thereof concurring, That it is the responsibility of the government
to demonstrate its actions regarding the light brown apple moth are
necessary, appropriate, and do not compromise human health or the
environment. It is not the responsibility of citizens to demonstrate
the reverse; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Department of Food and Agriculture, the
Department of Pesticide Regulation, the Office of Environmental
Health Hazard Assessment, and any other applicable state departments
and agencies involved in the light brown apple moth eradication
effort need to address the unresolved health, scientific, and
efficacy issues concerning the 2007 light brown apple moth
eradication effort; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Department of Food and Agriculture, the
Department of Pesticide Regulation, the Office of Environmental
Health Hazard Assessment, and any other applicable state departments
and agencies involved in the light brown apple moth eradication
effort are requested to respond to existing concerns by providing the
public with independent analysis of the following impacts on public
health and the environment: what are the likely impacts on healthy
adults and children; what are the likely impacts on those with
compromised health systems; what are the likely impacts on those with
asthma; what are the likely impacts to those who breathe in
microcapsules; what are the likely impacts of aerial spraying on air
quality and particulate load; and what is the efficacy of aerial
spraying of pheromone-based pesticides in eradicating a pest; and be
it further
   Resolved, That the Department of Food and Agriculture, the Office
of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and any other applicable
state departments and agencies involved in the light brown apple moth
eradication effort are requested to publish a formalized plan on
health effect monitoring and tracking, including how the Department
of Food and Agriculture and the Office of Environmental Health Hazard
Assessment will ensure the reporting mechanism is "credible and
trusted," as recommended by the Department of Pesticide Regulation
and the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment in the
aforementioned Consensus Statement; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Department of Food and Agriculture is requested
to explain whether it intends to adopt the Consensus Statement
recommendations to undertake air sampling on particulate load, as
well as long- and short-term health outcomes; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Department of Food and Agriculture, the
Department of Pesticide Regulation, the Office of Environmental
Health Hazard Assessment, and any other applicable state departments
and agencies involved in the light brown apple moth eradication
effort are requested to provide information on how they intend to
respond to the approximately 600 citizen health complaints arising
from their 2007 light brown apple moth eradication activities; and be
it further
   Resolved, That the Department of Food and Agriculture, the
Department of Pesticide Regulation, the Office of Environmental
Health Hazard Assessment, and any other applicable state departments
and agencies involved in the light brown apple moth eradication
effort are requested to provide the public with independent analysis
to ensure that the elements of the Department of Food and Agriculture'
s 2008 Action Plan are not harmful to human health and the
environment, and with the properties of the new pheromone-based
pesticide to be aerially sprayed, including the inert ingredients;
and be it further
   Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the Department of Food and Agriculture, the
Department of Pesticide Regulation, the Office of Environmental
Health Hazard Assessment, and the author for appropriate
distribution.