BILL NUMBER: AB 2763 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 3, 2008
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Laird
FEBRUARY 22, 2008
An act to add Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 5260) to Part 1
of Division 4 of the Food and Agricultural Code, relating to pests.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2763, as amended, Laird. Invasive pests: advance planning:
assessments.
Existing law generally provides for the eradication of pests that
threaten this state's agriculture.
This bill would require the Department of Food and Agriculture to
develop and maintain a list of invasive animals, plants, and
insects invasives, defined to mean nonnative animals,
plants, insects, and diseases and classes of similar nonnative
animals, plants, insects, and diseases, that have a reasonable
likelihood of entering the state for which an eradication or
, control , or management
action by the state might be appropriate. The department would be
required , based on available funding, to develop and
maintain a written assessment for each animal, plant, or
insect on the list of the most appropriate options for
eradication or , control, or
management of high priority invasives on the list, and to
include specified information in the assessment if the use of
pesticides would be among the appropriate responses. Certain state
agencies would be required to participate in the preparation of the
assessment and the department would be required to hold public
hearings. The bill would require the department to notify the
Governor, the governing boards of affected cities and counties, and
county agricultural commissioners if an animal, plant, or
insect invasive on the list has entered the
state, and, if the use of a pesticide is the preferred eradication
and , control , or management
response, to advise the Governor and provide the Governor with
a copy of the assessment. The department would also be required to,
among other things, notify certain local governmental entities and
officers, notify the public of specified health information, hold
public hearings, and establish a telephone hotline, if the department
determines that an invasive animal, plant, or insect
has entered the state, the state has declared an
emergency, and the use of a pesticide is the selected
response. The bill would require the department to seek federal
funds for the implementation of this act.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 5260) is added to
Part 1 of Division 4 of the Food and Agricultural Code, to read:
CHAPTER 4.5. INVASIVE PEST PLANNING
5260. The Legislature hereby finds and declares both of the
following:
(a) Global travel, global trade, and climate change are
introducing nonnative animals, plants, and insects
insects, and diseases to California.
(b) The State of California should undertake advance planning on
whether and how to address those nonnative animals, plants,
and insects insects, and diseases that are a
threat to the state's public health, environment, or economy.
(c) The Legislature fully recognizes that any prediction of which
invasives will enter California cannot be precise because of the many
entry mechanisms.
5260.5. For the purpose of this chapter, "invasive" means (a)
nonnative animals, plants, insects, and diseases and (b) classes of
similar nonnative animals, plants, insects, and diseases.
5261. The department shall develop and maintain a list of
invasive animals, plants, and insects
invasives that have a reasonable likelihood of entering
California for which an eradication or control
, control, or management action by the state might be
appropriate. In developing the list, the department shall consider
any invasive animal, plant, or insect identified
by the federal government for which an emergency eradication
or control eradication, control, or management
action might be undertaken by the federal government if the state did
not act.
5262. (a) For each animal, plant, or insect on the list
developed pursuant to Section 5261 Based on available
funding , the department shall develop and maintain a written
assessment of the most appropriate options for eradication
or control of the animal, plant, or insect.
eradication, control, or management of high priority invasives on the
list prepared pursuant to Section 5261. In determining which
invasives are high priority and in developing the most appropriate
options for eradication, control, or management, the department shall
consult with the United States Department of Agriculture,
the University of California, and others in the scientific and
research community. In implementing this chapter, the department may
undertake or contract for scientific research with the University of
California or other institutions of higher learning.
(b) If the department determines that the use of pesticides would
be among the more appropriate responses, the assessment shall contain
a discussion of all of the following:
(1) The consequences of not eradicating, controlling, or managing
the invasive.
(1)
(2) The pesticides that would likely be the most
appropriate.
(2)
(3) The concentrations of those pesticides.
(3)
(4) How often pesticide use would be necessary.
(4)
(5) The method of application.
(5)
(6) A list of each active ingredient and inert
material.
(6)
(7) A summary of up-to-date scientific information on
the impacts of the pesticide and its inert materials on all of the
following:
(A) Healthy children and adults.
(B) Children and adults with compromised health.
(C) Domestic animals.
(D) Fish and wildlife.
(E) The environment.
(c) The State Department of Public Health, the Department of Fish
and Game, the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and
the Department of Pesticide Regulation shall participate in the
preparation of the assessment in their areas of expertise
. The Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment shall include
an analysis of the risks of using the pesticide and its inert
material.
(d) In developing the assessment, the department shall hold public
hearings and establish a process for submittal of public comment.
Following the public hearing, the department shall reassess the
appropriateness of the response and may revise the response and may
hold additional public hearings.
(e) The assessment shall include a characterization of the number
of and the nature of the public comments received pursuant to
subdivision (d).
(f) The department shall make the assessment available to the
public, including making it available on the department's Internet
Web site.
5263. If the department determines that an invasive
animal, plant, or insect identified on the list developed
pursuant to Section 5261 has entered the state, the department shall
notify the Governor, the governing boards of affected cities and
counties, and county agricultural commissioners.
5264. If the department determines that an invasive
animal, plant, or insect has entered the state and the use
of a pesticide is the preferred eradication and control
, control, or management response, the
department shall advise the Governor and provide the Governor with a
copy of the assessment for that animal, plant, or insect
invasive . If an assessment has not been
prepared for that animal, plant, or insect
invasive , the department, the State Department of Public
Health, the Department of Fish and Game, the Office of Environmental
Health Hazard Assessment, and the Department of Pesticide Regulation
shall advise the Governor of the lack of an assessment and advise the
Governor of the best available options.
5265. If the department determines that an invasive
animal, plant, or insect has entered the state and
the state has declared an emergency with respect to that animal,
plant, or insect , and the use of a pesticide is the
selected response, the department shall do all of the following:
(a) Notify the governing boards of affected cities and counties
and their agricultural commissioners and health officers.
(b) Notify the public of all of the following:
(1) The existence of the invasive animal, plant, or
insect .
(2) The consequences of not eradicating or controlling
, controlling, or managing the invasive
animal, plant, or insect .
(3) The active and inert pesticides to be used.
(4) The method or methods of applying the pesticide.
(5) The implications of the use of the pesticide and the inert
ingredients on human health, domestic animals, fish and wildlife, and
the environment.
(c) Hold public hearings in the areas affected in advance of any
pesticide application.
(d) Establish a telephone hotline for the public to report adverse
health consequences and a medical process to evaluate and respond to
adverse health consequences.
5266. The department shall seek federal funds for the
implementation of this chapter.