BILL NUMBER: AB 2763 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 573
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 29, 2008
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 29, 2008
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 22, 2008
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 30, 2008
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 19, 2008
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 18, 2008
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 4, 2008
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 12, 2008
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 23, 2008
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 23, 2008
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, Laird. Invasive pests: advance planning: detection and
eradication plans.
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 pests, defined to mean
animals, plants, insects, and plant and animal diseases or groups of
those animals, plants, insects, and plant and animal diseases where
introduction into California would or would likely cause economic or
environmental harm, that have a reasonable likelihood of entering the
state and for which a detection, exclusion, eradication, 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 plan on the most appropriate options for
detection, exclusion, eradication, control, or management of
high-priority invasive pests on the list, and to include specified
information in the plan if the aerial application of pesticides would
be among the appropriate responses. Certain state agencies would be
required to participate in the preparation of the plan 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 invasive pest on the list has entered the state,
and, if the urban aerial application or communitywide ground
application of a pesticide is the preferred eradication, control, or
management response, to advise the Governor and provide the Governor
with a copy of the plan. 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 under certain circumstances, and establish a
telephone hotline, if the department determines that an invasive pest
has entered the state, and the urban aerial application or
communitywide ground application of a pesticide is the selected
response. The bill would require this act to be funded only with
federal funds.
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 all of the
following:
(a) Global travel, global trade, and climate change are
introducing invasive animals, plants, insects, and plant and animal
diseases to California.
(b) The State of California should undertake advance planning on
whether and how to address those invasive animals, plants, insects,
and plant and animal diseases that are a threat to the state's
agriculture, environment, or economy.
(c) The Legislature fully recognizes that any prediction of which
invasive pests will enter California cannot be precise because of the
many entry mechanisms.
5260.5. For purposes of this chapter, "invasive pests" means
animals, plants, insects, and plant and animal diseases or groups of
those animals, plants, insects, and plant and animal diseases,
including seeds, eggs, spores, or other matter capable of
propagation, where introduction into California would or would likely
cause economic or environmental harm. "Invasive pests" does not
include agricultural crops, livestock, or poultry generally
recognized by the department or the United States Department of
Agriculture as suitable to be grown or raised in the state.
5261. The department shall develop and maintain a list of
invasive pests that have a reasonable likelihood of entering
California for which a detection, exclusion, eradication, control, or
management action by the state might be appropriate. In developing
the list, the department shall consider any invasive pests identified
by the federal or state government for which a detection, exclusion,
eradication, control, or management action might be undertaken.
5262. (a) Based on available funding, the department shall
develop and maintain a written plan on the most appropriate options
for detection, exclusion, eradication, control, or management of the
higher priority invasive pests on the list prepared pursuant to
Section 5261. In determining which invasive pests are the higher
priority and in developing the most appropriate options for
detection, exclusion, eradication, control, or management, the
department shall consult with the United States Department of
Agriculture, the University of California, other state agencies and
departments, 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. The plan shall include both of the
following:
(1) A discussion of the state not acting to detect, exclude,
eradicate, control, or manage the invasive pest.
(2) The identification and description of the most appropriate
options for detection, exclusion, eradication, control, or management
of the invasive pest.
(b) If the department determines that aerial application of
pesticides would be among the more appropriate responses, the plan
shall contain a discussion of all of the following:
(1) The pesticides that would likely be the most appropriate.
(2) The concentrations of those pesticides.
(3) How often pesticide use would be necessary.
(4) A list of each active ingredient and inert material, to the
extent that the disclosure of the inert material is permitted by
state and federal law.
(5) 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) Public health and the environment, including drinking water.
(c) The State Department of Public Health, the Department of Fish
and Game, the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, the
Department of Boating and Waterways, the Department of Forestry and
Fire Protection, the State Water Resources Control Board, and the
Department of Pesticide Regulation shall participate in the
preparation of the plan 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 plan, the department shall hold public
hearings that shall include a presentation by the department and the
opportunity for public comment 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 plan 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 plan available to the public,
including making it available on the department's Internet Web site.
5263. If the department determines that an invasive pest
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 pest has
entered the state and the urban aerial application of a pesticide, or
a communitywide ground application of a pesticide, is the preferred
eradication, control, or management response, the department shall
advise the Governor and provide the Governor with a copy of the plan
for that invasive pest. If a plan has not been prepared for that
invasive pest, the department shall consult with the appropriate
agencies and shall advise the Governor of the lack of a plan and
advise the Governor of the best available options.
5265. If the department determines that an invasive pest has
entered the state, and an urban aerial application of a pesticide, or
a communitywide ground application 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 pest.
(2) The consequences of not eradicating, controlling, or managing
the invasive pest.
(3) The active ingredient and inert material of the pesticide, to
the extent that the disclosure of the inert material is permitted by
state and federal law.
(4) The method or methods of applying the pesticide.
(5) The implications of the use of the pesticide and the inert
materials on human health, domestic animals, fish and wildlife, and
the environment.
(c) Hold public hearings in areas subject to aerial application of
the pesticide or communitywide ground application of the pesticide.
(d) Establish a telephone hotline for the public to report adverse
health consequences and a process to evaluate and respond to adverse
health consequences.
5266. This program established by this chapter may only be funded
with federal funds.
5267. This chapter does not apply to the following:
(a) The State Department of Public Health and local vector control
agencies providing services in accordance with Section 116180 of the
Health and Safety Code.
(b) Mosquito abatement and vector control districts authorized
under Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 2000) of Division 3 of the
Health and Safety Code.