BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1069
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 29, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE
Cathleen Galgiani, Chair
AB 1069 (Monning) - As Amended: April 13, 2009
SUBJECT : Plant pests: eradication: pesticide use: notice.
SUMMARY : Requires telephone hotlines, used for reporting adverse
health affects due to aerial pest eradication applications, to be
toll free, staffed by knowledgeable public health personnel and
all health complaints to be entered into a data base.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires telephone hotlines to be toll free for reporting
adverse health impacts due to aerial invasive pest eradication
applications. Requires these phones to be staffed by public
health personnel that are familiar with the pesticide being
applied.
2)Requires public health personnel taking these calls, to enter
all caller complaints of adverse health consequences into a
database, encourage physician consultation and offer to provide
a claim report in accordance with the reporting of alleged loss,
nonperformance or damage as a result of the use of a pesticide
within 30 days of the occurrence to the county agricultural
commissioner.
3)States that the hotline is required to be for the public to
report adverse health consequences and a medical process to
evaluate and respond to adverse health consequences in
accordance with items (1) and (2) above.
4)Makes conforming changes.
EXISTING LAW establishes that the California Department of Food
and Agriculture (CDFA), upon determining that an invasive species
has entered the state and urban aerial applications or community
wide ground applications of pesticide is the selected response,
are required to do the following:
1)Notify governing boards of affected cities and counties, their
agricultural commissioners and health officers;
2)Notify the public of all of the following:
AB 1069
Page 2
a) The existence of the invasive pest;
b) The consequences of not eradicating, controlling or
managing the pests;
c) The active ingredient and inert materials of the
pesticide, to the extent the disclosure of inert material is
permitted by state and federal law;
d) The method or methods of applying the pesticide; and,
e) The implications of the use of the pesticide and the inert
materials on human health, domestic animals, fish, wildlife
and the environment.
3)Hold public hearings in areas subject to these applications.
4)Establish a telephone hotline for the public to report adverse
health consequences and a process to evaluate and respond to
adverse health consequences.
Statutes require the public notice to contain the following:
1)The likely date or dates of, and the approximate time or times
of all proposed pesticide applications in the eradication area;
2)The pesticides to be applied;
3)Any health and safety precautions that should be taken;
4)A telephone number and the address of public health personnel
who are familiar with the eradication program; and,
5)Disclosure of the active ingredients and inert materials of the
pesticide, to the extent permitted by state and federal law.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown. Legislative Counsel has keyed this bill
fiscal.
COMMENTS : The author believes that more clarity is needed to AB
2763 (Laird), Chapter 573, Statutes of 2008, regarding the hotline
when pest eradication efforts are undertaken. AB 1069 does this
by further specifying the requirement of the hotline operators and
their duties.
AB 1069
Page 3
The current practices of CDFA under an eradication program is to
provide a toll free number, which is typically contracted with
California Poison Control System (CPCS), due to their staff
already being medical professionals, having been trained in
telephone response to health concerns and evaluations, and in
making recommendations based upon that evaluation for callers to
take certain actions, including referral to physicians. CDFA, in
conjunction with other state departments, provides CPCS staff with
training in the pesticide product to be used, the potential health
effects of that product and other relevant information needed to
properly evaluate the concerns of the caller. CPCS logs all calls
into a data system and does follow-up with certain callers,
doctors, and when there was a hospital admission.
The committee may wish to consider striking page 3, lines 31-34,
and rewording (d) as follows:
"A toll-free telephone hotline number, its purpose, and address of
public health personnel who are familiar with the eradication."
Previous Legislation : ACR 117 (Laird) of 2008, outlined the
history of the Light Brown Apple Moth (LBAM) activities and made
the request of CDFA and others to answer concerns over health and
environmental impacts of the pheromone pesticide and aerial
applications, asked for an independent analysis of such impacts
and the response to the recommendations made in the Consensus
Report. This bill was held under submission in the Senate
Appropriations Committee.
AB 2760 (Leno) of 2008, required CDFA to complete an Environmental
Impact Report prior to a pesticide application in an urban area
for eradication of LBAM. This bill was held under submission in
the Senate Appropriations Committee.
AB 2763 (Laird), Chapter 573, Statutes of 2008, required CDFA to
develop and maintain a list of invasive animals, plants, and
insects likely to enter California. Required CDFA to plan for
appropriate responses to these invasive pests and required CDFA to
follow specific protocols based on the plan if pests enter the
state.
AB 2764 (Hancock) of 2008, prohibited the Secretary (secretary) of
CDFA from approving the application of a pesticide in an urban
area, unless the Governor proclaims a state of emergency. This
bill failed passage in the Assembly Committee on Agriculture.
AB 1069
Page 4
AB 2765 (Huffman), Chapter 574, Statutes of 2008, required the
Secretary or the county agricultural commissioner, prior to aerial
application of a pesticide under an eradication project in an
urban area, to hold at least one public meeting as described, and
list all ingredients of the pesticide used in its formula.
AB 2892 (Swanson) of 2008, required voter approval prior to an
aerial application of pesticides. This bill was held in the
Assembly Committee on Local Government.
SCR 87 (Migden) of 2008, requested CDFA to impose a moratorium on
any aerial spraying that may be a part of the LBAM eradication
program until CDFA can demonstrate that the pheromone compound it
intends to use is both safe to humans and effective at eradicating
LBAM. This bill failed passage in the Assembly Committee on
Agriculture.
SB 556 (Wiggins), Chapter 190, Statutes of 2007, created the LBAM
program within CDFA; created an account within the Food and
Agriculture fund, and provided those funds shall be available for
expenditure without regard to fiscal year; required CDFA to
annually review the progress made by each local agency in
eradicating LBAM, and make recommendations, as needed, to improve
individual local agency eradication efforts; required an annual
legislative report to be submitted on January 10, beginning in
2008; and, required eradication activities conducted pursuant to
this bill to comply with all applicable laws, and be conducted in
an environmentally responsible manner.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Center for Environmental Health
Citizens for Health
People Against Chemical Trespass
Pesticide Watch
Play Not Spray
Stop the Spray
36 individuals
Opposition
None on file.
AB 1069
Page 5
Analysis Prepared by : Jim Collin / AGRI. / (916) 319-2084