BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1069
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1069 (Monning)
As Amended May 4, 2009
Majority vote
AGRICULTURE 5-3 APPROPRIATIONS 12-4
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|Ayes:|Galgiani, Ma, Mendoza, |Ayes:|De Leon, Ammiano, Charles |
| |Yamada Bonnie Lowenthal | |Calderon, Davis, |
| | | |Krekorian, Hall, John A. |
| | | |Perez, Price, Skinner, |
| | | |Solorio, |
| | | |Audra Strickland, |
| | | |Torlakson |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+---------------------------|
|Nays:| Tom Berryhill, Conway, |Nays:|Nielsen, Duvall, Harkey, |
| |Fuller | |Miller |
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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 public notice is required to state the purpose of
the toll free hotline.
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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:
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;
AB 1069
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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 : According to the Assembly Committee on
Appropriations, CDFA has a current $650,000 contract with the
Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) to
carryout activities as described in the bill, including a
toll-free hotline. OEHHA's contract for a toll-free hotline is
$200,000, therefore, there are no new costs associated with this
legislation.
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.
The current practices of CDFA under an eradication program is to
provide a toll free number, which is typically contracted with
the California Poison Control System (CPCS), due to CPCS's 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.
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.
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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 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
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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.
Analysis Prepared by : Jim Collin / AGRI. / (916) 319-2084
FN: 0000697