BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1069
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
Senator S. Joseph Simitian, Chairman
2009-2010 Regular Session
BILL NO: AB 1069
AUTHOR: Monning
AMENDED: May 4, 2009
FISCAL: Yes HEARING DATE: June 22, 2009
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT: Rachel Machi
Wagoner
SUBJECT : PESTICIDE USE NOTICE
SUMMARY :
Existing law :
1)Charges the California Department of Food and Agriculture
(CDFA) with preventing the introduction or spread of
injurious insects or animal pests, plant or animal diseases,
and noxious weeds. Upon the discovery of any pest, CDFA
must notify the commissioner in the county the pest is found
and furnish a statement on the best known methods for
eradicating or controlling the discovered pest.
2)Requires CDFA to produce a list of potential invasive pests
and outline plans for addressing an infestation.
3)Requires CDFA, in the event an invasive pest enters
California and pesticides are used as a control agent in an
urban area, to notify the local government, agriculture
commissioner, and health officer. CDFA must also notify the
public of the following: the existence of the invasive
pest; the consequences of not eradicating, controlling, or
managing it; the active and inert material of the pesticide
to the extent that the disclosure is permitted under state
and federal law; methods for pesticide application;
implications of the pesticide on human health, domestic
animals, fish and wildlife, and the environment. CDFA must
hold public hearings in the areas affected before
application and establish a telephone hotline to report
illness issues.
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4)Requires CDFA to notify, as soon as feasible, the city and
county in the area affected by an urban pest eradication
spray. The notice must contain the likely dates and
approximate time of all proposed pesticide applications in
the eradication area, the pesticide to be applied, any
health and safety precautions that should be taken, and the
telephone number and address of public health personnel
familiar with the eradication.
This bill :
1) Requires CDFA's hotline for urban pest eradication spraying
to be toll free, staffed by public health personnel
familiar with the pesticide being sprayed, record all
health complaints into a database and provide a claim
report form.
2) Requires that notice to the public of likely pest
eradication sprayings in urban areas include the toll-free
hotline number, the purpose of the hotline number and the
address of public health personnel familiar with the
eradication program.
COMMENTS :
1) Purpose of Bill . According to the author, this bill seeks
to provide clarifying language to AB 2763 (Laird) Chapter
573, Statutes of 2008, by requiring CDFA to provide
specific requirements in statute for CDFA's hotline for
urban pest eradication spraying.
2) Background . CDFA provides the Office of Environmental
Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) and the California Poison
Control System (CPCS) with information relating to the
pesticide being applied. If contacted by a physician about
a pesticide related case, CPCS will offer to report the
case to the Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) for
the physician. CDFA maintains a toll-free hotline whereby
a complaint is referred to the CPCS. OEHHA has established
a program with DPR and CPCS to collect public health
complaints.
CPCS is the statewide provider for immediate, free and
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expert treatment advice and assistance over the telephone
in case of exposure to pesticide applications. CPCS
operates 24 hours per day, seven days per week. CDFA lists
the toll-free number on all materials that are distributed
to residents for aerial and ground treatments.
CDFA coordinates eradication activities with OEHHA and DPR.
OEHHA is the state lead entity for the assessment of
health risks posed by chemical contaminants in the
environment. OEHHA has an established pesticide program
that includes review and evaluation of pesticide exposure
and toxicity, community outreach and education, pesticide
illness reporting, physician training for recognition and
treatment of pesticide poisoning and pesticide worker
health and safety.
3) Related Legislation .
ACR 117 (Laird) of 2008 outlined the history of the Light
Brown Apple Moth (LBAM) activities and requested that CDFA
and others answer concerns over health and environmental
impacts of the pheromone pesticide and aerial applications.
It also asked for an independent analysis of such impacts
and the response to the recommendations made in the
Consensus Report. ACR 117 was held on the Senate
Appropriations Committee suspense file.
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. AB
2760 was held on the Senate Appropriations Committee
suspense file.
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
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state of emergency. AB 2764 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. AB 2892 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 that those funds 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
that eradication activities conducted pursuant to this bill
to comply with all applicable laws, and be conducted in an
environmentally responsible manner.
4) Arguments in support . Supporters contend that AB 1069 will
improve the current, ineffective monitoring of pesticide
related illnesses. Supporters argue that there is
confusion as a result of current pesticide illness reports
being scattered across public and private forums and sent
to a variety of local and state agencies and personnel.
Supporters state that the lack of a standardized reporting
mechanism has caused hundreds of illness reports to be
dismissed as inadequate or improperly filed. By
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establishing a standardized reporting system, supporters
feel that AB 1069 will make it easier to monitor pesticide
exposure and document the effects of the chemicals used.
SOURCE : Assemblymember Monning
SUPPORT : Center for Environmental Health
Citizens for Health
Mothers of Marin Against Spraying
People Against Chemical Trespass
Pesticide Watch
Play Not Spray
Sierra Club California
Stop the Spray East Bay
Stop the Spray Santa Cruz
29 residents
OPPOSITION : None on file