BILL ANALYSIS
------------------------------------------------------------
|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1069|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|1020 N Street, Suite 524 | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
------------------------------------------------------------
THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1069
Author: Monning (D)
Amended: 5/4/09 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE AGRICULTURE COMMITTEE : 3-1, 6/16/09
AYES: Florez, Hancock, Pavley
NOES: Hollingsworth
NO VOTE RECORDED: Maldonado
SENATE ENV. QUALITY COMMITTEE : 5-2, 6/22/09
AYES: Simitian, Corbett, Hancock, Lowenthal, Pavley
NOES: Runner, Ashburn
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 8-5, 8/27/09
AYES: Kehoe, Corbett, Hancock, Leno, Oropeza, Price, Wolk,
Yee
NOES: Cox, Denham, Runner, Walters, Wyland
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 53-27, 5/28/09 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Plant pests: eradication: pesticide use:
notice
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill 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
CONTINUED
AB 1069
Page
2
complaints to be entered into a data base.
ANALYSIS :
Existing Law
1.Charges the Department of Food and Agriculture (DFA) 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, DFA 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 DFA to produce a list of potential invasive
pests and outline plans for addressing an infestation.
3.Requires DFA, in the event an invasive past enters
California and pesticides are used as a control agent in
an urban area, to notify the local government,
agricultural commissioner, and health officer. DFA must
also notify the public of the following: the existence
of the invasive pest; the consequences of not
eradicating, controlling, or managing it; the inactive
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. DFA must hold public
hearings in the areas affected before application and
establish a telephone hotline to report illness issues.
4.Requires DFA 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 DFA's hotline for urban pest eradication
AB 1069
Page
3
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 the notice to the public of likely pest
eradication spraying 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
According to the author's office, this bill seeks to
provide clarifying language to AB 2763 (Laird), Chapter
573, Statutes of 2008, by requiring DFA to provide specific
requirements in statute for DFA's hotline for urban pest
eradication spraying.
Background . DFA 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. DFA 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
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. DFA lists
the toll-free number on all materials that are distributed
to residents for aerial and ground treatments.
DFA 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
AB 1069
Page
4
of pesticide poisoning and pesticide worker health and
safety.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee analysis:
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12
Fund
Permanent public Up to $50
annually; costs dependent
Federal/*
outreach and on level of infestation, type of
spraying, General
response process pesticide used, public outreach, etc.
* Based on contract costs to respond to the light brown
apple moth infestation and aerial spraying; all costs were
federally funded. This bill would have negligible General
Fund costs; see Staff Comments.
SUPPORT : (Verified 9/1/09)
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
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : Supporters contend that this bill
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
AB 1069
Page
5
standardized reporting mechanism has caused hundreds of
illness reports to be dismissed as inadequate or improperly
filed. By establishing a standardized reporting system,
supporters feel that this bill will make it easier to
monitor pesticide exposure and document the effects of the
chemicals used.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Arambula, Beall, Block, Blumenfield,
Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter,
Chesbro, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, Eng, Evans,
Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Galgiani, Hall,
Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Huffman, Jones,
Krekorian, Lieu, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Monning,
Nava, John A. Perez, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino, Price,
Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Skinner, Solorio, Swanson,
Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Yamada, Bass
NOES: Anderson, Bill Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee,
Conway, Cook, DeVore, Duvall, Emmerson, Fuller, Gaines,
Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman, Harkey, Jeffries, Knight,
Logue, Miller, Nestande, Niello, Nielsen, Silva, Smyth,
Audra Strickland, Tran, Villines
DLW:cm 9/1/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
**** END ****