BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  AB 2122
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   April 14, 2010

                          ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE
                              Cathleen Galgiani, Chair
                   AB 2122 (Mendoza) - As Amended:  March 25, 2010
           
          SUBJECT  :  Pesticides: regulations: continuing education.

           SUMMARY  :  Requires any regulations adopted or amended dealing  
          with continuing education (CE) for any pesticide application or  
          license to include specific minimum course requirements and  
          require that the Director of the Department of Pesticide  
          Regulation (DPR) act within 15 days to approve or reject CE  
          courses.  Specifically,  this bill  :  

          1)Requires regulations adopted or amended for CE, as required by  
            existing law, to establish minimum course requirements to  
            address the following areas:

             a)   Organic and sustainable practices;

             b)   Nutrient management practices, including but not limited  
               to, water and air monitoring and residual mitigation;

             c)   Maximum residual levels;

             d)   Quarantine practices; and,

             e)   On-Farm storage of fumigants.

          2)Requires a regulation adopted or amended for CE to require the  
            director of DPR to approve or reject within 15 days any CE  
            courses submitted in accordance with existing law.

          3)Makes technical changes replacing the reference to "Department  
            of Pesticide Regulation's" with "department's."

           EXISTING LAW  permits DPR to adopt regulations establishing the  
          minimum requirements for education, CE, training, experience,  
          and examination for applicants of any license or certificate, or  
          renewals of any license or certificate, or renewal of any  
          license or certificate issued by DPR pursuant to their  
          authority; prohibits the renewal of a license or certificate if  
          the recipient does not complete require CE during the period of  
          validity of the license or certificate; requires the  








                                                                  AB 2122
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          establishment of fees for licenses, certificates, and  
          examinations, penalties for late payments and requires the fees  
          be so set that they support the cost of these programs; requires  
          all regulations be adopted  in accordance with Title 2 of the  
          Government Code; and, requires that the Office of Administrative  
          Law consider these as emergency regulations.  (Food and  
          Agricultural Code Section 11502.5.)

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  This bill is keyed "fiscal" by Legislative  
          Counsel.

           COMMENTS  :  The sponsors are frustrated by the current approval  
          process, which makes it difficult for Pest Control Advisors  
          (PCAs) and Licensed Applicators (LAs) to meet their CE  
          requirements.  They have had CE requests for multiple hours sent  
          to DPR and advertised to participants those hours, and then have  
          them significantly reduced by DPR without time to get additional  
          hours approved.  This is a problem for the industry that is  
          trying to meet certification requirements in a timely manner.

          They state that the purpose of AB 2122 is to broaden the CE  
          curriculum offered to PCA and other DPR licensed professionals  
          to include the latest trends and innovations in crop production  
          and pest controls.  DPR has not significantly changed its core  
          course requirements since the mid 1990s, and much has changed in  
          the area of agronomic practices, environmental protection and  
          stewardship, water use, monitoring and enforcement requirements,  
          nutrient and plant health. Further, they feel the 15 day course  
          accreditation requirement for DPR will enhance the CE  
          opportunities for DPR licensees.

          According to DPR's website, the purpose of CE is to ensure  
          license and certificate holders keep their knowledge current in  
          the area of laws and regulations; provide proper, safe and  
          efficient pesticide use; protect public health, environment and  
          property; and encourage safe working conditions for agricultural  
          and pest control workers.  Examples of CE course subjects cover  
          pest management and pesticides and may include college level  
          instruction, demonstrations or presentations of current applied  
          research; professional or technical seminars; demonstrations  
          relating to pesticides or pest management; and, field trial  
          tours.  Sales presentations or exams and testing are not  
          approved for CE credit.

          DPR provides examples of course topics, other than pest  








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          management and pesticides, which may be approved, are as  
          follows: Pest identification, crop ecosystems, pest life  
          histories, economic thresholds, cultural practices, biological  
          control, plant and animal management systems, chemical control  
          and other components of pest management systems.  Other examples  
          include characteristics, advantages, selection, use, cleanup,  
          and care of ground equipment; use of compressed air, back-pack,  
          low-pressure, high-pressure hydraulic, and air-blast sprayers;  
          ultra-low volume, injection pump, dust and granular  
          applications; application and drift reduction techniques; and  
          equipment calibration.

          All of these topics relate back to pest management and  
          pesticides. The committee may wish DPR to keep "pest management  
          and pesticides" the focus for CE as it relates to AB 2122, even  
          with its expanded areas for course subjects.  Further, by  
          stating the areas for course subjects, it eliminates any other  
          subjects that could be covered because they are not listed.  The  
          committee may wish to include the phrase "including but not  
          limited to" prior to the subject list.  Current regulations  
          require that PCAs and LAs are required to complete a specified  
          number of hours of CE prior to renewal of their licenses.  

          PCAs are being asked to provide a broader range of advice to  
          farmers and ranchers than the historic pest management and  
          pesticides.  Such advice could include how to handle pesticides,  
          in order to meet of the State Water Resources Control Board's  
          waste water discharge requirements from a property, or meeting  
          the air quality requirements of a regional air quality board.   
          PCAs provide a range of crop production advice ranging from land  
          preparation, planting, irrigation, fertilization, cultivation  
          and harvest, so the need to be educated on the latest techniques  
          and technology in these areas can benefit them and the farmer.   
          The committee may wish to consider if these subject areas are  
          appropriate as CE for a PCA or LA license and if DPR has the  
          expertise in these subject areas to address CE courses and their  
          appropriate hours of credit?

          In requesting approval of a CE class, regulations require  
          submission of a CE request at least 30 days prior to the event,  
          which is roughly the timeframe DPR uses for approval or  
          rejection of the classes and hour credits.  When a request is  
          made, the presenter provides the hours of credit proposed, which  
          may be reduced by DPR if they do not cover the appropriate  
          subject matter as determined by DPR.  This has caused some  








                                                                  AB 2122
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          disputes between the requesters and DPR.  

          The committee may wish to consider if 15 days is the appropriate  
          timeframe for approval or rejection of a CE request.  CE  
          requests travel through several hands in the approval process at  
          DPR.  First they go to the cashier for handling of the required  
          fees, then to the appropriate approval personal, which may  
          include multiple personnel if the request covers several areas,  
          then to the Director for final approval.  Under the current  
          environment with furloughs, the approval personnel may have less  
          than 10 days to review the request, and in order to meet the  
          terms of AB 2122, reject applications without cause.  There are  
          two pending requests shown on DPR's web site reflecting receipt  
          dates of November and December of 2009, that still are waiting  
          for approval, while there are roughly 42 classes listed as  
          having been added in the last 15 days, but include dates of  
          January, March and early April of 2010.  DPR has even developed  
          a workshop for later this month to assist in educating the CE  
          accreditation process.

           REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :   

           Support 
           
          California Association of Pest Control Advisors (Sponsor)

           Opposition 
           
          None on file.
           

          Analysis Prepared by  :    Jim Collin / AGRI. / (916) 319-2084