AB 1259, as introduced, Levine. Pesticides: neonicotinoids: planting on state-owned or state-managed lands: prohibition.
Existing law generally regulates pesticide use, and requires the Director of Pesticide Regulation to endeavor to eliminate from use any pesticide that endangers the agricultural or nonagricultural environment. Existing law requires pesticides to be registered by the Department of Pesticide Regulation. Existing law requires that a pesticide be thoroughly evaluated prior to registration, provides for the continued evaluation of registered pesticides, and requires the department, by July 1, 2018, to issue a determination with respect to its reevaluation of neonicotinoids. Existing law requires the department, within 2 years after making this determination, to adopt any control measures necessary to protect pollinator health.
This bill would prohibit plants or seeds that have been treated with a neonicotinoid pesticide from being planted on state-owned or state-managed lands, as described. This bill would also prohibit plants on state-owned or state-managed lands from being treated with a neonicotinoid pesticide.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
The Legislature finds and declares as follows:
2(a) Bees and other pollinators are critical to agricultural
3production and native ecosystems. Bees pollinate billions of dollars
4of agricultural crops in the United States, including many of
5California’s most important agricultural crops.
6(b) Bees are at significant risk of harm due to a condition known
7as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). In the United States alone,
8more than 25 percent of the managed bee population has
9disappeared since 1990 and the number of hives is at its lowest
10number in 50 years. CCD and the loss of bees is a significant threat
11to our state and national food supply and economic security.
12(c) While there is no single cause of CCD, a substantial and
13growing body of evidence points to neonicotinoid pesticides as a
14likely factor in bee colony collapse. Neonicotinoid pesticides are
15absorbed into plant tissue, do not discriminate between target and
16nontarget inspect species, and are harmful to bees, butterflies, and
17other beneficial insects.
18(d) The state has recognized the importance of protecting bees
19by encouraging placement of bee hives on state lands such as
20wildlife areas managed by the Department of Fish and Wildlife.
21(e) Monarch butterflies, another important native pollinator, are
22also severely threatened by loss of native milkweed upon which
23they depend, loss of wintering habitat in California, pesticides,
24and other factors. Monarch populations are in rapid decline.
25According to the annual census
taken at the monarch’s wintering
26grounds in Mexico in 2013, the monarch population dropped by
2759 percent compared to the prior year’s census, bringing the
28monarch’s numbers to the smallest registered population in almost
29two decades.
30(f) Vegetation maintained on lands managed by the state, such
31as along roadways and utility rights-of-way, could help provide
32beneficial habitat for bees, monarch butterflies, and other
33pollinators if properly managed.
34(g) The state should exercise caution when exposing bees and
35other pollinators to plants that may harm them, especially on state
36lands that may be utilized by bees.
Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 8305) is added
38to Division 1 of Title 2 of the Government Code, to read:
For the purposes of this chapter:
5(a) “State-owned or state-managed lands” include, but are not
6limited to, roadside lands owned and maintained by the Department
7of Transportation, wildlife areas managed by the Department of
8Fish and Wildlife, parklands managed by the Department of Parks
9and Recreation, and wildlife habitat lands owned or managed by
10a state conservancy.
11(b) “Treated” includes foliar and granular treatments, in addition
12to seed coatings.
(a) Plants or seeds that have been treated with a
14neonicotinoid pesticide shall not be planted on state-owned or
15state-managed lands.
16(b) Plants on state-owned or state-managed lands shall not be
17treated with a neonicotinoid pesticide.
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