BILL NUMBER: AB 1259	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Levine

                        FEBRUARY 27, 2015

   An act to add Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 8305) to
Division 1 of Title 2 of the Government Code, relating to pesticides.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   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:

  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares as follows:
   (a) Bees and other pollinators are critical to agricultural
production and native ecosystems. Bees pollinate billions of dollars
of agricultural crops in the United States, including many of
California's most important agricultural crops.
   (b) Bees are at significant risk of harm due to a condition known
as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). In the United States alone, more
than 25 percent of the managed bee population has disappeared since
1990 and the number of hives is at its lowest number in 50 years. CCD
and the loss of bees is a significant threat to our state and
national food supply and economic security.
   (c) While there is no single cause of CCD, a substantial and
growing body of evidence points to neonicotinoid pesticides as a
likely factor in bee colony collapse. Neonicotinoid pesticides are
absorbed into plant tissue, do not discriminate between target and
nontarget inspect species, and are harmful to bees, butterflies, and
other beneficial insects.
   (d) The state has recognized the importance of protecting bees by
encouraging placement of bee hives on state lands such as wildlife
areas managed by the Department of Fish and Wildlife.
   (e) Monarch butterflies, another important native pollinator, are
also severely threatened by loss of native milkweed upon which they
depend, loss of wintering habitat in California, pesticides, and
other factors. Monarch populations are in rapid decline. According to
the annual census taken at the monarch's wintering grounds in Mexico
in 2013, the monarch population dropped by 59 percent compared to
the prior year's census, bringing the monarch's numbers to the
smallest registered population in almost two decades.
   (f) Vegetation maintained on lands managed by the state, such as
along roadways and utility rights-of-way, could help provide
beneficial habitat for bees, monarch butterflies, and other
pollinators if properly managed.
   (g) The state should exercise caution when exposing bees and other
pollinators to plants that may harm them, especially on state lands
that may be utilized by bees.
  SEC. 2.  Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 8305) is added to
Division 1 of Title 2 of the Government Code, to read:
      CHAPTER 4.5.  PLANTING ON STATE-OWNED OR STATE-MANAGED LANDS


   8305.  For the purposes of this chapter:
   (a) "State-owned or state-managed lands" include, but are not
limited to, roadside lands owned and maintained by the Department of
Transportation, wildlife areas managed by the Department of Fish and
Wildlife, parklands managed by the Department of Parks and
Recreation, and wildlife habitat lands owned or managed by a state
conservancy.
   (b) "Treated" includes foliar and granular treatments, in addition
to seed coatings.
   8306.  (a) Plants or seeds that have been treated with a
neonicotinoid pesticide shall not be planted on state-owned or
state-managed lands.
   (b) Plants on state-owned or state-managed lands shall not be
treated with a neonicotinoid pesticide.