BILL NUMBER: SB 1157 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 23, 2010
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 1, 2010
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 28, 2010
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 19, 2010
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 5, 2010
INTRODUCED BY Senator DeSaulnier
FEBRUARY 18, 2010
An act to add Section 17615 to the Education Code, relating to
pesticides.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1157, as amended, DeSaulnier. Education: Healthy Schools Act of
2010.
(1) Existing law generally regulates pesticide use and requires
the Department of Pesticide Regulation to promote and facilitate the
voluntary adoption of integrated pest management by school districts.
This bill, commencing when specified funds are made available,
would prohibit public schools from using any of the most highly toxic
pesticides, as defined, on school property, except as specified.
If a highest risk pesticide is used, this bill would require
school staff to submit a pesticide use report, as specified. The bill
would require the Department of Pesticide Regulation to update its
school integrated pest management program Internet Web site to
facilitate identification of use of highest risk pesticides, as
specified.
The bill would authorize the coordinator of the integrated pest
management program, or a school designee, as specified, to use the
most highly toxic pesticides , in the case of an emergency
condition, after consulting with program staff and the local public
health official who has determined that a public health emergency
exists, if the requirements of the Healthy Schools Act of 2000
are met. The bill would require a school district that uses
highest risk pesticides to participate i n training,
provide notification of use to parents, and post the area of the
schoolsite where those pesticides will be applied, as specified.
Because the bill would impose new duties on school districts,
it would impose a state-mandated local program.
This bill would require the Department of Pesticide Regulation,
beginning January 1, 2012, and annually thereafter, to set an
adequate fee on manufacturers or importers
and brokers of the most highly toxic pesticides, as defined.
The bill would require the department to develop and adopt
regulations to establish the amount of the fee, as specified.
(2) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse
local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these
statutory provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. (a) The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of
the following:
(1) Pesticides have been linked to numerous acute and chronic
illnesses, including cancer and asthma.
(2) Because children's bodies and brains are still developing,
exposure to pesticides can have detrimental and irreversible effects.
(2) According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, children between 6 and 11 years of age have higher levels
of commonly used pesticides in their bodies than any other age
group, with an average of six pesticides per child. According to
research conducted by the University of California, San Francisco,
children's diseases and conditions linked to pesticide exposure,
which include learning disabilities, cancer of the brain and
leukemia, birth defects, and asthma, have increased dramatically over
the past 30 years. Because children's bodies and brains are still
developing, exposure to pesticides can have irreversible detrimental
effects.
(3) Recognizing the impact of pesticides on the school community,
the Department of Pesticide Regulation has developed an Internet Web
site, written training materials, and conducted regional training
sessions to assist schools that have chosen to adopt least-toxic
integrated pest management techniques and to eliminate use of the
most dangerous pesticides.
(4) However, many California public schools continue to use highly
toxic pesticides. Least-toxic pest management activities have
actually decreased from 2004 to 2007, inclusive, as measured by the
report titled, 2007 Integrated Pest Management Survey of California
School Districts, prepared for the Department of Pesticide
Regulation. Forty-two percent of school districts that responded to t
he survey stated that they were still broadcast spraying
pesticides, one of the highest risk practices for exposing children
and staff and contaminating the environment. Of the school districts
that claimed to be implementing integrated pest management practices,
62 percent stated that the costs were the same or less than using
chemical-intensive methods.
(5) According to the State Department of Education, there are over
1,000 school districts, and about 9,900 schoolsites in California
servicing over 6,000,000 pupils.
(5)
(6) It is necessary to take precautionary measures to
protect the health and safety of California schoolchildren and
teachers, and better ensure a safe learning and working environment.
(b) This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the Healthy
Schools Act of 2010.
SEC. 2. Section 17615 is added to the Education Code, to read:
17615. (a) Commencing when funds are made available pursuant to
subdivision (g) (i) , a public school
shall not use any of the most highly toxic pesticides on school
property unless the pest problem to be addressed cannot be
effectively managed with a lower risk pesticide.
an alternative lower risk method, it consults with the
Department of Pesticide Regulation's school integrated pest
management program staff, and the local public health
officer determines that a public health emergency exists. School
staff who use a highest risk pesticide shall submit a pesticide use
report in the same manner as contractors that use any pesticide in
accordance with the Healthy Schools Act of 2000 (Article 17
(commencing with Section 13180) of Chapter 2 of Division 7 of the
Food and Agricultural Code).
(b) For purposes of this section, "public school" has the same
meaning as "schoolsite" as defined in Section 17609.
(b)
(c) For purposes of this section, "most highly toxic
pesticides" means any of the following :
following:
(1) Pesticide products that are neurotoxic organophosphorus
compounds, containing N-methyl-carbamate or cholinesterase
inhibitors, as designated by the Materials Data Sheet of the
Department of Pesticide Regulation, for the particular chemical.
(2) Pesticide products containing active ingredients rated by the
United States Environmental Protection Agency as A or B carcinogens
or substances listed as, known or probable human carcinogens as
designated by the International Agency for Research for Cancer, the
United States Environmental Protection Agency, the United States
National Toxicology Program, or pursuant to the Safe Drinking Water
and Toxics Enforcement Act of 1986, and are likely to be human
carcinogens, or suggestive of being human carcinogens, as described
in the "List of Chemicals Evaluated for Carcinogenic Potential," or
known to the state to cause cancer as listed pursuant to the
California Safe Drinking Water Act (Chapter 4 (commencing with
Section 116270) of Part 12 of Division 104 of the Health and Safety
Code).
(3) Pesticide products containing active ingredients that cause
birth defects, reproductive harm, or developmental harm as identified
by the United States Environmental Protection Agency or listed
pursuant to the California Safe Drinking Water Act (Chapter 4
(commencing with Section 116270) of Part 12 of Division 104 of the
Health and Safety Code) or as designated pursuant to the Safe
Drinking Water and Toxics Enforcement Act of 1986.
(4) Pesticide products with high acute toxicity as defined by the
United States Environmental Protection Agency in Toxicity Categories
I and II, as defined in Part 156.62 of Title 40 of the Code of
Federal Regulations, or designated by the World Health Organization
or the United States National Toxicology Program.
(d) The Department of Pesticide Regulation shall update its school
integrated pest management program Internet Web site maintained
pursuant to Section 13184 of the Food and Agricultural Code, for the
purpose of ease in identifying highest risk pesticides from the
pesticide use report data submitted by contractors in the most recent
fiscal year.
(c)
(e) (1) In the case of an
emergency condition as defined in subdivision (c) of Section 17609,
the coordinator of the integrated pest management program, if the
school district has established an integrated pest management
program, or the school district designee, as defined in subdivision
(d) of Section 17609, may permit the use of the most highly toxic
pesticide if the pest problem to be addressed cannot be
effectively managed with a lower risk method, and it consults with
the Department of Pesticide Regulation's school integrated pest
management program staff, the local public health officer determines
that a public health emergency exists, and the provisions of
the Healthy Schools Act of 2000 (Article 17 (commencing with Section
13180) of Chapter 2 of Division 7 of the Food and Agricultural Code)
are met.
(2) Any use of highest risk pesticides must be identified on the
pesticide use reports, required by Section 13186 of the Food and
Agricultural Code, so that the Department of Pesticide Regulation
school integrated pest management program staff are able to easily
track school districts' use of exemption and highest risk pesticides.
The Department of Pesticide Regulation shall review school
integrated pest management program pesticide use reports on a
quarterly basis, or more frequently, and require representatives of
those school districts using highest risk pesticides to participate
in its integrated pest management training program within six months.
The department shall assist schools that have used highest risk
pesticides in effectively utilizing the department's integrated pest
management program Internet Web site, with its expansive links to
safer alternatives for pest problems, in accordance with the Healthy
Schools Act of 2000.
(3) Notification of exemption to use highest risk pesticide shall
be provided to parents or guardians of pupils enrolled at a
schoolsite in accordance with paragraph (2) of Section 17612. In
addition, notification must include the highest risk category of the
product used, the telephone numbers of the school integrated pest
management coordinator or designated appointee and the local county
public health officer, and the Internet Web site address for the
Department of Pesticide Regulation school integrated pest management
program. In addition, this notice shall also be provided to all staff
employed at the schoolsite where the pesticide will be applied.
(4) Each area of the schoolsite where the highest risk pesticide
will be applied shall be posted pursuant to subdivision (d) of
Section 17612. In addition, posting in both English and Spanish shall
include the toxicity category of the highest risk pesticide product
or products used and provide the following information:
(A) The telephone number of the school integrated pest management
coordinator or his or her designated appointee.
(B) The telephone number of the local county public health
officer.
(C) The Internet Web site for the Department of Pesticide
Regulation school integrated pest management program.
In addition, postings shall be placed in all likely points of
entry at distances no further than 20 feet apart if entry points are
wider than 40 feet. Postings shall be printed on paper that is at
least eight and one-half inches by 11 inches and placed in
unobstructed locations.
(d)
(f) This section does not apply to any of the
following:
(1) Sanitizers and disinfectants.
(2) Pesticide products deployed in the form of a self-contained
bait or trap.
(3) Gels or pastes deployed as crack and crevice treatment. "Crack
and crevice treatment" means the application of small quantities of
a pesticide, consistent with labeling instructions, in a building
into openings such as those commonly found at expansion joints,
between levels of construction, and between equipment and floors.
(4) Activities undertaken at a school by participants in the state
program of agricultural vocational education, pursuant to Article 7
(commencing with Section 52450) of Chapter 9 of Part 28 of Division 4
of Title 2, if the activities are necessary to meet the curriculum
requirements prescribed in Section 52454. Nothing in this subdivision
relieves schools participating in the state program of agricultural
vocational education of any duties pursuant to this section for
activities that are not directly related to the curriculum
requirements of Section 52454.
(5) Agricultural uses.
(e)
(g) This section does not abrogate the authority of
county health officers, the Department of Food and Agriculture,
mosquito and vector control districts, the State Department of Public
Health, or other state agencies that are responsible for pest
management decisions that may affect public schools in California.
(f)
(h) This section does not preclude a school district
from adopting stricter pesticide use policies or from enforcing
stricter policies that have already been adopted.
(g)
(i) (1) A fund is hereby established in the State
Treasury to be known as the Healthy Schools Act of 2010 Fund. Moneys
deposited in this fund may be expended by the Director of Pesticides
Regulation upon appropriation by statute, for the purposes of
implementing this section.
(2) The Department of Pesticide Regulation shall, beginning
January 1, 2012, and annually thereafter, set the amount of a fee on
manufacturers or importers and brokers
of the most highly toxic pesticides, as defined by this section, that
the department determines to be sufficient and limited to reimburse
the department for the cost of administering and enforcing
the Healthy Schools Act of 2010, and reimburse local agencies and
school districts for costs of implementing this section.
(3) The Department of Pesticide Regulation shall develop and adopt
regulations to establish the amount of an adequate fee for purposes
of this section. The department shall adopt regulations for purposes
of this subdivision in accordance with Chapter 3.5 (commencing with
Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government
Code. The adoption, amendment, readoption, or repeal of these
regulations shall be considered by the Office of Administrative Law
as an emergency, and necessary for the immediate preservation of the
public peace, health, safety, and general welfare. Notwithstanding
any other provision of law, the regulations shall remain in effect
until amended by the department. The department shall make available
to the public, upon the adoption of an emergency regulation
establishing a new fee, the information upon which the department has
calculated, based, or determined the new fee.
(4) The Department of Pesticide Regulation shall borrow moneys
from the Department of Pesticide Regulation Fund to cover the
department's costs in developing and adopting regulations and
establishing a fee for purposes of this subdivision. The department
shall repay the loan using moneys from the Healthy Schools Act of
2010 Fund as they become available.
(5) The Department of Pesticide Regulation shall use the databases
of all of the following public agencies and international
organizations in order to assess and identify the most highly toxic
pesticides as defined in subdivision (c) :
(A) State Department of Health Care Services.
(B) United States Environmental Protection Agency.
(C) United States Department of Health and Human Services.
(D) National Institutes of Health.
(E) World Health Organization.
(F) International Agency for Research on Cancer.
(G) European Union.
SEC. 3. If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this
act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local
agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant
to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of
the Government Code.