BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1176
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Date of Hearing: April 26, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY AND TOXIC MATERIALS
Bob Wieckowski, Chair
AB 1176 (Williams) - As Amended: April 12, 2011
SUBJECT : Pesticides: toxic air contaminant.
SUMMARY : Requires the Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR)
to adhere to a 180 day deadline for specified steps in the toxic
air contaminant (TAC) process. Requires DPR to each year adopt,
by regulation, control measures to protect human health for at
least two pesticides meeting the definition of a TAC.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Makes technical corrections to existing statute by correcting
the reference to the Office of Environmental Health Hazard
Assessments (OEHHA).
2)Adds a 180 day deadline to the existing requirement that the
director of DPR (director) complete a report on the health
effects of a pesticide that may be determined to be a TAC.
The 180 day period starts upon the completion of the
director's evaluation of the health effects of a pesticide
that may be determined to be a TAC.
3)Adds a 180 day deadline to the existing requirement that the
director determine the need for an appropriate degree of
control measures for each pesticide listed as a TAC.
Specifies that the director's determination must be written;
completed within 180 days after listing a pesticide as a TAC;
include all findings; and be made available to the public.
4)Changes, in the following manner, the existing requirement
that the director, in consultation with specified entities,
develop control measures designed to reduce significant
adverse health effects for pesticides determined to need
control measures:
a) Adds all identified TACs, not just those for which a
need for control measures has been determined, as
pesticides for which the director, in consultation with
specified entities, must develop control measures;
b) Adds OEHHA to the list of specified entities with which
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the director must consult when developing control measures
for pesticides identified as TACs; and,
c) Requires the director to develop control measures for a
pesticide identified as a TAC within 180 days of the
director's written determination that the pesticide needs
control measures.
5)States the presumption that exposures in excess of Reference
Concentrations established in a report on a TAC may cause or
contribute to significant adverse health effects.
6)Requires the director to each year adopt, by regulation,
control measures to protect human health with respect to at
least two pesticides meeting the definition of a TAC.
7)Requires the director to give priority to the regulation of a
pesticide meeting the definition of a TAC, based on the
pesticide's risk of harm to public health; the amount or
potential amount of emissions of the pesticide in any
community or statewide; the manner and quantity of usage of
the pesticide in any community or statewide; and, the ambient
concentrations of the pesticide in any community or statewide.
8)Specifies that DPR has no obligation to adopt control measures
for any specific pesticide if the director, the State Air
Resources Board (ARB), and OEHHA concur in writing that there
is no need for control measures to protect human health from
airborne emissions of that specific pesticide.
9)Adds a 180 day deadline to the existing requirement that after
conducting a public hearing, the director must adopt, by
regulation, control measures for those pesticides for which a
need has been determined. Specifies that the director must
adopt these regulations no later than 180 days after the
development of control measures for the pesticide.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes OEHHA pursuant to the Governor's Reorganization
Plan Number 1 of 1991. Provides that OEHHA succeeds to, and
is vested with, all the duties, powers, purposes,
responsibilities and jurisdiction of the Health Hazard
Assessment Division of Department of Health Services (DHS)
(Health and Safety Code (HSC) � 59000). Requires OEHHA to
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provide scientific peer review of risk assessments conducted
by DPR (Food and Agriculture Code � 11454.1).
2)Defines "toxic air contaminant" as an air pollutant that may
cause or contribute to an increase in mortality or an increase
in serious illness, or which may pose a present or potential
hazard to human health. Specifies that pesticides that have
been identified as hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) pursuant to
federal law shall be identified by the director as toxic air
contaminants.
3)Requires the director, in consultation with DHS and the ARB,
to evaluate, as specified, the health effects of pesticides
which may be or are emitted into the ambient air of California
and which may be determined to be a TAC.
4)Requires, upon completion of the evaluation and in
consultation with DHS, the director to prepare a report, as
specified, on the health effects of the pesticide which may be
determined to be TAC.
5)Requires the director to determine, in consultation with the
DHS, the ARB, and the air pollution control districts or air
quality management districts in the affected counties, the
need for and appropriate degree of control measures for each
pesticide listed as a TAC.
6)Requires, for pesticides determined to need control measures,
the director, in consultation with the agricultural
commissioners and air pollution control districts and air
quality management districts in the affected counties, to
design control measures that reduce emissions sufficiently so
that the source will not expose the public to the levels of
exposure that may cause or contribute to significant adverse
health effects.
7)Requires the director to adopt, by regulation, control
measures, including application of the best practicable
control techniques, for those pesticides for which a need has
been determined.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown.
COMMENTS :
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Need for the bill : According to the author, "California's law
to protect the public from airborne pesticides-most notably
fumigants-is not functioning as intended. In 1983, the
California legislature passed the Toxic Air Contaminant (TAC)
Act with the intent of protecting public health from toxic
airborne pollutants, including pesticides. Nearly 3 decades
later, the Department of Pesticide Regulation has listed only
seven pesticides and one pesticide breakdown product as Toxic
Air Contaminants out of the more than 900 pesticides registered
in the state.
Of even greater concern, to date, DPR has taken almost no action
under the TAC law to regulate any of the listed pesticides. For
example, the fumigant breakdown product MITC was declared a TAC
in 2002; eight years later, DPR finally issued suggested use
restrictions that only partially mitigate exposure to this TAC.
Drift of MITC was responsible for 612 illnesses between 1997 and
2002.
Properly implemented and enforced, this law could do a
tremendous amount to reduce pesticide air pollution. The
proposed change in the statute will provide a definitive time
frame for DPR to begin and complete TAC evaluations. AB 1176
would require enforceable timelines for the TAC regulatory
process for pesticides, including deadlines for reporting on
health effects and exposure, final listing decisions, and
developing and implementing measures to reduce air levels of
pesticides on federal and state toxic air contaminant lists."
The Toxic Air Contaminant (TAC) program : The Legislature
created the statutory framework for the evaluation and control
of chemicals as TACs with the enactment of California's Toxic
Air Contaminant Act (AB 1807, Tanner, Chapter 1047, Statutes of
1983). The statute defines TACs as air pollutants that may
cause or contribute to increases in serious illness or death, or
that may pose a present or potential hazard to human health.
Included in the definition are substances listed as Hazardous
Air Pollutants (HAPs) under United States Code. DPR is
responsible for the evaluation of pesticides as TACs.
According to DPR, the TAC program consists of two phases: risk
assessment (evaluation and identification) and risk management
(control). The program's first phase involves an extensive
evaluation of the candidate pesticide to assess potential
adverse health effects and to estimate levels of exposure
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associated with its use. Following the evaluation, the law
requires the preparation of a report for each pesticide that
includes: an assessment of exposure of the public to ambient
concentrations of the pesticide; a risk assessment; an overview
of the environmental fate and use of the pesticide; and the
results of air monitoring studies to measure the levels of the
candidate pesticide present in ambient air. The report is
reviewed by OEHHA and the ARB, and is made available for public
review. The draft then undergoes peer review for scientific
soundness by the Scientific Review Panel, a panel of experts
representing a range of scientific disciplines. Based on the
results of this comprehensive evaluation, the director of DPR
determines whether the candidate is a TAC. If the director
determines the pesticide meets the criteria to be a TAC, DPR
declares the pesticide a TAC in regulation, and adds it to the
TAC list.
Once a candidate pesticide has been declared a TAC, it enters
phase two of the program-the mitigation, or control, phase. In
the mitigation phase, DPR investigates the need for, and
appropriate degree of, control for the TAC. If reductions in
exposure are needed, DPR must develop control measures to reduce
emissions to levels that adequately protect public health. In
developing control measures, DPR is legally required to
coordinate with the agricultural commissioners, air pollution
control districts, and air quality management districts in the
counties where the pesticide is used. Control measures may be
implemented by several methods, including regulatory actions,
local permit conditions, and product cancellation.
This bill adds statutory deadlines to the existing TAC process.
It also requires DPR to promulgate regulations to establish
control measures for at least two pesticides meeting the
definition of a TAC each year.
Conforming changes : The Governor's Reorganization Plan of 1991
created OEHHA within the California Environmental Protection
Agency (CalEPA) (HSC � 59000 et seq.). The Reorganization Plan
provided that OEHHA succeeds to, and is vested with, all the
duties, powers, purposes, responsibilities and jurisdiction of
the Health Hazard Assessment Division of DHS. This bill makes
conforming changes to statute reflecting the Reorganization
Plan.
Support : According to supporters, "Fumigants are some of the
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most dangerous pesticides on the market. They are applied in
large quantities, vaporize easily, drift away from where they
are applied and expose nearby workers and other community
members to harm. Fumigants have caused many mass farmworker and
community poisonings that can lead to cancer, reproductive harm,
respiratory or nervous system damage, and damage to children's
development. California's law to protect the public from
airborne pesticides-including but not limited to fumigants-are
not working as intended. In 1983, the Toxic Air Contaminant
Identification and Control (TAC) Act was enacted with the intent
of protecting public health from toxic airborne pollutants,
including pesticides. Unfortunately, since then, of the more
than 900 pesticides registered in California, DPR has completed
the review process for only eight and only implemented partial
mitigation measures for one. By comparison, as of 2005, the Air
Resources Board had listed 22 nonpesticide pollutants as TACs
and implemented mitigation measures for over 100 nonpesticide
EPAlisted Hazardous Air Pollutants.
Opposition : According to opponents, AB 1176 contains numerous
changes to the states review of pesticides that will seriously
impede and distort the scientific process conducted by the
Department of Pesticide Regulation and the California EPA
Scientific Review Panel?. First,? it would severely limit the
amount of time the Office of Environmental Health Hazards and
the Air Resources Board would have for their peer review that
often involves performing additional air and water monitoring
and evaluation?. Second, AB 1176 would single out and
significantly disrupt DPR's risk management process in a manner
that does not occur in any other department or agency in the
state.? Third, another damaging change to DPR's risk management
process is mandating that OEHHA have a consulting role in
developing control measures for pesticides identified as TAC's.?
Fourth, AB 1176 replaces the interdepartmental pesticide
prioritization process initiated in 2004 by DPR with the Office
of Environmental Health and Hazards Assessment and the Air
Resources Board?. This time consuming, unnecessary step would
require significant staffing increases for all three agencies,
especially for OEHHA and DPR to review pesticides that do not
need or merit this review."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
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California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation -CRLAF (Sponsor)
Breast Cancer Fund
California Pan-Ethnic Health Network-CPEHN
Californians for Pesticide Reform
Center for Environmental Health-CEH
Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment- CRPE
Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy- CAUSE
Clean Water Action
Coalition for Clean Air
Consumer Federation of California
Dolores Huerta Foundation
Ecology Center
Environmental Working Group
Having Our Say Coalition- HOS
Mothers of Marin Against The Spray- MOMAS
Pesticide Watch
San Francisco Baykeeper
Sierra Club
Opposition
CA Association of Wheat Growers
CA Bean Shippers Association
CA Chamber of Commerce
CA Citrus Mutual
CA Cotton Ginners and Hullers Association
CA Farm Bureau
CA Grain and Feed Association
CA Grape and Tree Fruit League
CA Pear Growers Association
CA Seed Association
CA State Floral Association
CA Women for Agriculture
Nisei Farmers League
Western Agricultural Processors Association
Western Growers
Western Plant Health Association
Analysis Prepared by : Shannon McKinney / E.S. & T.M. / (916)
319-3965
AB 1176
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