BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1176
Page 1
Date of Hearing: January 11, 2012
THIS BILL IS FOR VOTE ONLY
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE
Cathleen Galgiani, Chair
AB 1176 (Williams) - As Amended: January 4, 2012
ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY (5-3)
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|Ayes:|Wieckowski, Campos, | | |
| |Davis, Feuer, Bonnie | | |
| |Lowenthal | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
|Nays:|Miller, Morrell, Valadao | | |
| | | | |
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SUBJECT : Pesticides: toxic air contaminants.
SUMMARY : Makes new requirements for public access to specified
determinations and findings pertaining to Toxic Air Contaminates
(TAC); establishes a two-year time frame for the adoption of
control measures for pesticides determined to be TACs or a
hazardous air pollutant TAC (HAP-TAC), as specified, and, makes
technical and conforming changes. Specifically, this bill :
1)Conforms and updates the reference from the State Department
of Health (SDH) to the Office of Environmental Health Hazard
Assessment (OEHHA).
2)Requires, pertaining to TACs and HAP-TACs, that all
determinations and findings by consulting agencies be made
available to the public.
3)Requires DPR to follow existing consulting measures, within
two years after determination of the need for control measures
for HAP-TAC that has undergone a risk assessment, in
accordance with statute, to adopt control measures to protect
human health or submit a report to the Legislature setting
forth reasons that this requirement has not been met.
4)Defines, that for this section, with respect to any pesticide
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determined to need control measures prior to January 1, 2013,
the two-year period described previous begins January 1, 2013.
EXISTING LAW establishes OEHHA, pursuant to Governor Wilson's
Reorganization Plan Number 1 (GRP-1) of 1991, as a separate
agency that provides independent health risk assessments to
support California Air Resources Board (CARB), Department of
Toxic Substance Control, DPR, and California Department of
Public Health (previously known as SDH), standards and control
measures for air, water, soil, and product contaminants. Under
GRP-1, OEHHA assumed statutory responsibilities previously held
by SDH. Pursuant to these statutory mandates, OEHHA reviews and
makes findings relative to DPR's health risk assessment for
pesticide TACs, and conducts the health risk assessment for
non-pesticide TACs regulated by CARB. The statutes also
provides for OEHHA to have joint responsibility with DPR in
developing pesticide worker safety regulations, operating under
a memorandum of understanding.
DPR is responsible for all pesticides used in California;
requires all pesticides to be approved and registered, and
determines how they are to be used; provides for enforcement for
registration or misuse, including fines and penalties; and,
authorizes that additional requests for data and studies be made
on any registered product, at any time. DPR is required to
complete a risk assessment report and a risk management plan for
each pesticide being registered, and to establish usage controls
to protect public and worker health, agronomic application rates
and enforcement actions.
Statues define TACs as air pollutants 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. Statute establishes specific procedures for DPR
on TACs to develop the risk assessment and risk management
plans, and establishes federally identified hazardous air
pollutants as state identified TACs. DPR is required, in
consultation with OEHHA and CARB, to evaluate health effects of
pesticides that may or are emitted in the ambient air of
California and to determine which ones qualify as TACs. DPR,
upon the request of CARB, is required to include a pesticide in
the TAC evaluation process, and establishes a process for the
evaluation requiring the inclusion of all available scientific
data, and requires the documentation of airborne emissions
levels. Statute allows DPR to request, or any person to submit,
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information on any substance which may be under review, and
provides a criteria for the handling of trade secrets. DPR is
required to give priority in evaluation and control measures
based upon factors related to risk of harm to the public, amount
or potential amount of emissions, manner of usage, persistence
in the air, and ambient concentrations in a community.
TAC statute requires, upon completion of the evaluation, that a
risk assessment report is prepared in consultation with OEHHA
and the Scientific Review Panel (SRP - an appointed panel of
academics and scientists), including the health effects of the
pesticide, assessing the availability of and quality of data on
health effects available for potency, mode of action, and other
relevant biological factors of the pesticide. The report shall
also contain estimated exposure levels and when no threshold is
available, a range of risk to humans resulting from current or
anticipated exposure, and include findings of OEHHA, and is to
be made available to the public. This report is to be reviewed
by SRP in order to confirm that its information is based upon
scientific procedures and methods that support the data,
conclusions and assessments within the report. SRP is to submit
written findings within 45 days of receiving the report but may
petition for an extension. If the report is found to be
seriously deficient by SRP, it is returned to DPR and they have
30 days to revise and resubmit the report to SRP before
development of emission control measures. Within 10 days of
receipt of the report from the SRP, DPR has to prepare a hearing
notice and proposed regulations, including the proposed
determination if the pesticide qualifies as a TAC, in accordance
with regulatory law. After the risk assessment has been
completed, DPR is required to develop a risk management plan.
DPR is required to determine, in consultation with OEHHA, CARB,
and local air quality and air management districts, the degree
of control measures for each TAC pesticide. The public may
provide written information in making the determination on
control measures.
Control measures are required to reduce emissions sufficiently
so that the source will not expose the public to levels which
may cause or contribute to significant health effects. If no
safe threshold is established, the control measures are required
to be designed to adequately prevent the endangerment of the
public by best application control technologies, which may
include, but not be limited to, the following: label
amendments; applicator training; restrictions on use patterns or
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locations; changes in application procedures; reclassification
as a restricted material; or, cancellation of registration of
the product. DPR is required to adopt, after a public hearing
held in accordance with the regulatory law, regulations for
control measures, as described above, or through any other
techniques that have been determined to satisfy the statutory
requirements.
TAC statute permits any person to petition DPR to review any TAC
determination, by specifying specific additional scientific
evidence regarding health effects of a pesticide that was not
available when the original determination was made or other
evidence that would justify a revision of the original
determination.
The SRP is charged with providing technical peer review of the
risk assessment reports of substances proposed for
identification as TACs by the CARB, OEHHA and DPR, and the
review of guidelines prepared by OEHHA. In carrying out this
responsibility, SRP reviews the exposure and health assessment
reports and underlying scientific data on which the reports are
based, which are prepared by ARB, DPR, and OEHHA, pursuant to
the Health and Safety Code and the Food and Agricultural Code.
These reports are prepared for the purpose of determining
whether a substance or pesticide should be identified as a toxic
air contaminant, or as guidelines to be used in preparing health
risk assessments. SRP meets on an as needed basis; from 2000 to
2010, it has averaged 3.6 meetings per year.
FISCAL EFFECT : Legislative Counsel has keyed this bill fiscal.
COMMENTS : The TAC process is a layer of multi-entities
providing input, findings, and challenges to findings that DPR
has the final decision on, after consultation with each entity.
This is further complicated or delayed by SRP not having regular
meetings, as well as being responsible for the review of other
agencies science and determinations. The importance of DPR
determining the need for and adopting control measures to
protect public health is paramount to the safe use of any TAC or
HAP-TAC, as well as for any other pesticide.
The current process has caused delays due to the multiple
responsibilities of SRP and OEHHA, the debates between these
entities and DPR as to what science is considered relevant or
how to interpret the science and the studies. These debates are
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an important element of risk assessment process, in protecting
public and worker health and safety, but they do cause delays in
the creation of the important control measures. This is further
compounded by SRPs limited meetings and its members have full
time responsibility's elsewhere.
DPR has two processes to establish controls over the use of TAC
or HAP-TAC in the development of their risk management plans.
One is through the establishment of control measures by
consultation with agricultural commissioners, air pollution
control districts and air quality management districts. The
other is through any one or any combination of the following:
label amendments; applicator training; restrictions on use
patterns or locations; changes in application procedures;
reclassification as a restricted material; or, cancellation of
registration of the product. Both methods have been used and
either can address the public health and safety concerns of a
product.
AB 1176 establishes a two-year timeline for the implementation
of control measures, which will force these discussions to come
to a conclusion resulting in the adoption of controls for the
use of TACs and HAP-TACs in California. If DPR does not meet
this deadline, they are required to report to the Legislature
why it did not occur. Upon receipt of such a report, the
Legislature should determine if DPR's actions were appropriate
or if additional statutory policy changes are needed.
The sponsors of AB 1176 see this two-year timeframe as an
important step forward to address past delays in the adoption of
control measures by DPR and important in the protection of
farmworkers and the public. They state that "Properly
implemented and enforced, this law could do a tremendous amount
to reduce air pollution and protect the health of thousands of
children and families that live in communities impacted by the
use or pesticides and fumigants."
AB 1176 failed passage in this Committee on May 5, 2011;
reconsideration was granted on May 11, 2011 and the bill was
significantly amended by the author on May 12, 2011. The
amendments of January 4, 2012 are technical and clarify the
application of the two-year timeframe for TACs and HAP-TACs
previously or currently identified by DPR. Due to these
significant changes, the previously recorded support and
opposition are not included in this analysis. Reflected support
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and opposition is based upon current letters on file.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Rural Legal Assistance
Foundation (Sponsor)
Breast Cancer Fund
Californians for Pesticide Reform
Center for Environmental Health
Center on Race, Poverty and The
Environment
Central Coast Alliance United for a
Sustainable Economy
Clean Water Action
Coalition For Clean Air
El Comite para el Bienestar de Earlimart
Environmental Working Group
Just Transition Alliance
Organizati�n en Calfornia de L�deres
Campesionas, Inc
Pesticide Action Network
Pesticide Watch
Physicians for Social
Responsibility/Los Angeles
Physicians for Social
Responsibility/Sacramento
Sierra Club California
WORKSAFE
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Jim Collin / AGRI. / (916) 319-2084
AB 1176
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