BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 2657
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Date of Hearing: May 14, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
AB 2657 (Bloom) - As Amended: May 5, 2014
Policy Committee: Environmental
Safety and Toxic Materials Vote: 4-2
Water, Parks and Wildlife 9-5
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: Yes
SUMMARY
This bill prohibits the use of rodentidcide pesticides
containing anticoagulants in wildlife habitat areas.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Prohibits the use of pesticides containing brodifacoum,
bromadiolone, difenacoun, and difethialone.
2)Defines wildlife habitat areas as any state or national park,
state or federal wildlife refuge, or state conservancy.
3)Exempts the use of pesticides for agricultural purposes as
specified.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Minor, if any costs to the Department of Fish and Wildlife
(DFW).
2)Minor, if any reimbursable local costs.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale. In 2011, DFW made a request to the Department of
Pesticide Regulation (DPR) to designate all second generation
anticoagulant rodenticides (SGARs) as California restricted
material, especially in or near urban areas that border on
wildlands.
AB 2657
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After extensive review, DPR found that SGARs exposure and
toxicity to nontarget wildlife is a statewide problem with a
higher potential to cause harm to public health, the
environment, wildlife or agricultural crops in comparison with
the use of other pesticides. DPR designated
specified SGAR ingredients as restricted in March and included
additional use restrictions that will be in effect on July 1,
2014,
Generally, restricted materials may be purchased and used by
or under the supervision of a certified commercial or private
applicator under a permit issued by County Agricultural
Commissioners (CAC)
According to the author, the regulations put forth by DPR are
an important step toward protecting the public and wildlife
from unintended exposure to SGARs, but they do not
sufficiently protect vulnerable wildlife in state and national
parks and other sensitive areas.
This bill furthers the recent restricted-use designation of
SGARs by additionally prohibiting the use of those pesticides
in designated public areas known to harbor wildlife.
2)Background. Anticoagulant rodenticides work by inhibiting a
rodent's ability to produce several key blood clotting
factors, thus causing the poisoned rodent to die from internal
bleeding. SGARs were developed in response to resistance
issues reported with first generation anticoagulant
rodenticides (FGARs). In general, SGARs are more toxic than
FGARs because they are designed to be lethal after a single
feeding instead of after multiple doses. Anticoagulant
rodenticide baits may take several days following ingestion of
a lethal dose to kill the rodent, so rodents may feed on the
SGAR bait multiple times before dying.
As a result, rodent carcasses may contain residues of SGARs
many times over the lethal dose. If a nontarget predator
feeds on a rodent containing lethal concentrations of a SGAR,
the nontarget predator can also be impacted by the
rodenticide. Brodifacoum, bromadiolone, difenacoum, and,
difethialone are active ingredients in SGARs.
AB 2657
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Analysis Prepared by : Jennifer Galehouse / APPR. / (916)
319-2081