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Media Contact: Glenn Brank

News Releases Date/Number
Media Contact: Glenn Brank June 19, 2007(07-09)
916-445-3974 gbrank@cdpr.ca.gov FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


DPR TO OFFER $585,000 TO REDUCE PESTICIDE RISKS

SACRAMENTO – The Department of Pesticide Regulation will offer $585,000 in grants to reduce pesticide risks under a program revived by Governor Schwarzenegger. Grants could support least-toxic practices in a wide variety of settings, from public housing projects to farm fields.

Upon legislative approval of DPR’s budget for 2007-08, the Department will prepare to award Pest Management Alliance Grants. DPR Alliances are collaborative projects created to help growers, urban pest managers, and pest control advisors implement reduced-risk pest management practices.

"Before budget cuts suspended grants in 2002, DPR supported school gardens, helped commodity groups battle problem pests, and encouraged least-toxic alternatives to promote IPM, or integrated pest management," said DPR Director Mary-Ann Warmerdam. "The Governor’s Budget restores this successful program."

In July, DPR expects to call for project concepts consisting of two-page summaries for project objectives and plans. Priorities will focus on two areas:

  • IPM in production agriculture.
  • IPM in urban environments such as housing projects, schools, and parks.

Emphasis will be on pesticides with human health concerns (such as organophosphates); pesticides in water (pyrethroids); and in air (fumigants), where pesticide emissions contribute to smog.

For information on project concepts, contact DPR staffer Tom Babb. E-mail him at tbabb@cdpr.ca.gov or write him at DPR Pest Management and Licensing Branch, P.O. Box 4015, Sacramento, CA 95812-4015.

Once project concepts have been approved, applicants may then submit detailed proposals for review by DPR’s Pest Management Advisory Committee (PMAC). Approved projects are expected to get underway in January 2008. Groups may receive up to $300,000 and funds may be spent through June 2010.

One of six boards and departments within the California Environmental Protection Agency, DPR regulates the sale and use of pesticides to protect human health and the environment.