Transporting or Possessing Unregistered Pesticides for Disposal at a DPR or U.S. EPA Approved Pesticide Disposal Event

The County Agricultural Commissioners (CAC) regularly host pesticide disposal events to collect unwanted, unregistered, or illegal pesticides. These events are routinely funded by the Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) and United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) due to the human health and environmental benefits of removing unwanted, unregistered, or illegal pesticides from the State.

Questions have been raised about the possibility of enforcement for violations of the Food and Agricultural Code (FAC) against persons participating in these events by transporting or otherwise possessing unregistered or illegal pesticides for the purpose of disposal. In particular, under FAC section 12995, it is unlawful for any person to “possess” any pesticides that is not registered except as provided in DPR regulations or as provided in a notice or order of suspension or cancellation.

The most common applicable exception to FAC section 12995 is under California Code of Regulations, Title 3, section 6301, which provides that products with “lapsed” registrations may be possessed and sold by a dealer for two years; and if acquired while legally registered or within two years after the date of last registration, the lapsed products may be possessed and used according to the directions on the label. However, this exception is inapplicable in many circumstances, including where a pesticide registration has been canceled or suspended under FAC or Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act authority.

There is currently no explicit exception to FAC section 12995 for disposal events. As such, a person could potentially be subject to enforcement during the act of transporting or otherwise possessing pesticides for the purpose of disposal. However, it has been past practice not to take enforcement actions against participants in disposal events. DPR has regularly included the following provision in past disposal event contracts with CACs:

This decision addresses the following concepts:

“Grower/farmer participation in the disposal project is voluntary and the disposal project are not enforcement oriented, in other words pesticide enforcement actions will not be taken against participants disposing of any pesticides through the sponsored event.”

Enforcement is primarily undertaken to ensure compliance with existing legal requirements on pesticide use and to deter future violations. Enforcement in this area would have the effect of discouraging the disposal of unwanted, unregistered, illegal or potentially dangerous pesticides. Any potential human health or environmental impacts from possessing a pesticide for disposal are significantly outweighed by the recognized benefits from removing these products from the State. For these reasons, DPR urges CACs to exercise their discretion in enforcing FAC section 12995 against a person transporting or otherwise possessing an unregistered or illegal pesticide solely for the purpose of disposal at a DPR or U.S. EPA approved pesticide disposal event.

If you have questions, please contact the Enforcement Branch Liaison assigned to your county.

Sincerely,