State Budget Accelerates Transition to Safer and Sustainable Pest Management

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2021-2022 budget funds integrated pest management, monitoring, community engagement and enforcement programs, and community notification

Pesticide Notification Network

The 2021-2022 budget allocates $10 million in funding for DPR to develop a statewide pesticide application notification system, the Pesticide Notification Network. The notification network will provide pesticide-impacted communities with equitable access to information about local hazardous pesticide applications and will enable them to take additional precautionary measures, such as closing windows or avoiding outdoor activities. The statewide notification network will provide a consistent, single system for growers, farmworkers, and community residents to submit and receive notice of local applications. DPR is beginning a public process to seek input on the development of that statewide notification system, focusing on pesticides that are more likely to move from the site of application or that have greater potential for health impacts.

Transition to Safer, Sustainable Pest Management

The budget allocates $36.5 million over a two-year period to support one-time investments that will bolster DPR’s work in integrated pest management (IPM), pesticide use enforcement, monitoring and community engagement.

The added funding will increase the number and size of grants awarded by DPR to support basic research into pesticide alternatives and promote IPM practices. Funds will also support grant programs at the California Department of Food and Agriculture, and divisions of the California State University Agricultural Research Institute and University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources that expand research, education and promote the use of IPM tools and practices across the state.

Additional revenue will assist County Agricultural Commissioners with pesticide collection events that provide opportunities to properly dispose of harmful and toxic pesticides.

The budget will also support intensive air monitoring studies that monitor for restricted material pesticides and fumigants and explore new monitoring technology to improve the overall DPR Air Monitoring Network.

DPR will expand community engagement efforts, particularly within pesticide-impacted, disadvantaged communities to seek input from agricultural communities and farmworkers.

Funding in the budget is specifically allocated to continue discussions on long-term sustainable funding for DPR. With the assistance of an outside contractor and in consultation with stakeholders, DPR will explore how to structure the mill assessment in a way that ultimately reduces toxic pesticide use across the state of California and provides long-term funding for the department moving forward.

CalPEST

The budget also allocated $5 million in 2021-2022 to support the vendor procurement and initial analysis, design, and development of the California Pesticide Electronic Submission Tracking (CalPEST) project. CalPEST will be a fully integrated information and document management system designed to substantially improve the current pesticide product registration process for pesticide product and device companies.

SB 86 – Chlorpyrifos Quarterly Reports

In 2019, DPR reached an agreement with chlorpyrifos manufacturers to withdraw their products and end sales and uses of chlorpyrifos other than sales and use of granular products in California after December 31, 2020. The 2021-2022 budget allocated $339,000 annually for two years to fund DPR’s production of reports regarding granular chlorpyrifos use, monitoring, and exposure, as required by Chapter 299, Statutes of 2020 (SB 86).


For content questions, contact:
Alejandra Durán
Director of Legislation and Policy
E-mail: Alejandra.Durán@cdpr.ca.gov