DPR to update, streamline pesticide use reporting process

Pesticide Use

DPR to update, streamline
pesticide use reporting process

Department of Pesticide Regulation
Release No. 97-28
Media Contact:
Veda Federighi, (916) 445-3974
Date: October 21, 1997

SACRAMENTO -- Cal/EPA's Department of Pesticide Regulation has announced proposals to update and streamline the state's unique and comprehensive pesticide use reporting process.
The proposed regulations are aimed at reducing the regulatory burden of filing use reports while increasing the accuracy and timeliness of pesticide use data, said DPR Director James W. Wells.
*In 1995, Cal/EPA began its Regulatory Improvement Initiative,* said Wells. *Our goal was to reduce red tape and find better ways to protect public health and the environment. As part of this process, DPR held workshops around the state to ask how we could improve pesticide use reporting. Then we took the best ideas and these proposed regulations are the result.*
Proposed changes in pesticide use reports would:

Repeal a requirement to file *negative* use reports. Pest control businesses currently file reports even in months when no applications occur.

Cut down on paperwork by allowing pesticide users to keep the same county-issued identification number for three years, if no changes have occurred. (An identification number is required to purchase pesticides for professional use.) Pest control and farm operators now file annual applications with county agricultural commissioners, creating excessive paperwork.

Assure greater precision in pesticide use reports. County agricultural commissioners would designate use report site identification numbers to reflect the property's geographic location. And sites would be contiguous parcels no larger than 640 acres.
Other changes would clarify record-keeping requirements and who is required to maintain records, and allow some users, including nurseries and greenhouses, to file monthly summary reports.
California is the only state that requires full reporting of all pesticide use. Since 1990, any grower, commercial pest control operator, ground and aerial applicator, structural operator, or professional gardener must report pesticides applied, date, location and crop, if the application is agricultural.
Reports are filed with the agricultural commissioner in the county where applications occur. Data then go into DPR's database and are summarized in annual reports available to the public.
The data assist DPR and other agencies in regulatory decision-making. Use reports help determine dietary exposure to pesticide residues, as well as potential risks to field workers and others who come in contact with pesticides. Site-specific records allow DPR to track pesticide use in areas susceptible to ground water contamination. DPR also uses site data to resolve potential pesticide use conflicts with endangered species. And the data has been used in air quality planning to estimate the smog potential of pesticides.
California has a broad legal definition of "agricultural use," so the reporting requirements include pesticide applications to parks, golf courses, cemeteries, rangeland, pastures, and along roadside and railroad rights-of-way. In addition, all postharvest pesticide treatments of agricultural commodities must be reported, along with all pesticide treatments in poultry and fish production, as well as some livestock applications. The primary exceptions to the full use reporting requirements are home and garden use, and most industrial and institutional uses.
Copies of the proposed regulations are available on DPR's Web site http://www.cdpr.ca.gov, or by calling Kay Cummins at (916) 323-6133. Comments may be submitted until 5 p.m. on December 1, 1997. E-mail comments may be sent to dpr97011@cdpr.ca.gov. Address written comments to: Kay Cummins, Department of Pesticide Regulation, 1020 N St., Room 100, Sacramento 95814-5624.

10/24/97