New Laws Effective in 2025
As we enter into 2025, here is a recap of a few of the new laws impacting pest management:
AB 363. Signed into law in October 2023, this bill requires businesses selling neonicotinoid pesticides for non-agricultural outdoor uses to be licensed by DPR. The law allows only licensed applicators to buy or use neonicotinoids around homes, businesses or other non-agricultural landscapes. The law compliments DPR’s agricultural neonic regulations implemented in January 2024.
AB 1864. Signed into law in September 2024, this bill requires notification and reporting of restricted use pesticide applications within ¼ of school-sites and expands existing regulations on pesticide use near school-sites to include public schools. To implement the bill’s directive for DPR to require reporting elements and to expand the regulations to include private schools, regulatory action is needed and DPR currently in the process of developing a regulatory package.
AB 1963. Signed into law in October 2024, this bill requires DPR to complete reevaluation of the weed killer paraquat by Jan. 1, 2029. DPR released two preliminary scientific reports following its review of human health and ecotoxicology studies on the use of the pesticide paraquat in December 2024.
AB 2113. Signed into law in July 2024, this bill increased the fee charged on initial pesticide sales within the state (called the mill fee) to 2.45 cents per dollar of sales starting in July 2024 with additional July increases planned over the next few years. The law, among other things, requires the department each May, starting in 2025, to report the average product-registration processing times and issue final decisions on applications to register new pesticide products or to amend existing product registrations for the prior calendar year. The law also requires the department to annually report registration decisions for the prior year by Jan 31.
AB 2552. Signed in September 2024, this bill expands an existing moratorium on anticoagulant rodenticides, used to control rats, mice and other pest rodents. The law restricts the sale and use of the first-generation anticoagulant rodenticides chlorophacinone and warfarin.