Administrative Hearing Improvement Activities

The Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) plans to develop several hearing process improvement activities during the next two years. My staff is currently:

• Developing a plan to revise the Hearing Officer Sourcebook. The revision will address several issues related to administrative civil penalty hearings, and will incorporate guidance for advocates.
• Developing subjects discussed during the recent Administrative Hearing Investigative Issues Roundtable discussions held by Mr. Jerry Benincasa.
• Planning development of additional outreach and training materials for hearing officers and advocates.

Also effective immediately, DPR is providing hearing officer services to you on a limited basis. The criteria for requesting a hearing officer are either:

• Cases that may cause undue political pressure on the Commissioner.
• Cases that should not appropriately be heard by a local hearing officer.

The majority of staff resource time will be directed toward the above mentioned hearing process improvement activities. Therefore, this will only leave resources for a small number of hearings, six to eight cases a year. All requests for hearing officer assistance must be submitted in writing to the Chief of the Enforcement Branch, noting the criteria and justification for the request.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me, or Ms. Nancy Grussing, of my staff, at (916) 445-3866.

Sincerely,