Funding California's Pesticide Regulatory Program

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A Report to the Legislature (January 2003)

The mill assessment, a fee levied on wholesale sales of pesticides, helps support the pesticide regulatory program. Assembly Bill 780 (Thomson, Chapter 523, Statutes of 2001) set the assessment rate at 17.5 mills (1.75 cents on every dollar of sales) until June 30, 2004, and required the Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) to analyze its funding, with assistance from a stakeholder advisory committee.

The Legislature asked the Department to address the following questions:

• What are the ongoing funding needs that will allow the Department to carry out its responsibilities under state statutes and regulations?
• What is the appropriate mix of general funds and special funds, including the pesticide mill assessment, to support the Department's activities?
• What is the appropriate rate of mill assessment on pesticide products that are used primarily in agricultural production and the appropriate rate for all other pesticide products?
• What are potential improvements in the efficiency of DPR's operations, including mechanisms to share pesticide registration workload with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency?