State to Hold Public Workshops on Development of Statewide Pesticide Application Notification System
SACRAMENTO – The California Department of Pesticide Regulation will hold three public workshops on June 27, 28 and 29 to collect feedback to inform the next phase of design and development for the state’s pesticide application notification system.
California will be the first state in the nation to develop a statewide system to provide the public more transparent and equitable access to information in advance of pesticide applications.
The workshops will be hosted online via Zoom and facilitated by the UC Davis Center for Regional Change. Each workshop will follow the same format, including a brief overview of the proposed design for the statewide notification system and an opportunity for the public to provide input. The proposed system design has been informed by broad stakeholder feedback provided in public focus groups and webinars convened by DPR in 2021. The information collected during the workshops will further inform the design of the statewide notification system.
The workshops will be held at the following times:
Monday, June 27: 1:00-3:00 P.M.
Tuesday, June 28: 10:00 A.M. - 12:00 P.M.
Wednesday, June 29: 6:00-8:00 P.M.
Registration is not required to attend. Spanish interpretation will be provided at all workshops. A copy of materials presented during the workshops will be made available on DPR’s website following the workshops.
DPR began developing the statewide notification system in mid-2021, after the state budget allocated $10 million to DPR for system development.
DPR has partnered with four County Agricultural Commissioners to launch pilot projects to inform the department’s development of the statewide system. These county-led pilot projects have launched in communities within Riverside, Stanislaus and Ventura counties. The Santa Cruz community pilot will launch this summer. The UC Davis Center for Regional Change will conduct independent evaluations of the pilot programs.
For more information and updates on statewide notification, please visit DPR’s website.
ABOUT THE DEPARTMENT OF PESTICIDE REGULATION
The California Department of Pesticide Regulation protects human health and the environment by fostering safer and sustainable pest management practices and operating a robust regulatory system to evaluate and register pesticides and monitor and regulate their sale and use across the state.
DPR’s work includes conducting scientific evaluations of pesticides to assess and mitigate potential harm to human health and the environment prior to and following registration, registering all pesticides prior to sale or use in California, monitoring for pesticides in the air and water, and enforcing pesticide laws and regulations in coordination with 55 County Agricultural Commissioners and their combined 400 field inspectors across the state’s 58 counties. DPR invests in innovative research, outreach, and education to encourage the development and adoption of integrated pest management tools and practices and conducts outreach to ensure pesticide workers, farmworkers and local communities have access to pesticide safety information.
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