Gov. Gavin Newsom is asking for more funding to implement significant new reporting procedures on a little-used pesticide.
In September, Newsom signed into law a bill requiring quarterly reporting on the use of the granular form of the insecticide chlorpyrifos. He acknowledged the number of applications has been “extremely limited,” accounting for less than 1% of all chlorpyrifos use in the most recent reports. General use of the organophosphate was already in steep decline when Newsom banned all but the granular form in 2019.
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Now the administration is asking for more than $300,000 a year and additional staff to implement the measure. Newsom’s budget proposal said the law, in duplicating existing efforts, adds “a significant increase in workload” for the Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR). Failing to provide this funding, however, would “negatively impact other DPR programs,” such as those that approve new pesticides for the California market.
The budget proposal calls for dipping into the DPR fund to cover the cost. About 80% of that fund comes from the ag industry in the form of a mil assessment on pesticide sales.
