The Legislature would prohibit coastal resorts from using conventional pesticides under a new bill filed by Assemblymember Laura Friedman of Glendale. Dubbed the Major Coastal Resorts Environmental Accountability Act, Assembly Bill 1590 would only allow the use of organic pesticides.
It would accomplish this by requiring developers seeking to acquire or renew a building permit for a resort to first develop a turf, landscape and pest management plan. It would also prohibit resorts from providing shampoo and conditioner in single-use plastic bottles. Violators would face a $500-per-day fine.
Friedman reasons that resorts “often employ large volumes of chemical pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers” but do not report on that usage. The same resorts discharge stormwater to the ocean without sufficient water quality oversight, she argues.
