State pesticide roadmap wins consensus even as hardest work awaits
Feb. 4—Action on pesticides may have become a little less divisive in California with last month's release of a consensus roadmap for accelerating the state's transition to sustainable pest management under a banner goal of eliminating high-risk chemical applications by 2050.
A broad cross-section of interests that came together for almost two years, mostly by Zoom, agreed on a holistic approach emphasizing health and safety protections for communities while doing more to keep pests out of the state, finding effective alternatives to problem pesticides and teaching people about pest management.
Not everyone agreed on everything, but people on the effort's central committee call it a productive overall effort that could lead to progress on different levels. Their diversity of views didn't come down to supporting or opposing the consensus agreement, but rather what priorities to focus on.
The roadmap broadens what has long been a conversation about rural pesticide applications to, now, also encompass urban applications, which may make up more than half of the state's total pesticide use.
Still, at its heart, the conversation behind the roadmap revolved around whether current processes are enough to protect people — and the answer is it's debatable, said Gabriele Ludwig, a member of the primary roadmap work group who works as director of sustainability and environmental affairs for the Almond Board of California.
"Fundamentally, what the document and the conversation behind it is about, how does society balance the benefits from the use of pest control materials with the risks, and the risks are not always borne (by) the people who benefit from it."
The roadmap was released by the state Department of Pesticide Regulation, the California Environmental Protection Agency and the California Department of Food and Agriculture. It combines integrated pest management, which de-emphasizes the most toxic chemical applications in favor of other effective means, with values of social equity and the goal of rebalancing economic vitality with protections for community and the environment.
Director Julie Henderson of the California Department of Pesticide Regulation explained in a Jan. 26 news release the roadmap calls for prioritizing prevention, coordinating state-level leadership and investing in building knowledge about sustainable pest management. It also proposes enhanced monitoring with statewide data collection to better inform actions and improve the state's process for evaluating and bringing sustainable pesticide alternatives to market.
The roadmap is available online at https://www.cdpr.ca.gov/docs/sustainable_pest_management_roadmap/spm_roadmap.pdf. Public comments on the prioritization and implementation of next steps in the roadmap are due by 5 p.m. March 3, by email at alternatives@cdpr.ca.gov, or by mail to 1001 I St., P.O. Box 4015, Sacramento, CA 95812.
Asked for comment on the roadmap, President Patty Poire of the Kern County Farm Bureau said in an emailed statement the group is "dedicated to ensuring a healthy and safe food supply and will continue to monitor and engage as necessary on the development of the state's proposed sustainable pest management plan."
Two environmental justice groups that have pushed for local action to increase transparency on pesticide spraying plans did not respond to requests for comment on the state roadmap.
A member of the primary roadmap work group, Margaret Reeves, senior scientist for environmental health and workers' rights at Pesticide Action Network North America, said by email her group holds strongest on prevention but recognizes there must be progress in all areas to effect real change.