Pesticide Notification

Advocates, farm workers, and environmental justice communities have been calling for a statewide pesticide notification system for years. Ultimately, our shared goal is to eliminate the use of dangerous pesticides in agriculture, but in the meantime, communities have the right to be notified in advance if hazardous pesticides will be applied.

As a result of our advocacy along with other environmental groups, the Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) is developing a statewide pesticide notification system and has launched four county-level pesticide notification pilots to inform its development. The four pilots are in Riverside, Santa Cruz, Stanislaus and Ventura counties. However, the pilots have serious shortcomings that make them unsuitable models for the statewide notification system. Our goal is to let DPR know about our concerns and ensure that the statewide pesticide notification system that DPR creates is robust, inclusive, and implemented as soon as possible.

Pilot Program in Grayson, CA

The Stanislaus County Agricultural Commissioner, in voluntary partnership with the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR), is participating in a pilot program to support DPR’s development of a statewide pesticide application notification system launched in April 2022.

If you live, work, or spend large periods of time in Grayson, CA register to receive notifications of upcoming applications of restricted pesticides, that are scheduled to be applied within an adjacent section, or township range around your subscribed locations. A span of at least one mile from your requested locations.

California’s new pesticide notification system aims to protect public health. Will it work?

Community activists were instrumental in achieving the landmark program. But they worry it won’t go far enough to shield rural communities and farmworkers from pesticide harm.

Editor’s note: This story is the second of “Adrift,” a three-part series by Environmental Health News and palabra, a multimedia platform of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, on pesticide use in California that finds rural communities of color and farmworkers are disproportionately exposed to some of the most dangerous chemicals approved for use in agriculture.

Para leer este reportaje en español haga clic aquí.

VIP is a steering committee member of Californians For Pesticide Reform (CPR)

CPR is a statewide coalition of more than 190 organizations, founded in 1996 to fundamentally shift the way pesticides are used in California. CPR has built a diverse, multi-interest coalition to challenge the powerful political and economic forces opposing change. Our member organizations include public health, children’s health, educational and environmental advocates, clean air and water organizations, health practitioners, environmental justice groups, labor organizations, farmers, and sustainable agriculture advocates.

Pesticide Exposure Guide