Kathy Brunetti
Department of Pesticide Regulation
Environmental Monitoring and Pest Management Branch
1020 N Street, Room 161
Sacramento CA 95814
(916) 324-4100
brunetti@empm.cdpr.ca.gov
Release No. 95-40
Date: November 28, 1995
NEW STRATEGY DEFINES DPR ROLE
IN EVOLUTION OF PEST MANAGEMENT
SACRAMENTO -- Increasing numbers of pesticide users are turning to
reduced-risk methods of controlling pests. The role that state regulators
should play in this pest management evolution is delineated in the Pest
Management Strategy for the Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR),
released this week.
"Two important beliefs underlie DPR's Pest Management Strategy,"
said Paul Gosselin, DPR's Assistant Director for Enforcement, Environmental
Monitoring, and Data Management. "The first is that the people, economy and
environment of California are best served by a continuous effort to reduce
the risks associated with the use of pesticides. The second is that pest
control is essential when unwanted pests cause problems."
Development of the Pest Management Strategy began more than two
years ago. "DPR was fortunate to have the services of Davis Bernstein, from
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region IX, for one year to
oversee the effort to develop the Pest Management Strategy," said Gosselin.
"He worked closely with DPR staff and external stakeholders to develop a
document that addresses minimizing risk not only in agriculture but
wherever pesticides may be used, including offices, schools, urban
landscapes, and in homes.
"We wanted to increase the use of pest management information in
our decision-making," said Gosselin. "We also wanted to clearly establish
how DPR should encourage the voluntary adoption of reduced-risk pest
management practices.
"The role that DPR plays in pest management activities has often
been misunderstood, controversial and undefined," said Gosselin. "DPR does
not conduct research or provide education in reduced-risk pest management
practices, and the Pest Management Strategy confirms this is properly the
role of the state's universities and the private sector."
It is DPR's responsibility to ensure that pesticides are
distributed and used safely. The Department also has a legal mandate to
encourage the development and use of more environmentally benign pest
management systems.
"To carry out these responsibilities, it is critical that pesticide
regulators use pest management information as part of their decision-making
process. That is why pest management activities within the Department are
diverse and involve nearly every branch. The Pest Management Strategy will
help the Department make better use of pest management information and
considerations, which is essential to an efficient, science-based risk
management process," said Gosselin.
"In promoting reduced-risk pest management, DPR believes that
innovative pest managers should define what specific practices are viable,"
Gosselin said. "The policy of DPR is that regulatory authority will not be
used to mandate or license reduced-risk pest management but to remove
barriers to adoption of innovative new practices. That is why our programs
are focused on facilitating risk reduction through information and
incentives."
A good example is DPR's IPM Innovator awards, presented annually to
growers and others who display leadership in developing and using
innovative ways of managing pests. (IPM, or integrated pest management, is
an approach to pest control that stresses the application of biological,
mechanical, and cultural pest control techniques. Pesticides are used
only when necessary to achieve acceptable levels of control with the least
possible harm to nontarget organisms and the environment.)
The IPM Innovator program is designed to aid in the dissemination
of information on reduced-risk methods of pest management, Gosselin said.
DPR is also working with growers who want to establish new groups and
increase the use of reduced-risk pest management.
.
"Highly visible activities like this that promote the voluntary
adoption of reduced-risk pest management comprise a small part of DPR
resources--less than 2 percent," said Gosselin. "At the same time, they
are directly related to Cal/EPA's mission of pollution prevention, which
calls for economically sound, voluntary efforts aimed at avoiding
activities that can create health and environmental problems."
For a free copy of the 15-page Pest Management Strategy for the
Department of Pesticide Regulation: A Strategy to Increase the Adoption of
Reduced-Risk Pest Management Practices, please write: California Department
of Pesticide Regulation, Environmental Monitoring and Pest Management
Branch, 1020 N Street, Sacramento CA 95814-5624. The text is also
available on DPR's Internet Home Page (http://www.cdpr.ca.gov).
*Goals of the Department of Pesticide Regulation
Pest Management Strategy
* To incorporate reduced-risk pest management philosophy throughout
the California pesticide regulatory program. This involves:
~ Ensuring employees and county agricultural commissioners
understand what the pest management strategy is and what it means in what
they do.
~ Identifying DPR functions and work processes to show where
and how pest management considerations will be emphasized in the pesticide
regulatory program.
~ Evaluating how increasing the emphasis on reduced-risk pest
management will affect the pesticide regulatory program.
* To advocate and facilitate the adoption of economically viable
reduced-risk pest management practices. This involves:
~ Developing appropriate criteria and identifying higher risk use
patterns.
~ Identifying and eliminating impediments to the adoption of
reduced-risk pest management practices, a process that has already begun.
~ Creating incentives to support the voluntary adoption of
reduced-risk pest management practices.
~ Using regulatory authority--as appropriate--to facilitate the
adoption of targeted practices.
* To provide leadership in working cooperatively with other
interested parties to promote research, education and demonstration of
reduced-risk pest management practices. This involves:
~ Consulting with a broad cross section of interested groups
and individuals for advice on appropriate priorities and activities.
~ Coordinating the goals and activities of key organizations
and establishing partnerships aimed at facilitating the adoption of
reduced-risk pest management practices.
* And, finally, to evaluate the effectiveness of DPR's efforts to
facilitate the adoption of reduced-risk pest management practices. This is
a key goal, and the Department is working on the development of indicators
to help measure its progress in facilitating the adoption of new practices.
Excerpted from:
Pest Management Strategy for the Department of Pesticide Regulation:
A Strategy to Increase the Adoption of Reduced-Risk Pest Management Practices
October 1995