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Kathy Brunetti, Agriculture Program Supervisor
California Department of Pesticide Regulation
830 KStreet, Sacramento, California, USA 95814
voice (916) 324-4100, FAX (916) 324-4088, brunetti@empm.cdpr.ca.gov
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<fontfamily><param>Arial</param>November 12, 1998 (98-32)
Media contacts: Veda Federighi (916) 445-3974
Glenn Brank (916) 445-3970
DPR Alliance Program Offers $650,000
In Reduced-Risk Pest Management Grants
SACRAMENTO -- Cal/EPA's Department of Pesticide Regulation will award
$650,000 in grants for public-private alliances aimed at reducing
pesticide risks to workers, consumers, and the environment.
Pest Management Alliance grant details will be provided at a December
3 workshop at 1 p.m. in Room 102, 714 P Street, in Sacramento. All
potential applicants or their representatives must attend the workshop.
Agricultural marketing orders and commissions, trade associations,
government entities, and others are eligible for grants.
"As our Pest Management Alliance program goes into its second year,
we look forward to receiving new proposals that offer reduced-risk pest
management in both urban and agricultural settings," said DPR Chief
Deputy Director Jean-Mari Peltier. "Our goal is to attract the best
ideas for reducing pesticide risk, and we will give top priority to
proposals that address our most important areas of regulatory
concern."
DPR expects to fund about seven major grants, each ranging up to
$100,000 per year. Grant recipients must match their Alliance awards.
Successful proposals may involve applied research, demonstration
projects, or a combination of the two. Projects also must serve as a
practical model for adoption of new pest practices throughout an
industry or across the state.
Funded by the Legislature, the Pest Management Alliance Program is the
latest in a series of DPR initiatives that rely upon communication,
cooperation, and economic incentives, rather than regulatory commands.
Examples include DPR's annual "IPM Innovator" awards, which recognize
leadership in developing and using innovative pest management
techniques. Through the Pest Management Advisory Committee, DPR funds
grants to encourage non-traditional solutions to agricultural and urban
pest problems. With the Alliance program, DPR has moved into larger
scale, industry-wide pest management programs.
Alliance grants involve a three-stage process:
* Grant details will be explained at the December 3 workshop.
*Applicants must then develop an evaluation of their existing pest
management system. Up to 20 of the most promising proposals may qualify
for $5,000 each to help develop evaluations. However, applicants who do
not receive funding for evaluations may still compete for Alliance
grants.
* Based on their evaluation scores, Alliance applicants may receive up
to $100,000 a year to support their work. Second-year renewals may also
be offered.
DPR expects to award up to seven Alliance grants in the spring of
1999. Alliance priorities include pest management strategies that may
need to be replaced as a result of pesticide tolerance reassessments
required by the federal Food Quality Protection Act. Other priorities
include protecting surface waters and ground water from farm and
forestry herbicides; reduction of injuries due to off-site movement of
pesticides, and reducing field worker exposures to pesticides used in
labor-intensive crops.
For a Pest Management Alliance information package, write to Lyndon
Hawkins at the Environmental Monitoring and Pest Management Branch,
DPR, 830 K St., Sacramento, CA 95814; call Hawkins at (916) 324-4100,
or send e-mail to <<lhawkins@cdpr.ca.gov>.
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