{"id":31128,"date":"2022-06-02T00:01:08","date_gmt":"2022-06-02T04:01:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/?p=31128"},"modified":"2022-06-02T14:20:35","modified_gmt":"2022-06-02T18:20:35","slug":"california-court-bans-state-run-pesticide-spraying-for-failure-to-consider-adverse-impacts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2022\/06\/california-court-bans-state-run-pesticide-spraying-for-failure-to-consider-adverse-impacts\/","title":{"rendered":"California Court Bans State-Run Pesticide Spraying for Failure to Consider Adverse Impacts"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Beyond Pesticides<\/em>, June 2, 2022) A\u00a0California judge<\/a> ordered state-run pesticide spraying to cease on public, agricultural, wild lands, and private properties. The judge states that government officials fail to consider and minimize the potential health and environmental risk associated with pesticide use. Moreover, officials failed to notify the public on the risks of pesticide spraying. The suit was brought by the Environmental Working Group (EWG), the City of Berkeley and ten other public health, conservation and food safety organizations, including Beyond Pesticides. Board member of the California Environmental Health Initiative Nan Wishner states, \u201cThe court made the right decision to throw out CDFA\u2019s plan to cement into place for the indefinite future the agency\u2019s \u2018spray now, ask questions later approach to pest management, which would have perpetuated the existing situation, in which Californians learn their yards or neighborhoods are to be sprayed only when the treatments are about to happen and have little or no recourse to stop the use of pesticides.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

On May 19, 2022, the Superior Court of California \u2013 County of Sacramento ruled to remove an environmental impact report allowing California\u2019s Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) to spray pesticides at any time and any place. Removal of the environmental impact report also brings an end to chemical pest management under the CDFA pesticide spray program. State and local agencies must provide research on how pesticide spraying projects may affect the health of humans, animals, and the environment while finding solutions to eliminate the potential threat.<\/p>\n

Moreover, the law requires CDFA to research and reveal environmental and health threats from 75 pesticides used across California. However, the geography and ecosystem of regions in California differ, and CDFA failed to analyze the adverse environmental and health effects in specific locations. The geography (e.g., lowland) and ecosystem (e.g., temperature, light exposure, moisture) of a region can significantly affect the severity of pesticide toxicity. Moreover, CDFA\u2019s pest management program used pesticides known to be toxic to pollinators like bees, butterflies, bats and birds, and aquatic organisms. The impact of pesticides on wildlife\u2014including mammals, bees and other pollinators, fish and other aquatic organisms, birds, and the biota within the soil\u2014is extensive. Many\u00a0studies document<\/a>\u00a0how exposure to these toxic chemicals causes reproductive, neurological, renal, hepatic, endocrine, and developmental damage and cancers in various species. Although there are policies to protect wildlife from harm, such as the Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973, a 2013\u00a0report<\/a>\u00a0by the National Academy of Sciences identifies shortcomings in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency\u2019s (EPA) evaluation and analysis of pesticides on endangered species. Like CDFA, the agency\u00a0regularly disregards<\/a>\u00a0discussing how to take precaution to protect threatened and endangered species from pesticide harms.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This litigation requires CDFA to cease state-run pesticide spraying programs due to the understudied and undisclosed risks. Although pesticide spraying under CDFA will reduce, many of these same chemicals remain in use through other programs and in various regions like wildlife refuges. According to the Environmental Working Group (EWG), some of these chemicals include:\u00a0<\/p>\n