Budget additions could fund statewide pesticide notification system, leaving local effort in limbo

May 17—A push to require farmers to give public notice of certain pesticide applications in the Shafter area has stalled but a statewide effort is gaining traction with $10 million in funding designated for it in the governor's recent budget revision.

The idea behind the system is that people living in agricultural communities would know when applications will happen so they can adjust their activities and take precautions. For example, residents can postpone outdoor activities or close windows to guard against a possible drift incident.

"It's really about a community's right to know about these applications in their vicinity and I think that's a good thing," said California Department of Pesticide Regulation Director Val Dolcini. CDPR will lead the effort to meet with stakeholders, plan and develop the notification system, which Dolcini expects could take three years to complete.

That sort of system is exactly what a group in Shafter had proposed as part of a localized clean air plan it was assembled to create. The group even received $250,000 in funding from the California Air Resources Board to implement the project but then the county's agriculture commissioner declined to provide the necessary information.

"I always pushed back on the local notification project here because it's unfair to saddle Kern growers with something the whole state doesn't have to abide by," said Commissioner Glenn Fankhauser.

Fankhauser has offered to help build a localized public notification system in which farmers would use door hangers to notify people living within 200 feet of a field where any dangerous fumigants are proposed to be applied but the community group has pushed for more widespread notification.

Fankhauser, however, contends that wider access to such information could be misused by activists and jeopardize farmers' ability to use highly regulated chemical treatments.

Pesticide drift happens when chemicals move through the air from their intended location into other areas where people may be impacted. The Californian has previously reported that 46 people in Kern experienced symptoms after being accidentally sprayed with pesticides in 2018, down from a record 152 the year before.

Kern already has a system for sharing chemical-application notifications among growers as a way of protecting farmworkers from accidentally getting sprayed, which has happened locally and carries substantial health risks.

Members of the clean air group in Shafter had hoped to extend that information shared among growers to nearby residents when it proposed its own pesticide notification system more than a year ago, said Byanka Santoyo, a community organizer for the Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment.

"It would be a benefit because we'd have a clear understanding of what's happening in the area," she said of the local notification program the group proposed. "Now we don't know what's going on. Only grower to grower notification is happening."

Environmental justice groups have said pesticide use in California disproportionately affects Hispanic families in the Central Valley, bringing risks ranging from cancer and birth defects to autism and asthma.

Fankhauser said he prefers a statewide notification system because it would provide an even playing field for all growers. But he acknowledged he doesn't think the information such a system would provide would have any impact on public health.

"I don't think anyone will change behavior," he said.

He said under current rules growers have a four-day window to apply pesticides once approval is given. If people want real-time information on pesticide application, other rules would have to be changed. However, he has expressed concern that providing such detailed information could attract activists and protesters who may try to interfere with the application.

"I'm all in favor of everything to be on the table. Things change all the time," he said. "As long as it's an open discussion and people get to weight in with their concerns."

The California Agricultural Commissioners and Sealers Association had previously backed Fankhauser's decision not to comply with the program proposed in Shafter. However, the group's president said he thinks a statewide system is a good idea.

"Pesticide notification is important but should be a statewide conversation. It shouldn't fall to one county," said the group's president, Josh Huntsinger.

Santoyo, the community organizer, is also in favor of the statewide program but wants to see the Shafter pilot program continue since it came out of a community-led effort.

"I think it's important to address it statewide," Santoyou said. "But we already have a pilot program (ready to go) that should be started here in Kern."