Yesterday, the California Department of Pesticide Regulation announced they have reached an agreement with Corteva Agriscience to suspend the sale of Chlorpyrifos in California. The agreement will allow Chlorpyrifos to be sold in California until February 8, 2020 and growers will be allowed to use the product until December 31, 2020. The cancellation and agreement affects formulations that have drift or food residue issues and does not affect granular formulations.
DPR listed Chlorpyrifos as a Toxic Air Contaminant last year and implemented very strict application guidelines at the beginning of this year that significantly reduced its ability to be used in California. The Governor announced in May that California would begin the cancellation process and this agreement settles the court challenges on that decision.
Official Timeline:
- Registrations impacted allowed to lapse at the end of the year.
- Registrants impacted will cease sales within 30 days after the effective date of the settlement agreement [i.e., November 8, 2019]
- Dealers/distributors will cease sales to California growers within 120 days after the effective date of the settlement agreement [i.e., February 6, 2020]
- Growers can continue to use affected products until December 31, 2020, after which they will no longer be allowed to possess or use the products outlined in the DPR notice below.
- Until December 31, 2020, all uses must comply with existing restrictions, including a ban on aerial spraying, quarter-mile buffer zones and limiting use to crop-pest combinations that lack alternatives.
