In recent months imidacloprid detections have been made in groundwater from Fresno, Tulare & Santa Barbara counties. Under California’s Pesticide Contamination Prevention Act (PCPA), these detections trigger legal requirements for DPR to notify pesticide registrants of these findings and that those registrants demonstrate these detections do not pose public health risks. Following the detections, DPR’s Pesticide Registration and Evaluation Committee (PREC) held hearings on March 22 and 24, reviewed the findings and recorded written and oral testimonies to determine if imidacloprid use should be restricted.
After the hearings, the PREC recommended that DPR Director, Julie Henderson allow the continued registration, sale and agricultural use of imidacloprid products. On June 16, Henderson released a decision regarding the imidacloprid detections.
In summary, Henderson stated that “Based on the evidence presented in this proceeding, as well as the reasons outlined (above), the Director concurs with the subcommittee’s unanimous finding that imidacloprid currently does not pollute and does not threaten to pollute the state’s groundwaters. Importantly, imidacloprid will remain subject to groundwater monitoring requirements and DPR’s program of continuous evaluation.”
We would like to thank those who submitted public comments about the necessity of imidacloprid along with California Citrus Mutual (CCM).
If you have any questions regarding this issue, please reach out to CCM Director of State Governmental Affairs, Jacob Villagomez at jacob@cacitrusmutual.com.
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