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Pest management professionals (PMPs) in California will have fewer rodent control tools in their toolboxes as of Jan. 1, 2025.
That’s when a law that bans the use of first- and second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides goes into effect.
On Sept. 25, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law AB 2552, which prohibits the use of second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides with some exceptions. The state now bans the use of chlorophacinone and warfarin, and considers these active ingredients (AIs) “restricted materials.”
Anyone who violates the law by selling or using the banned pest control solutions — first- or second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides — will be subject to a $25,000 daily fine for each violation. Plus, they will be subject to any other penalties “established by law,” according to AB 2552. Funds collected from violations will go to California’s Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) for administering and enforcing the law.
Exemptions exist
There are exemptions to the ban, however. Government agencies tasked with protecting public health and the water supply, as well as mosquito and vector control districts that protect public health, are exempt. In addition, the ban will not apply to activities related to agriculture, including warehouses where food is stored; factories, breweries and wineries; and food production sites. Also permitted is the use of the rodenticides to manage nonnative invasive species on offshore islands or when they may harm threatened or endangered species or their habitats.
An activist group co-sponsored AB 2552. Wildlife activists have taken steps to eliminate the use of anticoagulant rodenticides in the state because of the impact they may have on non-target animals, including mountain lions, bobcats, foxes, raptors, hawks and owls.
Megan Striegel, director of Legislative & Regulatory Affairs for the National Pest Management Association (NPMA), says passage of the bill has the organization deeply concerned about the future of rodent control in California.
“This law completes the ban of all first- and second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides used by PMPs and makes California the only state in the nation to take such aggressive and unnecessary action,” she says. “Furthermore, this action is premature, as qualified scientists at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — who are removed from the charged politics of the California state legislature — are currently in the process of reevaluating rodenticide registrations.”
Megan Provost, president of RISE (Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment) — a national trade association for the specialty pesticide and fertilizer industries — was quoted in the Los Angeles Times’ coverage of the law, explaining the DPR already evaluates pesticides for safety, making pesticide-specific legislation unnecessary.
“We now have several state laws, including California’s AB 2552, that restrict or prohibit the use of anticoagulant rodenticides,” she says. “Our industry is at a critical juncture with respect to the pressure on rodenticide products, including the increasing intensity of activism even as cities and suburbs across the nation are endeavoring to manage rodent infestations in public and other spaces.”
Aid the industry
Provost says this pressure is the same as activism and policymaking targeting specific herbicides and neonicotinoid insecticides. She calls on PMPs to take action to help ensure bans are not enacted elsewhere in the country.
“I urge professionals to stay informed and engaged through their state and national associations and to plan in 2025 to personally weigh in on new proposals for bills and regulations,” she adds. “A PMP’s expertise is essential to effectively managing these policy proposals and to maintaining broad access to this important class of chemistry.”
The move is not unprecedented, as California banned the use of second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides with some exemptions on Jan. 1, 2021. AB 1788, the bill known as the California Ecosystems Protection Act of 2020, was signed into law in September 2020. As part of that law, the DPR was tasked with re-evaluating brodifacoum, bromadiolone, difenacoum and difethialone, with the help of the Department of Fish and Wildlife.
<p>The post California passes another rodenticide ban first appeared on Pest Management Professional.</p>
from Pest Management Professional https://www.mypmp.net/2024/11/06/california-passes-another-rodenticide-ban-2/
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