Last week, the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) released a revised proposal for regulating the use of agricultural pesticides near public schools and daycare centers. DPR will be accepting public comments on the revisions until April 4, 2017.

The proposed regulation will affect about 3,500 public K-12 schools and licensed child day care facilities and involve approximately 2,500 growers in California. While many counties in California currently have varying requirements for notification of certain pesticide applications near schools, the proposed regulation would be the first statewide standard.

The regulation is anticipated to become effective January 1, 2018. A summary of the highlights of the revised school regulation is available here. All California growers and interested parties are encouraged to submit written comments on how the proposed revisions to the regulation will affect their operations. DPR will accept comments between March 20, 2017 and 5:00 p.m. on April 4, 2017 to [email protected].

Pre-scripted messages are available on Western Growers Voter Voice Campaign website here. (Messages can be sent to DPR directly from the Voter Voice website.) For more information, please contact Matthew Allen at (916) 446-1435.