AB 1454 (Canciamilla)
The West Nile Virus
Protection and Control Act of 2003
California’s mosquito and vector control districts and public health officials
are bracing for the arrival of West Nile Virus (WNV) as early as this spring.
West Nile is a
virulent and potentially
deadly form of encephalitis that poses a grave threat to the health and safety
of all Californians, particularly seniors and the very young. The disease is
transmitted by mosquitoes and spread primarily by infected birds. In three
years (since it’s arrival in New York City in 1999), West Nile has killed nearly
three hundred, sickened thousands of others, and spread to 44 states. A West
Nile Virus outbreak in our state not only threatens public health, but
California’s tourism and health care industries
and our economic recovery.
The West
Nile Virus Protection and Control Act of 2003, sponsored by the Mosquito and
Vector Control Association of California (MVCAC), seeks to provide mosquito and
vector control agencies with the tools they need to effectively control
mosquitoes and ensure that abatement programs are performed by qualified public
agencies with trained and certified personnel.
Specifically, AB 1454:
The bill
requires the Department of Pesticide Registration, in consultation with the
Department of Health Services, to develop a program that facilitates the safe
use of pesticides and other methods approved by the United State Environmental
Protection Agency (USEPA) to combat mosquitoes and other vectors. Such a
program would consider the public health benefits of public health pesticides
used in vector control when considering new or continued registration of such
products and provide the data necessary to register these products in
California.
Unfortunately, effective mosquito control in California is hampered by a
shortage of registered public health pesticides developed specifically for
mosquito abatement. Under current law, to be sold in California, a pesticide
must be registered by both the USEPA and the Department of Pesticide
Registration (DPR). Due to DPR’s more stringent registration requirements,
existing products registered by the United States Environmental Protection
Agency (USEPA) are not being registered for use in California and new public
health mosquito control products are not being developed for the California
market. In many cases, pesticide manufacturers choose not to place a product in
California because the cost of our registration process exceeds the potential
income from the sale of a minor use pesticide.
In recent
years, mosquito districts have been forced to rely on fewer and fewer products
and, as a result, seen an alarming increase in the resistance of mosquito
populations to the available products. Simply, the lack of available
alternatives prohibits the implementation of Integrated Pest Management
programs, which emphasize biological control methods and the rotation of
products to prevent resistance.
The
legislation requires that if, and when, any mosquito abatement program is
undertaken to control a West Nile outbreak, the work must be performed by a
mosquito and vector control agency that is party to a cooperative agreement with
the California Department of Health Services. Mosquito and vector control
agencies that are party to a cooperative agreements must: maintain records of
pesticide use and submit monthly pesticide use reports to the Department of
Pesticide Registration, require employees to be certified in the use of
pesticides in vector control by the Department of Health Services, calibrate all
application equipment subject to review by the County Agricultural Commissioner,
and agree to be inspected on a regular basis to ensure compliance with state and
federal pesticide laws, among many other requirements designed to protect public
and environmental health.
Such a provision ensures that mosquito control will be performed
by certified professionals employing appropriate methods and materials.
Unfortunately, that has not always been the case in New York and other states
that have been forced to respond to West Nile outbreaks in recent years.
03/03 |
