LBAM Light Brown Apple Moth
Invasive Pest Coalition Urges Governor to Sign Legislation
The Invasive Pest Coalition, of which CCOF is a member, is urging the Governor to sign two bills important to the effective control of invasive pests and providing additional measures to protect public health.
“Signing these bills into law will be an important step in the state’s ability to continue to effectively and rapidly control damaging invasive pest species in this state while protecting the public and keeping them informed,” says Ted Batkin, co-chairman of the Invasive Pest Coalition, a broad-based group of agricultural organizations formed to address the issue of invasive pests.
CCOF strongly supports AB 2765 by Assemblyman Jared Huffman (D – 6th District) and AB 2763 by Assemblyman John Laird (D – 27th District) because both bills satisfactorily address public concerns about how invasive pests are handled, and because both bills increase the transparency of control and eradication strategies used by the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA).
The Huffman bill provides public input and disclosure of ingredients used to control or eradicate invasive pests while protecting the rapid response needed when an invasive pest has been introduced which threatens crops and the state’s natural resources. Huffman’s bill would mandate the government conduct a public hearing to consider all alternatives if aerial applications are being considered as an eradication strategy as well as seek an evaluation of the public health and environmental impacts from health and environmental protection agencies. The bill also would require public notice to list the active ingredient and inert material in the pest control formulation to the extent the disclosure is permitted by law or voluntarily provided by the chemical’s manufacturer.
Assemblyman Laird’s bill establishes a public process for advance planning and preparation of invasive pest responses. This bill would mandate that CDFA identify all “high priority” pests, plants or animals for which either an eradication or control strategy would be necessary. It also requires that the Department of Public Health, the Department of Fish and Game, the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment and the Department of Pesticide Regulation add their technical expertise when control or eradication strategies become necessary. Finally, the bill mandates that state officials conduct public hearings to share the assessments with the public and take their input.
Should you have any questions, please contact CCOF's Policy Director, Claudia Reid.
Organic IPM Management Plan for LBAM
CCOF is pleased to provide our members with an ORGANIC IPM MANAGEMENT PLAN FOR LBAM. This document will be useful if you live in one of the delineated or quarantine areas of California that have experienced an LBAM find. This pest, and the dynamics of the eradication plan, continue to be one of CCOF's top priorities. Please contact Claudia Reid if you have questions or need additional information.
LBAM Spraying Halted
On June 19, 2008, the California Department of Food and Agriculture and the US Department of Agriculture announced significant improvements to the eradication plan for Light Brown Apple Moth (LBAM). These include halting aerial spraying over urban areas and mounting an aggressive ground treatment program in the 11 affected California counties. The Department will also rapidly implement a Sterile Insect Technology (SIT) component to the program, with plans to roll out a pilot SIT program next spring, 2009, with the full program being implemented by spring 2010.
CCOF is a member of the Invasive Pest Coalition, which strongly supports this new strategy uses a ground-based approach and newly available control measures to eradicate this invasive pest in an effective and environmentally safe manner. The IPC is an organization comprised of a broad range of agricultural organizations including conventional and organic farming which is committed to supporting efforts to prevent the introduction of invasive pests into California. Unfortunately, with an increasingly global society, invasive pests like the light brown apple moth are introduced into the state. The IPC believes the potential damage to local farmers, California native plants and species and the overall environment necessitates eradication of the light brown apple moth.
We welcome your input to our thinking and ask you to contact Claudia Reid if you have questions or need additional information. We continue to work with CDFA to explore alternatives to aerial spraying for LBAM.
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