Pesticide Registration Branch
California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR)
January 1, 2006
POLICY AND PROCEDURAL CHANGES and OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST in 2005
Note: The California Notices to Registrants mentioned below are found on our website at www.cdpr.ca.gov under Programs
and Services, Registration Branch.
Assembly Bill (AB) 1011 -Elimination of Letters of Authorization. Effective January
1, 2006, applicants that wish to rely on data on file with the Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) to register
new pesticide products or amend currently registered pesticide products will no longer need to submit to the Department
a letter of authorization from the owner of the data. However, applicants should be aware that, under the new Food
and Agricultural Code section 12811.5, they have certain obligations to data owners who have registered similar
products in defined situations. In addition, effective January 1, 2006, DPR will accept applications for registration
of new pesticide products containing new active ingredients concurrently with submission of an application to the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) for federal registration. Also, DPR is requesting that applicants
provide both hard and electronic copies of scientific data submitted to DPR to support the registration of pesticide
products containing new active ingredients. Please see California Notice to Registrants 2005-10
and Frequently Asked Questions.
This legislation also imposes new requirements on persons and businesses that first sell pesticides into
or within California. Effective January 1, 2006, any person, business, etc. that first sells a pesticide(s)
into or within California must obtain a Pesticide Broker License from DPR. The intent of this legislation is to
close loopholes and promote a safe, fair, and equitable marketplace by ensuring that all who sell pesticides in
California pay their fair share for environmental programs. This new legislation could impact some of your customers
if they ship pesticide product into the state of California. Please pass this notice along to them. For more information,
visit DPR's Web site, www.cdpr.ca.gov, and click on the red "Mill Assessment"
Quick Finder link. Or contact the Product Compliance and Mill Assessment Branch at 916-445-4159. You can also
e-mail questions to millassessment@cdpr.ca.gov.
Fish and Wildlife Data Requirements for Residential Use Products. Fish and Wildlife
data are not required for residential use only products, but may continue to be evaluated if submitted with such
packages. Fish and Wildlife data are still required for other types of products such as agricultural use, as applicable.
Permit Reform Act Repealed. The Permit Reform Act, which was enacted in 1981, was
repealed in 2004. Consequently, the Department of Pesticide Regulation is no longer required to refund application
fees for exceeding time frames. The established time frames for evaluating submitted data are still valid and remain
in the regulations. Please see Policy/Procedure 2005-1 Permit Reform Act Repealed, for more details.
Reevaluation of Certain Active Ingredients. California Notice to Registrants 2005-2 and 2005-8
give the status of active ingredients that are currently in the DPR reevaluation process. Please see these notices
for more information.
Workshop for Agricultural and Home/Garden Product Registrations. On September 26-27,
2005, the Registration Branch conducted the fourth DPR-sponsored workshop on registration requirements. This workshop
emphasized requirements and procedures for registering agricultural and home/garden products in California, including
enforcement and worker safety topics. The workshop was attended by over 100 company representatives and was well
received. DPR is planning another product workshop for 2006 with an emphasis on the changes the Department will
be undergoing due to Assembly Bill (AB) 1011. Please watch our website for announcements.
VOC Reevaluation and New Data Requirements. There has been increasing concern over
the release into the atmosphere of volatile organic compounds (VOC's) from agricultural and commercial structural
pesticide products in California. VOC's and nitrogen oxides combine with sunlight to create ground-level ozone,
which is a pollutant to both humans and vegetation. Currently several regions in California do not meet the guidelines
set forth in the federal Clean Air Act. Effective February 16, and May 31, 2005 the Department placed multiple
agricultural and commercial structural pesticide products that are formulated as liquids into reevaluation. In
addition, effective October 1, 2005, the Department began requiring all applicants of new agricultural and commercial
structural-use pesticide products that are formulated as liquids to submit VOC emissions data. Applicants are required
to conduct and submit TGA (thermo- gravimetric analysis) data on each end use product. Please see California Notices
to Registrants 2005-3, 2005-6
and 2005-7 for more information.
E-mail Tracking of Submissions. Operational since 2004, DPR's e-mail tracking system
continues to increase the efficiency of our process. It is an automatic notification generated by our electronic
tracking system. The process will electronically notify an applicant, by email, of their submission's progress.
Applicants no longer need to specify in their cover letter that they wish to be notified. All registration submissions
that include an email address will be automatically entered into the notification process. For details, see California
Notice to Registrants 2005-4.
Registration Desk Manual. The Registration
Branch Desk Manual, which is an internal working guide for the DPR Pesticide Use Specialist (Registration Specialist),
is available on the Registration Branch website. Please note that updates are made as time permits. Contact your
specialist and refer to the laws and regulations for complete information about pesticide registration requirements.
California Notice to Registrants - Discontinue hard copy mailings. Reminder - DPR
has discontinued mailing registrants a hard copy of the California Notices to Registrants. The notices are available
on our website and you can sign up to automatically receive electronic copies of the notices through DPR's Listserver.
Information available on DPR Website (www.cdpr.ca.gov)
DPR's home page contains a lot of information, with more being added on a regular basis. The Registration Branch
website, along with the main DPR home page, allows access to many data bases, including products registered in
California, products entering the scientific evaluation process, proposed and final registration actions, press
releases, California Notices to Registrants, proposed regulations, and more. Most recently, the Department added
a searchable index of all pesticide data on file with DPR, which includes more than 68,000 volumes of data containing
more than 190,000 studies.
Licenses, renewal applications, etc. Just a reminder that the Department mails
licensing paperwork, which includes licenses, renewal application notices, etc. to the registrant. Staff will continue
to provide copies of correspondence regarding registration requests to a registrant's designated agent. Agents
may also request that they be added to the mailing list for official registrant notifications. However, registration
renewal applications are mailed solely to the registrant shown on the firm's certificate of registration (license).
See California Notice to Registrants 97-6 for further
information.
