The California Department of Pesticide Regulation (CDPR) has adopted new regulations which additionally regulate agricultural pesticide applications near public K-12 schools and licensed child day care facilities (collectively called schoolsites). These regulations took effect on January 1, 2018 with a goal of providing additional protections to school children when agricultural pesticide are applied nearby.
California growers with fields that are within a quarter mile of a schoolsite must notify the principal or administrator by April 30th of all pesticides they expect to use for the following July-June school year. Schoolsites do not include family day care homes or private schools. Notification must include all pesticides, even organic materials and those which are exempt from pesticide registration.
These new regulations restrict certain types of pesticide applications made within a quarter mile of a schoolsite during school hours, Monday – Friday from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. These include applications by aircraft; sprinklers, airblast sprayers, fumigants and dust applications, such as sulfur. Pesticide applications involving backpack sprayers and ground rigs without forced air can occur during the 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. period as long as they are more than 25 feet from a schoolsite. Greenhouse applications are exempt from the minimum buffer requirement.
Online resources including factsheets, notification templates and training documents can be found below or on CDPR’s website at:
http://www.cdpr.ca.gov/docs/enforce/pesticide_applications_near_schoolsites.htm