*Note from Vegan Reader:
We are really happy that Senator Midgen’s moratorium passed today, but are not clear yet as to what it means by ‘proving the safety’. Will this involve the 6-pack Toxicology test, as ordered by the governor, will it involve an EIR, or something else? We aren’t clear. However, one thing is clear…this measure only relates to the aerial spraying and not the other toxic ground programs, and it is also clear that CDFA is still being looked upon as a legitimate party to conduct these tests. Having been convicted by a Superior Court of breaking the law by violating CEQA, CDFA has lost their right to public confidence and we demand that the toxicology and impact testing be conducted by independent, ethical third-party experts who do not stand to make money or gain professional advancement from spraying pesticides on the people of California.

Here is the Measure for Your Review:
——

INTRODUCED BY Senator Migden

FEBRUARY 27, 2008

Relative to the light brown apple moth.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SCR 87, as introduced, Migden. Light brown apple moth.
This measure would request the Department of Food and Agriculture
to impose a moratorium on any aerial spraying that may be a part of
the department’s eradication campaign of the light brown apple moth
until the department can demonstrate that the pheromone compound it
intends to use is both safe to humans and effective at eradicating
the light brown apple moth.
Fiscal committee: no.

WHEREAS, The presence of the light brown apple moth (LBAM), which
is originally from Australia, has been confirmed in 12 counties,
which include Alameda, Contra Costa, Los Angeles, Marin, Monterey,
Napa, San Francisco, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa
Cruz, and Solano, since its discovery in California by the Department
of Food and Agriculture and the United States Department of
Agriculture in March 2007; and
WHEREAS, The introduction of the LBAM represents a danger to
California’s natural environment and agricultural industry; and
WHEREAS, The United States Department of Agriculture is testing
the efficacy of the aerial spraying of pheromones, a substance that
disrupts the mating of the LBAM, conducted in New Zealand to
eradicate the LBAM, but these tests have not been completed and the
efficacy results of the tests are not known; and
WHEREAS, More than 16,000 LBAMs were found in the bay area and
most of these moths were found in the epicenter, which is Monterey
and Santa Cruz Counties; and
WHEREAS, According to the Department of Food and Agriculture,
aerial spraying for the LBAM is needed in 10 bay area counties and
the department is developing a new formula to use to eradicate the
LBAM, which was not the one used in the Monterey and Santa Cruz areas
in 2007, but the department has not disclosed all of the
ingredients; and
WHEREAS, Over 600 health complaints were tallied after aerial
spraying for the LBAM in Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties last year,
raising serious questions about the safety of the spray to humans.
During the aerial spraying, the planes doused cities, suburbs, and
rural areas with a pheromone called CheckMate, which regulators
initially said carried a harmful ingredient, and then said it did
not. Moreover, the health effects in the bay area cannot be predicted
because the population includes sensitive groups, including
children, the elderly, pregnant women, and people with chronic
disease; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly
thereof concurring, That the Department of Food and Agriculture is
requested to impose a moratorium on any aerial spraying that may be a
part of the department’s eradication campaign of the light brown
apple moth until the department can demonstrate that the pheromone
compound it intends to use is both safe to humans and effective at
eradicating the light brown apple moth; and be it further
Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this
resolution to the Department of Food and Agriculture and the author
for appropriate distribution.