Summary of Pesticide Use Report Data 2016
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Summary of Pesticide Use Report Data 2016 California Department of Pesticide Regulation P.O. Box 4015 Sacramento, CA 95812-4015 California Environmental Protection Agency Department of Pesticide Regulation Edmund G. Brown Jr., Governor Matt Rodriquez, Secretary California Environmental Protection Agency Brian Leahy, Director Department of Pesticide Regulation April 2018 Any portion of this report may be reproduced for any but profit-making purposes. For information on obtaining electronic data files, see Page ii. This report is also available on DPR’s Web site <www.cdpr.ca.gov/docs/pur/purmain.htm>. If you have questions concerning this report, contact <[email protected]>. Contents How to Access the Summary of Pesticide Use Report Data ii Year in Summary 1 1 Introduction 1 Continuous Evaluation of Pesticides . .2 Data Collection . .4 CalAgPermits . .5 Improving Data Quality . .5 Improving Access to the Data . .6 2 Comments and Clarifications of Data 7 Terminology . .7 Agricultural and Nonagricultural Pesticide Use . .8 Commodity Codes . 10 Unregistered Use . 11 Adjuvants . 11 Cumulative Area Treated . 12 Number of Applications . 12 3 Data Summary 13 Pesticide Use in California . 13 4 Trends in Pesticide Use for Select Pesticide Categories 16 5 Trends in Pesticide Use for Select Commodities 74 Alfalfa . 75 Almond . 79 Carrot . 83 Cotton . 86 Orange . 90 Peach and nectarine . 94 Pistachio . 98 Processing tomato . 101 Rice............................................. 104 Strawberry . 108 Table and raisin grape . 111 Walnut . 115 Wine grape . 119 Appendix . 128 i How to Access the Summary of Pesticide Use Report Data The Summary of Pesticide Use Report Data issued by the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) for the years 1989-2016 can be found by clicking the “Access Annual Reports” link under the Pesticide Use Annual Summary Reports section at <www.cdpr.ca.gov/docs/pur/purmain.htm>. The tables in the Statewide Report and County Summary Reports list the pounds of active ingredient (AI) applied, the number of applications, and the number of acres or other unit treated. The data is available in two formats: • Indexed by chemical: The report indexed by chemical shows all the commodities and sites in which a particular AI was applied. • Indexed by commodity: The report indexed by commodity shows all the AIs that were applied to a particular commodity or site. The following pesticide use report data can be downloaded from the Department’s File Transfer Protocol (FTP) site at <ftp://transfer.cdpr.ca.gov/pub/outgoing/pur archives/>. • Annual Report Data: The raw data used in the Pesticide Use Annual Summary Reports for 1989 to 2016. The files are in text (comma-delimited) format and do not include updates that occur after the Pesticide Use Annual Summary was released. For more up-to-date data, use the online California Information Portal (CalPIP) at <http://calpip.cdpr.ca.gov/main.cfm> or contact DPR at <[email protected]> • Early Pesticide Use Data 1974 - 1989: Pesticide use data from 1974 to 1989 is available as text files. • Microfiche Pesticide Use Data 1970 - 1973: Files of summarized pesticide use data from 1970 to 1973 are available as PDF scans of microfiche. Starting in 2016, the data from each figure or table in the annual report can be found at <ftp://transfer.cdpr.ca.gov/pub/outgoing/pur/data/ >. Please direct any questions regarding the Summary of Pesticide Use Report Data to the Department of Pesticide Regulation, Pest Management and Licensing Branch, P.O. Box 4015, Sacramento, California 95812-4015, or you may request copies of the data by contacting <[email protected]>. ii Year in Summary Reported pesticide use for California in 2016 totaled 209 million pounds of applied active ingredients (AIs) and 101 million cumulative acres treated. Compared to 2015, pounds of AIs decreased by 3 million (1.4 percent) while the area treated increased by 4.3 million (4.4 percent). Biopesticides increased in both the pounds applied and the area treated since 2015. Pounds of pesticides considered to be reproductive toxins, carcinogens, cholinesterase inhibitors, ground water contaminants, toxic air contaminants, fumigants, and oils all decreased since 2015, although the area treated with carcinogens, ground water contaminants, and oils increased. The AIs with the highest total reported pounds were sulfur, petroleum and mineral oils, 1,3-dichloropropene, glyphosate, and metam-potassium (potassium N-methyldithiocarbamate) while the AIs with the highest reported cumulative area treated were glyphosate, sulfur, petroleum and mineral oils, abamectin, and copper. 1 Introduction California’s pesticide use reporting program is the most comprehensive in the world. California has reported pesticide use in some form since 1934. However the detailed reporting that occurs today did not begin until the 1990s. Until 1954, only statistics on aerial pesticide applications were recorded. In 1954, state regulators asked for reports on ground application acreage, without any detailed information about the pesticides used or commodities treated. In 1970, growers were required to report all applications of restricted materials and pest control operators were required to report all pesticides used. The Food Safety Act of 1989 (Chapter 1200, AB 2161) gave DPR statutory authority to require full reporting of agricultural pesticide use. In 1990, California became the first state requiring full reporting of agricultural pesticide use to better inform DPR’s pesticide regulatory programs. Prior to full reporting, the regulatory program’s estimates of pesticide use frequently relied on maximum rates and applications as listed on the label, overstating many risks. Over the years, these data have been used by a variety of individuals and groups, including government officials, scientists, growers, legislators, and public interest groups. Most pesticide use data required to be reported must be sent to the county agricultural commissioner (CAC), who then reports the data to DPR. On average, DPR collects around three million pesticide use records a year. Currently the PUR database contains over 77 million pesticide use records, going back to 1990. (A pesticide application record represents an individual pesticide product, even if it was applied simultaneously with other products in the field or if it contained more than one AI). California’s broad definition of “agricultural use” requires reporting pesticide applications in production agriculture, parks, golf courses, cemeteries, rangeland, pastures, and along roadside and railroad rights-of-way. Production agricultural pesticide use is a subset of agricultural use, 1 defined as use of a pesticide for the “production for sale of an agricultural commodity” or “agricultural plant commodity.” Each application of pesticide on crops (production agriculture) must include the site name given to a location or field by the CAC as well as the section (square mile) in which the application occurred. Most other uses are aggregated and reported by month with only the county identified. These other uses include rights-of-way applications, all postharvest pesticide treatments of agricultural commodities, structural applications by licensed applicators, all pesticide treatments in poultry and fish production, and some livestock applications. In addition, all applications made by licensed applicators and outdoor applications of pesticides that have the potential to pollute ground water must be reported. The primary exceptions to the reporting requirements are residential home and garden uses, veterinary uses, and most industrial and institutional uses. In addition to requiring pesticide use reporting, California law (Food and Agricultural Code [FAC] section 12979) directs DPR to use the reports in setting priorities for monitoring food, enforcing pesticide laws, protecting the safety of farm workers, monitoring the environment for unanticipated residues, researching pest management practices, monitoring and researching public health issues, and similar activities. These activities help DPR continuously evaluate currently registered pesticides (FAC section 12824), another mandated activity. Information gathered during continuous evaluation is used to gauge the performance of DPR’s regulatory programs and justify additional measures, including development of new regulations or reevaluation or cancellation of pesticide registrations. California Code of Regulations Title 3, sections 6624 et seq. further describe pesticide use record keeping and reporting requirements. Continuous Evaluation of Pesticides The Pesticide Use Report (PUR) greatly increases the accuracy and efficiency of continuous evaluation of pesticides by providing details on each application, including date, location, site (e.g., crop), time, acres or units treated, and the identity and quantity of each pesticide product applied. These data allow scientists and others to identify trends in pesticide use, compare use locations with other geographical information and data, and perform quantitative assessments and evaluations of risks pesticides may pose to human health and the environment. DPR uses the PUR throughout its pesticide regulatory programs in ways that can be broadly grouped as temporal (time), geospatial (place), and quantitative (amount), often combining elements of each. Temporal analyses can pinpoint specific applications or span many years. Investigations into suspected worker illnesses, spray drift, fish or wildlife losses, or other enforcement