BILL NUMBER: AB 21	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 18, 2009
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  FEBRUARY 18, 2009

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Bonnie Lowenthal

                        DECEMBER 1, 2008

   An act to add Section 14083 to the Food and Agricultural Code,
relating to  economic poisons   pesticides 
.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 21, as amended, Bonnie Lowenthal.  Economic poisons:
  Pesticides:  methyl bromide:  study and 
report.
   Existing law requires the Director of Pesticide Regulation to
adopt regulations that govern the use of methyl bromide and
chloropicrin as field fumigants, and authorizes the director to
prescribe the time when, and the conditions under which, methyl
bromide and chloropicrin may be used in different areas of the state.

   This bill would require the Department of Pesticide Regulation to
conduct a review of existing and emerging emission control
technologies available for reducing  industrial  methyl
bromide emissions and to prepare and submit to the Legislature a
report detailing available emission control devices or techniques for
reducing industrial methyl bromide emissions, including specified
information for each system in the study.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following: 
   (a) Trade activity through California's seaports is crucial to the
overall health of the state's economy.  
   (b) 
    (a)  The economic benefits of ports to state, national,
and global economies are as follows:
   (1) About 13.3 million Americans were employed in jobs created by
commercial port activities  in 2007  , and average wages for
these jobs were forty-nine thousand dollars ($49,000) a year, twelve
thousand dollars ($12,000) more than the average United States wage.

   (2) Exporter/importer businesses and support industries that rely
on seaports contributed $3.15 trillion to the United States economy
in 2007 and paid nearly $212.5 billion in taxes that same year.
   (3) Seaport activities in 2007 accounted for $31.21 billion in
federal, state, and local tax revenues.
   (4) Customs revenue through seaports was $23.2 billion in 2007.
   (5) Deep-draft ports, which accommodate oceangoing vessels,
account for 99 percent of United States overseas trade by weight and
64 percent by value, international trade represents 29.7 percent of
the United States Gross Domestic Product, and the United States is
the largest trading nation in the world, accounting for 19 percent of
world goods trade. 
   (6) With regards to California, California's  
   (b) (1) Trade activity through California's seaports is crucial to
the overall health of the state's economy. 
    (2)    California's  ports handle
one-fifth of all United States international trade, and Los Angeles
and Long Beach rank first and second in dollar value of goods
processed.
   (c) There are cases in which meeting the requirements of our
trading partners requires the use of methyl bromide in cleaning or
fumigating the containers used for shipments at the ports.
   (d) Methyl bromide is an odorless and colorless gas that has been
used as a soil fumigant and structural fumigant  and  to
control pests across a wide range of agricultural sectors. Methyl
bromide depletes the stratospheric ozone layer and has been largely
phased out with some exceptions for critical use where no substitute
is available and for quarantine and preshipment fumigation functions.

   (e) Because methyl bromide poses a threat to humans, animals, and
the environment, it is in the interest of the state that its use be
conducted under careful and appropriate regulation.
   (f) Workers who perform necessary fumigation with methyl bromide
are engaged in a dangerous activity and would benefit from the most
stringent health safeguards possible.
  SEC. 2.  Section 14083 is added to the Food and Agricultural Code,
to read:
   14083.  The department shall conduct a review of existing and
emerging emission control technologies available for reducing 
industrial  methyl bromide emissions. The department, by July 1,
2011, shall prepare and submit to the Legislature a report detailing
available emission control devices or techniques for reducing
industrial methyl bromide emissions, including, but not limited to,
for each system in the study all of the following:
   (a) Process of operation, including installation, operation,
scientific process, and waste disposal.
   (b) Locations where the system is in use in California, including
the length of time in use.
   (c) Theoretical emission reduction  or emission reduction
achieved in practice, if applicable  . 
   (d) Emission reduction achieved in practice, if applicable.
 
   (e) 
    (d)  Type, quantity, and toxicity of waste produced.

   (f) 
    (e)  Manufacturer of system. 
   (g) 
    (f)  Cost of system.