Accomplishments
The coalition’s many accomplishments include passing landmark legislation about pesticide use in schools and childcare facilities (Healthy Schools Acts of 2000 and 2006); winning unprecedented pesticide protection zones around schools, homes and labor camps in some of the highest pesticide use counties in the state; and after a four-year battle taking on Arysta LifeScience—the largest privately-held agrochemical company in the world—the CPR coalition won a major victory banning the cancer-causing strawberry pesticide methyl iodide in California and getting it pulled from the national market in 2012.
CPR also pioneered innovative tactics such as community-based pesticide air monitoring and biomonitoring, as well as launching the first online/mobile community-friendly environmental health reporting networks in the Central Valley (the Fresno Environmental Reporting Network and the Kern Environmental Enforcement Network).
Because California is a critical bellwether state that establishes precedents often followed by other states and by federal policy, CPR’s dynamic work pushing the envelope in California is critical to advancing progressive change nationally.
March 2025
SprayDays: pesticide application notification system
After decades of pressure from farmworker communities across California, the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) launched SprayDays, a statewide online pesticide notification system. This system is the first in the world to notify residents of upcoming nearby applications of “priority pesticides”. This allows them to take safety precautions against exposure to pesticides drifting from fields and also become more aware of some of the hazardous chemicals in their environment.
Learn more here.
October 2023
Environmental Justice Advisory Committee
Established by Assembly Bill 652 (authored by Assemblymember Alex Lee and co-sponsored by Californians for Pesticide Reform, Pesticide Action Network and Safe Ag Safe Schools), ensures that the voices of communities most impacted by pesticide use help guide the state’s decisions. The committee is tasked with making recommendations to the Department of Pesticide Regulation on how to better incorporate environmental justice into the department’s policies.
Learn more here.
January 2023
Move towards Sustainability
After great pressure from various groups, California convened a cross-sector work group with state agencies to develop a pathway to minimize reliance on the use of toxic pesticides and promote solutions that emphasize economic viability and protect human health—while eliminating racial and other inequities. As a result, “Accelerating Sustainable Pest Management (SPM) Roadmap for California,” lays out a 20+ year plan to transition the state away from high‑risk pesticides toward safer, more sustainable pest control in both agricultural and urban settings. The Roadmap’s long-term goals include eliminating “priority pesticides” and making sustainable pest management the de facto system statewide by 2050, with near-term actions focused on prevention, education, research, and coordinated leadership.
February 2020
Chlorpyrifos Ban
In 2020, California became the first state in the nation to phase out the use of chlorpyrifos, a widely used organophosphate pesticide linked to developmental harm in children and health risks for farmworkers. The California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) announced the cancellation of all chlorpyrifos registrations in October 2019, with a complete ban on sales effective February 6, 2020, and a full prohibition on agricultural use beginning December 31, 2020.
Learn more here.
September 2000
Healthy Schools Act
The Healthy Schools Act gives families and school staff the right to know what pesticides are used in and around schools and child care centers, and promotes safer pest management practices. Schools must notify parents and guardians about expected pesticide use, offer the option to receive advance notices of specific applications, and post warning signs 24 hours before and for 72 hours after pesticides are applied on school grounds. The Act also encourages integrated pest management (IPM), recordkeeping of pesticide use for at least four years, and state guidance from the Department of Pesticide Regulation to reduce children’s exposure to harmful chemicals and support healthier learning environments.
Learn more here.
2012
Methyl iodide banned nationally!
Ignoring assessments of the country’s top scientists, on December 1, 2010, the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) approved methyl iodide for use in California’s fields. According to some scientists, this pesticide which causes cancer, late term miscarriages and contaminates water is “one of the most toxic chemicals on Earth.”
On December 30, 2010, Earthjustice and California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc. filed a lawsuit on behalf of Californians for Pesticide Reform, as well as many of our member groups including Pesticide Action Network North America United Farm Workers of America, and Pesticide Watch Education Fund.
On March 20, 2012, yielding to pressure, pesticide manufacturer Arysta LifeScience pulled methyl iodide off the US market. DPR immediately cancelled its registration in California. In November 2012, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency cancelled methyl iodide nationally.
In April 2010, CPR published a report Profiles of Poison: Survivors of Pesticide Poisoning Say No to Methyl Iodide. Through this report, nine victims of pesticide poisoning shared their stories and issued a call to DPR and the Governor: Don’t register this new poison for use in California!