SHAFTER, Calif. (KERO) — The system, known as SprayDays California, allows residents to sign up to receive notifications via text and email or look up where restricted use pesticides are being used in their area.
- The California Department of Pesticide Regulation launched a statewide pesticide notification system called SprayDays California at the Shafter Veterans Hall on Monday
- Residents can now sign up to be notified about restricted pesticide usage in their area through the CDPR's Website.
- Advocates see this as a crucial step towards better environmental health, but also believe that more can be done to protect those living and working in rural areas.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Monday, March 24 2025 is the start of something new for residents in rural areas. I'm Sam Hoyle, your neighborhood reporter here at the Shafter Veterans Hall for the unveiling of Spray Days California, a first-of-its-kind notification system that will notify residents in those areas of restricted use pesticide material that's being used around them.
Prior to the Department of Pesticide Regulation’s open house, the Center on Race Poverty and the Environment, as well as other advocacy groups stood together for a press conference to celebrate something they say is crucial to communities around California, but it’s just the first step for some.
“Well, I think this is remarkable. They today. I think we're celebrating, you know, this victory. Yes, we have a lot of work to do still, but, you know, just achieving this one is a great victory for our communities, you know, to better protect the health of all residents throughout California,” said Gustavo Aguirre.
“A lot of European countries have banned many of the chemicals and we're trying to get rid of here in California. So this is a step forward. Information is good, banning and having a better environment for our kids, for our community, would be a lot better,” said Cesar Lara, of the California Labor Federation.
So why Shafter? Well, this is where it all started.
“This conversation started actually here in the community of Shafter, California, following a conversation in broad public interest in pesticides and how they're applied, we received funding from the state budget in 2021 to implement a system,” Said Leia Bailey from CDPR.
So how does it work? Ag producers and pesticide applicators are required to submit a notice of intent to their local ag commissioner's office every time they plan to apply any restricted-use pesticide material, and from there, the office will send out a notification to those who are in the area and have signed up for those notifications and even get specific information on the materials being used.
“If you have that address, you will receive an automatic notification. If you're within you know that one by one mile grid. The only other change is you can log on to or head over to the website, and you can see those usages as well. So it makes it more makes it more widely accessible for people to know of those usages," said Jenny Holtermann of the Kern County Farm Bureau.
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