Bill targets rat poisons that are killing wildlife
SACRAMENTO — California may soon ban certain pest control methods that wildlife advocates say are also killing mountain lions, foxes, raptors and other predators that feed on poisoned rodents.
AB1788 by Assemblyman Richard Bloom, DSanta Monica, would prohibit the use of newer, fasteracting rat poisons, expanding on a 5yearold state regulation that pulled the products from shelves for retail purchase.
Bloom said restricting consumer sales was not enough to reduce accidental deaths of other animals that are poisoned when they eat the rodent bait or their infected prey.
“The time to act is now. Our wildlife can’t wait any longer,” Bloom said.
His bill deals with a second generation of bloodthinning rat poisons that were developed beginning in the 1970s to deal with rodents that became resistant to earlier products. The poisons are stronger, more likely to kill after a single feeding and tend to remain in animal tissue longer, moving through the food chain.
Unregulated use of pesticides on illegal marijuana grows has significantly contributed to the problem. Advocates say thousands of household pets and children have also been treated over the years for accidental exposure to the rodent bait.
In 2014, the California Department of Pesticide Regulation restricted the sale of newer poisons to permitted pest control companies and agricultural activities. The federal government has adopted similar limits for consumers.
But after the Department of Pesticide Regulation found that reports of wildlife exposure to the newer rat poisons had not decreased, the agency moved last fall to reevaluate its rules. The state Department of Fish and Wildlife, which tracks the accidental poisonings, could not immediately provide its data.
Advocates said they cannot wait for the regulatory process, which does not have a definitive timeline.
“California’s wildlife are in grave peril right now,” said Lisa Owens Viani, founder of Raptors are the Solution, which is sponsoring Bloom’s bill. She became involved in lobbying for restrictions on rat poison in 2007, after a neighbor found two dead Cooper’s hawks in his children’s swimming pool that tested positive for rat poison.
AB1788 includes exceptions for food storage and production and activities to protect public health, as well as a program targeting invasive species on the Channel Islands. It would have no effect on federal efforts such as a proposal to use poison to wipe out invasive house mice on the South Farallon Islands.
The measure would also prevent the state from using older poisons, which act to kill rats and mice over multiple feedings, on public land.
Opponents, including the American Chemistry Council, whose members manufacture rat poison, and the National Pest Management Association argue that the measure could exacerbate the public health risks from rodents.
In a letter to lawmakers, they wrote that the Department of Pesticide Regulation’s “scientific evaluation should be allowed to take place before the Legislature bans a product without all the necessary data, leaving California with fewer and in some cases less effective methods for controlling rodent populations.”
The Assembly approved the bill in May. The measure has until midSeptember to pass the state Senate, where it still must clear several committees and a floor vote.
State Sen. Henry Stern, DCanoga Park (Los Angeles County) and a coauthor of the measure, said there are better solutions for dealing with rodents than rat poison, especially in a place like California that prides itself on its environmental credentials.
“There’s something very human, in fact, about having wildness in our backyards,” he said. “And my fear is that the next generation will never know what that feels like.”