The State - News from March 20, 1985

Extensive changes in the regulation of pesticides to better protect the health of Californians have been recommended by the government watchdog Little Hoover Commission. “Although the Department of Food and Agriculture’s program is exemplary in comparison to other states, our commission believes that California can substantively improve the efficiency and effectiveness of its regulatory program by implementing more than 40 recommendations we have outlined in our report,” Chairman Nathan Shapell said in Sacramento. Proposals include establishing an ombudsman to provide the public with better non-technical information, curtailing the use of pesticides applied directly to water until the state Department of Health Services determines what can be considered safe and establishing a station at the Mexico-California border to monitor imported produce until the federal government improves enforcement of pesticide regulations.