2023 California Code › Food and Agricultural Code - FAC › DIVISION 7 - AGRICULTURAL CHEMICALS, LIVESTOCK REMEDIES, AND COMMERCIAL FEEDS › CHAPTER 2 - Pesticides › ARTICLE 14 - Birth Defect Prevention › Section 13134.

13134. (a) The department, in cooperation with the State Department of Health Services, shall conduct an assessment of dietary risks associated with the consumption of produce and processed foods treated with pesticides. This assessment shall integrate adequate data on acute effects and the mandatory health effects studies specified in subdivision (c) of Section 13123, appropriate dietary consumption estimates, and relevant residue data based on the department’s and the State Department of Health Services’ monitoring data and appropriate field experimental and food technology information to quantify consumer risk. Differences in age, sex, ethnic, and regional consumption patterns shall be considered. The department shall submit each risk assessment to the State Department of Health Services, with necessary supporting documentation, for peer review, which shall consider the adequacy of public health protection. The State Department of Health Services may provide comments to the department. The department shall formally respond to all of the comments made by the State Department of Health Services. The department shall modify the risk assessment to incorporate the comments as deemed appropriate by the director. All correspondence between the department and the State Department of Health Services in this matter shall be made available to any person, upon request, pursuant to the California Public Records Act (Division 10 (commencing with Section 7920.000) of Title 1 of the Government Code).
(b) The department shall consider those pesticides designated for priority food monitoring pursuant to Section 12535 and the results of the department’s or the State Department of Health Services’ monitoring in establishing priorities for the dietary risk assessments.
(c) (1) If the department lacks adequate data on the acute effects of pesticide active ingredients or mandatory health effects studies specified in subdivision (c) of Section 13123 necessary to accurately estimate dietary risk, the department shall require the appropriate data to be submitted by the registrant of products whose labels include food uses. This subdivision shall not be construed to affect the timeframes established pursuant to Section 13127.
(2) No applicant for registration, or current registrant, of a pesticide who proposes to purchase or purchases a registered pesticide from another producer in order to formulate the purchased pesticide into an end use product shall be required to submit or cite data pursuant to this section or offer to pay reasonable compensation for the use of that type of data if the producer is engaged in fulfilling the data requirements of this section.
(d) (1) If a registrant fails to submit the data requested by the director pursuant to this section within the time specified by the director, the director shall issue a notice of intent to suspend the registration of that pesticide. The director may include in the notice of intent to suspend any provisions that are deemed appropriate concerning the continued sale and use of existing stocks of that pesticide. Any proposed suspension shall become final and effective 30 days from the receipt by the registrant of the notice of intent to suspend, unless during that time a request for hearing is made by a person adversely affected by the notice or the registrant has satisfied the director that the registrant has complied fully with the requirements that served as a basis for the notice of intent to suspend. If a hearing is requested, a hearing shall be conducted pursuant to Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 11500) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code. The only matter for resolution at the hearing shall be whether the registrant has failed to take the action that served as the basis for the notice of intent to suspend the registration of the pesticide for which additional data is required and whether the director’s determination with respect to the disposition of existing stocks is consistent with this subdivision.
(2) A hearing shall be held and a determination made within 75 days after receipt of a request for a hearing. The decision rendered after completion of the hearing shall be final. Any registration suspended shall be reinstated by the director if the director determines that the registrant has complied fully with the requirements that served as a basis for the suspension of the registration.
(e) If the department finds that any pesticide use represents a dietary risk that is deleterious to the health of humans, the department shall prohibit or take action to modify that use or modify the tolerance pursuant to Section 12561, or both, as necessary to protect the public.
(Amended by Stats. 2021, Ch. 615, Sec. 121. (AB 474) Effective January 1, 2022. Operative January 1, 2023, pursuant to Sec. 463 of Stats. 2021, Ch. 615.)