Opinion ID: 1159818
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: State Preemption

Text: State regulation of pesticide marketing began in 1901 with additional regulations adopted in 1911 and 1933. Pesticide usage was not regulated by the state but was regulated solely by the counties until after World War II. (Dunning, Pests, Poisons and the Living Law: The Control of Pesticides in California's Imperial Valley (1972) 2 Ecology L.Q. 633, 643-644, 668.) In 1949, the state imposed a permit system for application of some pesticides, licensed pesticide applicators, and made 2,4-D a restricted material. (Stats. 1949, ch. 1295, pp. 2277-2278; ch. 1294, pp. 2276-2277; ch. 1043, pp. 1938-1941.) In 1971, amendments were made to the pest applicator law, and the state licensed pest control advisors. (Stats. 1971, ch. 1276, pp. 2495-2504; ch. 1187, pp. 2259-2267.) Both the state permit and pest control licensing systems were largely copied from Imperial County laws. (Dunning, 2 Ecology L.Q., supra, at pp. 644, 653.) After the Attorney General stated in an opinion (59 Ops. Cal. Atty. Gen. 300 (1976)) that the use of pesticides was subject to the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (Pub. Resources Code, § 21000 et seq.), the Legislature in 1978 exempted the pesticide regulatory program from the act (Stats. 1978, ch. 308, p. 643 et seq.), and directed the Department of Food and Agriculture to develop a regulatory program that would be the functional equivalent of the California Environmental Quality Act ( id., §§ 3, 4). In 1980, the regulatory program was certified by the Secretary of the Resources Agency as the functional equivalent. The result of this gradual growth of regulation may be described as follows: Division 6 of the Food and Agricultural Code [2] generally regulates those who are in the business of recommending, selling and applying pesticides and requires that they be licensed by the state. (See, e.g., §§ 11701-11711, 12001-12024, 12101-12112.) Division 7 of the code regulates the use of agricultural chemicals. (§ 12501 et seq.) Among the stated purposes of the regulatory scheme are: the proper, safe and efficient use of pesticides essential for production of food and fiber, protection of the public health and safety, protection of the environment from harmful pesticides by prohibiting, regulating or controlling uses, assurance of safe working conditions for agricultural and pesticide control workers, permitting pest control by licensees under strict control of the director and county agricultural commissioners, and encouragement of pest management systems stressing application of biological and cultural control techniques with selective pesticides with the least possible harm to nontarget organisms and the environment. (§ 11501.) The Director of the Department of Food and Agriculture and the county agricultural commissioners under the director's supervision enforce the regulatory scheme. (§ 11501.5.) The director is authorized to adopt regulations governing the conduct of the pest control business, which may be of statewide applicability or tailored to local needs. (§§ 11502, 14006.) County commissioners are appointed by county boards of supervisors (§ 2121) and prior to 1971 could adopt regulations (former § 11503). In that year the Legislature provided that commissioner regulations must be approved by the director before becoming operative. (§ 11503.) However, the commissioners retained broad powers. With certain exceptions not relevant here, no person is to use any pesticide for any agricultural use except under a written permit of a county commissioner. (§ 14006.5.) The commissioner may refuse a permit for use of a restricted material if the proposed use has demonstrated serious uncontrolled adverse effects, the use is of less public value or greater detriment to the environment than the benefit received by its use, or there is a reasonably effective and practicable alternate material or procedure which is demonstrably less destructive to the environment. (§§ 14006.5, 12825, subds. (a), (b), (c).) [3] These are among the grounds warranting refusal or cancellation of registration by the director. ( Id. ) In addition, the commissioner or the director may order any person to cease operation of any equipment or facility which he finds being operated in violation of pesticide statutes or regulations or in a manner or under conditions which may cause injury, illness, or adverse effects to persons or animals. (§ 11737.) The director is required to designate a list of restricted materials based upon danger to public health, or hazards to applicators, farmworkers, animals, crops and the environment. He is also required to adopt regulations governing the application of restricted materials, and prescribing when, where and how a restricted material may be used in the various areas of the state. He may also prohibit its use in areas. (§§ 14004.5, 14005, 14006.) The director is specifically required to adopt regulations governing the use of 2,4-D. (§ 14033.) Section 14007 provides: Every permit which is issued under the regulations adopted pursuant to this chapter is conditioned upon compliance with the law and regulations and upon such other specified conditions as may be required to accomplish the purposes of this chapter. [4] (Italics added.) Pursuant to the statutory authority, the director has adopted numerous and detailed regulations governing the use of pesticides. (Cal. Admin. Code, tit. 3, §§ 2330-2487, 3135-3145.) The director has designated a number of herbicides as restricted materials, including 2,4,5-T, Silvex and 2,4-D. ( Id., § 2450, subd. (m).) Permits are required for use in liquid form of amounts in excess of one pint or, if diluted, one gallon and in dry formulation for amounts in excess of one pound or fifty pounds if containing less than 10 percent of the herbicide. ( Id., § 2452, subd. (d)(6)(7).) The director has adopted detailed regulations of the aerial application of herbicides, specifying when and where herbicides may be applied, height of discharge, permissible wind velocity, nozzle specifications and safety equipment. ( Id., § 2458.) (1) A county may make and enforce within its limits all local, police, sanitary, and other ordinances and regulations not in conflict with general laws. (Cal. Const., art. XI, § 7.) The authority to enact police ordinances for sanitation or health on the part of counties as well as chartered cities is just as broad, sweeping and inclusive as the powers with relation thereto which are vested in the legislature itself, except that they must not conflict with the Constitution or with general laws, ... ( Stanislaus Co. etc. Assn. v. Stanislaus (1937) 8 Cal.2d 378, 383-384 [65 P.2d 1305]; Matula v. Superior Court (1956) 146 Cal. App.2d 93, 98 [303 P.2d 871].) Traditionally, the cities and counties have adopted regulations for the protection and preservation of public health. (E.g., Huron Cement Co. v. Detroit (1960) 362 U.S. 440, 446 [4 L.Ed.2d 852, 857, 80 S.Ct. 813, 78 A.L.R.2d 1294]; City of Glendale v. Trondsen (1957) 48 Cal.2d 93, 101 [308 P.2d 1]; Laurel Hill Cemetery v. City and County (1907) 152 Cal. 464, 470 [93 P. 70]; Ex Parte Lacey (1895) 108 Cal. 326, 328-329 [41 P. 411]; Matula v. Superior Court, supra, 146 Cal. App.2d 93, 101.) The Legislature has not only recognized the rights of counties to regulate to preserve and protect public health but has imposed a duty to regulate. Health and Safety Code section 450 provides: The board of supervisors of each county shall take such measures as may be necessary to preserve and protect the public health ... including, if indicated, the adoption of ordinances, regulations and orders not in conflict with general laws, ... It is clear that the initiative is a proper local regulation for health purposes authorized by the Constitution unless it conflicts with general laws, and in view of the long tradition of local regulation and the legislatively imposed duty to preserve and protect the public health, preemption may not be lightly found. (2) Local legislation in conflict with general law is void. Conflicts exist if the ordinance duplicates ( Chavez v. Sargent [(1959)] 52 Cal.2d 162, 176 [339 P.2d 801]; In re Portnoy [(1942)] 21 Cal.2d 237, 240 [131 P.2d 1]; Pipoly v. Benson [(1942)] 20 Cal.2d 366, 370 [125 P.2d 482, 147 A.L.R. 515]), contradicts ( Ex parte Daniels [(1920)] 183 Cal. 636, 642-645 [192 P. 442, 21 A.L.R. 1172]), or enters an area fully occupied by general law, either expressly or by legislative implication ( In re Lane [(1962)] 58 Cal.2d 99, 102 [22 Cal. Rptr. 857, 372 P.2d 897]; Abbott v. City of Los Angeles [(1960)], 53 Cal.2d 674, 682-688 [3 Cal. Rptr. 158, 349 P.2d 974, 82 A.L.R. 2d 385]; Chavez v. Sargent, supra, 52 Cal.2d 162, 176-178). If the subject matter or field of the legislation has been fully occupied by the state, there is no room for supplementary or complementary local legislation, even if the subject were otherwise one properly characterized as a `municipal affair.' ( In re Hubbard [(1964)] 62 Cal.2d 119, 125 [41 Cal. Rptr. 393, 396 P.2d 809]; In re Zorn [(1963)] 59 Cal.2d 650 [30 Cal. Rptr. 811, 381 P.2d 635]; In re Lane, supra, 58 Cal.2d 99; Abbott v. City of Los Angeles, supra, 53 Cal.2d 674.) ( Lancaster v. Municipal Court (1972) 6 Cal.3d 805, 806-808 [100 Cal. Rptr. 609, 494 P.2d 681].) (3a) The Legislature has not expressly prohibited local regulation of the aerial application of phenoxy herbicides, and the initiative ordinance neither duplicates nor contradicts any statute. Pointing out that the Legislature has recognized that the activity is both hazardous and socially useful, the Attorney General urges that there is a contradiction, claiming that the effect of the statutory scheme is to authorize activities not prohibited by the statutes and regulations. Reliance is placed on cases where it has been held that where a licensing scheme authorizes a person to practice a trade or profession, a local law imposing additional qualification is in conflict with the state scheme. (E.g., Agnew v. City of Culver City (1956) 147 Cal. App.2d 144, 150 [304 P.2d 788]; Horwith v. City of Fresno (1946) 74 Cal. App.2d 443, 448-449 [168 Cal. Rptr. 767].) The licensing cases are distinguishable. (4) Licensing regulates activity based on a determination of the qualifications of the licensee. ( Galvan v. Superior Court (1969) 70 Cal.2d 851, 856 [76 Cal. Rptr. 642, 452 P.2d 930].) The Legislature has not directed that licensed persons must be permitted to use specific chemicals or otherwise provided that specified chemicals may be used. It has provided that a permit is necessary before use of chemicals. The test for determining whether the area is fully occupied on the basis of legislative implication was established in In re Hubbard, supra, 62 Cal.2d 119, 128. (5) In determining whether the Legislature has preempted by implication to the exclusion of local regulation we must look to the whole purpose and scope of the legislative scheme. There are three tests: (1) the subject matter has been so fully and completely covered by general law as to clearly indicate that it has become exclusively a matter of state concern; (2) the subject matter has been partially covered by general law couched in such terms as to indicate clearly that a paramount state concern will not tolerate further or additional local action; or (3) the subject matter has been partially covered by general law, and the subject is of such a nature that the adverse effect of a local ordinance on the transient citizens of the state outweighs the possible benefit to the municipality. ( Id.; Galvan v. Superior Court, supra, 70 Cal.2d 851, 859-860; Bell v. City of Mountain View (1977) 66 Cal. App.3d 332, 338 [136 Cal. Rptr. 8].) (3b) Preemption by implication of legislative intent may not be found when the Legislature has expressed its intent to permit local regulations. Similarly, it should not be found when the statutory scheme recognizes local regulations. Section 14007 provides that every permit to use agricultural pesticides is conditioned upon compliance with the law and regulations. An ordinance is deemed to be `a law' in this state. ( In re Johnson (1920) 47 Cal. App. 465, 467 [190 P. 852]; 36 Ops. Cal. Atty. Gen. 256, 257 (1960); 4 Ops. Cal. Atty. Gen. 232, 233 (1944).) The absence of any express exclusion of county regulation, when viewed in the light of the historic role of county regulation, the duty imposed on counties to adopt ordinances to preserve and protect public health (Health & Saf. Code, § 450), and the enforcement role assigned to the county commissioners, requires that the word law as used in section 14007 be given its traditional meaning as including ordinances. Further support for attributing to the word law its traditional meaning is shown by the fact that the Legislature has manifested its intent that local concerns and conditions must be given paramount importance. Although section 11503 provides that regulations adopted by county commissioners are not operative until approved by the director, the Legislature has provided that the director's regulations of use of restricted pesticides may be limited in certain areas (§ 14006, subd. (a)), and has provided that the county commissioners in determining whether to grant a permit shall not only address the same environmental concerns as those considered by the director in registering pesticides but must also consider local conditions such as the location of schools, dwellings, hospitals, and recreational areas (§§ 14006.5, 12825). In sum, rather than a uniform system of regulation throughout the state, the Legislature has chosen a flexible system, addressing local needs and environmental concerns and placing wide discretion in the county commissioners. Because local matters are given such emphasis, there is no reason to reject the ordinary meaning of the word law as including ordinances or to find an intent of the Legislature to preclude local regulations. Moreover, the use of the word law shows that the Legislature intended to require compliance with other state statutes, including those found in other codes, and other statutes permit local regulation of air pollution and water quality, the purposes of the initiative ordinance. Local and regional authorities have the primary responsibility for the control of air pollution from all sources other than emissions from motor vehicles. (Health & Saf. Code, §§ 39002, 40000.) Any local or regional authority is authorized to establish additional, stricter standards than those set forth by state law. ( Id., 39002, 41508, 41509.) Similarly, in Division 7 of the Water Code which regulates water pollution, the Legislature has provided that no provision of the division or ruling of the state and regional water boards is a limitation on the power of a county to adopt and enforce additional regulations imposing further limitations on the disposal of water or any activity which might degrade the quality of the waters of the state. (Wat. Code, § 13002.) Because section 14007 requires compliance with the law, it requires compliance with the air and water pollution statutes, and since they permit county regulation with local ordinances imposing stricter air and water pollution standards, they authorize the initiative ordinance. Had the Legislature intended to require compliance only with provisions of the Food and Agricultural Code or its pesticide provisions, it could easily have substituted other provisions. Its failure to do so can only be read as meaning that the term law included other statutes and ordinances. Because of section 14007, the pesticide regulations do not meet the first two tests established in Hubbard for implied preemption. The use of the term law, coupled with air and water pollution statutes permitting local regulation, preclude a conclusion of clear indication that use of agricultural chemicals is a matter of exclusive state concern or that a paramount state concern will not tolerate local regulation. The third test established by Hubbard cannot be met because the initiative ordinance has little effect on transient citizens, and it cannot be concluded that the effect on them outweighs the possible benefit to the municipality. The Attorney General argues that the reference to the law in section 14007 is limited to valid laws and that a local ordinance regulating pesticides is not valid because the area is preempted by state regulation. It is no doubt true that only valid laws are intended to come within the term. However, the reasoning is circular. As pointed out above, in determining whether there is implied preemption we must look at the entire statutory scheme, and in the instant case section 14007 is part of that scheme. Thus, the determination whether the Legislature has intended to occupy the field must include consideration of the provisions of section 14007, and when we do so, we find that local ordinances are permitted. It cannot properly be concluded that local ordinances are invalid on grounds of implied preemption before it has been determined that the state has occupied the field. The Attorney General also urges that while the air and water pollution statutes reserve local power to adopt additional regulations, those statutes must be harmonized with the Food and Agricultural Code sections which specifically regulate the use of pesticides and that the Food and Agricultural Code provisions take precedence over the local powers recognized in the air and water pollution statutes. [5] (6) Although ordinarily specific provisions relating to a particular subject will govern with respect to that subject as against general provisions ( Bailey v. Superior Court (1977) 19 Cal.3d 970, 976-977, fn. 8 [140 Cal. Rptr. 669, 568 P.2d 394]; Rose v. State of California (1942) 19 Cal.2d 713, 723-724 [123 P.2d 505]; Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. v. Arcata Nat. Corp. (1976) 59 Cal. App.3d 959, 965 [131 Cal. Rptr. 172]), this principle of statutory construction is entitled to little weight when the specific statute expressly requires compliance with other laws and when there is no direct conflict between the various laws. Rather the statutes and codes should be harmonized to effectuate all insofar as possible. ( Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. v. Arcata Nat. Corp., supra, 59 Cal. App.3d 959, 965.) (3c) Where, as here, there is no direct conflict between the statutes and the specific statutes require compliance with the law, that harmonization is accomplished by permitting regulations to preserve and protect public health under either the Food and Agricultural Code or under the air and water pollution statutes. We conclude that the Legislature has not preempted local regulation of pesticide use. [6]