State Assembly passes much-needed bills to save bees
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The California Assembly passed two bills on Tuesday and Wednesday to protect bees and other wildlife from pesticides. Authored by Asm. Rebecca Bauer Kahan (Orinda), the Pollinator Protection Act (AB 363), instructs the Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) to develop rules to limit the use of bee-killing neonicotinoid pesticides, which are better known as “neonics.” Nine other states, most recently Colorado, have taken similar approaches. Asm. Bauer Kahan’s second measure (AB 1042) gives the DPR the authority to regulate pesticides that are used to treat seeds, closing an oversight gap.