SANTA CRUZ -- Better tracking of known invasive pests entering the state and more public vetting of plans to eradicate them are part of a bill filed by Assemblyman John Laird Friday.

Responding to ongoing controversy about the light brown apple moth and aerial spraying that occurred last year in a bid to eradicate the pest, Laird and three other lawmakers offered a set of measures on the last day bills could be filed in the Legislature.

"We're looking at how we can put more accountability and planning into the process," Laird, D-Santa Cruz, said.

The Department of Food and Agriculture began its effort to eradicate the light brown apple moth last year, using an aerially sprayed pheromone in Santa Cruz and Monterey counties. The department said the action was needed to protect the state's agriculture industry, but critics said the methods and the threat to the industry were questionable.

Laird's bill, AB 2763, would require the Agriculture Department to list any invasive species that have a likelihood of entering the state and craft an assessment on a way to eradicate them including any pesticides used as well as the ingredients of the chemical and how it would be applied.

The measure calls for the department to notify local governments and hold public hearings as part of the process, something some critics said was lacking during the past year.

Department of Food and Agriculture spokesman Steve Lyle said the department has been informing the public.

"We're committed to public outreach and we have been since the program began," Lyle said.

The remaining measures were written by Democratic Assembly members Loni Hancock of Berkeley, Mark Leno of San Francisco and Jared Huffman of San Rafael.

Each measure is related to the environmental review process and eradication efforts:

• Hancock's AB 2764 would prohibit using a pesticide in an urban area unless the governor proclaims a state of emergency. Currently, the secretary of agriculture may do so.

• Huffman's AB 2765 would alter the Department of Agriculture's emergency powers by requiring public hearings and investigation of alternatives to aerial spraying before that kind of approach begins.

The agriculture department used an emergency exemption under state environmental laws to spray for the moth in 2007 and is planning to do so this year.

• Leno's AB 2760 would require an environmental impact report be completed before applying a pesticide on an urban area for the light brown apple moth.

One of the biggest complaints at a public meeting in Santa Cruz on Thursday was that that kind of report was not completed before spraying commenced last year.

The word pesticide is used to include anything that is aimed at eradicating a pest, according to Leno's office.

David Dilworth of Helping Our Peninsula's Environment, a critic of aerial spraying, said the measures were a good first step, but there should be laws that require local elected officials to consent to spraying.

Contact Brian Seals at 706-3264 or bseals@santacruzsentinel.com.