Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Tuesday signed a bill into law that will reform the state's process when considering aerial pesticide spray in urban areas.

Author of the bill, Assemblyman Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, said the law will require disclosure and public involvement in the Department of Food and Agriculture's pesticide spraying programs.

The law requires the state to hold public hearings before spraying and to disclose ingredients of the spray to the public, he said. It requires an evaluation of the human and environmental health effects of proposed aerial spray and applies to any proposed aerial spraying in urban areas.

Huffman said the public needs to know what is proposed and communities need to be included in the process.

The law was proposed in response to the controversial spraying of pheromones aimed at eradicating the light brown apple moth last year in Monterey and Santa Cruz counties.

People in both counties reported becoming sick after spraying, and lawsuits were filed in an effort to prevent the operation. Courts ruled a full environmental analysis was required before the spraying could go on.

David Dilworth, executive director of Helping Our Peninsula's Environment, a group that opposed the aerial spraying, was pleased with the adoption of the law. He said it addresses many of the issues, specifically the disclosure of ingredients and possible alternatives to spraying that his organization pushed for last year.

"This is a

good step forward on the 'informed' portion of the informed-consent principle," Dilworth said.

After last year's legal challenges, the state has since abandoned plans to resume spaying to combat the light brown apple moth in urban areas, including the San Francisco Bay Area.