Instead, planes will spray the pesticide CheckMate LBAM-F over agricultural or undeveloped areas only, according to government documents obtained by the Sentinel. In addition, spraying will not begin in those areas until an environmental review is finished next year.

The decision follows months of protests and lawsuits from residents of Santa Cruz and Monterey counties, and around California, after airplanes sprayed parts of the two counties with pesticide last year.

The counties originally were slated to be sprayed again this summer, along with others in the Greater San Francisco Bay Area. Judges in both counties, as well as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, stalled those plans last month until environmental reviews and health tests could be finished.

Now, though, the state's plan to aerially spray neighborhoods with pesticide has been tossed, according to government documents.

Instead, the state will continue to combat the apple moth with twist ties infused with CheckMate LBAM-F, a pheromone-scent pesticide designed to distract male moths from mating, according to the documents. Agriculture officials also plan to mix the same pheromone into a sticky paste and apply it to telephone poles and trees in infested areas, beginning in September. By 2011, the state plans to release sterile male moths, which should further hold up the pest's reproduction.

The state and federal government hope to eradicate the moth in five to seven years, according to the documents.

The revised plan comes after leaders with the California Department of Food and Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Agriculture met with Congressman Sam Farr, D-Carmel, over the past month. Farr said Thursday that he believed the plans to continue aerial spraying have triggered an enormous outcry that could derail the entire effort to get rid of the light brown apple moth if nothing is changed.

Aerial spraying, Farr said, "has become a lightning rod for criticism and is placing the entire eradication program in jeopardy."

Assemblyman John Laird, D-Santa Cruz, a vocal critic of the aerial spraying program, was briefed by Schwarzenegger earlier today and commended the decision to halt urban aerial spraying.

"Today's news represents significant progress and evidence that the governor is responding to public concerns," Laird said. "Whether it is twist-ties, stingerless wasps, sterile moths or any other strategy, what's most important is that we protect our farms and nurseries while ensuring public safety and environmental protection."

State and federal officials have said the moth could decimate the state's agriculture industry, causing up to $100 million in damage to apple, grape, orange and pear crops alone. They previously called aerial spraying a critical tool in the fight against the light brown apple moth.

But critics say not enough is known about the health effects of the spray. Several hundred people in Santa Cruz and Monterey counties complained of respiratory problems and other ailments after last year's aerial spraying, although state toxicologists have said that those complaints cannot be conclusively linked to the spraying because in a large population, a certain number of people experience similar health problems every day.

Contact G. Bookwalter at 706-3286 or gbookwalter@santacruzsentinel.com.