POLICY ON AERIAL SPRAYING DESIGNED TO ERADICATE THE LIGHT BROWN APPLE MOTH

The California Nevada Regional Conservation Committee of the Sierra Club:

·         Opposes the CDFA program of aerial spraying as a first resort against the LBAM in Bay Area and other counties around the state.

·         Supports a moratorium on the spraying until the precautionary approach of an alternatives assessment to determine control strategies that do not compromise human and environmental health and that is sufficiently effective to manage the pest to the acceptable thresholds is completed.   This assessment must be based upon a realistic assessment of the feasibility of eradication.

·         Supports control strategies that adhere to Sierra Club policies on pest management, particularly the policy that says “There should be no public exposure through use of pesticides, pesticide residues, or byproducts of pesticides that cause cancer, birth defects, mutations, reproductive effects, or alter the immune system or behavior of non-target organisms.”

·         Supports disclosure of all ingredients to be sprayed and the informed consent of the residents affected by the spraying.