May 11, 1pm-2:30 PST. 

Contact Angela Caranci mvcacsit@gmail.com for more information

Visit our events calendar here for more upcoming events

In an effort to encourage the CA Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) to provide clarity and certainty about their regulatory process for reviewing/approving Research Authorizations we have drafted a sample letter for MVCDs to send to DPR. We hope that by hearing from districts throughout the state DPR will understand the need for clear expectations and timelines surrounding their review of innovative technologies.

If you have any questions, please reach out to Jeremy Wittie, Legislative Committee Chair, at JWittie@cvmosquito.org or Erika Castillo, Regulatory Committee Chair, at erika@mosquitoes.org

For vector control districts that wish to use pyriproxyfen in WOTUS, an updated Notice of Intent form and Pesticide Application Plan needs to be submitted to the State Water Board. Examples of completed documents can be found on the Water Board NPDES Vector Control Permit website. Due to web accessibility requirements, the State Water Board is no longer allowed to post 3^rd party documents unless they are ADA-compliant. Therefore, the Water Board requests applicants post documents on their webpage and provide a link which will then be used to post on the State Water Board website for 30-day public comment as required per the permit.

Email Gurgagn Chand, Gurgagn.Chand@waterboards.ca.gov, your website link for the document. After the application link is posted for 30-day public comment, Water Board staff will notify you of any items that need to be addressed within the amended application package as well as any public comments received. If everything checks out, generally an amended Notice of Applicability approving the revisions will be issued by the Deputy Director of Water Quality within 1-2 weeks. 

Email MVCAC Regulatory Affairs Committee Chair (Erika Castillo, erika@mosquitoes.org) if you have any additional questions.

The California legislature is discussing a bill, AB 740 [Gabriel] Drone cybersecurity, that would limit the use of drones by all government agencies in California that fail to meet certain cybersecurity standards or originate from countries identified by the Federal Government as a cybersecurity concern . DJI, who makes most of the drones that are used in the US, would be limited under this bill. As a result, no government in California agency would be allowed to fly DJI drones under this bill unless they qualify for a limited discretionary exemption.  

The current bill would bring this change into effect on January 1, 2026. MVCAC is seeking to motivate an extension to this deadline to 2028, but is not currently opposing the bill. Very recently, the bill was put on a two-year cycle, so there may be a further extension of the deadline, but this is not guaranteed. MVCAC will continue to engage on this issue as the bill progresses.

Please keep this in mind as you consider purchasing drones. Contact the Chair of the MVCAC ad hoc Drone Committee if you wish to discuss further (Eric Haas-Stapleton, Eric@mosquitoes.org).

Oxitec has announced that the company is voluntarily withdrawing its request to the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) for a Research Authorization (RA) for its self-limiting Aedes aegypti. The company said “DPR and Oxitec have pursued public outreach and engagement and timelines associated with this have precluded the deployment of a field pilot in 2023. Accordingly, Oxitec is voluntarily withdrawing its current RA application for 2023 and will re-submit for future mosquito seasons. Oxitec’s 2023 focus will now be on a third Aedes aegypti pilot season in Florida, in partnership with the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District.” More information is available on the Oxitec website.