An act to add Section 11457 to the Food and Agricultural Code, and to amend Section 7930.180 of the Government Code, relating to pest control.
Summary
AB 2086 would create a new confidentiality rule for personal information collected by the Department of Pesticide Regulation in connection with pest control licenses and certificates. The bill provides that this information would not be treated as a public record and would be exempt from disclosure under the California Public Records Act, unless a court orders disclosure. It also allows the department to disclose an applicant’s, licensee’s, or certificate holder’s address of record, while requiring the department to permit the use of a post office box or other alternate address instead of a home address.
The bill defines “personal information” broadly to include items such as photographs, Social Security numbers, addresses, telephone numbers, and medical or disability information, but it excludes licensing-related information such as incidents, safety violations, misconduct, commendations, and license status. It also adds the new pest-control confidentiality provision to the Government Code’s list of records that may be exempt from disclosure, and includes legislative findings explaining that limiting public access is necessary to protect the privacy of applicants, licensees, and certificate holders.
Impact
AB 2086 would amend the Food and Agricultural Code and the Government Code to carve out a specific confidentiality exemption for pest control licensing records. In practice, the Department of Pesticide Regulation would have to withhold covered personal information from CPRA requests and could not publish an individual’s home address as the address of record if the person chooses a P.O. box or alternate mailing address. The bill preserves disclosure of non-personal licensing information, so public access to enforcement and status information would remain available.
Sentiment
The available voting history shows strong and consistent support for the bill. It moved through committee and the Assembly on unanimous or near-unanimous votes, including a 74-0 floor vote, and was repeatedly recommended for the consent calendar. That pattern suggests the measure was viewed as a narrow privacy bill with little controversy among members.
Contention
There is little evidence of substantive opposition in the available record. The main policy balance in the bill is between privacy and transparency: supporters appear to favor protecting the home addresses and other sensitive personal data of pest control applicants and licensees, while the bill preserves public access to licensing status and misconduct-related information. Any potential concern would likely come from public-records or transparency advocates worried about limiting access, but no recorded committee debate or dissent is provided here.
An act to amend Sections 2301 and 2302 of, and to add Section 2303 to, the Fish and Game Code, to add and repeal Section 515 of the Food and Agricultural Code, to amend Sections 675, 676, and 676.
AN ACT to create and enact a new section to chapter 4.1-33 of the North Dakota Century Code, relating to pesticide certification standards; and to amend and reenact sections 4.1-33-01 and 4.1-33-03, subdivision b of subsection 1 of section 4.1-33-12, section 4.1-33-13, subsection 1 of section 4.1-33-16, and subsection 5 of section 4.1-33-20 of North Dakota Century Code, relating to pesticide control.