Proceedings of the Vertebrate Pest Conference

Vertebrate Integrated Pest Management programs are designed to utilize the most efficient, environmentally sound control methods, including anticoagulant rodenticides. The anticoagulant rodenticides are efficacious and relatively easy to handle, however there are concerns regarding the risks associated with rodenticides to human health and the environment. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued the Rodenticide Cluster Reregistration Eligibility Decision (RED) in July 1998 in response to the concerns associated with rodenticides. EPA and its stakeholders worked for 10 years developing risk assessments and mitigation plans, issuing the final Risk Mitigation Decision (RMD) on May 28, 2008. The RMD restricts retail sale of second generation anticoagulant rodenticides for commensal use, and it refers field use rodenticide registrants back to the RED, which makes those products Restricted Use. This means that all uses of field use products must be made by a certified applicator. These changes have potentially large ramifications for smaller private applicators that are generally not certified to use Restricted Use materials. The California Department of Food and Agriculture and the University of California Cooperative Extension are working collaboratively to develop curriculum to streamline the exam process for private applicators; however, there is no guarantee that this will be accepted by the Department of Pesticide Regulation.