Thanks to the persistence of state legislators, and a change of heart from Governor Gavin Newsom, California has passed a new law that will ban over-the-counter sales of lawn and garden neonicotinoid pesticides by 2025, limiting their use to trained professionals in the heavily agricultural state.

AB 363 restricts the sale of the pesticide class, also known as neonics, and directs the Department of Pesticide Regulation to conduct an analysis of the worst uses of neonics and take necessary steps to prevent environmental damage.

The bill, authored by Assembly member Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, also directs the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) to complete a timely and thorough review of non-agricultural neonic uses.

It's been five years since the EU and UK banned even farmers from using neonicotinoids unless the plants were inside of a closed greenhouse. In 2016, Ontario became the first region in North America to ban the neonics pesticides. Several US states have limited their use and companies like Lowes, Costco, Walmart, and Ortho have promised to phase them out.

"I'm thrilled Governor Newsom has signed AB 363 to eliminate harmful pesticides and protect our environment without limiting farmers," said Assemblymember Bauer-Kahan.

In addition to being the world's most widely used insecticides, neonics may be the most ecologically destructive pesticides since DDT. Toxic to bees and other insects, once in an environment, neonics can persist in soil for years and are easily carried long distances by rain or irrigation water. Today, neonics extensively contaminate California surface waters.

"Public health and ecological wellbeing throughout California are better protected today because of this new law," says Lucas Rhoads, with the Pollinator Initiative at NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council). "California joins nine other states that have curbed neonic pollution in the places where people live and play, taking steps to safeguard the communities and species."

While DPR recently completed a reevaluation of agricultural uses of neonics, it neglected to address non-agricultural uses happening right in many Californians' backyards, which contribute to contamination of the state's urban and suburban waters.

For this reason, AB 363 will now require DPR to perform a more rigorous review of remaining neonic uses and provide additional mitigation where needed—especially important for California's 1,600 native bee species.

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