May 16, 2025 — The California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) is accepting public comments on proposed regulations released today to update DPR’s Groundwater Protection List.
The updates in the proposed regulation are based on a new, peer-reviewed method for determining which pesticides have the potential to pollute groundwater.
DPR collects and samples groundwater for pesticides on the Groundwater Protection List to determine if there is contamination in the groundwater from the agricultural use of pesticides. This work helps DPR protect California’s groundwater that is used for drinking water, especially shallow domestic wells in agricultural areas.
DPR’s groundwater protection program is part of DPR’s work to continuously evaluate pesticides for risks or impacts to public health or the environment.
Since 1985, the state has protected California’s aquifers by reviewing and monitoring pesticides for their groundwater impacts. Each year, DPR typically monitors over 120 wells statewide, and tests for at least 77 pesticides and degradates.
Updating the Groundwater Protection List strengthens DPR’s work to protect groundwater in vulnerable areas of California.
DPR is accepting written comments on the proposed regulation on its online public comment portal SmartComment until June 30, 2025.
DPR will also accept written comments that are submitted via U.S. mail. Mailed comments must be postmarked no later than June 30, 2025. Please mail these to:
Lauren Otani, Regulations Coordinator
Department of Pesticide Regulation
1001 I Street, P.O. Box 4015
Sacramento, California 95812-4015
The proposed regulations and rulemaking documents are now available at DPR’s Proposed and Recently Adopted Regulation webpage.
About The California Department of Pesticide Regulation
The California Department of Pesticide Regulation protects human health and the environment by fostering safer and sustainable pest management practices and operating a robust regulatory system to monitor and manage the sale and use of pesticides across the state. DPR’s work includes registering all pesticides sold or used in California, conducting scientific evaluation of pesticides to assess and mitigate potential harm to human health or the environment, investing in innovative research to encourage the development and adoption of integrated pest management tools and practices, monitoring for pesticides in the air and water, conducting outreach to ensure pesticide workers, farmworkers and local communities have access to safety information, and enforcing pesticide regulations in coordination with 55 County Agricultural Commissioners and their 500 field inspectors.
