ABSTRACT
In 1985 the Pesticide Contamination Prevention Act (PCPA) set in motion a mechanism which profoundly influenced pesticide regulation in California. This chapter provides a brief summary of the history of the Act and describes how leaching potential assessment is conducted under the Act. The Act was written with comparatively unambiguous language regarding the scientific methodology such as direct specification of the test types deemed relevant to judging leaching potential and environmental fate. This was in contrast to other environmental legislation which has tended to describe broad goals, while leaving the technical details to the implementing agencies. The Ground Water Protection List (GWPL), mandated by the PCPA, is used as a list of priority analytes in ground water monitoring programs. An active ingredient is placed on this list if it passes through a two-staged screening process. The PCPA requires dealers to report all sales of pesticides on the GWPL, and applicators to report uses to California Department of Food and Agriculture.
