Whose 'Cide Are They On?

California regulating pesticide air pollution and fish farming

California is trailblazing again: It aims to be the first state in the U.S. to tackle air pollution from pesticide use. State officials hope to eliminate tons (literally) of smog-forming gases that waft from pesticide-treated agricultural regions. California's Department of Pesticide Regulation -- long accused of doing very little regulating -- is finally getting on the ball, asking manufacturers to reformulate more than 700 pesticides to reduce smog-contributing volatile organic compounds. Next year, the DPR plans to impose stricter rules on soil fumigants, which by weight account for about 25 percent of applied pesticides in California. The state aims to reduce pesticide air pollution at least 20 percent by 2008, and hopes to convince the U.S. EPA to follow its lead. Ahem. In other California-spanks-the-U.S. news, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) on Friday signed into law the strictest ocean fish-farming regulations in the nation.