The Household & Commercial Products Association (HCPA) released the following statement today, attributed to Steve Caldeira, President & CEO, after the California State Auditor released the findings from an audit conducted on the state's Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR), which Senator Roger Niello initiated and HCPA supported in 2023.

"Key findings from the audit confirmed systemic challenges within DPR that HCPA had been raising for years, including the need for consistent and predictable registration timelines. For example, it is taking as long as three and a half years for DPR to complete certain pesticide registrations. While the department claims that it does not have an adequate number of staff to process registration applications in a timely manner, it has not established a formal and ongoing process for determining the number of staff required to do this work.

Unfortunately, DPR's internal systems are antiquated and have exacerbated inefficiencies and regulatory backlongs. DPR's current method of tracking registrations does not accurately capture the information that is needed to determine the length of the registration process, making it impossible to provide consistency and predictability to registrants.

Missed deadlines impact registrants by delaying their ability to sell new and innovative products that are important to protecting human health in California. Additionally, because DPR funding is almost entirely dependent on industry fees and taxes, the department's revenue cannot be collected until it completes its lengthy approval process and products are sold in the state.

We hope the Auditor's recommendations will help the department operate more effectively and efficiently, and we applaud Governor Newsom for taking this first step by signing AB 2113 into law, which aims to alleviate registration timeline issues.

HCPA supports fully functioning regulatory agencies and initiated this audit in 2023 to strengthen DPR by identifying persistent process challenges. HCPA will continue to engage and partner with DPR, the California Environmental Protection Agency, the Governor, and lawmakers to provide input on processes that can help meet its standards and better serve registrants."