APNewsBreak: California to ban some pesticides near schools

(AP) — California is moving to ban farmers from spraying pesticides into the air near schools and day care centers under a newly proposed rule that will be among the nation's toughest, regulators told The Associated Press on Thursday.

Crop dusters flying over fields, air-blasters spraying orchards and fumigants that risk blowing onto campuses will no longer be allowed within a quarter-mile of those facilities, said Brian Leahy, director of the state Department of Pesticide Regulation.

The proposal is angering farmers already under pressure from five years of drought and rising costs, such as a law recently signed by Gov. Jerry Brown that grants farmworkers the same rights to overtime pay as other employees.

Farmers are mindful of neighboring schools and don't spray when it could harm children, said Bruce Blodgett, executive director of the San Joaquin Farm Bureau Federation.

In the largest case, 11 students and their teacher at Cesar Chavez Elementary School in Monterey County became ill in April 2009 when a helicopter sprayed a field of spinach near the students who were outside for a physical education class, officials say.