Bill will only affect a handful of golf courses but could prove devastating for agronomic operations

California Assembly Bill AB 1392 was recently introduced by Assembly Member Al Muratsuchi (CA-66). The bill would establish the Major Coastal Resorts Environmental Accountability Act and would define “major coastal resort” for these purposes. The definition of “major coastal resort is a resort or hotel that is composed of 300 or more guestrooms, includes, or operates a golf course on premises, is located in whole or in part of the coastal zone, is located within 100 meters of the mean high tide line of the sea or is within 400 meters of any environmentally sensitive area or sensitive coastal area. 

While the scope of the bill is environmentally encompassing, the major focus of the bill for GCSAA, the California GCSA and the California Alliance for Golf is the prohibition of the use of any non-organic pesticide or fertilizer on coastal resorts as defined above which would include the operation of golf courses on premises. 

Golf courses along the coast of California are challenged by numerous insects, disease and weed infestations due to a variable climate. Many of the problems that golf courses face can’t be solved with an organic-only approach or increased manual labor. Coastal golf resorts ranging from Central to Northern California could be devastated by Pacific shoot-gall nematodes which have a debilitating effect on Poa annua putting greens.  There are no organic pesticides that provide protection against this nematode which results in complete turfgrass loss and negative financial impact to the resort.  Other products that would severely affect playing conditions along the California coast include fungicides used for snow mold (on the Monterey Peninsula), herbicides to control kikuyugrass (statewide) and numerous growth regulators.

The loss of these products will have a catastrophic financial effect on the resorts and the communities where they reside and could result in the cancellation of events like the ATT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and United States Open if course conditions can’t meet the exacting demands of those events. 

Members of the California Golf Course Superintendents Association and the coastal resorts they represent will suffer undue hardships if AB 3192 supersedes current federal and state pesticide regulations. Further regulatory requirements are completely unnecessary and will only increase the costs of operating facilities as well as add to the already $73 billion budget deficit facing the State of California. 

GCSAA, the California GCSA and the California Alliance for Golf will be taking a position of "opposed" unless amended to remove the prohibition on the use of any nonorganic pesticide, as defined, or fertilizing material, as defined, at a major coastal resort. 

See the complete text of the bill.