Wilson OKs Easing of Pesticide Rules : Legislation: In other action, he vetoes bill that would have made it easier for school districts to levy parcel taxes.

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Pete Wilson has signed legislation allowing farmers to use pesticides before the completion of state-ordered studies to determine whether the chemicals will contaminate ground-water supplies, his office said Monday.

Wilson, racing to meet a midnight deadline for acting on bills passed at the end of the legislative session, vetoed a bill that would have made it easier for school districts to levy a parcel tax on property to boost funding for school operations.

The pesticide bill, by Assemblyman Rusty Areias (D-San Jose), was approved on the final night of the legislative session, despite opposition from environmental groups, which contended that the measure presented an unacceptable risk to the state’s ground water.

The measure allows state regulators to grant a waiver for the short-term use of a pesticide that has been registered with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency but has not complied with all California requirements.

Now, 11 studies are required before a pesticide can be used in California. The studies are mandated in the Pesticide Contamination Protection Act, which was enacted in 1985.

The new law will allow the state director of pesticide regulation to defer three of the 11 studies for as long as three years.

Before a waiver could be granted, the pesticide manufacturer would have to provide evidence that the new pesticide would lower risk to the public by reducing the overall use of chemicals and by providing a more benign alternative to a pesticide in use.

The state would have to find that the short-term use of the pesticide would not adversely affect public health, workplace safety or the environment and would not pollute the ground water.

Despite these safeguards, the bill was opposed by the Sierra Club and the California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation, which argued that the measure was the first step in a campaign by chemical companies to undo the state’s pesticide regulation laws, which generally are stricter than the federal government’s.

“What the Administration is doing here is allowing new pesticides to be brought on-line and old pesticides to be brought back without complete testing on their potential to leach into ground water,” said Ralph Lightstone, a lobbyist for the foundation.

He added: “If they make a mistake and a pesticide gets into the ground water, it’s permanent. You can’t get it out again.”

Steven Monk, legislative coordinator for the state Department of Pesticide Regulation, said the department believes that the bill will strengthen environmental protection by speeding the introduction of pesticides that are part of a comprehensive pest management strategy meant to reduce the overall use of chemicals.

“We don’t feel the bill allows for a lowering of California standards at all,” Monk said.

The governor’s veto of the school parcel tax bill represented a bitter setback for the education community, which saw the measure as a way to fend off budget cuts at a time of declining state support for schools.

The measure would have allowed districts to levy parcel taxes with a simple majority vote of the people, rather than the two-thirds majority required now. With a parcel tax, unlike other property taxes, property owners pay the same amount regardless of the value of their land.

Wilson vetoed a similar bill last year, saying it was too broad and would have allowed not only parcel taxes but other local taxes that would be bad for the business community. State Sen. Gary K. Hart (D-Santa Barbara) said he addressed those concerns in this year’s version.

“This is a major disappointment,” Hart said. “This was by far the most important education bill of the year. This was a very important bill for schools.”

In his veto message, Wilson questioned the constitutionality of a simple majority vote for a per parcel tax. He said he prefers to see school districts work with county officials to increase the sales tax to support their operations.

In other action, the governor:

* Signed a measure allowing San Diego to stage an experiment permitting lone drivers along a congested freeway corridor to use a car-pool lane--for a fee.

* Signed a bill to promote the transition of laid-off defense industry employees into the teaching profession by easing requirements for training and certification.

* Signed legislation allowing police to arrest people accused of violating domestic violence protective orders even if an officer does not witness the violation. Another bill signed by Wilson doubles, to $1,000, the fine against doctors who fail to report knowledge of injuries appearing to have been the result of assault or abusive conduct.

* Signed legislation requiring schools to expel or refer to an alternative school any student found in possession of a gun, knife or explosive on school grounds.

* Vetoed a bill that would have allowed women who pleaded guilty or were convicted of murder in a trial that began before 1992 to petition for a new trial based on new evidence that they suffered from battered women’s syndrome.

* Vetoed a bill that would have required manufacturers to add a bittering agent to automobile anti-freeze to discourage children from drinking it.

* Signed a measure allowing insurance agents to keep commissions earned on premiums that are required to be rebated to consumers. Sponsors of Proposition 103, the auto insurance reform initiative passed by voters in 1988, said the bill would cost consumers at least $375 million.

* Vetoed legislation establishing March 31 as Cesar Chavez Day to honor the late farm labor leader.

* Signed legislation allowing the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to consolidate security services for the Superior and Municipal courts, which are now handled independently by the county sheriff and marshal. The consolidation is expected to save the county about $10 million a year.