Mobile, Web, GIS
Case Study: CalPEATS
Challenge
Provide an end-to-end solution for Pesticide Use Enforcement to identify non-compliances and deal with violations. Integrate with the existing Permitting system and automate necessary reporting to the various Agencies.
Client
CACASA
Users
1,000
Solution
The California Pesticide Enforcement Activity Tracking System (CalPEATS) provides Pesticide Use Enforcement (PUE) staff the tools for conducting and tracking pesticide inspections, investigations, and enforcement responses.
Launched in 2016 for California’s Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR), CalPEATS provides both mobile and web-based interfaces for recording pesticide inspection activity and integrates permitting and use reporting data from CalAgPermits (California’s Agricultural Online Permit System). Providing inspection and enforcement histories to field inspectors, CalPEATS gives a clear picture of the businesses and individuals performing pesticide-related work in their county.
With different county and DPR roles, a smooth handoff of records between different levels of state employees is provided by ensuring that only records that are ready for work or review are available when they are visible to different levels of users.
Product Features
Using CalPEATS eliminates the need for counties to communicate work products and activities to DPR via paper, providing both the county and DPR with significant savings in time and effort as well as giving both parties instantaneous access to all relevant information.
In addition to this benefit, CalPEATS provides:
- Online view of pesticide compliance history across the state
- Enforcement staff can immediately access inspection and enforcement histories
- Ability to recognize state-wide patterns of non-compliances in businesses
Inspections
The process can be conducted using a mobile tablet device in the field. The CalPEATS Mobile app runs on iOS, Android, and Windows 10 devices. A vast array of reference data is downloaded to the device, including business/individual contact and license information, pesticide products, permits, site locations, and Notices of Intent, allowing the inspector to benefit from the full library of data even without an active Internet connection.
While conducting the inspection, CalPEATS puts the entire reference library for the county at the inspector’s fingertips, providing context-sensitive suggestions such as nearby sites, Pest Control Businesses that have worked with a particular Grower in the past, and products that are known to be used at a particular location.
These features combine to make the CalPEATS App extraordinarily easy to learn and use and ensures that the app helps inspectors complete their work more thoroughly and more quickly.
Cradle to Grave
When violations of the California Code of Regulations, Business and Professions Code, Food and Agriculture Code, or local County Ordinances occur, CalPEATS provides “cradle to grave” tracking of those violations including a detailed accounting of what responses were initiated and any penalties or actions taken against the respondent.
CalPEATS provides detailed electronic Investigation Case Files to track and share investigations conducted by the county PUE staff. Once a violation has been recorded, the system tracks it until it is disposed of via one of several mechanisms such as a DPR Decision Report or an enforced Agricultural or Structural Civil Penalty. The inspection record or the investigation case file provides immediate access to the violation documentation, making it fast and easy for the county PUE staff to explain the violation to the respondent, or to prepare arguments for a Hearing or DPR Appeal.
CalPEATS also provides a county activity tracking function, replacing the old process of submitting activity counts and hours to DPR via paper forms. CalPEATS automatically calculates most of the activity metrics required by combining the CalPEATS and CalAgPermits data into one report that DPR can export to Microsoft Excel for additional processing.
Two-Way Integration
To complete the two-way integration of CalPEATS and CalAgPermits, the Contact Information and License Registration processes in CalAgPermits now draw compliance history information from CalPEATS so PUE staff involved in permitting and licensing can immediately view the full history of a business or individual, including the payment status of any fines issued.
The numbers
With the newly integrated CalPEATS system, County Staff seamlessly conduct annually:
Inspections
Investigations
Violations
Pesticide Use Reports (millions)
“Being able to line up inspections, investigations and reporting in one place helps us focus on the issues, not the paperwork.”