Roundup is not illegal in California. Glyphosate, its active ingredient, is still registered for sale and use under both federal and state pesticide law, and you can walk into a hardware store or licensed dealer today and buy a product bearing the Roundup name. What California does is layer extra rules on top: a Proposition 65 cancer listing, more than two dozen local bans on public land, tighter rules for spraying near schools, and certification requirements for anyone applying the product commercially. So the honest answer to “is Roundup illegal in California” is no, with meaningful qualifications depending on who you are and where you’re spraying.
What You Can Actually Buy
The Roundup on a consumer shelf today is not the Roundup that generated most of the lawsuits. In 2021, Bayer announced it would remove glyphosate from all Roundup products sold for residential lawn and garden use in the United States, and completed that transition in 2023. Residential Roundup now uses alternative active ingredients. The change was driven by litigation risk, not a regulatory ban.
Commercial and agricultural glyphosate products, including professional-grade Roundup formulations, remain available in California through licensed dealers. Anyone applying them commercially needs the appropriate state certification and has to follow every direction on the label, which under federal pesticide law carries the force of law.
Where Roundup Is Banned Locally
Even though glyphosate is legal statewide, more than 25 California cities, counties, school districts, and parks departments have banned or restricted its use on public property. Los Angeles County ordered all county departments to stop using glyphosate-based herbicides in March 2019. San Francisco, Berkeley, Oakland, Irvine, and many other jurisdictions have adopted similar restrictions on parks, playgrounds, and public rights-of-way. These local measures don’t touch private property or agricultural application, but they do mean a landscaping crew working on a city park may be prohibited from using a product that would be legal one block over on a private lawn.
California also has statewide rules about pesticide application near schools. Under regulations implementing Assembly Bill 1864, agricultural pesticide applications within a quarter mile of a schoolsite require a separate site identification number, a notice of intent, and compliance with date and time restrictions. Starting December 31, 2026, the definition of “schoolsite” expands to include private schools serving six or more students.1California Department of Pesticide Regulation. DPR 25-003 – Pesticide Use Near Schoolsites The rules apply to all agricultural pesticides, but they matter a lot for glyphosate given how much of it is used on California farmland.
Proposition 65 and the Warning Label
The Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment added glyphosate to California’s Proposition 65 list on July 7, 2017, after the International Agency for Research on Cancer classified it as “probably carcinogenic to humans” in 2015.2California Environmental Protection Agency – Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA). Glyphosate and Proposition 65 Frequently Asked Questions A Proposition 65 listing normally triggers a warning-label requirement for products sold in the state.
Glyphosate is the unusual case where it doesn’t. Monsanto challenged the warning requirement, arguing it would be misleading because the EPA had concluded glyphosate is not likely carcinogenic. In June 2020, a federal judge agreed, ruling in National Association of Wheat Growers v. Becerra that forcing a cancer warning on glyphosate products would violate the First Amendment. A preliminary injunction currently blocks California from enforcing the warning-label requirement while the case continues.2California Environmental Protection Agency – Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA). Glyphosate and Proposition 65 Frequently Asked Questions
Glyphosate still sits on the Proposition 65 list. OEHHA has set a No Significant Risk Level of 1,100 micrograms per day.3California Environmental Protection Agency – Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA). Proposition 65 No Significant Risk Levels NSRLs and Maximum Allowable Dose Levels MADLs Businesses exposing people above that threshold could face disclosure obligations if the injunction is ever lifted.
Rules for Commercial Applicators
If you spray glyphosate for a living in California, legality depends on doing the paperwork right. Commercial applicators of restricted-use pesticides have to pass written federal exams covering pesticide safety, environmental protection, label comprehension, and application techniques, and renew certification periodically through continuing education, typically every three to five years.4US EPA. Federal Certification Standards for Pesticide Applicators
The federal Worker Protection Standard requires employers to give handlers the personal protective equipment specified on the pesticide label, keep it clean and functional, and supply decontamination materials including at least three gallons of water per handler at the start of each work period. When the label requires protective eyewear, the employer must also provide an emergency eye-flush system capable of delivering water for at least 15 minutes at each mixing and loading site.5eCFR. Subpart F – Requirements for Protection of Agricultural Pesticide Handlers Skipping these requirements is one of the fastest ways to draw a serious Cal/OSHA citation.
Federal law requires records of restricted-use pesticide applications be kept for at least two years. California and many other states extend this and may require records for general-use products as well. Thorough application records are your first line of defense in a complaint or inspection.
Penalties for Getting It Wrong
The Department of Pesticide Regulation and county agricultural commissioners enforce California’s pesticide laws, including the rules governing sale, labeling, and application of glyphosate. Violations fall into three tiers under California Code of Regulations Title 3, Section 6130, which implements the civil penalty authority under Food and Agricultural Code Section 12999.5:6Cornell Law School. Cal Code Regs Tit 3 6130 – Civil Penalty Actions by Commissioners
- Class A, the most serious tier, carries fines of $700 to $15,000 per violation and covers situations causing actual harm or significant regulatory breaches.
- Class B, moderate violations, run $250 to $3,000 per violation.
- Class C, minor violations, run $50 to $400 per violation.
Retailers distributing unregistered or mislabeled pesticide products can face stop-sale orders on top of civil penalties.
Cal/OSHA penalties for exposing workers to unsafe pesticide conditions are separate. As of 2025, the maximum penalty for a serious violation is $25,000. Willful or repeat violations run from $11,632 to $162,851. General violations, including certain recordkeeping and posting failures, top out at $16,285.7California Department of Industrial Relations. Cal/OSHA Increases Civil Penalty Amounts for 2025 These apply to all workplace pesticide exposures, not just glyphosate.
Lawsuits and What Could Change Soon
California has been the epicenter of Roundup litigation. Thousands of plaintiffs have alleged that Monsanto, and later Bayer, which acquired Monsanto in 2018, knew glyphosate could cause non-Hodgkin lymphoma and failed to warn users. Verdicts in Johnson v. Monsanto, Hardeman v. Monsanto, and Pilliod v. Monsanto ran into the hundreds of millions and billions before being reduced on appeal.8Justia Case Law. Johnson v Monsanto Co – 2020 – California Courts of Appeal Decisions9Justia Case Law. Pilliod v Monsanto Co – 2021 – California Courts of Appeal Decisions Bayer announced a $10 billion settlement in 2020 to resolve roughly 125,000 existing claims, and in February 2026 proposed a separate nationwide class settlement of up to $7.25 billion over 21 years to cover current and future claims from people alleging non-Hodgkin lymphoma linked to Roundup exposure before that date. The class settlement is subject to court approval.10Bayer. Monsanto Announces Roundup Class Settlement Agreement to Resolve Current and Future Claims
The biggest open question is whether the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act blocks state failure-to-warn claims entirely. Bayer argues that because the EPA approved Roundup’s label without a cancer warning, state juries cannot hold the company liable for failing to include one. The federal circuits have split on that argument. On January 16, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear Monsanto Co. v. Durnell (No. 24-1068), limited to the preemption question. Oral arguments took place on April 27, 2026, with a decision expected before the Court’s term ends.11Supreme Court of the United States. Docket Search No 24-1068 Monsanto Company v John L Durnell A ruling for Bayer would effectively end failure-to-warn claims against Roundup’s manufacturer under state law. A ruling the other way would let the pending and future claims move forward. Either way, the ruling will not change whether you can buy or apply glyphosate in California; it will change only whether people harmed by it can sue.