SANTA CRUZ - State and federal officials today are expected to announce a revised plan to battle the light brown apple moth, after residents across the state complained and sued on the heels of aerial spraying of pesticides over Santa Cruz and Monterey counties last year.

Just before noon, the state issued a short release saying Agriculture Secretary AG Kawamura and Cindy Smith, administrator of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, will hold a joint conference call this afternoon with "an important update on the eradication program."

"We will be discussing a major scientific breakthrough in the program," said Steve Lyle, spokesman for the California Department of Food and Agriculture. "It will be of great significance to the project."

The news was first released by Congressman Sam Farr's office this morning. The congressman has been meeting with state and federal agricultural leaders for the past month to re-evaluate the plans for getting rid of the invasive Australian pest.

The aerial spraying of CheckMate LBAM-F "has become a lightning rod for criticism and is placing the entire eradication program in jeopardy," Farr, D-Carmel, said. He encouraged the state to focus on "tried and true ground-based efforts" to fight the moth.

Spokesman Tom Mentzer said Farr wants to see the moth eradicated, but that the backlash against aerial spraying was so fierce that it threatens all plans to get rid of the moth.

Check www.santacruzsentinel.com for updates throughout the day.

Contact Genevieve Bookwalter at gbookwalter@santacruzsentinel.com.