Today, the California Legislature passed a $214.8 billion budget, which is $1.3 billion more than was proposed in Governor Gavin Newsom’s May Revision. The budget provides $130 million for safe drinking water, of which $100 million will come from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) and $30 million will come from the General Fund. Approximately ...
Last Thursday, the California Assembly passed AB 1054, the utility wildfire response bill requiring PG&E, SCE AND SDG&E to make $5 billion in aggregate safety investments (system hardening) without return on equity that would otherwise be borne by ratepayers. AB 1054 Summary AB 1054 includes numerous provisions related to addressing wildfires caused by utility infrastructure: ...
On Monday July 29, 2019, the Office of Administrative Law approved the Protection from Wildfire Smoke regulation, requiring California employers to protect their employees from possible harm created by wildfire smoke. Adopted by the Cal/OSHA Standards Board on July 18, the emergency rule requires employers to monitor the Air Quality Index (AQI) in the workplace ...
Effective January 1, 2020, the California Air Resources Board’s (CARB) Truck and Bus Regulation compliance verification will be a part of the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) vehicle registration process. The Truck & Bus Regulation requires that most medium- and heavy-duty commercial diesel trucks and buses with older engines be replaced or repowered with ...
The 2019 California legislative year has concluded. The Legislature adjourned in the early morning hours of September 14th and Governor Newsom has completed taking action on those bills that made it to his desk. Listed below are some of the notable bills that Western Growers advocated on through the year. AB 5 (Gonzalez) Signed: This ...
This fall has been busy with regulatory activity at the California Air Resources Board (CARB). WG staff has been actively participating in two regulatory proposals that will impact farmers in both the short- and long-term. The first proposal is the Advanced Clean Truck Regulation which is designed to mandate that manufacturers make and sell more ...
In October 2019, the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) announced nearly all agricultural use of the pesticide chlorpyrifros in California will end by December 31, 2020. In an effort to support growers through this transition, DPR and CDFA have assembled a group of individuals to identify, evaluate and recommend alternative tools for pest management. ...
Last Friday, Governor Newsom released his 2020-2021 state budget proposal, the largest budget ever at $222.2 billion. The governor will now work with the California Legislature over the next several months to address questions about the proposal and to negotiate significant additions or removals of programs and associated funding. The state budget must be passed ...
Tomorrow, the U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote on the HEROES Act, or CARES Act 2.0. The Senate will reportedly wait to take up any potential legislative package offering additional COVID-19 relief funds. While the HEROES Act addresses a wide range of issues spanning 1800 pages of text, the following provisions are relevant ...
SB 1102, which attempts to change the law by changing the definition of “voluntary” and “mandated” travel time, passed off of the Senate Floor yesterday and will now head to the Assembly for consideration. Western Growers staff and members recently mobilized to request that the provision related to travel time either be removed from the ...
Last Friday, Governor Newsom unveiled Housing for the Harvest, a new program that will offer temporary hotel housing to farm and food processing workers who need to isolate due to COVID-19. Initial efforts will focus on the Central Valley, Central Coast, and Imperial Valley regions, as these regions have the highest number of agricultural workers. ...
As California businesses begin reopening, the State has released the COVID-19 Employer Playbook for a Safe Reopening, which provides guidance for employers to help them plan and prepare for reopening their business and to support a safe, clean environment for workers and customers. The guidance and links in each section are provided to give employers ...
Governor Gavin Newsom has issued an executive order requiring that, by 2035, all new cars and passenger trucks sold in California must be zero-emission vehicles. Newsom’s press release states that the executive order is his latest action for “aggressively mov[ing] the state further away from its reliance on climate change-causing fossil fuels while retaining and ...
Yesterday, California Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed SB 1102, the H-2A bill authored by Senator Bill Monning. Western Growers thanks all of our members who responded to our Action Alerts and reached out to their legislators and Governor Newsom requesting that the bill be vetoed. Your collective outreach made a significant impact on the outcome of ...
The San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District recently received over $30 million in additional U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) funding to augment its grant program to replace old agricultural tractors and low-dust harvesters. The District will use $20,000,000 from this grant for its Tractor Replacement Program. The funding will support the replacement of approximately ...
The California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board is poised to consider, and will likely approve, an emergency temporary standard on COVID-19 prevention at its meeting on Thursday November 19th. The proposal is a result of a petition that was filed by the nonprofit Worksafe and plaintiffs’ lawyers. Unfortunately, the tight timelines and process that ...
Monday, November 30th, the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board (OSHSB) announced the approval of the Emergency Temporary Standards for COVID-19 Prevention by the Office of Administrative Law. The emergency standards require that employers implement a site-specific written COVID-19 prevention program to address COVID-19 health hazards, correct unsafe or unhealthy conditions…
WG has joined a coalition of 28 California agriculture associations in support of AB 93, a bill by Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia (56th AD) that prioritizes workers in the food supply industry, including field workers, for rapid testing and vaccination programs in response to COVID-19. In a letter to Assemblymember Garcia, the coalition states: “With COVID-19 ...
On Friday, January 8th, California Governor Gavin Newsom released his 2021, $227 billion state budget. The budget situation has improved considerably relative to the June budget act with a $26 billion windfall for this fiscal year. However, the operating deficit could grow to $17 billion by 2024-25 if spending is not curbed. Newsom proposes $1.5 ...
California Governor Newsom, Senate President pro Tempore Toni Atkins and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon recently announced that they have reached an agreement on a package of immediate actions to speed pandemic hardship relief to individuals, families and businesses. Included in the relief package is a four-fold increase (from $500 million to more than $2 billion) ...