The 2022 Annual Conference of the Western Agricultural Processors Association will be held at the Monterey Conference Center located in beautiful downtown Monterey, California June 15-17. Come join us for what will be a fun, informative and relaxing annual conference in Monterey! Click here for registration details, exhibitor and sponsorship opportunities. We look forward to seeing you in Monterey!
WAPA Elections Results Are In
The Western Agricultural Processors Association (WAPA) held its 2022 Board of Directors elections this past December and January. Six candidates were vying for five (5) open board positions and the incumbents won. Don Barton of Gold River Orchards, Mark Kazarian with Tule River Cooperative Dryer, Jonathan Hoff of Monte Vista Farming Company, Michael Kelley with Central California Almond Growers Association and Kim Keyawa-Musselman of Keyawa Orchards all won reelection. It was a very good turnout of voters and we thank all of the members that took time to vote for this important election. All terms are three-year terms.
Federal Maritime Commission Announces Effort to Address Detention and Demurrage Fees
An Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking was recently approved by the Federal Maritime Commission asking if a new rule governing demurrage and detention billing practices would benefit the trade and should apply to marine terminal operators and non-vessel operating common carriers in addition to vessel-operating common carriers. Specifically, the Commission is considering the merits of establishing regulations mandating certain minimum information be included in bills issued for demurrage and detention charges and prescribing the maximum period in which an invoice can be sent. Additionally, the Commission is seeking industry views on whether it should regulate the demurrage and detention billing practices of common carriers and marine terminal operators. The ANPRM broadly defines the terms “demurrage and detention” to include any charges assessed by common carriers and marine terminal operators related to the use of marine terminal space or shipping containers, regardless of the labels given to those charges. The ANPRM is being issued in response to information developed by Commissioner Rebecca F. Dye as part of her work leading Fact Finding 29. In July 2021, she identified issuing an ANPRM on these topics as one of the Interim Recommendations provided to the Commission on how the agency can address complaints and issues related to demurrage and detention. The Commission is requesting comments on what specific information should be required on demurrage and detention bills. It is interested in learning what information is necessary to identify a shipment, and whether bills for demurrage and detention should include information on how the charges are calculated and what circumstances justify stopping the clock on charges. Finally, the Commission is soliciting guidance on how to ensure a bill is being issued to the correct party and whether an explanation of the source and reason for the charge should be required. If you have comments or suggestions, please forward them to the Association.
USDA Grants $1.2 million in Research Funds to the Navel Orangeworm SIT Project
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is allocating $17.6 million to California as part of its effort to strengthen the nation’s infrastructure for pest detection and surveillance, identification, and threat mitigation, and to protect the U.S. nursery system. Included in the grant is $1.2 million for research associated with the Navel Orangeworm (NOW) Sterile Insect Technology (SIT) program. Overall, USDA is providing more than $70 million in funding this year to support 372 projects in 49 states, Guam, and Puerto Rico. USDA provides this funding under the authority of the Plant Protection Act Section 7721. “In 2019, California agriculture generated more than $50 billion in cash receipts and exports totaling about $21.7 billion. The state is a leader in U.S. agricultural production, and protecting that vital industry is essential to keeping our nation’s agricultural economy strong,” said USDA Under Secretary Jenny Moffitt. “These projects we are funding are focused on doing just that.” These funds will support statewide projects covering a range of plant health and pest mitigation activities including, but not limited to:
- $4.5 million to survey for invasive fruit flies;
- $4 million to support agricultural detector dog teams, which search for harmful invasive plant pests in packages at mail and express parcel delivery facilities;
- $3.1 million to support National Clean Plant Network foundation plant stocks for citrus and other fruit trees, grapes, roses and other crops;
- $2 million to support state Emergency Plant Health Response teams in managing outbreaks of exotic plant pests;
- $1.2 million to further develop and evaluate the existing navel orangeworm sterile insect release program, which reduces the pest’s impact on the state’s $6 billion pistachio and almond crops;
- $446,000 to survey for Asian defoliator moths;
- $209,814 to develop tools for the identification of pheromones and related attractants for invasive cerambycid beetles, which impact economically significant crops;
- $350,000 to support pest and disease mitigation research to protect ornamental nurseries;
- $300,000 to conduct surveys for stone fruit commodities; and
- $268,500 to develop a technology that leverages contrast x-ray imaging and artificial intelligence to detect invasive pests.
Since 2009, USDA has supported more than 4,800 projects and provided nearly $740 million in PPA 7721 funding. Collectively, these projects allow USDA and its partners to quickly detect and rapidly respond to invasive plant pests and diseases. A lot of credit goes to the American Pistachio Growers, who led the funding effort.
EPA Approves PM 2.5 Standard Revisions, Finds Valley in Attainment
This week, the U.S. Federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has published the final rule approval for the 1997 24-hour PM2.5 standards as established under the Clean Air Act. With this rule approval designation, U.S. EPA also found that the San Joaquin Valley is in attainment with the 1997 24-hour standard. The standard requires that PM2.5 readings maintain below 65 micrograms/m3 in a 24-hour span. The 1997 standard is one of four major standards under the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) that the Air District must be in attainment with, or be implementing rules to help achieve attainment by specific dates. The Air District originally failed to meet the December 2015 deadline for attainment designation as previously established, and was forced to develop more stringent rules in order to achieve the secondary attainment deadline of December of 2020. Several Air District rules targeting agriculture were developed as a result of this standard, and the standard’s reassessment. With help from the Association, and many other agricultural associations, rules against the industry were limited to only the ones that could achieve the most emissions reductions. This is a significant achievement for the local Air District, and also further highlights the reductions achieved by voluntary and incentive based agricultural programs in the Valley.