OAL Approves Indoor Heat Illness Rule Making it Effective Immediately
Last month, the Cal/OSHA Standards Board approved the new regulation entitled Heat Illness Prevention in Indoor Places of Employment and applies to most indoor workplaces, such as restaurants, warehouses, and manufacturing facilities. For indoor workplaces where the temperature reaches 82 degrees Fahrenheit, employers must take steps to protect workers from heat illness. Some of the requirements include providing water, rest, cool-down areas, and training. Additional requirements, where feasible, apply where the temperature reaches 87 degrees such as cooling down the work area, implementing work-rest schedules, and providing personal heat-protective equipment.
This week, the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) gave final approval of the regulation, and it is effective immediately. The Association is working on specific guidance for our member, so be on the lookout for that very soon. Meanwhile, here is Cal/OSHA’s comparison of the Outdoor and Indoor heat Illness Regulations:
Comparison of Indoor and Outdoor Heat Illness Prevention Standards
Requirement |
Outdoor Heat (T8CCR 3395) |
Indoor Heat (T8CCR 3396) |
Scope and Application |
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Provide Clean Drinking Water |
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Access to Shade and Cool-Down Areas |
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Cool-Down Rest Periods |
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High-Heat Procedures |
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Assessment and Control Measures |
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Monitoring the Weather |
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Emergency Response Procedures |
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Acclimatization |
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Training |
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Heat Illness Prevention Plan |
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Association Hosts Issues Meeting with Assembly Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Esmeralda Soria
The Association hosted California Assembly Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Esmeralda Soria this week for a meeting on current issues and legislation as well as a discussion on key topics for next year’s legislative session. In attendance were representatives from the California Cotton Ginners and Growers Association, Western Agricultural Processors Association, California Citrus Mutual, California Fresh Fruit Association, Kings County Farm Bureau, Nisei Farmers League, African American Farmers of California, and the Western Plant Health Association. Topics discussed included water supply needs, the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District’s PM2.5 State Implementation Plan, net energy metering for agricultural solar installations, the Association’s request for an audit of the State Water Resources Control Board’s Waste Discharge Permit Fund (WDPF), migrant housing, Department of Pesticide Regulation’s (DPR) Sustainable Pest Management and Advance Pesticide Application Notification efforts, and CalOSHA’s new Indoor Heat Illness Regulation.
EPA Announces New, Earlier Protections for People from Pesticide Spray Drift
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is putting protections in place sooner near where pesticides are applied. EPA will now assess the potential for people to be exposed to a pesticide when it drifts away from where it is applied earlier in the agency’s review process. This applies to new active ingredient pesticide registrations and new use decisions. This updated process will protect people from pesticide spray drift 15 years sooner in the review process for new pesticides than has historically occurred. This change is also consistent with the agency’s commitment to address environmental justice concerns from pesticide use in and around farm communities and to comply with the Endangered Species Act, where EPA is working to improve how it evaluates risk to and protects endangered species. EPA will use chemical specific human health spray drift analyses to determine specific label instructions to protect against and reduce the occurrence of spray drift, such as droplet sizes and buffer distances, for each pesticide and use. Additionally, if EPA identifies spray drift risks for people living or working nearby or non-target species, the agency will protect against those risks. As part of this action, going forward EPA will now include a chemical specific human health spray drift analysis for:
- New active ingredients: any new submissions for domestic uses of new active ingredients.
- New uses and amended uses: any new use and amended use registration submissions where that active ingredient has previously received a chemical specific spray drift analysis.
- Currently pending registrations: registration actions that are currently under review with the agency, when possible.
Association Continues to Speak out Against CDPR’s Notification Regulation
Association President/CEO Roger Isom testified at the California Department of Pesticide Regulation’s (CDPR’s) Advance Pesticide Notification Regulation that would notify anyone who signs up to be notified at least 24 hours in advance of the application of a restricted pesticide. More than 80 people attended the event held Friday night in Turlock. Approximately 50 participants testified at the event with farmworker representatives and anti-pesticide activists calling for the regulations to now specify the exact location of each restricted pesticide application. The current draft allows someone to enter an address, and they will receive notification of any restricted pesticide application within a square mile of the application. Activists showed up in force holding a rally before the meeting immediately outside the venue and then repeatedly chanting during the hearing. Activists outnumbered agricultural interest 9 to 1. Joining the Association to testify from agriculture were the California Farm Bureau Federation, San Joaquin Farm Bureau, Western Plant Health Association and one grower, Brent Barton from Barton Ranch. Isom’s comments centered on CDPR’s lack of explanation of their existing registration process and the protections already put in place to protect workers, bystanders and residents. Isom stated “there are already protections in place. There is no way DPR or the ag commissioners that are here tonight would ever allow the application of a pesticide that would impact a farmworker, resident or innocent bystander. They just wouldn’t do it.”
USDA Expands Insurance Options for Specialty and Organic Growers
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is expanding crop insurance options for specialty and organic growers beginning with the 2025 crop year. USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) is expanding coverage options by allowing enterprise units by organic farming practice, adding enterprise unit eligibility for several crops, and making additional policy updates. This is the first of several announcements this summer. These expansions and other improvements build on other recent RMA efforts to better serve specialty crop producers and reach a broader group of producers. “The Risk Management Agency is excited to expand coverage options for specialty and organic growers including the availability of enterprise and optional units for many producers,” said RMA Administrator Marcia Bunger. “Expanding our coverage options gives producers more opportunities to manage their risks. We will continue to build on our work through future announcements later this summer.” The following changes will be made beginning with the 2025 crop year:
- Enterprise and Optional Units:
- Expand Enterprise Units (EU) to almonds, apples, avocado (California), citrus (Arizona, California, and Texas), figs, macadamia nuts, pears, prunes, and walnuts.
- Allow non-contiguous parcels of land that qualify for Optional Units (OU) to also qualify for EU.
- Allow EUs by organic farming practice for alfalfa seed, almonds, apples, avocado (California), cabbage, canola, citrus (Arizona, California and Texas), coarse grains, cotton, ELS cotton, dry beans, dry peas, figs, fresh market tomatoes, forage production, grass seed, macadamia nuts, millet, mint, mustard, pears, potatoes (northern, central, and southern), processing tomatoes, prunes, safflower, small grains, sunflower seed, and walnuts.
- Expand OUs by organic practice to all remaining crops where OUs are available, and the organic practice is insurable.
- Walnut Quality Adjustment: Allow sunburned damaged walnuts to be eligible for indemnity payments through quality adjustment.
- Almond Leaf Year: Expand insurance coverage to younger trees by including trees in their fifth year after being set out.
- Processing Bean End of Insurance Period: Extend insurance coverage in Delaware, Maryland, and New Jersey by an additional 16 days.
- Canola: Expand insurance for canola into South Dakota and Michigan.
These revisions come through the Expanding Options for Specialty and Organic Growers Final Rule published today by the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC). This Final Rule will update the Common Crop Insurance Policy Basic Provisions, Area Risk Protection Insurance Basic Provisions, and includes changes to individual Crop Provisions. The enterprise unit availability will continue to be rolled out throughout the year with each crop’s contract change date and RMA will continue to evaluate expanding EUs to additional crops. Additional changes in the June 30 Final Rule include:
- New Breaking Acreage:
- Reduce administrative burdens on growers and the delivery system by removing written agreement requirements on new breaking acreage.
- Reduce coverage penalties on perennial specialty crop producers and producers of intensively managed crops, such as alfalfa, when they move to row crop production. This allows for a seamless transition with out losing crop insurance coverage.
- Assignment of Indemnity: Provide flexibility for an indemnity payment to be issued via automated clearing house (ACH) or other electronic means when these methods do not allow for multiple payees.
- Good Farming Practices (GFP): Streamline and shorten the FCIC CFP reconsideration process by closing the administrative file following FCIC's initial GFP determination.
- Double Cropping and Annual Forage: Clarify a producer must prove insurance history for the annual forage crop and meet the current double cropping requirements to receive a full prevented planting payment.
RMA continues to explore ways to improve risk management tools for specialty crop producers and will be announcing additional program enhancements later this summer. Some of those improvements include:
- Expanding the Enhanced Coverage Option (ECO) to walnuts and citrus crops and increasing premium support to be consistent with the Supplement Coverage Option.
- Releasing new Organic Practice Guidelines to producers for the 2025 crop year. These guidelines are to help producers report planted or perennial acreage insured under a certified organic or transitional practice
More Information
This announcement further advances USDA’s recently announced Specialty Crops Competitiveness Initiative, a Department-wide effort to increase the competitiveness of specialty crops products in foreign markets, enhance domestic marketing, and improve production and processing practices.