More Good News for Sites Reservoir - Governor Newsom Streamlines Process
This past week Governor Gavin Newsom took action to accelerate the Sites Reservoir project, utilizing new tools from the infrastructure streamlining package to build more faster. This project, if ultimately approved, would capture water during wet seasons and store it for use during drier seasons – holding up to 1.5 million acre-feet of water. The project has received a total of $46.75 million in early funding from the state. In all, Sites is eligible for $875.4 million of Proposition 1 funding. Total project cost is estimated at $4 billion.
HOW IT WORKS:
- SB 149 allows the Governor to certify qualifying infrastructure projects for judicial streamlining under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
- Courts must decide CEQA challenges to certified projects within 270 days to the extent feasible – saving months or even years of litigation delays after a project has already passed environmental review, while still allowing legal challenges to be heard.
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT:
- Just last week, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and Sites Project Authority finalized the Environmental Impact Review and Environmental Impact Statement for the project.
- The project will help California maintain a resilient water supply in the face of climate change, weather extremes, and water scarcity.
- Sites Reservoir is critical to California’s Water Supply Strategy and meeting the state’s goal of expanding above and below ground water storage capacity by 4 million acre feet.
Association Part of Opposition Fighting New OSHA Walkaround Proposal
The Association led a coalition joined by 12 other agricultural organizations from California opposing and submitting comments to Federal OSHA on the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) for the Worker Walkaround Representative Designation Process. This proposal would allow union representatives to accompany OSHA inspectors on a “walkaround inspection” of non-unionized property. OSHA suggests these union representatives must be allowed access to the farm or ranch when they are reasonably necessary to aid in the inspection process. The same access would be available for any other employee’s designee such as trial lawyers or other activists. The coalition expressed serious concerns on allowing people with no expertise or knowledge of safety or industrial hygiene to participate in such an inspection. Current regulations allow for outside representation but specify that the representative must have specific safety knowledge such as a safety engineer or industrial hygienist. The coalition stated the current regulations and process already provide for an adequate and appropriate protection of worker safety.
Assembly Agriculture Committee Chair Esmeralda Soria Tours Bug Damaged Commodities
In a year that may go down as the worst insect year across the board, Assembly Agriculture Committee Chair Esmeralda Soria toured cotton fields ravaged by lygus and visited a cotton gin and almond huller to see the impacts of having less commodity to run through the plants and consequently a substantial hit on employment here in her District and throughout the Valley. She first visited Pacific Ginning Company and toured the cotton gin. She met with Manager Matt Toste, current Chairman of the California Cotton Ginners and Growers Association, and discussed the impacts to this year’s crop. As a result of the heavy rains, there was a heavy lygus presence early in the season. Due to inaction by the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (CDPR), the crop has been devastated by season long presence and destruction of the pest. This resulted in some fields being completely disced under or limited to one or one and a half bales of cotton production compared to the normal 3 bales to acre yields that California growers are accustomed to. CDPR refused to register Transform, a very effective insecticide to control lygus, which is registered and used in every other cotton growing state.
Following the gin tour, the Assemblywoman walked in a cotton field she thought had been picked due to the substantial lack of cotton bolls, but had not yet been harvested.
Then the group headed to Superior Almond Hulling to tour the almond huller. There, after meeting with Manager Mayra Sanchez and Superintendent Richard Espinosa, she learned that their season will be more than a month shorter than normal due to the substantial navel orangeworm damage. This means their 100 plus employees will lose more than a month’s wages due to the shorter season. In a year where the state is experiencing major infestations of fruit flies, a new almond beetle, cottonseed bug, and many other invasive pests, it was important that the Assembly Ag Committee Chairwoman see firsthand the effect these state policies can have, especially as our tool box to combat these pests gets lighter and lighter.
Association Recognized with Titan Award!
Last week the Association was honored and recognized by JCS Marketing with the Industry’s Titan Award, recognizing the Association for its many achievements in the past several years as the Association came into existence. Accepting the award on behalf of the Association was President/CEO Roger Isom, who commented “I accept this award on behalf of the Association, its staff, its Board Members and every one of our members who have contributed to helping us achieve these many objectives.” The award was delivered at the “My Ag Nite” event featuring Fox News Host Jesse Watters and put on by JCS Marketing, publisher of the West Coast Nut Grower Guide and many other publications. “My Ag Nite” was the brainchild of JCS Marketing Owner, Jason Scott. Joining Isom at this prestigious event was Assistant Vice President Priscilla Rodriguez and Safety and Food Safety Specialists Rita Ruiz and Esmeralda Miranda.
Governor Signs New Paid Sick Leave Bill Into Law
Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law SB 616, which expands California’s existing paid sick leave law – the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014. The new law’s modifications have widespread implications because they will apply to virtually all employees who work in California for 30 days or more in a year. Specifically, the new law will modify existing paid sick leave law by:
- Increasing the annual amount of PSL an employee is entitled to under either the frontload or accrual method from 24 hours or three days to 40 hours or five days;
- For employers who utilize an accrual model other than one hour of leave for every 30 hours worked, increasing the number of PSL hours accrued to 40 hours by their 200thday of employment, in addition to accruing at least 24 hours of PSL by their 120thday of employment;
- Increasing the number of days of carried over PSL an employee can use each year from 24 hours or three days to 40 hours or five days;
- For employers who offer paid leave, increasing the number of days of paid leave an employee is eligible to receive from 24 hours or three days within nine months of employment to 40 hours or five days within six months;
- Increasing the cap on an employee’s accrual of PSL from 48 hours or six days to 80 hours or 10 days;
- Extending certain procedural and anti-retaliation provisions of existing law to employees who are covered by a valid collective bargaining agreement that provides for different paid sick leave obligations; and
- Preempting any local cities’ PSL ordinances with less generous leave requirements to establish the state-wide minimums described above.
These new requirements go into effect on January 1, 2024.