U.S. Fish and Wildlife Proposes to List Suckley’s Cuckoo Bumble Bee as Endangered

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is opening a 60-day public comment period on a proposed rule to list Suckley’s cuckoo bumble bee as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. This determination also serves as the 12-month finding on a petition to list Suckley’s cuckoo bumble bee.  The Suckley’s cuckoo bumble bee depends on other bumble bee hosts for its survival and raising of young. It has been found in various habitat types including prairies, grasslands, meadows, woodlands and agricultural and urban areas. The bee has a broad historical distribution across North America and has been documented in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, and 11 Canadian territories and provinces. The last confirmed sighting in the United States was in 2016 in Oregon.  Suckley’s cuckoo bumble bee is an important indicator species for the health of pollinators and native floral communities. In addition, this species’ parasitic nature is very unique among bees, with social parasites making up less than 1% of all bee species. They are different from brood parasites, which only attack the brood of their host, because social parasites rely on the entire colony. Female cuckoo bumble bees invade host bumble bee nests where they will often eliminate the host queen, destroy host eggs, and eject host larvae from the nest.  The public comment period on the proposed rule opens Tuesday, December 17th, 2024, and closes Tuesday, February 18th, 2025.  The Suckley’s Cuckoo bumblebee is one of the four species of bumblebees that were part of the lawsuit the Association participated in a couple of years ago. 

EPA Updates Bilingual Pesticide Labeling

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recently updated its Spanish Translation Guide for Pesticide Labeling, effective December 26, 2024. This updated guide provides important resources for translating pesticide product labels into Spanish, ensuring better accessibility, and enhancing communication regarding pesticide risks by providing clarity for Spanish-speaking workers.

The guide includes several key updates, such as:

  • Restricted use of pesticides; 
  • Misuse statements;
  • First aid and precautionary statement label language;
  • Personal protective equipment (PPE) label statements; 
  • New sections on engineering controls, environmental hazards, and physical or chemical hazards; and
  • Storage and pesticide container disposal instructions. 

As part of the requirements set by PRIA 5, pesticide registrants must translate all sections of the label outlined in the updated Spanish Translation Guide beginning in 2025. Registrants who have already translated the new sections and verified the accuracy of their translations as ‘true and accurate’ are not required to revise those parts of the label.

To access the full, revised Spanish Translation Guide, visit the EPA’s official website: EPA Spanish Translation Guide for Pesticide Labeling.

State Water Project Allocation Increased to 15%

Earlier this week, the Department of Water Resources (DWR) announced an update to the State Water Project (SWP) allocation forecast for 2025. The allocation has increased to 15 percent of requested supplies, up from the initial allocation forecast of 5 percent announced earlier this month. The SWP provides water to 29 public water agencies that serve 27 million Californians.  DWR is crediting strong storms in late November and early December that have helped boost statewide precipitation to just above average for this time of year. Reservoir levels have also increased because of the storms. The initial allocation forecast announced on December 2 had not accounted for these storms because the data was not yet available to water managers.  “The past several weeks has brought welcome rain and snow to Northern California and these improved conditions have allowed the State Water Project to increase the allocation forecast to the benefit of millions of Californians,” said DWR Director Karla Nemeth. “While we typically wait to provide an update until January, we felt it is important to let our State Water Contractors know of the increase as soon as possible to allow them to better plan their water supply for the year ahead.”  The next update will likely come in January and will use information from the first snow surveys of the season. 

The Final Phase of California Agricultural Worker Overtime Phase-in Effective January 1, 2025

On January 1, 2025 all agricultural workers will be able to receive overtime pay according to the 8-hour day/40-hour workweek standard similar to other industries.  With the final year of the phase in, all employers must now ensure they are calculating overtime at 8 hours/day and 40 hours/week for work performed in 2025. Additionally, all agricultural employers must pay double the regular rate of pay after 12 hours in a workday.

Available Grant Funding for Zero-Emission Cargo Handling Equipment, Heavy-Lift Forklifts, Ferries, Tugboats, and Towboats

The California Volkswagen (VW) Zero-Emission Freight and Marine (ZEFM) Program is now open, offering up to $25 million in funding to owners of equipment based in California. The following zero-emissions projects are eligible:

  • Repowering marine vessels, including ferries, tugboats, and towboats to zero-emission;
  • Replacing heavy-lift forklifts (with a lift capacity of 8,001 lbs. or greater) with zero-emission alternatives; and
  • Replacing cargo handling equipment including terminal tractors with zero-emission alternatives.

Applications are being accepted on a first-come, first-served basis until January 22, 2025, at 4 PM PDT. To date, over $45 million of the program’s $70 million allocation has been awarded to eligible projects from previous solicitations.

Start your application  today at Zero-Emission Freight and Marine Projects (californiavwtrust.org).

This solicitation includes several key updates:

  • Qualifying projects are eligible for the highest possible grant amount, limited only by the total vehicle cost and prior equipment usage.
  • The definition of "port" has been expanded to include river ports, railyards, freight terminals, intermodal facilities, and freight corridors.
  • "Ferry" now also includes water taxis.
  • All marine vessel repower projects must submit proof of their submitted ZEAT applications to CARB as part of their VW ZEFM application.
  • This solicitation does not include funds for Airport Ground Support Equipment (GSE).
  • CARB’s Clean Off-Road Equipment (CORE) Voucher Incentive Project does currently have funds available, please visit the CORE website if you wish to apply.

Upcoming Webinar

There is an informational webinar to review program requirements and the application process on Wednesday, January 8 2025, at 2 PM PDT. Register now.

  1. Minimum Wage Going Up Again – Effective January 1, 2025
  2. Important Survey for All Agricultural Operations
  3. FDA Finalizes Updated “Healthy” Nutrient Content Claim and Nuts Are In!
  4. CDPR Moves Forward With Advance Pesticide Notification Regulation

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Governor Signs Ag Overtime Bill

Ignoring the pleas of real farmworkers and the agricultural industry, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today signed AB 1066, the ag overtime legislation. This means that California will have the most stringent trigger of any state in the country for overtime for farmworkers, with 45 states having no overtime protection at all. The Governor signed this bill, supposedly to bring “equality to all workers”, yet taxi cab drivers, commercial fishermen, car salesmen, student nurses, computer programmers, and carnival workers all work without any overtime provisions whatsoever. The Governor signed this ag overtime bill in the same year that minimum wage legislation was also passed that will take California to the highest minimum wage as well as legislation forcing California to adopt additional greenhouse gas regulations for businesses in California. California is the only state in the country subject to such regulations. Today’s signing occurred despite numerous requests by the agricultural industry to meet with the Governor to discuss our concerns. The message is clear. California simply doesn’t care. These provisions will be phased in over the next few years ending with the overtime provisions to be triggered at 8 hours per day and 40 hours per week.

In the Beginning As folks transitioned out of cotton and into tree nuts, the industry recognized the need to have active and effective representation at the local, state and national levels. Having enjoyed such effective representation over the years from the California Cotton Ginners and Growers Associations, these folks yearned for the same representation in the tree nut processing industry. Issues such as air quality, food safety, labor, taxes, employee safety, and environmental concerns are at the forefront, and there is a significant need for an aggressive and dynamic Association to lead the industry into the next decade and beyond. In recognition of this, the Western Agricultural Processors Association was created in 2009. The Western Agricultural Processors Association (WAPA) shares staff and office space with the California Cotton Ginners and Growers Associations taking advantage of a unique and opportunistic situation. WAPA is a voluntary dues organization with four shared staff and one dedicated staff person. Regulatory, legislative and legal issues fall under the purview of this new organization for the tree nut processing industry, which includes almonds, pecans, pistachios and walnuts. From air quality permits to conditional use permits, from regulatory hearings on greenhouse gases to federal legislation on food safety, and from OSHA violations to assisting members on hazardous materials business plans, no issue is too small or too large for WAPA. WAPA has assembled one of the best and most capable staffs in the industry, and the results are already starting to show Membership The Western Agricultural Processors Association represents facilities involved in the processing of almonds, pecans, pistachios and walnuts.Membership in the Association is classified as Regular memberships are limited to almond hullers or processors, pecan and pistachio processors, and walnut dehydrators and processors. Associate memberships are limited to any individual or business entity which is not engaged in agricultural processing, but which provides products or services directly related to the agricultural processing industry. WAPA Associate members include, but are not limited to, commodity brokers, accounting firms, and insurance brokers. Organization The Western Agricultural Processors Association is governed by a Board of Directors, elected by its membership.The Board consists of up to 15 members from throughout the state, and throughout the industry.The Board meets on a quarterly basis and conducts an Annual Meeting in the spring of each year.WAPA, in conjunction with the California Cotton Ginners and Growers Associations, conducts a special training school for its members focused on safety.In combination with the school, the Association holds a Labor Management Seminar for all of the managers. Consulting Services In researching and considering the concept of forming a new organization, the Boards of Directors for the California Cotton Ginners and Growers Associations instructed staff to perform some of the work on a consulting basis first. The point was to determine the workload from consulting and to determine if there was sufficient interest. In November of 2007, the Association began conducting services under consulting contracts for such services as air quality permits and safety plans.The effort has been so successful that demand has progressed outside the tree nut industry into other agricultural processing facilities, including vegetable dehydration facilities, tomato processing facilities, and wheat mills, as well as cotton gins in Arizona.It was determined by the new Board of Directors of WAPA, that WAPA would maintain the consulting services to provide offsetting income to help with the expenses of getting the new organization up and running.Today, WAPA provides for a long list of satisfied clients in the agricultural processing industry, by providing critical services such as air quality, safety, food safety, and environmental issues (Hazardous Materials Business Plan, Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasure Plans, etc.).