Cal/OSHA Renews COVID-19 ETS


The California Occupational Standards Board met yesterday and renewed the COVID-19 ETS with some minor revisions.  Once approved by the California Office of Administrative Law, this readoption will remain in effect for 90-days, from January 14, 2022 through April 14, 2022.  Some of the revisions:

  • face covering to now include a light test for fabrics that do not let light pass through,
  • require vaccinated employees to test who have had close contact in the workplace,
  • provide testing at no cost, during paid time, to all employees in the workplace who had close contact and provide them with information on benefits
  • employees exempt from wearing face coverings due to medical condition, mental health condition or disability requires social distancing (6 feet apart) from all other employees and either fully vaccinate or test weekly,
  • return to work requirements – employees may return under the following conditions:
    • employees who had a close contact but never developed any COVID-19 symptoms may return to work after 14 days have passed since last known close contact unless either applies:
      • 10 days have passed since the last known close contact and the employee wears a face covering and maintains 6 feet distance from others while at the workplace for 14 days following the last date of close contact.
      • 7 days have passed since the last known close contact; the employee tested negative for COVID-19 using a COVID-19 test with the specimen taken at least five days after the last known close contact; and the employee wears a face covering and maintains six feet of distance from others while at the workplace for 14 days following the last date of close contact.
    • employees who had a close contact and developed any COVID-19 symptoms cannot return to work until:
      • at least 24 hours have passed since a fever of 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit or higher has resolved without the use of fever-reducing medications; and
      • COVID-19 symptoms have improved; and
      • at least 10 days have passed since COVID-19 symptoms first appeared.
  • changes to post-care testing that would now include vaccinated employees, 

Employer groups asked for further explanation or reconsider the new face covering requirements as most face coverings will not meet the light test requirements. The provisions to the post-care test to vaccinated employees with no symptoms will be difficult for employers to find tests due to the surge of COVID-19 variants, increase of COVID-19 cases during the holiday season and will disincentivize employees to vaccinate.  The reinstitution on requirements for social distancing in the workplace will also be difficult for employers as they will need to modify work areas again. Cal/OSHA released the draft proposed COVID-19 ETS 5 days ago and the Association continues to review and monitor the ETS. The Association is also working on updating its COVID-19 Prevention Plan for members.

PUC Releases Draft Decision on NEM 3.0

On December 13th, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) released a Proposed Decision on the next version of Net-Energy Metering.  The Association has been represented by the Ag Energy Consumers Association (AECA), who has been participating as a party to the proceeding.  While the decision is not final and there is still a possibility changes could be made, we thought it important to communicate some of the key changes to the program. It is important to note that this is only a Proposed Decision and residential customers groups are not happy. Intense lobbying will continue until the final vote.  Here are the highlights according to AECA:

  • Annual True Ups are Maintained: The Joint IOUs proposed to switch to a monthly true up, which would have been drastic for agricultural operations.  (This is huge!) 
  • NEM Aggregation (NEMA) Maintained: The CPUC correctly identified that NEMA is important for agricultural operations. 
  • Export Compensation Rate: the export compensation rate at averaged monthly values for each hour, differentiated between weekday and weekend.
     
  • Differences between residential and non-residential
    • Residential NEM customers receive “Market Transition Credit”
    • Residential also has to pay a “Grid Participation Charge” which non-residential does not. 
  • Grandfathering: Non-residential NEM 2.0 customers will be grandfathered on the 2.0 program for 20 years. 
  • Storage: PD offers all existing NEM 2.0 tariff customers an incentive for storage if they voluntarily switch to the successor tariff within four years from the time the storage rebate becomes available. If an existing NEM 2.0 tariff customer voluntarily switches to the successor tariff during the first year of implementation, they will receive a $0.20/Wh storage rebate, which will be available for a total of four years but decrease by 25 percent a year over the subsequent four years. Customers will be eligible for the storage rebate provided in the year they transition to the successor tariff. 

How long to sign up for NEM 2.0? The NEM 2.0 tariff will close 120 days after the Final Decision. Final Decision is expected sometime in January.

House Passes Ocean Shipping Reform Act (HR 4996)

This past week the US House of Representatives passed HR 4996, the Ocean Shipping Reform Act.  This bill, authored by Congressman John Garamendi and Congressman Dusty Johnson, is intended to ensure carriers accept US cargo exports when they bring imports to the United States.   Ag exporters have been hammered by millions of dollars in excessive detention and demurrage fees, not to mention millions in lost sales due to the inability to get our products to the proper marketplace in a time manner.  Pushed by the Ag Transportation Coalition (AgTC) of which the Association is a member, it is hoped this legislation will reinvigorate ag exports, reign in the excessive charges that we have no control over, and establish more regulation over the shipping companies now controlling our destiny.  All California Congressional representatives but two voted in favor of the bill including all representatives in agricultural areas (Costa, Harder, LaMalfa, Panetta, McCarthy, Garamendi (author) and Valadao). 

CARB visits Agricultural Operations to discuss proposed Zero-Emission Forklifts

This week, the Association coordinated and participated in a meeting with California Air Resources Board (CARB), SJV Air Pollution Control District, in conjunction with California Cotton Ginners and Growers Association, Nisei Farmers League, Ag Council of California, California Citrus Mutual, California Fresh Fruit Association, California Strawberry Commission, California Strawberry Commission, California Farm Bureau Federation, Fresno County Farm Bureau, California Rice Commission and JM Equipment Company to discuss the potential regulatory concept Zero-Emission forklift Regulation.

The association’s Director of Regulatory Affairs, Priscilla Rodriguez and President & CEO Roger briefed the staff on the concerns surrounding the concept of zero-emission forklift. One major concern is the applicability of the rule. Staff explained the difference between an agricultural operation which operates seasonally and other business, like a distributing warehouse, that operate year around and has the ability to pass along costs. The areas discussed were applicability, costs, opposition to registration requirements, rough terrain forklift and incentive programs.

The meeting included two sites visits, to an almond processor and cotton gin. The onsite visits illustrated the true costs of converting forklift fleet to all electric, employee safety considerations when dealing with lead-acid batteries, the facility upgrades needed, the need for rough terrain forklifts at processing facilities and the importance of incentive funding.

The Association will continue the dialogue and work with CARB staff on this issue. The next workshop will be held February 2022.

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US EPA and Army Propose New WOTUS Rule

This past week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Department of the Army (the agencies) announced a proposed rule to re-establish the pre-2015 definition of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) which had been in place for decades, updated to reflect consideration of Supreme Court decisions. This action advances the agencies’ goal of establishing a durable definition of WOTUS that protects public health, the environment, and downstream communities while supporting economic opportunity, agriculture, and other industries that depend on clean water. This proposed rule would support a stable implementation of “waters of the United States” while the agencies continue to consult with states, Tribes, local governments, and a broad array of stakeholders in both the implementation of WOTUS and future regulatory actions.

According to EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan, “Through our engagement with stakeholders across the country, we’ve heard overwhelming calls for a durable definition of WOTUS that protects the environment and that is grounded in the experience of those who steward our waters. Today’s action advances our process toward a stronger rule that achieves our shared priorities.” EPA claims that recent court decisions have reinforced the need for a stable and certain definition of WOTUS. The U.S. District Courts for both Arizona and New Mexico have vacated the Navigable Waters Protection Rule. Considering the court actions, the agencies have been implementing the pre-2015 regulatory regime nationwide since early September 2021.

EPA claims that the proposed rule would solidify the rules of the road for a stable implementation of “waters of the United States” while the agencies continue to consult with stakeholders to refine the definition of WOTUS in both implementation and future regulatory actions. EPA further states the proposed rule would maintain the longstanding exclusions of the pre-2015 regulations as well as the exemptions and exclusions in the Clean Water Act on which the agricultural community has come to rely. The agencies are taking comment on this proposed rule for 60 days beginning on the date it is published in the Federal Register. The Association is currently reviewing the proposed rule in preparation of making comments.

  1. NRCS announces three local appointments
  2. WAPA receives CDFA grant to roll out first of its kind safety training for California nut industry.
  3. Fed/OSHA COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS)
  4. Association President/CEO Isom Testifies on West Coast Port Crisis

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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.).