On May 8, 2019, the California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) announced that the Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) would begin acting to ban the use of chlorpyrifos in California by initiating the cancellation of the pesticide. During the cancellation process, DPR's recommendations to county agricultural commissioners for tighter permit restrictions on the use of chlorpyrifos will remain [...]
Senate Bill 1 by Senate Pro Tem Toni Atkins proposes dangerous changes to how the state implements the Endangered Species Act (ESA) which will have a devastating impact to farmers, rural and urban communities, and our ecosystem unless amended. The bill seeks to preserve environmental regulations against perceived rollbacks by the Trump Administration by empowering state agencies [...]
The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) has begun its on-farm inspections as part of the Produce Safety Rule. Under the Produce Safety Rule, every produce farm must have an individual on staff who has completed an FDA-approved Produce Safety Rule Grower training course. California Produce Safety Program inspectors will ask to see your [...]
The Cal/OSHA Standards Board has approved the emergency protection of workers exposed to wildfire smoke regulation, effective July 29, 2019. This standard applies to workplaces where the current Air Quality Index (AQI) of particulate matter reaches 151 or greater and where employers should reasonably anticipate that employees could be exposed to wildfire smoke. For non-exempted employers [...]
The following advisement is provided by the Saqui Law Group. While we do not anticipate ICE raids will occur at packinghouses at this time, it is prudent that employers understand what to do should ICE conduct a raid or audit at your operation. As part of our partnership with the Saqui Law Group, CCM members [...]
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that includes a number of changes to the existing H-2A program. The National Council of Agricultural Employers and the Agricultural Coalition for Immigration Reform has prepared this side-by-side analysis of the changes. The changes are expected to take effect in early 2020. [...]
The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) is announcing that starting next week, 8,000 “small” and “very small” produce farms throughout California are being mailed educational letters about their roles in upholding the Produce Safety Rule (PSR) of the federal Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), passed in 2011 to help prevent foodborne illness outbreaks. Accompanying [...]
On July 18, 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a Federal Register notice announcing a final order denying the Pesticide Action Network North America’s (PANNA) and the Natural Resources Defense Council’s (NRDC) 2007 Petition requesting that EPA revoke all tolerances and cancel all registrations for chlorpyrifos (Order). This Order constitutes final Agency action [...]
On July 18, 2019, the Cal/OSHA Standards Board approved a rule for the emergency protection of workers exposed to wildfire smoke. This standard applies to workplaces where the current Air Quality Index (AQI) of particulate matter reaches 151 or greater and where employers should reasonably anticipate that employees could be exposed to wildfire smoke. The [...]
The Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Act was signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom on Wednesday at a special signing ceremony at a residence in Sanger. Governor Newsom was joined by Senator Bill Monning (Carmel), Senator Melissa Hurtado (Sanger), and Assembly Richard Bloom (Santa Monica) and local community members. SB 200 (Monning), the legislation [...]