Advocacy in Action: Labor, fire equipment, climate funds, Gualala River, endangered species, dairy order, lily bulbs

Labor

California Farm Bureau has joined more than 450 agricultural organizations in a letter urging Congress to support H.R. 9535, the Securing Agriculture’s Workforce Act.

SAWA would streamline the application and renewal processes of the H-2A temporary agricultural workers program, reduce program costs and codify recent reforms to the Adverse Effect Wage Rate, the minimum wage that agricultural employers must pay H-2A temporary foreign guestworkers and domestic workers in corresponding employment. It would also expand H-2A eligibility to dairy and other year-round agricultural operations that cannot currently use the seasonal program.

In addition, the legislation would allow experienced farmworkers who lack legal status to obtain temporary legal work authorization after completing required vetting.

To help Farm Bureau strengthen its advocacy for workforce reform, identify producers who could benefit from SAWA and share stories with lawmakers, take the H-2A survey at www.cfbf.com/ag-advocacy/all-issues/securing-agricultures-workforce-act.

Meanwhile, Farm Bureau joined the Southeastern Legal Foundation, National Council of Agricultural Employers and other farm groups last month in support of Sun Valley Orchards, a New Jersey farm, in filing a “friend of the court” brief before the U.S. Supreme Court. 

Congress allowed the secretary of labor to take action to ensure employers follow the requirements of the H-2A program. The law says the secretary may impose appropriate penalties and ask for court orders requiring compliance. But it does not say that the U.S. Department of Labor may create its own internal court system, decide cases inside the agency and issue final orders without first proving its case in a regular federal court.

In the Sun Valley case, the Labor Department did just that and hit the farm with more than $556,000 in penalties and back wages. The amicus brief stresses that Congress did not give the Labor Department the power to make a final, binding decision through the internal process. Rather, the department should use the existing judicial process. The U.S. Supreme Court will hold oral argument Nov. 10.

Fire equipment

Assembly Bill 2075 by Assemblymember Steve Bennett, D-Ventura, would update fire-prevention equipment requirements for internal combustion engines and motorized equipment operating on forest brush- and grass-covered lands.

The bill would generally require operators to keep a fully equipped backpack pump-type fire extinguisher and enough round-point shovels for each person on-site within 25 feet of the equipment. Motorized vehicles used for land work would instead be required to carry one 46-inch round-point shovel and one fire extinguisher.

Of importance to California farmers is that AB 2075 directs the state Board of Forestry and Fire Protection to develop separate, scaled requirements for rangeland operations based on factors such as the operation’s type and size, terrain, vegetation and fuel load. Recent amendments also require the board to consult with the Range Management Advisory Committee. This language was added after California Farm Bureau and the California Cattlemen’s Association raised concerns about applying a one-size-fits-all standard to ranching operations.

AB 2075 passed the Assembly 73-0 and the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee 6-0. After it was amended, the bill was returned for a second reading and awaits a final Senate floor vote. If approved, it must return to the Assembly for concurrence before advancing to the governor.

Climate funds

Subcommittee 2 of the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee held a hearing to review the state budget and its impacts on natural resources, environmental protection and energy.

The June budget package allocated $1.25 billion from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, or GGRF, for wildfire mitigation and $115 million for zero-emission vehicle incentive programs. Several GGRF allocations were deferred, including $250 million that could be redirected to other programs supporting environmental goals. 

The hearing included discussion of how remaining GGRF dollars could be used, including for water projects, agricultural grant programs and transportation projects.

California Farm Bureau provided public comments urging legislators to prioritize agricultural programs when determining how to allocate the remaining GGRF funds.

Gualala River

California Farm Bureau’s legal team is preparing a comment letter opposing the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board’s draft water code section 13267 information order.

Released July 13, the draft order would require 26 landowners owning 1,000 or more acres within the Gualala River watershed in Sonoma and Mendocino counties to inventory, assess and prioritize rural roads on their properties. 

The draft order is based largely on research conducted some 25 years ago and would impose significant costs on affected landowners due to the extensive level of detail required for the assessment of road networks across their properties. 

The estimated cost of compliance ranges from about $3,800 to $4,800 per mile of road assessed. Water board staff has indicated there is a strong likelihood similar informational orders will be expanded to other watersheds throughout the North Coast region.

Farm Bureau’s comment letter opposes the draft order as written and asks for revisions to ensure that any requirements are supported by current science and appropriately tailored to achieve the board’s objectives. Farm Bureau also seeks support from North Coast region county Farm Bureaus through sign-ons. Written comments on the draft order are due Aug. 21.

Endangered species 

California Farm Bureau and a coalition of western water-supply and farming groups filed a “friend of the court” brief this month urging the full U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to rehear Yurok Tribe v. U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. 

The case turns on when Section 7 of the federal Endangered Species Act requires a federal agency to modify the operation of a water project to protect a listed species. 

The issue has significant implications for western farms, water districts, communities and tribes that rely on federally managed water projects, and it continues to arise during periods of water scarcity and conflicts involving ESA compliance. The amicus brief asks that the 9th Circuit hear the case on the bench and restore one uniform rule.

Meanwhile, the California Fish and Game Commission unanimously determined at its meeting last week that listing the northern population of the western spadefoot as threatened and the southern population as endangered under the California Endangered Species Act may be warranted.

The western spadefoot is an amphibian found in wetland and upland habitats throughout the Central Valley, Sierra Nevada foothills and coastal California south of the San Francisco Bay Area. The listing petition identifies habitat loss, fragmentation, disease, invasive species and climate change as primary threats. 

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed listing both populations as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act in 2023 but has not issued a final decision. 

California Farm Bureau in 2024 supported proposed federal exceptions for routine livestock ranching, certain grazing used for habitat management and wildfire fuel-reduction activities.

The western spadefoot will receive full protections under state law during its candidacy. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife will conduct a 12-month status review before the commission votes on whether to formally list the two populations. 

State law provides an exception for incidental take resulting from otherwise lawful, routine and ongoing agricultural activities, provided the take is reported to CDFW within 10 days.

Dairy order

California Farm Bureau’s legal team signed onto a coalition letter from Dairy Cares for written comments on the revised state dairy order for the Central Valley. 

The revised draft order, which the California State Water Resources Control Board released in June, is designed to protect groundwater from nitrate contamination caused by dairy manure. 

The order introduces stricter nitrogen limits, requires dairies to provide drinking water for nitrate-affected wells, regulates manure application to cropland and mandates tighter nitrogen monitoring to ensure dairy manure retention ponds do not leach at rates that impact groundwater. The water board will meet Sept. 15 to consider adopting it. 

Lily bulbs

California Farm Bureau submitted comments this past spring on the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board’s draft waste discharge requirements for commercial lily bulb operations in the Smith River Plain of Del Norte County. 

Farm Bureau’s comments focused on the draft’s compliance with the water code and the California Environmental Quality Act. 

The North Coast water board earlier this month certified the final environmental impact report and adopted the proposed lily bulb order.

More information can be found at www.waterboards.ca.gov/northcoast/water_issues/programs/agricultural_lands/lily/.

In this edition…

• Expected almond crop yield slightly smaller this year
• Cyclospora fallout hits California farmers
• Memory loss on the farm is more than a health issue
• State regulator: 'We should fight to keep our farms'
• California startup advances in Ag Innovation Challenge
• Almond hulls being tested for use as food ingredient
• Wolf reports show continued livestock losses, more packs
• Nonprofit program aims to bring more rice to delta
• Mothballing offers middle ground in wine downturn
• Dial 811 first to protect your land, workers and neighbors
• Could coastal citrus mites destroy your crop in weeks?
• Zinc, boron, manganese and their role in nut production
• More funds devoted to stop sharpshooter
• Advocacy in Action: Labor, fire equipment, climate funds, Gualala River, endangered species, dairy order, lily bulbs
• Meeting to address risk in uncertain times