Farm Bureau at work California Farm Bureau’s government affairs team is at the Capitol, advocating for farmers, ranchers and agriculture’s future. Here are some key issues Farm Bureau is focused on this week.
State budget A budget deal was enacted in time for the start of the fiscal year on July 1, but many details are still being hammered out and will not be known until budget bills known as “trailer bills” are enacted. Two pairs of such bills—Assembly Bill 178 and Senate Bill 178, and AB 180 and SB 180—contain placeholder language con- cerning large expenditures for drought and water resilience, energy and climate. The bills also envision $75 million from the California Emergency Relief Grant Fund for the California Small Agricultural Business Drought Relief Grant Program, which would be administered by the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development. Funds would be available until June 30, 2024. The California Water Plan would receive $26 million under AB 180 and SB 180, which also would direct $60 million to the Agricultural Drought Response Program and the delta response pilot project. Another budget trailer bill seeks to sus- pend the sales tax on diesel fuel for a year beginning Oct. 1. Plastics A long-debated bill concerning plastics passed the Legislature on June 30 and was immediately signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom. The bill—Senate Bill 54 from Sen. Ben Allen, D-Santa Monica—requires mini- mum content standards and source reduc- tion requirements for single-use packaging and food-service products. This work will be conducted by CalRecycle through an extended producer responsibility program, in which producers of plastic packaging come together as a pro- ducer responsibility organization, develop a plan to reduce plastic material use or en- courage compost-ability and recyclability, and tax themselves to fund this work. CalRecycle is responsible for approving producer-organization plans, budgets and monitoring implementation. Producers responsible for compliance include those who manufacture plastic materials in the state. If the materials are not manufactured in state, the entity that brings the items into California would be the responsible party. While this was strongly opposed by Farm Bureau in prior years, an agricultural coalition was able to obtain a full exemp- tion for fresh agricultural products. Farm Bureau at Work readers may have heard of a competing, more punitive initiative that qualified for the November ballot. Based on the current language of the bill, the ini- tiative signatories have agreed to remove the initiative from consideration. Pesticide workshop The Department of Pesticide Regulation held workshops June 27-29 on the devel- opment of a statewide pesticide notifica- tion system. The state’s proposal would create a system in which a user may anonymous- ly input a California address and receive notifications 24 hours in advance of any restricted-material products used within a 9-mile radius. The notification would not include the exact address of the applica-
vidual members interested in submitting. Farm Bureau thanks those who attended to show courage and leadership on this issue. The state’s proposal can be found at www.cdpr.ca.gov/docs/pesticide_ notification_network. (A full roundup of Farm Bureau legisla- tive efforts may be found online at www. cfbf.com/Farm-Bureau-At-Work.)
tion but would identify if it occurred within 1 mile of the user’s address. This would require applicators to ad- just the time in which they file notices of intent, may create more instances of use challenges through appeals and protester/ trespassing incidents. The workshops were well attended, but public comments from agriculture were
often met with hostility and attacks from anti-pesticide advocates. Farm Bureau has communicated this concern to the admin- istration and department leadership and is discussing additional options for farm- er input. The department is also accept- ing written comments until July 15. Farm Bureau will submit comments and provide letters for county Farm Bureaus and indi-
2021 Grand Prize winner “Louie” by Brett Schneider, Placer County
Open now through September 30 JOIN THIS YEAR’S PHOTO CONTEST!
Grand prize $1,000 1st runner-up $500 2nd runner-up $250 3rd runner-up $100 Honorable Mentions $50 (six winners) Budding Artists
Submit photos of fresh food, rural scenery, animals, crops, harvests, life, work, family or any inspiring photo captured on the farm or ranch.
Enter up to five high-resolution digital photos online at cfbf.com/photocontest.
(ages 13 & younger) 1st place $250 2nd place $100
The contest is open to amateur photographers who are Farm Bureau members. Participants who are not Farm Bureau members can visit cfbf.com/join to learn about becoming a member. Go to cfbf.com/photocontest for contest rules.
July 6, 2022 Ag Alert 13
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