Farm organizations press for more N95 respirators
Bryan Little, director of employment policy for the California Farm Bureau Federation, saidthecurrentsituationshows theneed for flexibilityby state regulators. “It’s only September and the wildfire season isn’t going to be over for a couple of months, and we have no respirators,” Little said. “The agency hasn’t approved anything that serves as analternative, and we’re exactly where we were in March whenwe told the agency that this was go- ing to be a problem.” To limit anemployee’sexposure towild- fire smoke, he said the regulation requires
theemployer toimplement environmental controls such as air filtration, or admin- istrative controls such as changing the employees’ work location or limiting the amount of time they are exposed. “Insome typesof outdoor employment, youmight beable todo these controls, but in agriculture the grapes may need to be harvested today; either we harvest or we have no crop,” Little said. Prior to the wildfires, Little said Farm Bureau and other groups worked with
ByChristine Souza At both the state and federal levels, ag- ricultural advocates say they’reworking to enhance theavailabilityofN95 respirators required for outdoor work in California during poor air quality related to wildfire smoke and other causes. The N95 respirators have been in short supply for months, due to increased de- mand by health providers due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The early onset of wildfire seasonworsened the problem for farmers and ranchers, who must comply Hearing to be held on dairy petition TheCaliforniaDepartment of Foodand Agriculture has called a public hearing to consider apetitiontoamend thestatemilk quota program. The virtual hearing will be held Sept. 30 and Oct. 1, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., via Microsoft Teams. The call-in number is 916-245-8850; the conference IDnumber is 693-778-929. The announcement comes after the state Producer Review Board, which ad- vises CDFA Secretary KarenRoss on dairy issues, voted last month to advance the petition to a hearing process. The hearing wi l l focus on a peti- tion submitted in June by United Dairy Families of California, which seeks a pro- ducer referendum to terminate the state quota implementation plan, or QIP, by March 2025. The proposal also seeks to change the regional quota adjusters so the quota premiumin all counties equals $1.43 per hundredweight. Anadministrative lawjudgewill preside over the hearing and receive evidence. Only the judge and CDFA staff will be al- lowed toquestionwitnesses. Therewill be no hearing panel nor will the department present witnesses. Wr i tten statements and exhibi ts may be delivered personally, by email or postal mail prior to the close of the hearing. They may be submitted to: California Department of Food and Agriculture, Legal Office, 1220NSt., Suite 315, Sacramento, CA 95814 or CDFA. LegalOffice@cdfa.ca.gov. CDFA said submissions may be any lengthbutmust be limited to thecall of the hearing and signed. Written statements and exhibits received before the hearing will beavailable forpublic inspectionSept. 20-29, from9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Testimony will be received under oath and a time limit for oral testimony will be determined by the hearing officer at the beginning of the hearing. Witnesses may supplement oral testimony with written testimony and exhibits. People who want to testifymaypreregisterwith theCDFAle- gal officeuntil Sept. 29at 4p.m. Thosewho don’t preregister will testify in the order determined by the hearing officer.
with the state air-quality regulation.
Under the wi ldf i re smoke s tan- dard from the California Division of Occupational Safety andHealth, farmers must offer N95 masks or filtering face- piece respirators to outdoor employees, and encourage their use. The regulation applieswhen theAirQuality Index reach- es levels of 151 or higher.
See N95, Page 16
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September 9, 2020 Ag Alert 3
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