California Ag Network

Tag: CalEPA

  • CDFA Release Final Recommendations on Food Safety, Water Quality Report

    The Newsom administration released the final recommendations from a study that intends to improve food safety and water quality reporting for California’s agricultural community. This interagency collaboration between the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA), and the State Water Resources Control Board was developed with input from farmers, ranchers, and local leaders, and demonstrates California’s continued efforts to build a roadmap for the future.

    “I want to thank the many farmers, ranchers, local leaders and advocates, and agency colleagues who contributed to this work,” CDFA Secretary Karen Ross said. “You have helped us build a roadmap for smarter regulation – one that keeps pace with the complexity of today while preparing for the challenges of tomorrow. We look forward to aligning this report’s recommendations with future opportunities of parallel efforts underway.”

    “Innovative regulatory programs at the intersection of agriculture and water quality are critical to the state’s future,” said State Water Board Chair Joaquin Esquivel. “The State Water Board is proud to work alongside Secretary Ross and Secretary Garcia as we consider key recommendations from the agricultural community and other industry experts for these programs. One thing is clear: we must strengthen our data systems to maximize their value to decision makers and the public while minimizing the cost of compliance for growers. I look forward to working together to advance these programs for the benefit of all Californians.”

    The study evaluated California’s food safety and water quality regulatory requirements for agriculture as part of an effort to streamline administrative processes and optimize information collected by the state. The study was supported by funding in the 2021-22 budget.

    The report identifies 18 recommendations to streamline agency coordination, expand technical assistance, modernize data and reporting systems, and enhance regulatory efficiency while supporting food safety and environmental protection goals.

    View the study and its recommendations on the CDFA Regulatory Alignment Study website. — Story Contributed by the California Department of Food and Agriculture

  • Federal-State Work Group Launches On-Farm Compost Research Site for Farmers & Ranchers

    The Federal-State On-Farm Compost Work Group is pleased to announce the launch of an On-Farm Compost Resource Website. The resources on this website include information and tools to help farmers and ranchers compost agricultural byproducts, including manure, and maintain compliance with federal, state, and local regulations.

    The website is hosted by the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) and was developed as part of a larger collaborative working group that was co-led by the US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA), US Department of Agriculture Natural Resource Conservation Service (USDA NRCS), and California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) as well as eleven additional state and regional regulatory bodies. The working group was formed in 2019 to help reduce barriers and clarify regulatory requirements for producers wishing to co-compost off-site agricultural waste.

    “California farmers and ranchers have long understood the benefits of this proven practice, just like those who embrace composting at home” said CDFA Secretary Karen Ross. “This multi-agency effort will help meet farmer demand for more on-farm composting to ensure safe, nutrient rich soil, and this new on-line resource provides a single location to show our producers how to put it all together in compliance with California environmental regulations.”

    “California will dramatically cut a major source of climate warming gas when we launch food and yard waste composting statewide in 2022,” said California Environmental Protection Agency Secretary Jared Blumenfeld. “Using this compost on our agricultural and rangelands will add to that greenhouse gas reduction and help drought-ravaged soil retain water.”

    “The tools created by the On-Farm Compost Work Group will help promote the composting of agricultural materials in California,” added EPA Pacific Southwest Acting Regional Administrator Deborah Jordan. “Composting is an alternate pathway for agricultural materials, which will reduce ag burning in California, thus protecting air and water quality.”

    “Application of compost is a common soil health practice, that can help farmers in our arid climate maintain and build soil carbon,” said NRCS California State Conservationist Carlos Suarez. “Compost application improves plant health and crop yields, increases water retention and infiltration, and sequesters carbon. This effort helps create valuable soil amendments from diverse on-farm resources. It’s a win-win for California agriculture”

  • New, Cross-Sector Work Group will Speed CA’s Shift to Safer Pest Management

    Yesterday, the California Department of Pesticide Regulation and California Department of Food and Agriculture launched a broad new work group to accelerate the systemwide adoption of safer, sustainable pest control practices.

    The 25-member Sustainable Pest Management Work Group includes farmers, community members, university researchers and representatives from commodity groups and the pesticide industry. They are charged with identifying pathways to minimize the use of toxic pesticides and expand the use of integrated pest management practices; better protect public and environmental health; and engage, educate and promote collaboration to achieve these goals.

     “Transitioning away from toxic pesticides requires us to speed up the development of effective alternatives,” said CalEPA Secretary Jared Blumenfeld. “By giving our farmers a suite of integrated pest management tools, we can better protect farmworkers and some of California’s most vulnerable communities. This dynamic task force will give us the roadmap to achieve this bold vision.”

    “California agriculture is recognized not only for its quality and quantity, but also for the sustainable, innovative, forward-thinking way it is grown,” said CDFA Secretary Karen Ross. “Our farmers have been leaders in adopting integrated pest management and partnering with universities and technical assistance providers to meet our high standards for food, environmental and worker safety. This work group represents a broad array of perspectives to inform the next decade of research and development investment and new partnerships to continue the production of nutritious, delicious food and high quality agricultural products with the least impact to our surrounding communities.” 

    Funded in last year’s budget, the group’s work will build upon the recommendations of the Alternatives to Chlorpyrifos Work Group whose 2020 report identified alternatives to the hazardous insecticide and outlined actions to further support agriculture and the health of local communities, farmworkers and the environment. A new status update details additional actions DPR has taken based on the 2020 report, and how DPR and CDFA are working together to provide additional funding to the University of California and California State University to expand integrated pest management research and education. California prohibited virtually all uses of chlorpyrifos as of Dec. 31, 2020.

    The Sustainable Pest Management Work Group is part of the State’s larger commitment to accelerating the transition away from hazardous pesticides. To support the move, Governor Newsom is proposing to fund additional support for the transition by replacing the current flat-fee mill assessment on pesticide sales with a new risk-based tiered mill assessment, where higher toxicity pesticides are assessed a higher fee.

    The members of the Sustainable Pest Management Work Group include:

     

    1. Jenny Broome, Driscoll’s
    2. Don Cameron, Terranova Ranch
    3. Casey Creamer, California Citrus Mutual
    4. Jim Farrar, UC Integrated Pest Management (IPM)
    5. Chris Geiger, City of San Francisco
    6. Kim Harley, UC Berkeley
    7. Lisa Herbert, Sutter County Agricultural Commissioner
    8. Nina Ichikawa, Berkeley Food Institute
    9. Dan Kaiser, Environmental Defense Fund
    10. Susan Kegley, Pesticide Research Institute
    11. Margaret Lloyd, UC Extension – small farm advisor
    12. Suguet Lopez, Líderes Campesinas
    13. Gabriele Ludwig, Almond Board of California
    14. Pam Marrone, Chestnut Bio Advisors, Formerly Marrone Bio Innovations
    15. Nayamin Martinez, Central California Environmental Justice Network
    16. John McKeon, Taylor Farms
    17. Cliff Ohmart, Pest Control Advisor (PCA)
    18. Scott Park, Park Farms
    19. Margaret Reeves, Pesticide Action Network
    20. Taylor Roschen, California Farm Bureau
    21. Sarah Ryan, Environmental Director Big Valley Band of Pomo Indians
    22. Daniel Sonke, Campbell Soup Company
    23. Paul Walgenbach, Bayer
    24. Ron Whitehurst, Pest Control Advisor (PCA)
    25. Houston Wilson, UC Organic Agriculture Institute

  • EPA Takes Action to Stop False Labeling on Products

    EPA is issuing guidance to registrants of glyphosate to ensure clarity on labeling of the chemical on their products. EPA will no longer approve product labels claiming glyphosate is known to cause cancer – a false claim that does not meet the labeling requirements of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). The State of California’s much criticized Proposition 65 has led to misleading labeling requirements for products, like glyphosate, because it misinforms the public about the risks they are facing. This action will ensure consumers have correct information, and is based on EPA’s comprehensive evaluation of glyphosate.

    “It is irresponsible to require labels on products that are inaccurate when EPA knows the product does not pose a cancer risk. We will not allow California’s flawed program to dictate federal policy,” said EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “It is critical that federal regulatory agencies like EPA relay to consumers accurate, scientific based information about risks that pesticides may pose to them. EPA’s notification to glyphosate registrants is an important step to ensuring the information shared with the public on a federal pesticide label is correct and not misleading.”

    In April, EPA took the next step in the review process for glyphosate. EPA found – as it has before – that glyphosate is not a carcinogen, and there are no risks to public health when glyphosate is used in accordance with its current label. These scientific findings are consistent with the conclusions of science reviews by many other countries and other federal agencies.

    On Feb. 26, 2018, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California issued a preliminary injunction stopping California from enforcing the state warning requirements involving glyphosate’s carcinogenicity, in part on the basis that the required warning statement is false or misleading. The preliminary injunction has not been appealed and remains in place.

    California’s listing of glyphosate as a substance under Proposition 65 is based on the International Agency on the Research for Cancer (IARC) classifying it as “probably carcinogenic to humans.” EPA’s independent evaluation of available scientific data included a more extensive and relevant dataset than IARC considered during its evaluation of glyphosate, from which the agency concluded that glyphosate is “not likely to be carcinogenic to humans.” EPA’s cancer classification is consistent with many other international expert panels and regulatory authorities.

    Registrants with glyphosate products currently bearing Proposition 65 warning language should submit draft amended labeling that removes this language within 90 days of the date of the letter.

  • Could CA Farmers Lose CalEPA & Science-Based Pesticide Regulation?

    Anti-pesticide sentiment has never been more prevalent, as California courts and anti-agricultural organizations frighten the public with non-science based claims of the harmful effects of crop protection materials such as glyphosate.  What farmers need to understand though now, is that much more than glyphosate is currently at stake.  The legislature is now being pressured to change the whole pesticide regulatory system as we know it.  Watch this brief interview with Michael Miiller, Director of Government Relations with the California Association of Winegrape Growers to learn more.