Association Hosts Assemblywoman Lori Wilson at Walnut Huller and Pistachio Processor

This week, Assemblywoman Lori Wilson (11th Assembly District) visited Summerfield Farms Walnut Huller in Hanford, and Horizon Nut’s pistachio processor in Tulare. At the walnut huller, owner David Stanfield walked Ms. Wilson through the entire process discussing how the plant operates and some of the regulatory challenges they face.    While touring the pistachio processor WAPA 1st Vice Chair Kirk Squire and Raw Production Manager Eloy Viveros toured Ms. Wilson through all of the various processing operations while highlighting challenges in labor, energy and air quality affecting their operation.  The tour was part of a day long tour which also included visits to an agave and pistachio farm, and a cotton gin.   Accompanying the Assemblywoman on the tour was Association President/CEO Roger A. Isom and Director of Technical Services Christopher McGlothlin. 

WAPA Wilson Tour 1   WAPA Wilson Tour 2

WAPA Board Member Nominations Open

It’s time for Director Elections for the WAPA Board of Directors.  First up are nominations of those who are interested in serving on the Board of Directors.  Nomination Forms including Candidate Statement Forms are being mailed out this week and are due Wednesday, November 27th, 2023.  There are 5 sitting directors’ terms expiring this year.  Current directors whose regular 3-year terms are expiring this year are: Don Barton, Mark Kazarian, Michael Kelley, Kim Keyawa-Musselman, and Jonathan Hoff.  There are currently these five (5) positions up for election out of a total of sixteen (16) board positions.  These Director positions are important, and the Association is seeking only those candidates truly committed to serving the Association.  Please take time to nominate and make sure that the candidate or candidates of your choice agree to their nomination by filing the Candidate’s Statement Form required to get on the ballot for the upcoming election.  Thanks for your cooperation and participation in the process.

CDPR Releases Clean Air Monitoring Report for 2023

The California Department of Pesticide Regulation has released its annual Air Monitoring Report, which found that no air samples taken at monitoring sites in 2023 detected pesticides at or above health-protective screening levels or regulatory targets. DPR operates four monitoring stations in areas with high pesticide use: Oxnard, Santa Maria, Shafter and Watsonville. The stations collect weekly air samples, which are tested for 40 pesticides.  The 2023 data found that 95% of all samples collected had no detectable pesticides. Twenty-one pesticides were not detected at all, and 11 were detected at very low, trace levels which indicates unlikely risk to or impact on people’s health.  Seven pesticides were detected at quantifiable levels, with detections falling below health-protective screening levels or regulatory targets. Those pesticides were 1,3-dichloropropene, captan, dichlorvos (DDVP), methyl isothiocyanate (MITC), malathion, methyl bromide and pendimethalin.  DPR measures air against screening levels and regulatory targets. Regulatory targets are screening levels associated with a regulatory requirement to mitigate pesticide risks or impacts. A pesticide detection below a specific screening level or regulatory target indicates that adverse health effects are unlikely, including short-term (acute) pesticide impacts, such as eye or throat irritation, nausea, headaches or blurred vision, or long-term (chronic) pesticide risks such as birth defects or nervous system problems. DPR also measures for exposures that could increase the lifetime risk for cancer.  “Monitoring the air in communities with high pesticide use is critical to keeping California safe for everyone,” said DPR Director Julie Henderson. “I am encouraged to see that all of the 2023 pesticide concentrations fall below our health screening levels.

WAPA Hosts Assembly Agriculture Committee Vice Chair Juan Alanis

This week, the Western Agricultural Processors Association hosted Assembly Agricultural Committee Vice Chair Juan Alanis (22nd Assembly District) at Keenan Farms Pistachio Operation in Kettleman City and at Sierra Valley Hulling in Firebaugh.  The site visit was part of a larger two-day tour that included visits to a citrus packing house, stone fruit and table grape operation, pistachio processor and an almond huller.  While visiting the pistachio operation Vice President of Operations Hugo Villagomez explained the pistachio hulling and processing operations while also discussing challenges with electric infrastructure and air quality regulations, as well as water restrictions and how all this impacts daily operations.  At the almond huller, Manager Jim Sears (WAPA Board Member) explained the almond hulling and shelling process.  Sears also took the opportunity to discuss impacts from air quality, safety and environmental regulations and the impact water restrictions have had on the operations of their growers.  Participating in the site visit was Association President/CEO Roger Isom, Assistant Vice President Priscilla Rodriguez, and Director of Technical Services Christopher McGlothlin.  Partnering organizations included the California Cotton Ginners and Growers Association, California Citrus Mutual, California Fresh Fruit Association and American Pistachio Growers. 

alanis tour 1 alanis tour 2

EPA Finalizes Rule on Pesticide Exposures

This week the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is announcing a final rule to restore the pesticide Application Exclusion Zone (AEZ) requirements under the 2015 Agricultural Worker Protection Standard (WPS).  The AEZ is an area surrounding outdoor pesticide application equipment where people are prohibited while pesticides are applied. This rule finalizes the agency’s 2023 proposed rule without change.  It reinstates AEZ protections, extends protections for neighboring communities, makes requirements easier to understand, and provides flexibilities for family farms without compromising protections.

 

Application Exclusion Zone

In 2015, EPA made significant changes to the Worker Protection Standard (WPS) regulation to reduce incidents of pesticide exposure among farmworkers and their family members.

These changes include creating the “Application Exclusion Zone” (AEZ), an area with additional requirements to protect workers and bystanders. This area immediately surrounds the pesticide application equipment during an outdoor pesticide application. The AEZ only exists during the application, moves with the equipment during application, and can extend outside of an agricultural establishment (e.g., school grounds, residential neighborhoods). The 2015 regulation required that pesticide applicators suspend their applications if anyone is in the AEZ. It also required employers to ensure that the AEZ requirements are understood and followed and prohibited employers from directing or allowing any of their workers to enter an AEZ. 

In 2020, the previous administration published a rule limiting AEZ protections to agricultural establishments and shrinking the size of the AEZ from 100 feet to 25 feet for some ground-based spray applications.  In 2021, EPA began reviewing the 2020 AEZ Rule in accordance with Executive Order 13990, Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science to Tackle the Climate Crisis. The agency determined that the provisions in the 2020 AEZ Rule that weakened protections for farmworkers and nearby communities from pesticide exposure should be rescinded. The proposed rule to reinstate several provisions of the 2015 rule was published in March of 2023.   With this new action, EPA is finalizing its 2023 proposed rule without change.  The final rule reinstates several 2015 WPS provisions protecting farmworkers and bystanders, including:

  • The AEZ suspension requirement will apply beyond the boundaries of the agricultural establishment.
  • The AEZ suspension requirement will apply in easements on the establishment (for example, easements for utility workers to access telephone lines).
  • The AEZ distance for ground-based applications will be:
    • 25 feet for applications with medium or larger droplets when sprayed from a height greater than 12 inches from the soil surface or planting medium.
    • 100 feet for applications with fine droplets.

Additionally, the final rule includes two revisions that the agency believes provide clarity and flexibility for growers and farming families without increasing risk to farmworkers and bystanders:

  • An “immediate family exemption” that allows farm owners and their immediate family to remain inside enclosed structures or homes during pesticide application. This exemption, which is limited to farming families, provides them the flexibility to decide whether to stay on-site during pesticide applications, rather than compelling them to leave even when they feel safe remaining in their own homes.
  • A clarification that suspended pesticide applications can resume only after people leave the AEZ.

EPA will release interim guidance by the end of October to support the regulated community in complying with the new rule and will accept feedback on how to improve the guidance after its release.  The new rule will be effective 60 days after publication of the federal register notice and will be available in docket EPA-HQ-OPP-2022-0133 at the Regulations.gov page.

  1. ADVISORY for San Joaquin Valley Growers
  2. California Cotton Ginners and Growers Association Announces $2 Million for FARMER Program in 2024-25 California State Budget
  3. EPA Finalizes Plan to Protect Vulnerable Species
  4. DPR Visits Valley to Hear from Agriculture

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Governor Signs Ag Overtime Bill

Ignoring the pleas of real farmworkers and the agricultural industry, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today signed AB 1066, the ag overtime legislation. This means that California will have the most stringent trigger of any state in the country for overtime for farmworkers, with 45 states having no overtime protection at all. The Governor signed this bill, supposedly to bring “equality to all workers”, yet taxi cab drivers, commercial fishermen, car salesmen, student nurses, computer programmers, and carnival workers all work without any overtime provisions whatsoever. The Governor signed this ag overtime bill in the same year that minimum wage legislation was also passed that will take California to the highest minimum wage as well as legislation forcing California to adopt additional greenhouse gas regulations for businesses in California. California is the only state in the country subject to such regulations. Today’s signing occurred despite numerous requests by the agricultural industry to meet with the Governor to discuss our concerns. The message is clear. California simply doesn’t care. These provisions will be phased in over the next few years ending with the overtime provisions to be triggered at 8 hours per day and 40 hours per week.

In the Beginning As folks transitioned out of cotton and into tree nuts, the industry recognized the need to have active and effective representation at the local, state and national levels. Having enjoyed such effective representation over the years from the California Cotton Ginners and Growers Associations, these folks yearned for the same representation in the tree nut processing industry. Issues such as air quality, food safety, labor, taxes, employee safety, and environmental concerns are at the forefront, and there is a significant need for an aggressive and dynamic Association to lead the industry into the next decade and beyond. In recognition of this, the Western Agricultural Processors Association was created in 2009. The Western Agricultural Processors Association (WAPA) shares staff and office space with the California Cotton Ginners and Growers Associations taking advantage of a unique and opportunistic situation. WAPA is a voluntary dues organization with four shared staff and one dedicated staff person. Regulatory, legislative and legal issues fall under the purview of this new organization for the tree nut processing industry, which includes almonds, pecans, pistachios and walnuts. From air quality permits to conditional use permits, from regulatory hearings on greenhouse gases to federal legislation on food safety, and from OSHA violations to assisting members on hazardous materials business plans, no issue is too small or too large for WAPA. WAPA has assembled one of the best and most capable staffs in the industry, and the results are already starting to show Membership The Western Agricultural Processors Association represents facilities involved in the processing of almonds, pecans, pistachios and walnuts.Membership in the Association is classified as Regular memberships are limited to almond hullers or processors, pecan and pistachio processors, and walnut dehydrators and processors. Associate memberships are limited to any individual or business entity which is not engaged in agricultural processing, but which provides products or services directly related to the agricultural processing industry. WAPA Associate members include, but are not limited to, commodity brokers, accounting firms, and insurance brokers. Organization The Western Agricultural Processors Association is governed by a Board of Directors, elected by its membership.The Board consists of up to 15 members from throughout the state, and throughout the industry.The Board meets on a quarterly basis and conducts an Annual Meeting in the spring of each year.WAPA, in conjunction with the California Cotton Ginners and Growers Associations, conducts a special training school for its members focused on safety.In combination with the school, the Association holds a Labor Management Seminar for all of the managers. Consulting Services In researching and considering the concept of forming a new organization, the Boards of Directors for the California Cotton Ginners and Growers Associations instructed staff to perform some of the work on a consulting basis first. The point was to determine the workload from consulting and to determine if there was sufficient interest. In November of 2007, the Association began conducting services under consulting contracts for such services as air quality permits and safety plans.The effort has been so successful that demand has progressed outside the tree nut industry into other agricultural processing facilities, including vegetable dehydration facilities, tomato processing facilities, and wheat mills, as well as cotton gins in Arizona.It was determined by the new Board of Directors of WAPA, that WAPA would maintain the consulting services to provide offsetting income to help with the expenses of getting the new organization up and running.Today, WAPA provides for a long list of satisfied clients in the agricultural processing industry, by providing critical services such as air quality, safety, food safety, and environmental issues (Hazardous Materials Business Plan, Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasure Plans, etc.).