Recently, the Department of the Interior awarded the Sites Reservoir Project  $129 million in federal funding to bring clean, reliable drinking water to communities across the West through water storage and conveyance projects. This new commitment builds on the $67.5 million announced in May 2024 to Sites Reservoir, increasing the current total to $646.15 million in federal funding committed to the Project in exchange for federal benefits. As a beneficiary pays project, this funding would secure additional benefits for the Bureau of Reclamation’s water operations, which include supporting ecosystem objectives. The state of California conditionally awarded $875 million to the Project through the Proposition 1 Water Storage Investment Program for public benefits. “Sites Reservoir would not be possible without the continued support of our federal partners, who share our commitment to increasing California’s water resiliency amid a changing climate,” said Fritz Durst, Chair of the Sites Project Authority Board of Directors. “We’ve made significant progress in the last few years and this funding is an exciting start to what will be another monumental year for Sites Reservoir.” Sites Reservoir will increase water supply throughout California and provide, for the first time, environmental benefits by storing water specifically to support native wildlife and their habitat during drought periods. The Project will provide an additional 1.5 million acre-feet of storage capacity, substantially improving the state’s water flexibility, reliability, and resiliency in drier years.

December 30, 2024, the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (CDPR) announced the availability of two preliminary reports pertaining to the re-evaluation review of the active ingredient, paraquat dichloride. The letter further announces the opening of a 45-day comment period closing February 13, 2025.  The referenced reports included the Preliminary Report of the Potential Human Health Outcomes Resulting from Paraquat Exposure, and the Preliminary Report on the Potential Ecological Risks from Paraquat Exposure.  Given the breadth of the detailed scientific information, analyses, and references in said reports, the Association asked for CDPR to consider a minimum 30-day extension of the comment period to allow sufficient time for our teams and technical people to more completely review the provided reports and provide a more complete and thorough response.  This past week CDPR granted an extension until March 17^th, 2025.

This past week the Association submitted comments to US EPA to address questions regarding the potential use of plinazolin on cotton. Plinazolin is a potentially important and necessary tool for use against lygus on California cotton. The Association understands there may be limitations related to aerial application that would severely impact the use and effectiveness of plinazolin for several reasons. The Association highlighted growing conditions in cotton fields, impacts from irrigation and the ability to cover a lot of ground quickly. Plinazolin is a potential critical tool to control lygus going through the registration process at US EPA with the hopes of having it available in 2026 or 2027.

Cal/OSHA has numerous rulemaking projects planned for 2025. Here’s a summary of the most significant issues that can impact the cotton industry, set for resolution this year.

Ultra-High Heat Standards and Wildfire Smoke – Under AB 2243 (2021), Cal/OSHA must consider adding an “ultra-high heat” provision to its heat illness prevention standard and require employers to distribute their heat illness prevention plans to employees. Additionally, Cal/OSHA is tasked with considering revisions to the wildfire smoke standard to lower the air quality threshold for mandatory respiratory protection from 500 to 301.

Walking Working Surfaces – Cal/OSHA is actively working on updates to the Walking Working Surfaces regulation, which intends to enhance safety standards for workplaces across various industries. The Association is playing a key role in this process, participating in the Advisory Committee as the sole representative from the agricultural industry. Two advisory committee meeting are set for 2025 in March and October of this year.

First Aid Kit – Efforts to simplify first aid kit requirements, dating back to 2006, are anticipated to progress this year. The revisions aimed to allow kits to meet national standards, such as ANSI, rather than requiring sole approval by a physician. The board plans to publish this proposal by June for a public hearing. A new proposal is expected to be presented for a public hearing in June 2025.

Autonomous Tractors – One key area under consideration is the regulation of autonomous agricultural equipment. Historically, Cal/OSHA required driverless tractors to have an operator present in the vehicle. However, as of October 2024, the agency has indicated a shift in this stance, expressing openness to regulatory reforms that would allow autonomous vehicles to operate without an onboard operator. The advisory Committee meeting is anticipated for June 2025.

Workplace Violence – Cal/OSHA plans an advisory hearing to be held in 2025 to gather input on a proposed workplace violence prevention standard for general industry, as required by SB 553. The goal is to collect feedback from stakeholders on the draft workplace violence prevention standard currently being developed by Cal/OSHA. Cal/OSHA must submit the proposed workplace violence prevention standard to the Board by December 31, 2025 and the Board must adopt the standard by 2026.

The Association will closely monitor the progress of these proposed rulemaking initiatives as they move forward.

In a stunning development, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) has withdrawn its request for a federal waiver to implement the state’s Advanced Clean Fleets rule. In a brief letter on Monday to Jane Nishida, acting administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, Steven Cliff, executive officer of the California Air Resources Board, said CARB was withdrawing the waiver request that it made in late 2023.  Historically, CARB has been granted waiver to implement regulations on engines, and most thought this was a slam dunk. But then President-Elect Trump won the recent Presidential election. Liane Randolph, the CARB chair, was quoted stating “Frankly, given that the Trump administration has not been publicly supportive of some of the strategies that we have deployed in these regulations, we thought it would be prudent to pull back and consider our options” in the New York Times.

Some further explanation is needed here though. The Advanced Clean Fleets (ACF) rule would have required drayage trucks and certain fleets to replace their trucks with zero emission trucks by certain dates.  The Advanced Clean Truck (ACT) rule is an OEM mandate on new trucks coming into the marketplace and that rule has already been granted a waiver.  Furthermore, the ACF rule and other rules that have waiver requests into EPA have NOx emissions reductions associated with them. If those are withdrawn those emissions reductions will have to be made up somewhere.  And that is a concern as to what other emissions sources may be brought into focus. Stay tuned!

It’s that time of the year again! This is a reminder to electronically submit your 2024 Form 300A data by March 2, 2025, through the Federal OSHA Injury Tracking Application (ITA) website. Additionally, the Cal/OSHA Summary 300A must be completed and posted on your bulletin board from February 1 to April 30, 2025. Refer to federal OSHA’s Injury Tracking Application website for information and instructions on electronic submission, visit: https://www.osha.gov/injuryreporting/ita/.

The California Department of Pesticide Regulation (CDPR) has released an updated schedule of reevaluations for certain pesticides.  Food and Agricultural Code section 12824 requires the CDPR to continuously evaluate pesticides currently registered in California. One of the ways DPR satisfies this mandate is through reevaluation.  DPR conducts pesticide reevaluations where, after investigating reported episodes or other information, the department determines that “a significant adverse impact has occurred or is likely to occur.”  In some cases, a risk assessment may be conducted as a part of a reevaluation.  During the reevaluation, the department may determine that additional restrictions on use of the pesticide are necessary.  Mitigation may require the development and adoption of regulations through the rulemaking process, label changes, or other control measures including cancellation.  If additional mitigation is needed, DPR is subject to applicable established timelines.  In accordance with that requirement, DPR is publishing the estimated completion times for all current reevaluations (see “Active Reevaluations” table below). Individual reevaluations with statutorily imposed timelines are also noted below. Scientific assessment is necessary to determine if there are pesticide use scenarios that require mitigation.  CDPR will now be providing annual updates on its progress, allowing for better resolution on specific timelines.

•  Active Reevaluations

On November 6, 2024, the Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) initiated a reevaluation of pesticide products containing the active ingredient paraquat dichloride (paraquat) as required by the California State Legislature in Assembly Bill (AB) 1963, which was passed last year. Following evaluation of submitted human health and environmental data, DPR drafted preliminary reports detailing the findings of the scientific review.  DPR is accepting public comments on these reports for 45 days following their release. These preliminary reports do not constitute a determination of whether additional restrictions are necessary because of the reevaluation. DPR will issue a determination on the need for any potential restriction on paraquat use in the future.  Interested persons may submit comments pertaining to the preliminary paraquat human health and ecological reports no later than February 13, 2025.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is opening a 60-day public comment period on a proposed rule to list Suckley’s cuckoo bumble bee as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. This determination also serves as the 12-month finding on a petition to list Suckley’s cuckoo bumble bee.  The Suckley’s cuckoo bumble bee depends on other bumble bee hosts for its survival and raising of young. It has been found in various habitat types including prairies, grasslands, meadows, woodlands and agricultural and urban areas. The bee has a broad historical distribution across North America and has been documented in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, and 11 Canadian territories and provinces. The last confirmed sighting in the United States was in 2016 in Oregon.  Suckley’s cuckoo bumble bee is an important indicator species for the health of pollinators and native floral communities. In addition, this species’ parasitic nature is very unique among bees, with social parasites making up less than 1% of all bee species. They are different from brood parasites, which only attack the brood of their host, because social parasites rely on the entire colony. Female cuckoo bumble bees invade host bumble bee nests where they will often eliminate the host queen, destroy host eggs, and eject host larvae from the nest.  The public comment period on the proposed rule opens Tuesday, December 17th, 2024, and closes Tuesday, February 18th, 2025.  The Suckley’s Cuckoo bumblebee is one of the four species of bumblebees that were part of the lawsuit the Association participated in a couple of years ago.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recently updated its Spanish Translation Guide for Pesticide Labeling, effective December 26, 2024. This updated guide provides important resources for translating pesticide product labels into Spanish, ensuring better accessibility, and enhancing communication regarding pesticide risks by providing clarity for Spanish-speaking workers.

The guide includes several key updates, such as:

• Restricted use of pesticides;
• Misuse statements;
• First aid and precautionary statement label language;
• Personal protective equipment (PPE) label statements;
• New sections on engineering controls, environmental hazards, and physical or chemical hazards; and
• Storage and pesticide container disposal instructions.

As part of the requirements set by PRIA 5, pesticide registrants must translate all sections of the label outlined in the updated Spanish Translation Guide beginning in 2025. Registrants who have already translated the new sections and verified the accuracy of their translations as ‘true and accurate’ are not required to revise those parts of the label.

To access the full, revised Spanish Translation Guide, visit the EPA’s official website: EPA Spanish Translation Guide for Pesticide Labeling.