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 2024 hulling and shelling season concluded just before the holidays. Sanger completed operations on November 27 and Kerman finished on December 15. The 2024 volume recorded an increase from the 2023 season. The Association hulled and shelled 131,903,505 meat equivalent lbs. In 2023, one of the Association’s lower years, totaled 107,314,863 meat equivalent lbs. The average yield per acre was 2,167 lbs. Our average overall turn out increased 2.15% from last year to now 25.78%.

The 61st Annual Dinner Meeting for Central California Almond Growers Association occurred on Tuesday, June 11, 2024, at Pardini’s Banquet Hall in Fresno, CA. Our Chairman, Jeff McKinney, and President & CEO, Michael Kelley, provided membership and industry guests with reports and updates about the cooperative.

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.

Earlier this week, the Department of Water Resources (DWR) announced an update to the State Water Project (SWP) allocation forecast for 2025. The allocation has increased to 15 percent of requested supplies, up from the initial allocation forecast of 5 percent announced earlier this month. The SWP provides water to 29 public water agencies that serve 27 million Californians.  DWR is crediting strong storms in late November and early December that have helped boost statewide precipitation to just above average for this time of year. Reservoir levels have also increased because of the storms. The initial allocation forecast announced on December 2 had not accounted for these storms because the data was not yet available to water managers.  “The past several weeks has brought welcome rain and snow to Northern California and these improved conditions have allowed the State Water Project to increase the allocation forecast to the benefit of millions of Californians,” said DWR Director Karla Nemeth. “While we typically wait to provide an update until January, we felt it is important to let our State Water Contractors know of the increase as soon as possible to allow them to better plan their water supply for the year ahead.”  The next update will likely come in January and will use information from the first snow surveys of the season.