USDA AMS will be conducting the 2015 American Pima Grade Standards Guide Box Review and Standards Matching on Thursday, June 18, 2015 at the Visalia, California Classing Office beginning at 9:00 am.  Please join us to review, comment, and approve the six guide boxes of the 2015 American Pima Grade Standards.  Once approved, the guide boxes will be used as the reference to match all of the 2015 American Pima Grade Standards.  The guide box review and the standards matching will both take place the morning of June 18th.  Industry participation is key to this process and we hope you all can come and be a part of this important annual event.

For additional information please contact:

Greg Townsend, Area Director                       or         James Knowlton, Director

E-mail: greg.townsend@ams.usda.gov                      E-mail: james.knowlton@ams.usda.gov

Visalia Classing Office                                                   Standardization Division

7100 West Sunnyview Avenue                                    3275 Appling Road

Visalia, CA 93291                                                        Memphis, TN 38133

Phone: (559) 651-3015                                               Phone: (901) 384-3030

California’s recently enacted paid sick leave law, the Healthy Workplace, Healthy Family Act of 2014 (hereinafter the “Act”), goes into effect on July 1, 2015. This Act provides that all employees who work in California for 30 or more days within a year are entitled to paid sick leave (PSL). Under the Act, paid sick leave accrues at the rate of 1 hour per every 30 hours worked, paid at the employee’s current rate of pay, and employees are entitled to up to 24 hours or 3 days of PSL per year.

Q: Who is Covered Under the Act? 

A: The Act applies to all employees, including those who are seasonal, temporary, part-time, and full-time, except those who are covered by a valid collective bargaining agreement that expressly provides for paid sick leave, are in-home support services employees, or are airline flight deck or cabin crew.

Q: Are all employees who are covered by a valid collective bargaining agreement (CBA) exempt from PSL?

A: No. Only those employees who are covered by a CBA that expressly provides for paid sick days, premium wage rates for overtime hours worked, and a regular hourly rate of pay that is at least 30% more than the minimum wage are exempt from California’s PSL requirements.

Q: Are Employees of Out-of-State Employers Covered Under the Act? 

A: The Act applies to “any person employing another.” This sweeping language of the Act, and the stated purposes of protecting employees in California, read in conjunction with recent California court decisions stating that all employees who perform work within California are covered by state wage and hour laws, suggests that any employee, regardless of where the employer is located, who works at least 30 days within the State of California is covered by the Act, and is therefore entitled to PSL.

Written By: Jason Resnick V.P & General Counsel, Western Growers Association
Patrick S. Moody, Barsamian & Moody
Michael C. Saqui, The Saqui Law Group

Counsel to Management:
Now is the time to update your Employee Handbooks to ensure compliance with the new law beginning July 1, 2015. For questions regarding the new law and/or compliance issues, please contact The Saqui Law Group

As a U.S. cotton grower, you are committed and invested in responsible cotton production. Please help Cotton Incorporated promote the investments and the great strides U.S. farmers like you have made in environmental stewardship by completing the Natural Resources Survey.

Your participation in the Survey is important to the success of the Cotton Research and Promotion Program conducted on your behalf.  Your data will be included in the national average and your responses will be anonymous. Please, take the time to respond to the questions that only you, the producer, can answer.

The Maddy Report recently held a discussion on their weekly radio and television program entitled “Adapting to Climate Change: Implications for the Valley.”  Guests Carol D’Elia, Executive Director of California’s Little Hoover Commission, discussed climate change with Maddy Institute Executive Director Mark Keppler, and California Fresh Fruit Association President Barry Bedwell.  On the radio portion, commentary was provided by Roger Isom, President of the California Cotton Ginners & Growers Association and President & CEO of the Western Agricultural Processors Association, and Fresno Bee Environmental Reporter Mark Grossi.  To hear the report on the internet, please visit http://www.maddyinstitute.com/adapting-to-climate-change-implications-for-the-valley/.

The risks of chemical exposure are real and often a component of every workday.  The Hazard Communication Standard is OSHA’s #2 most frequently cited standard. Any employer whose employees handle, or are exposed to hazardous chemicals, must have a written hazard communication (HazCom) plan and provide training.

The Western Agricultural Processors Association is pleased to announce the HazCom & GHS workshops!  The workshop will cover what you need to know and how to comply with the requirement as an ‘End User’ of handling chemicals in the workplace (i.e. in house labeling requirements, proper secondary containers, and safety data sheets, etc.)

Session Topics:

• Required elements of a HazCom plan
• Responsibilities of employers and workers
• Safety Data Sheets (SDSs)
• Workplace labeling – What are the options?
• Training requirements

Who Should Attend: 
Owners and Managers
HR and Safety Personnel
Superintendents and Supervisors
Maintenance/Shop Personnel
Employees handling chemicals

2015 HazCom-GHS Workshops Flyer

Effective today, May 1st, the Cal/OSHA Heat Illness Prevention Regulations go into effect!  Now that the temperature is heating up, you are required to take steps to prevent heat illness.

• –  Water must be “fresh, pure, suitably cool” and located as close as practicable to where employees are working
• –  Shade must be present at 80 degrees F
• –  Shade must accommodate 100% of employees working on the site
• –  When temperature hits 95 degrees F, the employee must be provided a minimum 10 minute cool-down period every two hours
• –  Employees taking a “preventative cool-down rest break” must be monitored for symptoms of heat illness
• –  New training requirements covering employers’ responsibilities, employees’ rights and appropriate first aid and emergency responses

The Association has updated Appendix R of the Safety Manual for its members to comply with the new regulations.

On Friday, April 17^th, the Regional Board held a board meeting in the Fresno office.  The most concerning item on the agenda was enforcement of Waste Discharge Requirements.  Three operations were cited to appear before the regional board; one dairy and two commercial farming operations.

The first farming operation (Farm A) called before the Regional Board farmed a little over 300 acres in Madera County.  According to the report, the operation is required to comply with Water Code section 13264 which requires that irrigation users report their waste discharges to the Regional Board.  The second farming operation (Farm B) that was cited on the docket was a commercial agriculture operation that was separated into multiple parcels across Stanislaus, Merced, and Madera counties. The accumulated acreage for the operation across the several counties totaled over 900 acres

The process that can ultimately lead to a meeting before the Regional Board begins with a Notice of Intent, which notifies operations of their lack of compliance.  The notices are sent via certified mail, so when a notice is signed for, the time to respond begins. Once that deadline passes, the Regional Board then moves along with a Notice of Violation (NOV) which is another notice requiring compliance, and notifying the owner that serious fines are to be levied. The fines are listed as $1,000 per day for non-compliance.  Both farms were notified in 2013 of their noncompliance.

The owner of Farm B failed to report his discharged acreage to the coalition which kept the time on the fine running. In all, the owner was out of compliance for 204 days resulting in a penalty of over $200,000 dollars.   The Regional Board issued an Administrative Civil Liability Complaint with a reduced amount for $31,460 dollars. Farm A was cited for non-compliance for not enrolling in a watershed coalition or reporting to the Regional Board and assessed a fine of $51,480 dollars.

As stated above, both farms were notified 2 years ago and encouraged to report discharges to the Regional Board or enroll in a watershed coalition.  The timeline for unpunished enrollment has long passed, and penalties like these will become more common.  If you have not enrolled in a coalition, or reported your discharge to the Regional Board, we encourage you to do so.  If you have received a notice of intent or violation, we encourage you to respond to the Regional Board with your plan of action.  The fines that are being imposed are very high, and we fear that the longer an operation waits, the levied fines will be much heavier.