CALIFORNIA CATTLEMAN WEEKLY

August 19, 2024

To read the full version each week, please subscribe below.

Legislative Session Enters Final Sprint After Lawmakers Dispense with “Suspense Files”
The Senate and Assembly Appropriations Committees each met at 1:00pm last Thursday to tackle their respective “suspense files,” comprised of bills with General Fund impacts of $50,000 or more or bills with impacts to special funds in the amount of $150,000. Suspense file hearings are rapid-fire and have been described as a “black box” because there is no testimony or discussion on the bills under consideration, meaning it is not always clear why some measures advance or why others are killed in committee.

The Assembly Appropriations Committee considered roughly 315 Senate bills, while the Senate Appropriations Committee considered about 515 Assembly bills. As a result of the state’s current budget deficit, appropriators advanced fewer bills this year than average, with each chamber nixing roughly one-third of the bills on its suspense file.

Below are updates on a handful of CCA’s priority bills considered by appropriators last week:

• After holding CCA-opposed AB 99 (Connolly) during last year’s suspense file hearing, the Senate Appropriations Committee last week resuscitated the measure, passing it to the Senate floor by a vote of 5-2. The bill would restrict CalTrans’ ability to apply pesticides along roadways in cities and counties with pest management policies more restrictive than the state’s policy.
• CCA-opposed AB 2149 (Connolly) died in the Senate Appropriations Committee. AB 2149 would have required regular inspections for any gate “that weighs more than 50 pounds and is more than 48 inches wide or…84 inches high that is intended to be used by the public, an entire community or neighborhood, or any considerable number of persons.”
• CCA-opposed AB 1963 (Friedman) and AB 2552 (Friedman) – bills that seek to restrict the availability of the pesticide paraquat dichloride and of first-generation anticoagulant rodenticides, respectively – both advanced to the Senate Floor, though both were significantly narrowed via amendments in committee.
• CCA-supported AB 2827 (Reyes), which would have required state agencies to prioritize the development and implementation of strategies to eradicate invasive species, was held by the Senate Appropriations Committee.
• CCA-supported SB 945 (Alvardo-Gil), the “Wildfire Smoke and Health Outcomes Data Act,” was held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. The bill would have established a data platform for state agencies to track negative health impacts of wildfire smoke and assess the effectiveness of the state’s forest health and wildfire mitigation programs.

CCA continues to lobby several bills pending on the Assembly and Senate floors. The Legislature has until Aug. 31 to finalize its work, after which Governor Gavin Newsom will have until the end of September to sign or veto any bills which advance to his desk. A full recap of CCA’s legislative efforts will appear in the November edition of the California Cattleman magazine.

Sen. Wiener Proposes Modest Amendments to Climate Data Reporting Law
Last month, California Cattleman Weekly reported that the Newsom Administration was considering budget trailer bill language which would delay the implementation of last year’s “Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act,” SB 253 (Wiener), by two years. The bill, signed into law last year, requires companies with annual revenues over $1 billion which do business in California to annually report their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to the California Air Resources Board (CARB) – including “scope 3” emissions related to the companies’ entire supply chains.

CCA strongly opposed SB 253 last year, concerned that it would harm ranchers and beef producers in major corporations’ supply chains.

The Administration’s proposal hasn’t materialized in legislation, however. Instead, Sen. Wiener last week amended his SB 219 to make minor tweaks to the Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act. Rather than delaying enforcement of the law, Wiener’s proposal would merely delay the deadline by which CARB must finalize regulations implementing the law by six months, from January 1, 2025 to July 1, 2025.

Corporations’ reporting deadlines would remain unchanged under Wiener’s proposal; scope 1 and 2 emissions reporting would be due annually beginning in 2026, and scope 3 emissions would have to be reported annually beginning in 2027.

One favorable change contemplated in the Newsom Administration’s draft budget trailer bill language has been incorporated into Wiener’s proposal: The measure would permit corporations’ subsidiaries to consolidate their disclosures at the parent company level.

CCA will continue to keep members apprised of developments regarding the Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act. As previously reported in California Cattleman Weekly, a legal challenge to the measure filed by the California Chamber of Commerce and others is currently working its way through the courts.

CARB Releases Fact Sheet on Agricultural Vehicles’ Compliance with Clean Truck Check Regulation
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has released a fact sheet which “provides an overview of the requirements for agricultural vehicles to comply with” CARB’s Clean Truck Check regulation. The regulation applies to nearly all non-gasoline vehicles (including diesel vehicles) with a gross vehicle weight rating over 14,000 pounds which operate within California. The regulation requires all regulated vehicles to be reported in CARB’s Clean Truck Check Vehicle Inspection System (CTC-VIS) Portal and to undergo periodic emissions compliance testing beginning Jan. 1, 2025.

The fact sheet details the steps owners of agricultural vehicles must take to comply with the regulation. For additional information about the Clean Truck Check regulation, see CARB’s “Clean Truck Check (HD I/M)” Resources webpage.

New Episode of Sorting Pen: The California Cattleman Podcast
A new episode of Sorting Pen: The California Cattleman Podcast is out now! In this week’s episode, NCBA’s Executive Director of Government Affairs Kent Bacus joins CCA’s Katie Roberti on the podcast to discuss the Corporate Transparency Act, a law passed in 2021. Bacus explains what the law is, what this could mean for your ranch (or other business), how the law came about and more. To listen to the episode, click here.

The conversation in this episode is not professional advice. After listening, it would be best to consult with a tax professional or attorney for advice as to whether the Corporate Transparency Act applies to you.

CLEAR Center Hosting “Salute to Ag” Football Game at UC Davis Home Opener
You’re invited to join the CLEAR Center and the California Cattlemen’s Foundation in honoring farmers, ranchers, workers, and allied industry members at the first-ever Salute to Ag Football Game at UC Davis. The CLEAR Center is sponsoring this home opener for the Aggies on Sept. 7 at 7 p.m. in the UC Davis Health Stadium.

The California Cattlemen’s Foundation, one of the many agricultural organizations with an informational booth at the game, will distribute factsheets about ranching in California and share the positive roles ranchers play in managing our state’s natural resources.

Thanks to the CLEAR Center’s sponsorship, CCA members are invited to purchase discounted tickets for this game. Enter the promo code CLEAR at goagspromo.com to receive approximately 50% off your tickets.

“What a great night it will be when we sponsor the Aggies’ first home game, treat students, alums, and families to specially priced tickets, and put our incredible agriculture industry in the spotlight,” said Frank Mitloehner, an animal agriculturalist, air quality specialist and director of the CLEAR Center. “Farming and ranching in California are among the best in the United States, if not the world. The growers and all the partners who make their work possible are showing what can be done when we come together to make the essential undertaking more sustainable.”

If you have any questions about the game, contact Katie with the Foundation at katier@calcattlemen.org. More details on the event are available here.
 
Opportunities to Get Involved at NCBA’s CattleCon 2025
Registration for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) CattleCon 2025 happening Feb. 4 – Feb. 6 in San Antonio, TX is now open! To view event details and to register, click here. CattleCon 2025 has a wide array of opportunities for attendees to participate in while in San Antonio. These include applying for the CattleCon Scholarships, Internship, applying to sing the National Anthem or participating in Beef’s Got Talent. To learn more about these various opportunities, click here.

2024 CCA Scholarship and Internship Applications Now Open 
The application period for the 2024 California Cattlemen’s Association Scholarships and Convention Internship are now being accepted. To learn more, click here. Any young, regular or feeder member are eligible to apply for the scholarship and internship. Past recipients and interns are eligible to reapply. If you are not currently a CCA member and would like to join visit https://calcattlemen.org/join. Contact Maureen in the CCA office at maureen@calcattlemen.org with any questions.

Upcoming CCA Events

Upcoming Industry Events

Industry News

‘Factory Farms’ Measure on the Ballot: Yea or Nay? The Healdsburg Tribune “Measure J, the initiative on the November ballot to shut down a number of Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations  (CAFOs) or “factory farms” in Sonoma County, has encountered widespread opposition among public governing bodies, most recently including the Healdsburg City Council.” To continue reading, click here.

Massive cuts to Colorado River supply for Imperial Irrigation District begin The Desert Sun “Less than 12 hours after the Biden Administration and the Imperial Irrigation District approved an unprecedented deal to conserve 700,000 acre feet of Colorado River water through 2026, the flow of river water to the rural valley three hours south of Los Angeles slowed. District personnel moved out before sunrise to install more than 1,600 locks on gates to canals supplying hundreds of farm fields, cutting off water deliveries for up to 60 days this year. The process will be repeated over the next two summers. To continue reading, click here.