Brown OKs more money to drive polluting engines off farms [Modesto Bee]
Farmers
will keep getting help with replacement of high-polluting engines under a bill
signed by Gov. Jerry Brown. The measure extends through 2023 a program that
covers up to 80 percent of the cost of new tractors, irrigation pumps and other
equipment that burn much more cleanly than the old machinery….The measure,
Assembly Bill 8, provides $2 billion over 10
years for this and other efforts to reduce vehicle emissions in California.
E-Verify
goes dark as shutdown severs links to companies [Bloomberg News]
The
Internet-based system that employers use to check whether job applicants may
legally work went dark as U.S. agencies limited or cut off electronic
communications companies use in everyday tasks. Websites that shut down
yesterday included the E-Verify site run by the Department of Homeland
Security’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and the agency sites of
the Census Bureau, Agriculture Department, National Aeronautics and Space
Administration, Library of Congress and the federal and international trade
commissions. Closing of the E-Verify system, which checks information provided
by employees against millions of government records, was one result as the
government went into its first shutdown in 17 years.
Ag
companies to pay psyllid costs [Visalia Times-Delta]
Citrus
growers and packers will step in and cover the cost of the Asian Citrus Psyllid
program during the federal shutdown. The program, which has three employees
overseeing the county’s quarantine sites, as well as staff throughout Southern
California, will cost the industry about $100,000 per day to subsidize, said
Joel Nelsen, California Citrus Mutual’s president. “We’re confident the
shutdown will only be for a couple of days,” he said. Nelsen said he would meet
with USDA officials later this week to settle on an amount for reimbursement.
Government
shutdown spares some essential services in Valley [Fresno Bee]
Certain
essential federal government services in the Valley -- weather forecasting and
food inspecting -- continue Tuesday despite the U.S. government shutdown….Inspectors
with the U.S. Department of Agriculture were among the estimated 3.3 million
federal workers that are considered "essential." Those workers
included meat, poultry and processed egg inspection. Also, the USDA's
Agricultural Marketing Service's inspections of California raisins also
continued, raisin industry officials said. Meat processing plants in the
Valley, including Cargill in Fresno and Harris Ranch Beef Co. in Selma, were
operating Tuesday with inspections from the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection
Service, company officials said. Local offices of the USDA, including the Farm
Service Agency, Natural Resources Conservation Service and Agriculture Research
Service, were temporarily closed as part of the shutdown.
Shutdown
may mean costly delay for Delta tunnel plan [Stockton Record]
The
shutdown of the federal government could delay the governor's twin tunnels plan
for the Delta, a state official said Tuesday. The plan, said to be close to
25,000 pages in length, is supposed to be released for public comment Nov. 15.
But the plan must first be reviewed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and
National Marine Fisheries Service, both of which were closed Tuesday.
Mount
Diablo fire revives debate over cattle grazing limits in state park [Contra
Costa Times]
A
recent wildfire that blackened 3,100 acres has sparked debate about a state
decision 24 years ago to end most cattle grazing in ¿this big state park on a
mountain surrounded by suburbs. It also has spurred discussion about bringing
controlled burns back to the area, which hasn't seen them for about 15
years….Meanwhile, the California Cattlemen's Association is drawing up a
proposal to present to state officials to start, resume or expand grazing in a
few state parks, including on Mount Diablo. The group already was considering
the move, but the Morgan Fire intensified interest in the proposal. Tim
Koopmann, a Sunol rancher and president of the association, said well-managed
grazing in grasslands can knock down fire fuel and enhance habitat for some
rare species. "The overall trend in California is toward increased grazing
on public lands as people realize grazing can be good for the environment,"
Koopmann said.
Ag
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