Advocates for immigration bill are taking a new tack [Wall Street Journal]
Dwindling
prospects for a sweeping congressional immigration bill have some supporters
pivoting to a more confrontational approach, while at least one industry is
looking for a backup plan if a broader deal fails….Some farm groups are looking
for a niche fix addressing their concerns if a wider deal isn't reached….The
languid pace in the House has bred anxiety among crop and dairy farmers, many
of whom rely on immigrant laborers. They had been focused on passing a
comprehensive bill covering a number of areas of immigration law because
Democrats have made clear they wouldn't move one piece without the others. If a
broad immigration bill stalls, "we have an obligation" to look for a
plan "that at least addresses the agricultural portion," said Jerry
Kozak, president of the National Milk Producers Federation, a trade group
representing dairy farmers. The agricultural-visa system now provides permits
for seasonal jobs, while the industry says dairy farmers require year-round
labor.
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Laird
reports on Bay Delta Conservation Plan [Fresno Business Journal]
During
a visit to Fresno on Tuesday, California Secretary for Natural Resources John
Laird reported that progress is being made on the Bay Delta Conservation Plan
that will be released for public review on Dec. 13. He said that although there
are no specifics yet on downstream water capture and storage, it will be
considered as part of the plan. Laird said that once the plan and environmental
impact report are released, the public would have 120 days to comment on the
documents. Laird said it is getting near time to develop an action plan to set
priorities and determine what kinds of construction and storage projects should
be built. “We need to take action in the next year for the next 50 years of
water in California,” Laird said.
Brian
Nestande looks to improve recycling bill, deter metal theft [Palm Springs
Desert Sun]
A
proposed Assembly bill designed to discourage metal theft won’t be effective
unless it’s properly enforced and is less broad, local recycling officials
said. Assemblyman Brian Nestande held a roundtable discussion Tuesday to find
ways to improve Assembly Bill 1095, which he proposed earlier this year. The
meeting, which was held at the Coachella Valley Association of Governments
office in Palm Desert, was attended by law enforcement officials and representatives
from the agriculture and recycling industries.
EPA
moves to tighten pesticide exposure [Salinas Californian]
Federal
environmental regulators late last week made key moves toward revising rules
governing how growers must protect field workers from pesticide exposure,
according to a national organization that lobbied for the rules change. The
proposed revisions to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency were submitted
to the White House Office of Management & Budget, the nonprofit group
Farmworker Justice said Monday.…A new report issued by Farmworker Justice
called “Exposed. Ignored. How pesticides are endangering our nation’s
farmworkers,” looks at the issue from a national perspective. The
organization’s representatives in Washington, D.C., have told The Californian
that they would like to see the entire country raise its protection standards
to those mandated in this state.
North-state
alliance files lawsuit over California Air Resources Board regulation [Chico
Enterprise-Record]
A
rural-based group of north-state truck owners and operators who transport
commercial and agricultural loads have filed a lawsuit against the California
Air Resources Board, regarding the legality of truck and bus regulations. In a
lawsuit filed Friday in Glenn County Superior Court, the Alliance for
California Business maintains CARB executives failed to disclose information
about the diesel particulate filters the state is requiring California truck
owners to install by Jan. 1 or park their trucks. The alliance would like to
see the Jan. 1 deadline suspended, and have the CARB-endorsed emissions filter reworked.
Editorial: Congress: Stand up
for Sierra [San Francisco Chronicle]
Despite
protests from more than 200 scientists, a Republican-run House panel is close
to gutting timber protections that forbid wholesale logging in the wake the
devastating Yosemite Rim Fire. Timber firms and Republican supporters have
pushed for post-fire salvage logging for years. What's wrong, they say, with
cutting down blackened but usable trees to feed a hungry lumber market and
revive the local economies? It turns out there's plenty wrong, as scientists
dig into the after-effects of blazes such as the Rim Fire, the state's third
largest on record, which blackened an area eight times the size of San
Francisco….The bill by Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Elk Grove, would unleash salvage
logging on the Rim Fire's scorched acreage, going so far as to include
wilderness areas and even a portion of Yosemite National Park, which has a firm
policy of allowing the natural cycle of wildfires and also bans all logging.
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