Boehner is said to back change on immigration [New York Times]
Speaker
John A. Boehner of Ohio has signaled he may embrace a series of limited changes
to the nation’s immigration laws in the coming months, giving advocates for
change new hope that 2014 might be the year that a bitterly divided Congress
reaches a political compromise to overhaul the sprawling system.…Aides to Mr.
Boehner said this week that he was committed to what he calls “step by step”
moves to revise immigration laws, which they have declined to specify. But
other House Republicans, who see an immigration overhaul as essential to wooing
the Hispanic voters crucial to the party’s fortunes in the 2016 presidential
election, said they could move on separate bills that would fast-track
legalization for agricultural laborers, increase the number of visas for
high-tech workers and provide an opportunity for young immigrants who came to
the country illegally as children to become American citizens.
U.S. Fish and
Wildlife to take closer look at pesticides [Stockton Record]
Six
widely used pesticides will be evaluated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
over the next two years to determine whether they are being properly regulated
to avoid having them contribute to the extinction of the California red-legged
frog.…The review of the effects of the pesticides, formally called a
"consultation" by federal officials, will be one of the first under a
recently reformed system for pesticide evaluation by federal agencies that
takes effect in 2014….If federal biologists conclude that pesticides drifting
from farms near Lodi and Stockton are harming frogs, that, in turn, could mean
new restrictions on using the chemicals….Bruce Blodgett, executive director of
the San Joaquin County Farm Bureau, agrees that the additional scientific review
is unlikely to result in dramatic regulatory changes. But Blodgett said that's
because he believes the EPA had already done the work to properly evaluate and
regulate chemicals so they don't harm endangered species.
Truck pollution
deadline extended [Stockton Record]
Truckers
will have more time to comply with major new pollution rules, but they must
prove by the end of this month that they're making a good-faith effort to do
so. Wednesday was originally the deadline for many truckers - including
thousands in the San Joaquin Valley - to begin upgrading their rigs to emit
less harmful diesel pollution. Officials have expressed concern, however, for
the smallest fleets, including businesses comprising just one, two or three
trucks.…Now those owners have a little more time. Enforcement of the new law
will not begin until July 1 for those who file paperwork by the end of January
showing that they've taken certain steps, such as entering into an agreement to
have a new filter installed, seeking financing to pay for one, or ordering a
replacement truck.
Ag equipment theft a
continued problem in Imperial County [Imperial Valley Press]
According
to Jack Vessey’s estimates, $50,000 worth of equipment and materials was stolen
from his farm fields this year. “It has always been happening, but it seems
like it got worse the last few years,” said the Holtville farmer….Anything that
is easy to remove from the field is fair game for thieves, said Justin Bostic,
an investigator with the Imperial County Sheriff’s Office. A cursory
examination of the Imperial County Sheriff’s Office crime logs reveals that
there were at least 20 agriculture-related thefts in December alone.…Several
people were arrested in connection with the theft of farm equipment. Some
worked for local farm companies. Some were migrant workers, he said.
Year just ended was
among driest [Modesto Bee]
Today
isn’t the start of the new year for water managers, since it’s in the middle of
the storm season, but it’s an occasion nonetheless to sound an alarm about
drought. Calendar year 2013 was the driest in Modesto in National Weather
Service records dating to 1906….Farms and cities could face restrictions on
river water if conditions do not improve. They also could increase their use of
groundwater supplies that already are stressed in many places.…Don Pedro
Reservoir on the Tuolumne, owned by MID and the Turlock Irrigation District,
stands at 78 percent of its average level for this time of year. It and other
reservoirs routinely drop in winter as part of the statewide flood-control
system, but the current levels are worrisome. The district boards will see how
the rest of winter goes before deciding how to allot water for the 2014
irrigation season.
Editorial: A bumper crop of bureaucracy [Wall Street Journal]
…Since
the 1970s, annual federal appropriations bills have explicitly prohibited the
federal workplace overseer from descending on small family farms. Specifically,
OSHA does not have jurisdiction over "farming operations" with 10 or
fewer employees. But OSHA officials have found a novel way to circumvent this
statutory restraint. The regulators have simply claimed the authority to
rewrite the definition of farming. A remarkable 2011 memo from OSHA's
enforcement chief to regional administrators at first acknowledges that the law
prevents the agency from regulating small farms engaged in growing and
harvesting crops and any "related activities." But then the memo
proceeds to instruct employees on how to re-categorize small farms as
commercial grain handlers. So OSHA inspectors have recently begun to descend on
family farms, claiming the authority to regulate their grain storage bins.
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