California Food and Farming Policy Update |
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brought to you by Community Alliance with Family Farmers |
Fall 2006 |
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In This Issue:
************************************** View the full edition on the CAFF website. California tackles Global WarmingAB 32 (Nunez and Pavley) To Governor: The Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 was the most heralded bill of the two-year session. It requires the state, through the Air Resources Board and the Governor’s Climate Action Board, to adopt regulations and other programs to reduce California’s greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, or about 5%. The bill allows “flexible market mechanisms,” including trading, banking, and carbon sequestration. AB 32 was introduced two years ago, but got added impetus in summer 2005 when the Governor ordered CalEPA to identify actions needed to achieve long-term reductions in global warming gas emissions. Hundreds of hours of intense negotiations among the authors, supporters and the Administration culminated in the last week of session when long-awaited amendments were announced. In a dramatic moment, the Governor initially told Speaker Nunez he would veto the bill because it did not guarantee emission trading, then his chief of staff called back 10 minutes later to announce he would sign. AB 32 catapults California ahead not only of the Bush Administration but of the Kyoto Accord that most nations have signed. While most California agricultural organizations opposed AB 32, CAFF is the only statewide farm organization to support the bill, in recognition of the danger global warming poses to agriculture as well as the opportunities agriculture has to reduce its global warming impacts through sustainable farming practices. More on this bill... Rights of Citizens to Restrict GMOs UpheldSB 1056 (Florez) Held in Senate Rules: CAFF joined California Certified Organic Farmers, the California Farmers Union, dozens of individual farms, as well as environmentalists and local governments in successfully opposing SB 1056, which would have prohibited local governments and citizens from enacting restrictions on the use of genetically modified organisms in their local jurisdiction. SB 1056 passed the Assembly in August but was held in the Senate without a vote. The failure of the measure highlights the need for reasonable statewide rules governing the use of GMOs in agriculture before the state considers preemption of local rules. Supporters and opponents of the bill held several fruitful discussions in August, which may lead to negotiations in 2007 on legislation to establish statewide rules. More... Keep track of GMO legislative updates at www.caff.org. Industrial Hemp Anyone?AB 1147 (Leno) To Governor: AB 1147 paves the way for California farmers, after a 69-year federal ban, to once again grow industrial hemp as a commercial crop. The bill cites a recent federal court ruling that drew a bright-line distinction between marijuana and non-psychoactive hemp. The Drug Enforcement Agency has chosen not to appeal the ruling, thus opening the door for California farmers to operate under the rules established by AB 1147 to cultivate, harvest and sell hemp. Farmers in 30 other countries currently grow industrial hemp legally. Despite the bill being authored by liberal San Francisco Assemblyman Mark Leno and co-authored by libertarian Republican Chuck DeVore, the California Farm Bureau and other large agricultural organizations avoided AB 1147. CAFF was the first and one of the few farm groups to support the market-building bill. Growing Hemp... Salinity SolutionsSB 1347 (Machado) To Governor: In 2002 CAFF sponsored legislation, which was signed by Governor Davis, to encourage farmers to implement innovative and environmentally friendly drainage practices known as Integrated On-Farm Drainage Management. IFDM re-uses irrigation water several times, on ever more salt-tolerant crops, before it is finally collected in a solar evaporator that leaves behind only a crust of collected salt, which can be harvested for commercial use. IFDM eliminates off-farm drainage of salt- and selenium-laden water and also draws salt out of irrigated soil, restoring it for use on high-value crops. CAFF strongly supported SB 1347, which makes a number of amendments to the original law, most importantly by allowing multiple farmers to use a single IFDM system to drain contiguous lands into one or more solar evaporators. According to the Westside Resources Conservation District, which sponsored SB 1347, multiple-farm IFDM systems will reduce the costs and risks to individual farmers, thus encouraging their use. IFDM will become an increasingly important drainage management tool as the state proceeds to enforce conditions on farm runoff in the Central Valley. Read more about the innnovative drainage law... Organic Apple Growers Resist New Pest RegsAB 2425 (Matthews) Held in Senate Agriculture: For several frenzied weeks in the early summer, CAFF was pulled into a contentious and confusing debate spawned by AB 2425, which proposed to allow CDFA to appoint a committee of the California Apple Commission to identify apple pests and impose fees on apple growers in areas with pests. A number of North Coast organic apple growers sought CAFF’s help in understanding the legislation and their options. The bill eventually drew a wide range of opposition from many apple growers and the Farm Bureau. North Coast growers were especially worried about repeating the apple maggot quarantine on the late 1980s, which they felt unfairly imposed costs to fight a pest that was not a problem to their own apple crops. After much discussion and explanation, the Apple Commission agreed to hold the bill. The commission is expected to pursue the idea again in 2007, but only after better outreach among apple growers statewide. Farmers Market Fees ContinuedAB 2676 (Assembly Agriculture Committee) To Governor: AB 2676 extends until 2012 the ability of CDFA to collect fees from farmers who sell at Certified Farmers Market. The fee, equal to $0.60 per stall per market, is used to enforce CFM rules. AB 2676 was a stop-gap measure to ensure that the current CFM system continues past the 2007 sunset date. But CAFF and other participants in CFMs have been engaged in discussions to identify broader reforms and expansions of the state’s direct marketing program. Those discussions may result in 2007 legislation. CAFF members, your voice makes a difference! Write your local legislators and let them know what you think about the bills you read about in the Sacramento Update. You can find your Assemblymember and Senator and their contact information at www.assembly.ca.gov and www.sen.ca.gov |
CAFF News...CAFF makes Front Page in SF Chronicle September Events...Monday, Sept 11th: CAFF will present to the Commission on the Environment’s Policy Committee about “Making San Francisco a National Leader In Promoting Locally Grown and Organic Food”. October Events... Past Editions: |
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This newsletter is brought to you by the Community Alliance with Family Farmers, which is building a movement of rural and urban people to foster family-scale agriculture that cares for the land, sustains local economies, and promotes social justice. To learn more about CAFF, please visit the CAFF website. Be an advocate for sustainable agriculture. Tell a friend about CAFF!
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