After resting his signing hand on Monday, Governor Gavin Newsom was back at it on Tuesday. Among the new laws coming to agriculture:
EJ advisors at DPR. Assembly Bill 652 establishes an environmental justice advisory committee at the Department of Pesticide Regulation. Farm groups strongly opposed the bill over fears of granting more influence to select advocacy groups. A similar EJ committee at the Air Resources Board has pushed for aggressive reforms to dairy regulations.
Groundwater adjudication. Crafted by UCLA law students, AB 779 requires groundwater sustainability agencies to recruit state water officials to review adjudication agreements. It also mandates that courts consider small and disadvantaged farmers in the proceedings.
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Workplace violence. Senate Bill 553 requires employers to establish plans for logging all violent incidents and ensuring employees can report incidents without fear of retaliation. Late amendments aligned the bill more closely with a Cal/OSHA proposal already in the works. The state will start enforcing the regulation in July.
In his signing statement, Newsom acknowledged that employers must protect workers from hazards already and that SB 553 provides specific guidelines for doing that. He sprinkled the message with notes on how the administration is tackling retail theft—a political priority of Newsom’s.
