State Sen. Melissa Hurtado, who chairs the Ag Committee, is pushing to hold the Air Resources Board more accountable for costly regulations.
The moderate Democrat from Bakersfield has filed a measure to authorize the Legislature, through a majority vote, to remove any board member “for dereliction of duty or corruption or incompetency.” It is unclear if Hurtado is targeting a specific CARB official or if the responsibility would fall on board Chair Liane Randolph.
Hurtado also hopes to add more guardrails on any pending CARB rules that could pose significant costs to the public. Under SB 441, any regulatory proposal that stands to raise consumer prices more than $10 million over the lifetime of its implementation would be subject to an independent economic analysis.
Take note: The agency has long come under fire from industry groups for issuing economic assessments that allegedly downplay the financial impacts and lean on the potential savings to healthcare costs by improving the air.
But: Many of CARB’s biggest regulations would tip past the $10 million threshold — from its sales bans on gas cars and diesel trucks to its update on the Low Carbon Fuel Standard and its phase out of open ag burning.
Adding more complications, the bill would task the Legislative Analyst’s Office with performing the independent analysis. The budget advisers only weigh in on potential costs to the state for new policies. They routinely hit the brakes in legislative discussions when lawmakers press them on potential economic impacts on Californians.
Rollins to hold bird flu call with industry, state officials
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins will be discussing the bird flu outbreak with state officials and industry stakeholders today. The call comes after Rollins told Breitbart.com that vaccines were “off the table,” leading to questions about whether vaccination would still be part of the administration’s bird flu strategy.
In a statement to Agri-Pulse, Rollins says the five-pronged approach to bird flu includes “efforts to explore vaccines, therapeutics, and other strategies to protect egg-laying chickens and reduce depopulation.
“USDA is taking a targeted, science-driven approach to developing next-generation solutions and will invest up to $100 million to determine the best path forward,” she says. “A formal public solicitation will be issued in the coming week.
“Vaccine and therapeutics strategy, logistics, and surveillance … are critical steps in advancing this effort,” she says.
By the way: Egg producers are seeking clarity from USDA on vaccines. “Vaccination is the most promising solution to protect our flocks and the most likely to restore and stabilize the U.S. egg supply,” United Egg Producers President and CEO Chad Gregory says in a statement.
Groups call for use of ‘sound science’ by MAHA Commission
Farm and food industry groups are calling on the Trump administration’s Make America Healthy Again Commission to use “sound science” in coming up with recommendations.
More than 300 groups signed on to the letter, which emphasizes the importance of pesticides, biotechnology, and food and feed products. It also “highlights the ways in which these products are already robustly regulated to ensure their safe use,” the groups say in a news release.
“We are eager to share with the commission our significant concerns regarding unfounded criticisms levied against the safety of the food and agricultural value chain,” says the letter, which was sent to Rollins, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin.
The American Farm Bureau Federation, International Dairy Foods Association, American Soybean Association, National Association of State Departments of Agriculture are among groups that signed the letter.
Take note: Late Monday, Kennedy announced FDA would consider eliminating the self-affirmed Generally Recognized as Safe pathway for food ingredients and chemicals. The move could limit food manufacturers’ ability to add ingredients or chemicals without notifying the agency.
Dozens of ag groups back Lindberg for trade undersecretary
Dozens of agricultural trade groups, companies and cooperatives are backing Luke Lindberg’s nomination for a key ag trade role.
More than 120 groups have written to Senate Agriculture Committee leaders urging them to move swiftly to confirm Lindberg’s nomination as USDA’s undersecretary for trade and foreign agricultural affairs.
“U.S. agriculture needs a dedicated champion in this role,” the groups say. “As such, we urge your committee and the entire U.S. Senate to promptly confirm Mr. Lindberg.”
Lindberg comes from the America First Policy Institute, the Trump-aligned think tank that Rollins headed before joining USDA. Lindberg is also president and CEO of South Dakota Trade and a former U.S. Export-Import Bank official. He also has a good Senate connection: He’s a son-in-law of Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D.
Local food initiatives killed
The Trump administration is killing a pair of initiatives that former Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack created to help small-scale farms find markets in schools, food banks and child care facilities. The Local Food for Schools and Child Care Cooperative Agreement (LFSCC) and Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement (LFPA) are both being terminated.
Ryan Marquardt, an Iowa farmer who produces chicken, turkey, eggs and beef in the Des Moines area, told Agri-Pulse’s Noah Wicks the LFPA program made his operation more efficient by enabling more orderly marketing through the year. He says LFPA had provided a critical outlet for products that were harder to sell.
Recently, that product was brisket: “I'm sitting on a ridiculous amount of brisket at the moment.”
Final word:
“We urge you to continue to work in a collaborative manner to help shape a more fruitful and resilient future in California water.” — Reps. Jim Costa and Adam Gray, cautioning Gov. Gavin Newsom and President Donald Trump against another entrenched battle over Delta pumping operations.
The lawmakers sent a letter to the two leaders on Monday pointing out that both have issued executive orders recently to expand water storage and should build on that shared goal.
