As referenced in the September In Brief newsletter, two Proposed Decisions were released by the Public Utilities Commission that reduce the amount of undergrounding miles PG&E requested in favor of covered conductor and cut the requested revenue requirement by billions of dollars. Farm Bureau filed Opening Comments and Reply Comments on the Proposed Decisions praising the balancing between safety and ratepayer affordability. Farm Bureau will also participate, in person, at the October 18 oral arguments at the Commission. It remains unclear how many parties will participate and how much time each party will have to speak but it is important to echo the comments Farm Bureau has previously made and provide a different voice than others in the case.

The oral arguments on October 18, 2023, will begin at 10:00 a.m. and are viewable at https://www.adminmonitor.com/ca/cpuc/ 

Staff contact: Kevin Johnston, (916) 561-5688 or kjohnston@cfbf.com  

PG&E will be holding a non-residential rate update on Thursday, October 19, 2023, from 10:00 -11:00 a.m. The update is stated to include:

• Electric and gas rates forecast
• Business Electric Vehicle Tariffs update
• Resources and tools to help manage your energy usage

The meeting will be recorded and a link will be provided after the webinar. The meeting should be available here: Join conversation (microsoft.com)

And the recording will follow here: Business Energy Solutions webinars and events (pge.com).

Staff contacts: Karen Mills, (916) 561-5655 or kmills@cfbf.com and

Kevin Johnston, (916) 561-5688 or kjohnston@cfbf.com  

At its Oct. 4 public meeting, the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board considered draft regulations to implement the “card check” and appeal bond provisions contained in Assembly Bill 113, which Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law on May 15. At that meeting, the ALRB voted unanimously to open formal rulemaking intended to lead to the adoption of the proposed regulations.

At a prior ALRB workshop and in written remarks submitted to the ALRB afterwards, Farm Bureau had asserted the proposed regulations should express the right of agricultural employees to revoke their signatures authorizing a labor union to represent them for the purpose of collective bargaining. Neither the law nor the proposed regulations addressed this employee right, which is recognized by the National Labor Relations Board. The ALRB is required to follow applicable precedents under the National Labor Relations Act.

Sadly, the proposed regulations were revised to expressly prohibit an employee from revoking an authorization. At the public meeting, Farm Bureau criticized that provision and urged it not be included in the regulations. In the upcoming rulemaking process, Farm Bureau will again object to that provision as stripping employees of an important right.

The “card check” provisions of AB 113 enable a labor union to be certified as the collective bargaining representative of an employer’s agricultural employees by merely submitting to the ALRB a Majority Support Petition backed by signed authorizations of a majority of those employees gathered over the prior 12 months. Previously, such a showing of support could be used only to trigger a secret ballot election to be held among an employer’s ag employees, whose outcome would determine whether a petitioning union would be certified as their collective bargaining agent.



Staff contact: Carl Borden, (916) 561-5659 or cborden@cfbf.com

On September 20, 2023, the State Water Board adopted an order on the petitions seeking State Board review of the Central Coast Regional Water Board’s Ag Order 4.0. Ag Order 4.0 was adopted by the Central Coast Regional Board in 2021 and was petitioned to the State Board for review by agricultural groups, including CAFB, as well as environmental groups. The adopted order has some precedential requirements for all irrigated lands programs and also calls for another expert panel to review nitrogen requirements. CAFB and various other agricultural groups filed a lawsuit on October 9, 2023, seeking clarification on the adopted order’s precedential requirements on the ability to extend TMDL time compliance dates with a time schedule and the required contents of a proper economic analysis.

Staff contact: Kari Fisher, (916) 561-5666 or kfisher@cfbf.com

CAFB Legal Services Division staff prepared and submitted to the State Water Resources Control Board comments on proposed Clear Lake hitch emergency regulations. Concern in recent years regarding the Clear Lake hitch—a species of large minnow, native to Clear Lake, Lake County—has centered around stream flows during the spring, when the fish migrate up from Clear Lake to spawn in several small creek tributaries of the lake. Population counts during the drought were trending very low when Gov. Gavin Newsom declared an emergency based on the ongoing drought and the then-concerning population data relating to the hitch; population counts thereafter, however, sharply rebounded, with a large hitch spawning run in the tributaries as soon as it rained last spring.

In hopes of avoiding regulations that restrict access to water, agriculturalists in the area (including many wine and pear growers) volunteered early on to report diversion and pumping information. This was to help determine what effect, if any, agricultural water use in the watershed has on the hitch population. Proposed emergency regulations released by the Water Board in August, however, would authorize the Board to require extensive, year-round water use reporting from all agricultural diverters and pumpers in the watershed.

CAFB’s comments focused narrowly on two issues: first, the scope of and legal basis for the proposed regulation as it relates to groundwater; and second, the scientific and hydrologic basis for the standing emergency order that makes emergency regulations possible.

Staff contact: Justin Fredrickson, (916) 561-5673 or jfredrickson@cfbf.com