CLFP Insider
California League Of Food Producers
Feature Column
As the result of last year’s San Bruno pipeline rupture and fire, and pursuant to a National Transportation Safety Board investigation, California state legislators and state regulators are demanding that gas utilities provide better-validated proof of critical operating information from their pipeline operations.
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CLFP staff participated in a meeting held on November 17 that was conducted by the Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG), Valley Vision, and a coalition of agricultural groups. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss how stakeholder groups in the six counties of the region (Yuba, Sutter, Yolo, Placer, El Dorado, Sacramento) can work together to promote agriculture, food processing, and rural development. With the decline in other industries, SACOG is focusing on the contributions of agriculture to the regional economy, the untapped potential to generate new jobs in agriculture, and current obstacles to growth in the food sector.
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Capitol News
On September 8, 2011 the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) issued revised rules for the Self Generation Incentive Program (SGIP), adding new technologies and modifying the eligibility criteria. Funding for SGIP had been suspended since February 2011 pending the PUC’s revision of the guidelines. One of the major revisions to the program is that eligibility for SGIP incentives will be tied to anticipated greenhouse gas reductions which must be documented in the application form. The technologies now eligible for SGIP funding include: microturbines, combined heat and power (CHP) gas turbines, wind turbines, pressure reduction turbines, biogas powered fuel cells or conventional CHP systems fueled by biogas, and fuel cells. The incentive for microturbines and CHP gas turbines is $0.50 per watt; the other technologies have higher incentives. The utility payments are made 50 percent upfront and the rest based on kWh generation. The maximum total project incentive is $5 million.
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Some grocery retailers and food service companies are asking their suppliers to measure and document their efforts to become more environmentally sustainable. This is a complex task and a wide variety of metrics are being used. A common complaint is that the data gathering, analysis, and reporting requirements are extensive and inconsistent. There is no standard reporting tool available that could be used by a wide variety of enterprises. To address this issue the Stewardship Index for Specialty Crops (SISC) was formed to develop standardized and science-based sustainability metrics for specialty crop farmers.
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Regulatory Insights
On November 28, Governor Jerry Brown appointed Dr. Alex Sherriffs, Democrat, to the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District. Dr. Sherriffs replaces Dr. John Telles who resigned in June. Dr. Sherriffs fills a seat on the board dedicated to a health professional.
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On November 25, six of the remaining seven U.S. states turned in their walking papers, entirely dropping out of the Western Climate Initiative (WCI), leaving California as the only participating U.S. state. California, along with four Canadian provinces - British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec - remain with the proposed carbon trading initiative. Even British Columbia has not committed itself to joining WCI's cap-and trade system. According to the WCI, the exit of Arizona, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah and Washington was expected, as the states were unlikely to implement a cap-and-trade program.
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Announcements
The Food Safety Modernization Act of 2010 ("FSMA"), was passed in the waning days of the 2010 Congress. FSMA amends the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act in part and is currently impacting industry not only because of issues that are raised by the new provisions in the law, but also, because of the phased implementation of the statute; there are significant requirements that are implemented in general terms before the regulations, that contain the implementing details have been promulgated. In this article we will briefly describe the more significant changes to Food Safety law made by FSMA, the effects on industry, and then outline some basic steps businesses can take to better prepare for the new world of FSMA.
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Save money - register by December 16, 2011 for California's largest food processing event.
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