Almond Industry Headline Environmental News Sept. 6, 2006

   Air Quality

• VOC Issue Comes to the Forefront. New air quality regulations could impact price and availability of many popular almond compounds - - California pesticide regulators are aggressively pushing to reduce smog-forming emissions from pesticides, called volatile organic compounds, or VOCs. This move is likely to change how and to what degree several major pesticides and fumigants are used in almond orchards and other crops. The state Department of Pesticide Regulation in June announced it is initiating an intensive program to meet federal and court-ordered mandates to reduce VOCs from pesticides in some of the state's smoggiest areas. The announcement made clear that the decade-old VOC issue is becoming a priority in the air quality regulatory arena, with potential implications for almond growers in the very near term. "This is the first time pesticides are being regulated as air pollutants," said Gabriele Ludwig, senior manager, of global technical and regulatory affairs for the Almond Board of California. "This could impact 10 to 15 compounds widely used in almond orchards." <more> July 2006 Newsletter Almond Board of California
   

• How VOCs came to the forefront - - As with other environmental issues, there are several often confusing, and sometimes conflicting, regulatory and judicial circumstances placing increased emphasis on the reduction of VOCs from pesticides. The San Joaquin Valley is currently operating under a 1994 State Implementation Plan developed by the California Air Resources Board to bring the region into compliance with federal clean air standards for ozone. That State Implementation Plan, or SIP, required a 12-percent reduction in pesticide VOCs by 1999 in the San Joaquin Valley. Unfortunately, Ludwig said, the basis for how those baseline VOC levels were calculated changed in the process and DPR found itself out of compliance with the requirements of the SIP in the last 2 years. <more> July 2006 Newsletter Almond Board of California
   

• Central Valley residents air pesticide complaints at workshop - - The problem of pesticides' role in air pollution may be scientifically complex, but that doesn't mean it doesn't hit home emotionally for Central Valley residents, if a Monday night forum on the issue is a good measure. Representatives of the state Department of Pesticide Regulation heard from farmworkers complaining of chronic pain from agricultural overspray, those who blame pesticide companies for the problem and a grower who defended his industry at a Pesticide Air Initiative Workshop in Parlier. The purpose was to get public comment about the department's strategy to cut the part pesticides, particularly fumigants, play in producing the Valley's serious air pollution problem. <more> Aug. 16, 2006 Fresno Bee

Water Quality

• Almond Industry Works to Meet Water Quality Regulations - -  The recent decision to extend the Conditional Ag Waivers for Irrigated Lands program for five years will allow almond growers and other irrigators to continue seeking cooperative solutions to water quality concerns as they arise, according to the Almond Board of California. The Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board voted in July to extend the Irrigated Lands Program for five years. It added a deadline for landowners to join regional watershed coalitions or face requirements to get individual waste discharge permits. Landowners who discharge irrigation water have until the end of 2006 to sign up for a coalition in their watershed area or face the costlier alternative. <more> Aug. 7, 2006 Almond Board of California Press Release
   

Crop Protection

• California pesticide regulators announce data call-in on pyrethroids - - - The California Department of Pesticide Regulation today ordered a data call-in from more than 120 pesticide makers and sellers to help DPR assess pesticide impact on waterways and to protect the environment. The data call-in targets pyrethroids, a class of insecticides originally derived from the chrysanthemum flower, and DPR's action is based on studies that show they may accumulate in stream sediment and are toxic to aquatic invertebrates. Pyrethoids do not pose any immediate health concerns for people or drinking water. DPR Director Mary-Ann Warmerdam said the action will require detailed scientific data on 608 products from 123 registrants with deadlines that range from six months to two years, depending upon the complexity of work. The data call-in will serve two purposes. "First, we must take all appropriate steps to protect the environment," Warmerdam said in a news release. "While these products pose no direct threat to people, their impact on aquatic ecology must be assessed so that we can take appropriate actions under state and federal clean water law." <more> Sept. 1, 2006 Capital Press
   
• Judge Strikes Down Pesticide Usage Rule - - A federal judge on Thursday rejected a Bush administration decision to weaken rules governing pesticide use, saying the change lacked scientific justification. It was the second time in recent years that U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour chastised federal agencies for failing to follow the Endangered Species Act in licensing pesticides for sale. <more> Aug. 25, 2006 AP
   
• EPA announces phase out of Guthion on almonds by 2007 - - U.S. EPA announced June 9 a proposal to phase out all uses of azinphos-methyl (AZM), an OP insecticide known by its trade name Guthion, which has been under regulatory scrutiny for several years. Use on almonds, Brussels sprouts, pistachios, walnuts, and nursery stock is to be phased out in 2007 and other remaining uses are to be phased out in 2010. During the phase out, EPA is proposing additional restrictions, including reduced annual application rates, additional worker monitoring, and larger buffer zones to help minimize ecological risks. Guthion is highly valued by almond growers for control of Navel Orangeworm (NOW), one of the most serious pests in almonds. NOW causes direct damage to the mature nuts. Damaged nuts are locations where the mold, Aspergillus, can gain a foothold and produce aflatoxins.  <more> July 2006 Newsletter Almond Board of California

Endangered Species
 

• Q&A: Pombo pushes habitat bill. Law is unfair to landowners, ineffective for animals, he says - - U.S. Rep. Richard Pombo, the Tracy Republican who heads the House Resources Committee, stirs conflict with almost every major initiative he launches, from offshore drilling to Indian gambling. Few members of Congress have as much influence over the nation's environmental laws as Pombo. And no topic has been more contentious than his legislation to overhaul the Endangered Species Act. The House approved Pombo's sweeping rewrite of the 1973 law on a 229-193 vote in September. Environmentalists widely denounced it as a disturbing retreat from habitat protection and a paperwork nightmare for agencies seeking to revive the country's 1,268 threatened and endangered plants and animals, 186 of which are in California. In the Senate, even Republicans greeted Pombo's bill with a measure of skepticism. The Bush administration, while supporting it, is worried about the cost of Pombo's plan to compensate landowners for restrictions on property use. In an interview, Pombo discussed why he thinks the act President Nixon signed into law needs an overhaul and how his bill would work. <more> July 17, 2006 Modesto Bee
   

General Industry News

• ’06 California almond harvest begins - - California’s 6,000 almond growers are moving into high gear gathering the state’s fourth 1-billion-pound crop in the past five years. And everyone is all smiles with harvest time prices of $2.45 cents per pound for Nonpareil and $1.90 for California varieties. Between 70 million and 80 million pounds of this year’s crop will be hulled and shelled through one of the five hulling/shelling plants operated by Central California Almond Growers Association (CCAGA) in Kerman, Calif. and Sanger, California. CCCAGA is the largest huller/sheller in the world and will process $200 million worth of almonds by Thanksgiving. The association is opening this season with a new state-of-the-art $9.5 million huller/sheller in Kerman to handle a large portion of the crop delivered by the association’s 453 members harvested from 50,000 acres or orchards in a service area stretching from Pixley, Calif. to Chowchilla, Calif. in the Central San Joaquin Valley. <more> Aug. 31, 2006 Western Farm Press
   

• Heat did not flare mites in almonds - - Hot weather can bring on mite problems in almonds, but University of California San Joaquin County farm advisor Paul Verdegaal said the problem did not develop during the August hot spell. “Fortunately there are several new miticides providing a choice in various modes of action, a long-awaited situation to help manage resistance and at the same time reduce overall chemical use,” said Verdegaal. High temperatures also increase water use, but this year deep soil moisture was good in almond orchards and may have helped to avoid stress and related mite problems, he added . <more> Aug. 30, 2006 Western Farm Press
   

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