The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment’s (OEHHA) 2014 proposed regulations to revise Proposition 65 warnings has been widely panned by industry critics. The overhaul was requested by Governor Brown last year when a related effort to gain a consensus on proposed rules was unsuccessful. The proposed rules contain requirements for identification of specific chemicals in… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Agricultural Law
Subscribe to Agricultural Law RSS FeedNew FDA Strategy Document for FSMA, Food Safety Modernization ACT
Posted in Agricultural Law, Agriculture Law, Food Safety, Food Safety Modernization Act, Green ChemistryThe USDA has issued a new “strategy” document that outlines the agency’s direction with regard to implementing the Food Safety Modernization Act (“FSMA”). The document is intended to “to guide the next phase of FSMA implementation by outlining broadly the drivers of change in FDA’s approach to food safety and the operational strategy for implementing that… Continue Reading
DTSC Announces Three Priority Products under the Green Chemistry Regulations
Posted in Agricultural Law, Agriculture Law, Food Safety, Green Chemistry, Prop 65DTSC on Thursday March 13, 2014 announced the first three Priority Products under the Green Chemistry Regulations. The manufacturers of these products that sell into California are now on a regulatory time schedule to try to find alternatives to the use of the identified chemicals in the specified products. We have set out this timetables… Continue Reading
New Proposed Prop 65 Warning Label Regulations
Posted in Agricultural Law, Agriculture Law, Food Safety, Green Chemistry, Prop 65The Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) under the auspices of Governor Brown’s declaration in May 2013 (after a failed legislative effort) that he would further reform Prop 65, last week OEHHA released the proposed regulations with respect to Prop 65 warnings. Regulations can be found here. A workshop is scheduled for April 14, 2014…. Continue Reading
Governor’s Prop 65 Strategy-Change the Regulations
Posted in Agricultural Law, Prop 65, Real Estate Acquisitions and Dispositions, Real Estate DevelopmentAccording to the California Environmental Insider, Governor Brown’s 2014-15 draft budget contains a proposal to allocate almost $800,000 to OEHHA (Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment) to revise the Prop 65 regulations and to finance the development of a website to provide detailed information about listed chemicals. Also according to CEI there does not appear… Continue Reading
Intentional Adulteration Strategies Released for Comment by FDA
Posted in Agricultural Law, Food Safety, Food Safety Modernization ActThe FDA has released a proposed rule “(Focused Mitigation Strategies to Protect Food Against Intentional Adulteration”) that requires domestic and foreign facilities to address potentially vulnerable processes in their operations to prevent acts on the food supply intended to cause what they term, ” large scale public harm,” (terrorism). The rule requires that large businesses have… Continue Reading
FDA Announces that it will Revise Produce Safety and Preventive Controls for Human Food in Response to Farmers’ Significant Comments
Posted in Agricultural Law, Agriculture Law, Food Safety, Food Safety Modernization Act, Water QualityThe comment period on the proposed FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) rules on produce safety and preventive controls for human food, originally published in January 2013, was recently closed after being extended several times due to the volume of comments that they received. The rules consist of new far reaching controls imposed on producers including farmers… Continue Reading
Amendment to Prop 65 That Affects Restaurants Passed by Legislature- Larger Efforts On Hold
Posted in Agricultural Law, Prop 65The attempt by the Brown Administration to revise Proposition 65 for the most part was unsuccessful, at least for this year. Attorneys for Weintraub Tobin assisted the California League of Food Processors with respect to the legislation. What started out as an attempt to provide relief from the overuse of the statute by plaintiffs’ attorneys,… Continue Reading
Arsenic In Rice At Safe Levels Per FDA Above Average Consumption May Exceed Prop 65 Levels
Posted in Agricultural Law, Agriculture Law, Food Safety, Prop 65As part of its ongoing effort to monitor food safety, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) posted the results of testing for the presence of arsenic in rice and rice products. The FDA found that although levels varied depending on the product, overall the levels of detectable arsenic is too low in the rice… Continue Reading
Weintraub Attorneys are Presenting as Part of Webinar on Food Safety Modernization Act
Posted in Agricultural Law, Agriculture Law, Construction, Food Safety, Food Safety Modernization ActFSMA Made Simple: Strategic and Tactical Approaches In Preparing For New Regulations August 14, 11 AM PST –http://foodseminarsinternational.com/August_14th__2013.html Overview: After participating in this webinar, attendees will have knowledge of how to realistically analyze the effects of FSMA regulations on their operations and build an action plan of next steps for their company. The Food… Continue Reading
FDA Proposes Arsenic Action Level for Apple Juice
Posted in Agricultural Law, Agriculture Law, Food Safety, Food Safety Modernization Act, Prop 65, UncategorizedJuly 12, 2013 the FDA announced a proposed action level of 10 ppb (parts per billion) for arsenic in apple juice. The 10 ppb is the same as EPA arsenic in drinking water standards. “The FDA is committed to ensuring the safety of the American food supply and to doing what is necessary to protect public… Continue Reading
Court Requires FDA to Final FSMA Regulations by June 2015
Posted in Agricultural Law, Agriculture Law, Food Safety, Food Safety Modernization ActJudge Phyllis Hamilton of the U.S. District Court of Northern California ruled that the FDA must publish all of the final regulations required under the Food Safety Modernization Act by June 30, 2015. This ruling expressly rejected the FDA’s proposed target timeline for 2015-2016 for the publication of the final rules. As stated in the… Continue Reading
Brown Supports Changes to Prop 65
Posted in Agricultural Law, Prop 65Governor Brown announced yesterday proposed reforms to Proposition 65, a three decade old proposition approved by voters to protect Californians from harmful chemicals. It has, according to Brown , been abused by some unscrupulous lawyers driven by profit rather than public health. The law which prohibits the exposure to the public of certain chemicals “known to the State”… Continue Reading
Weintraub Tobin Co-Sponsors Food Safety Act Briefing
Posted in Agricultural Law, Agriculture Law, Food Safety, Food Safety Modernization Act, UncategorizedCourt Enjoins BPA Prop 65 Reproductive Listing, More to Come.
Posted in Agricultural Law, Food Safety, Prop 65On April 19, 2013 Superior Court Judge Cadei on Motion for Preliminary Injunction enjoined OEHHA from listing or taking further action with respect to Bisphenol A (“BPA”) with respect to its listing as a Prop 65 Reproductive hazard. The fact that the Court issued the injunction indicates that the Court believes that the Petitioners are likely… Continue Reading
Sulphur Dioxide MADL Raised to 10,0000 microgram/day
Posted in Agricultural Law, Prop 65The MADL (maximum allowable dose) for sulphur dioxide has been raised by OEHHA from 220 micrograms per day to 10,000 micrograms per day, based on a calculation error in the original document relied upon by the state. That error was discovered by the Grocery Manufacturers Association (“GMA”). Thus OEHHA concluded that a 1989 study… Continue Reading
Superior Court Issues Writ to Set Aside Dairy General Order and Return Writ in 180 Days
Posted in Agricultural Law, DairiesIn the Asociacion de Gente Unida Por El Agua v. Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board, 210 Cal. App. 4th 1255 (2012) the third District Court of Appeals found that the Central Valley Regional Board had violated and the State’s antidegradation policy in issuing the Dairy General Order issued by the Central Valley Regional… Continue Reading
Weintraub Tobin to Help Sponsor Western Dairy Air Quality Symposium
Posted in Agricultural Law, Air Quality, DairiesWestern States Dairy Producers Trade Association is sponsoring the 2013 Western Dairy Air Quality Symposium in Boise on April 16-17. The purpose of this symposium is to have a round- table exchange on the status of air quality research, demonstration projects, and pending regulations in the west, and to plan for coordination of research efforts… Continue Reading
BPA Intention to List, Deadline to Comment Extended
Posted in Agricultural Law, Food Safety, Prop 65OEHHA issued a January 25th notice that initiated a 30‑day public comment period that was scheduled to close on February 25, 2013, for the listing of BPA. “Bisphenol A” or BPA is asserted to be a reproductive hazard. This notice also listed a safe harbor level that is also proposed; this number is higher than… Continue Reading
Weintraub Tobin and Innovative Ag Services Inc. Sponsor Successful Reception at the Ag Expo
Posted in Agricultural LawLast week acording to the Los Angeles Times 2/13/2013 the annual World Ag Expo held in Tulare, California opened its gates to thousands of visitors and organizers expected the three-day event to draw about 100,000 visitors. Billed as the largest agricultural exposition of its kind in the world, the event is part county fair and… Continue Reading
Wetlands Update: California’s New Draft Policy for Permitting State Wetlands
Posted in Agricultural Law, Construction, Water Law, wetlandsThe State Water Resources Control Board has released a second version of what is called the “Preliminary Draft” of a policy to establish a state definition of “wetlands” The goal of the eventual regulation is to create a permitting system under which the nine Regional Water Boards would be required to process permits for Dredge… Continue Reading
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