California Sens. Dianne Feinstein an Kamala Harris continue to press for a bill to help the state better prepare for wildfires.
The Wildfire Disaster Funding Act would provide emergency funding for wildfires, much the same way the federal government handles other natural disasters like tornadoes and floods, without draining resources for forestry management and other long-term fire suppression work that seeks to help prevent the rapid spread of future fires.
The height of wildfire season in California is underway. Feinstein and Harris are urging Congress to reach a bipartisan agreement.
“With temperatures soaring into the triple digits and dry winds continuing to blow, this fire season is far from over,” Feinstein said in a statement. “We must take action now to help those who need it and to prepare for the future.”
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has set aside $4 million to help farmers and ranchers impacted by the California wildfires recover.
The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Safety rule is now final, and the earliest compliance dates for some farms begin one year after the effective date of the final rule (see “Compliance Dates” below). The rule establishes, for the first time, science-based minimum standards for the safe growing, harvesting, packing, and holding of fruits and vegetables grown for human consumption.
The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee recently unveiled a bill to create a new, workable agricultural guestworker program for America’s farmers and ranchers.