California lawmakers signed more than 100 bills in 2024. Now that it’s officially 2025, many of those bills have become California’s newest laws, touching upon everything from banking fees to shoplifting penalties to the cannabis industry. Several of those laws also pertain to the agricultural industry, too. Here are three ag-related laws that may relate to your growing operation.
Senate Bill 310
As the state continues to battle wildfires that damage crops, reduce harvests, and erode the soil, native tribes and other indigenous communities are now able to coordinate with California’s Secretary of Natural Resources to waive some regulations for hosting cultural burns on ancestral lands. A practice that dates back to the 1850s, cultural burning helps reduce wildfire risks and increase overall forest health. According to California Senator Bill Dodd, who championed the bill, streamlining the approval process for those burns will eliminate red tape and reduce the potential fuel for large wildfires to feed upon. Now known as SB 310, this law will help protect a longtime cultural tradition that can keep California’s land — including its farmland — safe.
Senate Bill 1105
Whenever hazardous environmental conditions do occur as a result of wildfires, floods, or temperature extremes, California farmworkers will be able to use “sick time” in order to take time out of the fields and focus on preventative care. This new law was introduced as Senate Bill 1105 by State Senator Steve Padilla, who says it will help reduce health issues — and even deaths — by keeping growers and pickers out of harm’s way. The legislation applies whenever local or statewide governments declare a state of emergency as a result of weather extremes.
Assembly Bill 363
Another bill, AB 363, helps protect bees, pollinators, and aquatic ecosystems by banning the over-the-counter sales of lawn and garden neonicotinoid pesticides. The use of these neurotoxic pesticides will instead be limited to trained professionals only. AB 363 also charges the California Department of Pesticide Regulation with the task of completing a review of non-agricultural uses for these pesticides, such as the protection of outdoor ornamental plants.
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