CARB Seeking Participants for Agricultural Tractor and Mobile Equipment Survey

CARB Wants Inventory of Ag Equipment 

News Release

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) is seeking participants for an update to their Agricultural Tractor and Mobile Equipment Survey.  For those that remember, CARB conducted a similar survey in 2008, and partnered with Cal Poly in their review of the submitted surveys.

This survey effort is looking to inventory various mobile agricultural equipment, including tractors, combines, balers, agricultural use ATVs and forklifts, and many more.  This survey is extended out to producers in the field, custom operators, and first processing facilities, and covers equipment using any type of fuel or electricity and any horsepower.  Responses to the survey are completely confidential and are anonymized upon receipt.

The survey that was previously conducted in 2008 was utilized to help fund incentive programs for agricultural equipment turnover programs utilized throughout the state.  CARB’s goal upon completion of this upcoming survey round is to utilize the data in the exact same manor, to utilize results to determine the best usage of incentive monies in the agricultural sector.

The survey is being made available through the internet.  Please follow the link attached below to complete the survey.  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact offroadinventory@arb.ca.gov.  Paper copies will be available if you would like; feel free to contact Chris McGlothlin with the Western Agricultural Processors Association at chris@ccgga.org or by phone at (559) 455-9272.

Survey can be found online here.

 

2021-05-12T11:05:05-07:00February 27th, 2019|

Temporary Experimental Variances are Available for Tractor-Mounted Platforms

Cal/OSHA has consistently taken the position, according to the Monterey County Farm Bureau, that use of tractor-mounted platforms to transport workers violates Cal/OSHA safety standards.

These devices are widely used in the state, particularly in the southern Central Valley and on the Central Coast.

Current Cal/OSHA safety standards prohibit “riders on agricultural equipment other than persons required for instruction or assistance in machine operation.”

On February 24, the agency released a memorandum describing how agricultural employers who wish to use tractor mounted personnel platforms to reduce employee fatigue may write to Cal/OSHA to apply for a variance from this standard.

The Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board grants permanent variances, but the employer must show that the proposed variance would provide safety equal to or better than the existing standard.

Information about applying for a permanent variance is available at the Board’s website.

Cal/OSHA grants temporary experimental variances (TEVs), which allow employers to “participate in an experiment . . . designed to demonstrate or validate new and improved techniques to safeguard the health or safety of workers.”

A TEV will allow you to gather the information necessary for the Board to evaluate a permanent variance application.

Generally, TEVs granted by the agency are valid for one year, and are envisioned to presage an employer application for a permanent variance.

Both permanent variances and temporary variances are granted to employers individually; an employer who has not been granted either type of variance may not use tractor transportation platforms because another employer has been granted a variance.

To apply for a TEV, you must send a signed letter to:

Juliann Sum, Acting Cal/OSHA chief

1515 Clay Street

Oakland, CA 94612

2016-05-31T19:38:49-07:00March 14th, 2014|
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