CRA Member Newsletter- October Edition

CRA Member Newsletter

https://calretailers.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/png2.png

October 20, 2023 | CRA Newsletter: Legislative, Regulatory, Local & Other Updates

Message from the President

The 2023 legislative year has officially ended with the Governor's October 14 deadline to take action on all of bills that made it to his desk. The CRA team was busy tracking the fate of our priority legislation and have included a detailed recap in our October newsletter below. Despite Democrats controlling the legislature and labor having an outsized influence this year, the CRA team was able to make several bad bills better lessening the impact on our members and the greater business community.

Additionally, the CRA team hosted a successful Annual Meeting in Irvine earlier this month, which included our inaugural annual CA Retail Law Summit. Keep reading for a recap of the event. I am grateful for the participation of elected officials and other leaders throughout the state and country that came together to bring a lot of valuable education and content for our members.

You will also see in this month's newsletter a very busy regulatory report as rulemaking continues to ramp up for new, wide-sweeping regulations including the Advanced Clean Fleet (ACF) rule under the California Air Resources Board and SB 54, the Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility Act, under CalRecycle. The CRA team has secured leadership positions on both regulatory processes providing a crucial voice for retailers in the rulemaking. Earlier this year I was named to the SB 54 Advisory Board- one of only two business representatives serving on the Board- and CRA's Sarah Pollo Moo was recently selected to serve on the ACF Implementation Workgroup.

In the coming weeks and as the end of the year approaches, the CRA team will be working on our end of year report, providing highlights of the work we accomplished in 2023 and getting prepared for 2024, which will include our annual advocacy days event, details of which will be announced soon. As always, please do not hesitate to reach out with questions.

Rachel

In this Issue:

Legislative Updates
Regulatory Updates
CA Community Pharmacy Coalition Updates
CRA Annual Meeting Recap
CRA Outreach and Activities
CRA In The News
Cal-ORCA Updates
CRA Member Portal

2023 Legislative Session Recap

Saturday, October 14, 2023, was the constitutional deadline for Governor Newsom to sign or veto bills.

This legislative session showcased the influential power organized labor has within the legislature as they were able to get nearly all their bills to the Governor’s desk. Given the makeup of the democratic controlled legislature, stopping labor bills is always a challenge, but CRA was able to successfully negotiate language to make several bad bills a bit better. Additionally, CRA was successful in preventing bills from reaching the governor’s desk, such as AB 1347 (Ting) that would have restricted when retailers are able to provide a receipt.

Below you will find a link to a comprehensive recap of the legislation CRA was tracking, an overview of impacts on retailers, and what their outcome was. We do expect to see some of the vetoed legislation reintroduced next year, but CRA will continue to advocate on behalf of the retail industry.

If you have any questions or need additional information, please do not hesitate to reach out to the CRA team. All legislative advocacy letters are available on CRA's member portal. Access the portal here.

Access 2023 Legislative Session Recap Here

Regulatory and Local Updates

All regulatory advocacy letters are available on CRA's member portal. Access the portal here.

CalRecycle Updates

SB 54 Packaging

The CRA team continues to attend all SB 54 rulemaking related workshops hosted by CalRecycle. Below is a list of workshops and recaps we have exclusively provided to our members since the last monthly newsletter. All related workshop notices and materials including presentation slides have also been provided. Please reach out to sarah@calretailers.com with questions.

PRO Application Workshop. Read the recap here. PRO applications are due by 11:59 PM PT January 1, 2024.
Non-Regulatory Workshop on Covered Material Categories list and Needs Assessment. Read the recap here.

As a reminder, CRA President and CEO Rachel Michelin was named to the inaugural Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility (SB 54) Advisory Board and will be serving as an important voice for the retail industry and larger business community during the SB 54 rulemaking process. Read the announcement here. View the entire list of board members here.

SB 1013 Bottle Bill

CalRecycle will hold a webinar next Tuesday, October 24 from 10:00am - 2:00pm PST covering the addition of new beverage containers to the BCRP. A copy of the webinar presentation has been posted in advance and can be viewed here. The webinar will provide information on how to report, assess California Refund Value (CRV) and handle new beverage containers recently added to the California Beverage Container Recycling Program effective on January 1, 2024. The CRA team will be in attendance and, as always, will provide a detailed recap for our members.

Notice of CEW Recycling Fee Final OAL Approval

On September 27 the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) approved emergency regulations governing the covered electronic waste (CEW) recycling fee. The emergency regulations maintained and adopted the CEW recycling fee at the current rates in each size category:

Four dollars ($4) for each covered electronic device (CED) with a screen size greater than 4 inches, but less than 15 inches measured diagonally.
Five dollars ($5) for each CED with a screen size greater than or equal to 15 inches, but less than 35 inches measured diagonally.
Six dollars ($6) for each CED with a screen size greater than or equal to 35 inches measured diagonally.

The effective date of these regulations is January 1, 2024. Please visit the Notice of 2023 Covered Electronic Waste Recycling Fee Final OAL Approval and the Covered Electronic Waste Recycling Fee webpage for more information about this rulemaking.

Privacy Updates

California's Privacy Agency held a public meeting to discuss rules around risk assessments and cybersecurity audits. The meeting included questions on the scope of the regulations and how the Agency will approach enforcement. The CRA team was in attendance and prepared a detailed recap for our members. Read the recap here.

Reevaluation of Diphacinone

The Director of the Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) noticed the final decision to begin reevaluation of pesticide products containing the active ingredients diphacinone and diphacinone sodium salt.

DPR has registered pesticide products containing the active ingredients diphacinone and diphacinone sodium salt (henceforth diphacinone) to control rodents. Diphacinone is classified as a first-generation anticoagulant rodenticide and products containing this chemical are allowed for use by professional applicators and the general public.

DPR received 1,563 comments during the 60-day public comment period in response to its Notice of Proposed Decision to Begin Reevaluation of Diphacinone and Public Report. Most of the comments received support the proposed decision to begin reevaluation and/or request DPR to adopt use restrictions. DPR received some comments opposing its proposal to begin reevaluation of diphacinone and some of those comments also request DPR to adopt or not adopt use restrictions. DPR considered all comments received during the 60-day public comment period. The comments raising a significant environmental point relevant to the proposed decision to reevaluate are categorized and briefly summarized along with DPR’s response in the California Department of Pesticide Regulation’s Notice of Final Decision to Begin Reevaluation of Diphacinone (California Notice 2023-11) available here.

LA County Fair Work Week Ordinance Update

The CRA team was contacted by staff within LA County's Department of Consumer and Business Affairs to let us know they are considering a Fair Work Week Ordinance for the unincorporated areas of the County. There are no written policy suggestions yet, but with our conversation with the county staff they gave an overview of what they are considering. The County is aiming for the ordinance to be heard in it's first committee around mid-November with an eye to pass it by December/January. CRA has submitted comments received by members to staff for consideration.

Most importantly, the county is looking to mirror the City ordinance as best as they can. That being said, they did highlight a few differences, which are outlined below:

City ordinance uses the NAICS Sector 44-45, the county will use this code while adding some other codes as well to cover other businesses.
City requires a posted notice, same for the county, but the county wants to include other forms of notice as well as the notice posted in a language used by 10% of the workforce. The ,county is also looking at requiring businesses to post the good faith estimate of the schedule itself in a language used by 10% of the workforce.
County wants you to give notice to new hires of the ordinance and their rights at the time of hire.
County wants to include rebuttable presumption for record maintenance.
Similar fine structure, however, no $50 per day penalty. county is looking to mirror minimum wage enforcement laid out in the county Code.
The County is looking to lift the onus of the right to cure from the employee but allow a right to cure via the county enforcement. Additionally, the County would have a process for hearings and appeals for businesses to contest county decisions.
County would include a successor liability cause.

Read the LA Fair Work Week Ordinance language here and the website detailing the requirements here.

Additionally, the County is looking at the Chicago Fair Work Week ordinance for guidance. See here for Chicago's ordinance.

The CRA team has held a Zoom with County staff and our members to provide feedback on this proposal. We intend to hold another meeting once the ordinance language is drafted and made public. Please reach out to ryan@calretailers.com with questions.

Worker's Comp Insurance and COVID-19 Claims Update

Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California (WCIRB) is proposing regulatory changes that would begin including COVID-19 claims with accident dates on or after September 21, 2024 in an individual employer’s experience rating calculation.

The proposed changes were reviewed and approved by the WCIRB’s Classification and Rating Committee and will be reviewed by the WCIRB’s Governing Committee and may be included in a Regulatory Filing that will be submitted to the Insurance Commissioner for consideration in February 2024. Changes approved by the Insurance Commissioner will be effective September 1, 2024.

CARB Updates

ACF Rule

The California Air Resources Board hosted the first in a series of public online training webinars on the Advanced Clean Fleets (ACF) rule, which went into effect October 1. This training is similar to the one the CRA team facilitated exclusively for our members. The CRA team compiled a high level recap of the CARB training to supplement what our members received from CARB earlier this year. Click here to read the CARB hosted training recap. Click here to read the CRA member exclusive training recap. To learn more about the ACF rule click here.

The CRA team also applied to be a member of the ACF Implementation Workgroup- TRIG (formerly known as TRAC, which stood for Advisory Committee) and received notice today that Sarah Pollo Moo, CRA's Director of Communications and Public Affairs, will serve on the TRIG Outreach workgroup. The purpose of the TRIG is to engage in active dialog with interested stakeholders to smooth implementation of the ACF Regulation. See the complete TRIG member selection list here. The workgroups will convene quarterly, and meetings will be open to the public, recorded and posted online. The tentative PSTs and dates for the first TRIG Zoom meetings will be:

December 4, 2023: Morning at 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. PST: Border Communities; Afternoon at 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. PST: Infrastructure
December 8, 2023: Morning at 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. PST: Outreach; Afternoon at 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. PST: Rule Provisions

Another recent development related to the ACF includes a lawsuit filed by the California Trucking Association to block the ACF rule. The CTA lawsuit joins several other organizations that have filed separate lawsuits against the ACF. Read more.

Cal/OSHA Updates

The Cal/OSHA Standards Board met this month and below are status updates regarding ongoing rulemakings. The Board did not take any action on items as there were no significant items to vote on. Notably, Board Member Kennedy spoke about concerns of difficulty in compliance with the new lead regulation and urged the Division to provide informational assistance documents. This was good to hear, but is unlikely to result in substantive changes to the lead regulation given the timeline.

1.) Silica (Emergency Regulation) – Staff reiterated this is a “crisis”. An advisory committee was held in August and three different versions of drafts have been posted and updated. Impacted members should review these drafts as soon as possible, available here. Cal/OSHA expects to have the drafts voted on at their December Board meeting.

2.) Workplace Violence (pursuant to SB 553 requiring the Division to prepare a parallel regulation, and the Board to move forward and have a final vote by Dec 2026). The Board briefly discussed this bill, which, in short, will require virtually every business in the state to implement a workplace violence prevention plan by July 1, 2024, and will require Cal/OSHA to subsequently pass a regulation that mirrors the requirements of the legislation. To be very clear: the legislative obligations will go into effect on July 1, 2024, which is well before the regulation is passed – which Cal/OSHA will begin working on in 2025, and will pass in late 2026. Note- the CRA team worked hard to negotiate with the bill's author on removing detrimental provisions to retailers in this bill, which we were successful at and have detailed in previous legislative updates.

3.) Lead: The second 15-day change was issued on Oct. 6 and ends on Oct. 21. Staff noted that many of the changes were made in the non-obligatory indices at the conclusion of the draft, but technical changes included:

Respiratory protection – filtering facepieces are now going to be allowed, but must be N100/R100/T100 level of protection.
Some PPE requirements were made regarding gloves, face shields, and other equipment to make them optional.
Hygiene – prohibitions were added about leaving the site with lead-covered clothing
Showering requirements were changed as well.
Medical surveillance – some provisions were lightened in various ways.

ZE Forklift Rulemaking Update

The CRA team received intel that the 45 day comment period for the Zero Emission Forklift Regulation is expected to open the week of October 20, where a staff report should be presented. The final approval is anticipated for the end of May 2024.

Local Minimum Wage Increase Updates

City of Los Angeles

A powerful and well-connected special interest, calling themselves Tourism Workers Rising, is pushing the Los Angeles City Council to adopt an unfair and deeply flawed proposal - the $30 Wage Ordinance - that advances their political agenda while unfairly hurting the rest of the city’s working families.

The ordinance would require nearly all hospitality-related and airport businesses to raise employee pay to $30 an hour despite the fact the city’s travel industry has still not recovered to pre-pandemic levels.

The proposal threatens tens of millions of dollars in tax revenue that fund key priorities like homelessness for the City of Los Angeles - just as the city is facing future deficits - while endangering well-paid union construction jobs on hospitality industry projects.

A report by Oxford Economics estimates the proposed minimum wage increase of up to 66% would cut nearly 15,000 jobs at hotels, restaurants, retailers, entertainment companies and supply chain operators due to a predicted $1.1 billion annual reduction in visitor spending.

The California Center for Jobs and the Economy also released a report estimating that the wage increase would not benefit every worker equally. Families with children are the most likely to be hurt by having their total income reduced due to changes in tax credits and income assistance eligibility. The report also found that it could increase the city’s homeless population as individuals at risk of losing their housing could be the most likely to lose their jobs.

City of Long Beach

Last month the Long Beach City Council voted to direct city staff to draft a minimum wage increase policy for hospitality workers that would go on the March 2024 citywide ballot. The Council is expected to come back for a final vote on October 24. The proposed initiative would increase employee wages in hotels with 100 rooms or more to $23 in 2024 with an escalator of $29.50 by 2028. Read more.

City of Anaheim

Anaheim voters overwhelmingly rejected Unite Here Local 11’s effort to impose a costly $25 per hour wage mandate on local convention centers, concert halls, stadiums, and sports arenas.

CRA joined the Alliance for Economic Fairness, formed earlier this year by statewide and local leaders in response to California's skyrocketing cost of living, to work to stop these local wage increase measures from taking effect and spreading to other localities. Learn more about the Alliance here.

California Community Pharmacy Coalition Updates

Legislative Updates

The CRA team closely tracked Governor Newsom's decisions ahead of the October 14 deadline to take action on bills that made it out of the 2023 legislative session. All CCPC priority bills have been acted upon as follows:

AB 1286 (Haney) Medication Error Reporting/Staffing Floor/Tech Duties/Ratio - SIGNED (CCPC Oppose)
AB 1341 (Berman) Pharmacists dispensing Paxlovid/Administering non-oral SUD treatment - SIGNED (CCPC Support)
AB 317 (Weber) Reimbursement for Pharmacist Services - SIGNED (CCPC Support)
SB 816 (Roth) Pharmacy Fee Increases (CCPC Watch)
AB 782 (McKinnor) Compounding Exception for Flavoring - VETOED -view veto message here (CCPC Support)

Board of Pharmacy

The CRA team testified on behalf of the CCPC on a number of issues on the Board of Pharmacy's Licensing Committee agenda including central fill pharmacies and mail order pharmacies. To read the testimony click here.

The BoP's next full board meeting in November has been published online at the BoP website. View the agenda here. The board meeting will be held on Wed. Nov. 1 beginning at 1:00pm PST and Thurs. Nov. 2 beginning at 9:00am PST.

Medi-Cal RX

Medi-Cal Rx will be postponing the reinstatement of Reject Code 80 Diagnosis Requirements. View the alert here.

Medi-Cal Rx published an alert on the reinstatement of Reject Code 76, effective October 13, 2023. Read the alert here.

Humatin/Tabloid Support and Information: There is another drug impacted by Reject 85 and a pathway for access to therapy similar to Humatin and Tabloid to assist with access to therapy. The drug impacted is Regranex 0.01% Gel. Please take note of the updated version of the communication, which now includes Regranex. View the communication here.

The NEW Medi-Cal Rx Enteral Nutrition Prior Authorization Request form is now available on the web portal.

MediCal RX Commercialized COVID Vaccines: the new commercialized vaccines will no longer be supplied free by the federal government for most members. For the latest information please see link to the alert published by Medi-Cal Rx for providers here. HERE. Note, that coverage of the vaccine with Medi-Cal Rx is to be determined at this time. Uninsured and underinsured adults may obtain the vaccine free through the CDC’s Bridge Access Program. For beneficiaries, please see the following resources here.

CURES Update

Beginning August 1, 2024, all California dispensers of controlled substances will be required to report dispensations to the Controlled Substance Utilization Review and Evaluation System (CURES) using version 4.2B of the American Society of Automation in Pharmacy (ASAP) format. On and after this date, data submitted using the current CURES ASAP version 4.1 format will no longer be accepted. Read more here.

Other Updates

Jacey Cooper, the State Medicaid Director, announced she is resigning from DHCS effective October 20 to work at CMS. The CRA team will update CCPC members as we learn more about who will replace her at DHCS.

CRA Outreach and Activities

CRA Annual Meeting is a Huge Success

CalRetailers hosted our Annual Meeting in Irvine, which included an Inaugural annual CA Retail Law Summit in partnership with the National Retail Federation. CRA members heard from industry leaders and policymakers on a variety of issues impacting the retail industry including EPR, Supply Chain, Organized Retail Crime and Retail Theft, Labor & Employment Issues and PAGA Reform. The conference also included CA Legislative, Regulatory and Political Updates.

Guest speakers included Senator Josh Newman, Author of Senate Bill 707, Commissioner Sean Duryee, California Highway Patrol, Honorable Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, President and CEO, Public Policy Institute of California, Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Resig, California District Attorneys Association CEO Greg Totten, National Stewardship Action Council Executive Director Heidi Sanborn, MPA, Jim Gatto, seasoned veteran of AI.

The event was a huge success - especially the Law Summit - where we were sold out and even overflowing with attendees eager to get the latest updates and resources for the new and unique legal requirements retailers face in California. Legal experts led conversations around litigation threats, privacy laws and labor and employment regulations relevant to the coming year and beyond.

Click here to see photos from the event and stay tuned for a save the date for next year's event, which is already in the works. We will also soon be announcing CRA's 2024 Board of Directors.

CRA President Speaks at Cal/OSHA and California Employment Law Summit

CRA President and CEO Rachel Michelin spoke at Conn Maciel Carey LLP's Inaugural Cal/OSHA and California Employment Law Summit providing an update on Workplace Violence and the work CRA did around SB 553. The Summit was hosted by the California-based attorneys in CMC's national OSHA, Workplace Safety and Labor and Employment Practice Groups, to update California employers on important developments involving workplace safety and health and employment law issues in California. Learn more about the Summit here.

Additional CRA Team Outreach and Activities

CRA President Rachel Michelin spoke at the Independent Voter Project Make it with Mexico Cross-Border Conference. Topics addressed during the event included nearshoring and manufacturing, infrastructure and law enforcement and illicit markets. Attendees included Senator Brian Jones and Assemblymembers David Alvarez, Lisa Calderon, Blanca Rubio, Eduardo Garcia, Juan Carillo and Esmeralda Soria.

CRA Government Affairs Director Ryan Allain attended a public safety town hall in San Francisco and met with Supervisor Matt Dorsey who represents the sixth district on the San Francisco County Board of Supervisors. The meeting focused on ORC, Retail Theft and the effort to fix Prop. 47.

The CRA team met with the California Highway Patrol regarding a new regional Organized Retail Crime Association forming in Sacramento.

The CRA team spoke to the California Municipal Revenue and Tax Association about ways CalRetailers are partnering and working with local government throughout the state on overlapping issues impacting both the business and local government sectors including ORC and Retail Theft.

In The News