Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Appeal tribune. (Silverton, Or.) 1999-current | View Entire Issue (July 28, 2021)
SILVERTONAPPEAL.COM Smoke Continued from Page 1A smoke. Meanwhile, wildfires are already rag- ing across California and the Pacific Northwest. California has permanent rules to address smoke exposure for out- door workers, and Washington released temporary rules last week. Oregon OSHA is expected to issue temporary smoke rules around Aug. 1, according to OSHA spokesperson Aaron Corvin. They will likely not include everything in the proposed permanent rules, which center on mandatory respirator usage when the air quality index (AQI) passes 151, training employees on smoke haz- ards and their rights, and limiting smoke exposure in other ways. Last summer, the agency issued guid- ance, but no rules, during the Labor Day fires. Air quality in Salem during wild- fires last year topped 400 on the AQI scale, and in Bend topped 500. Levels over 100 are considered un- healthy. Members of sensitive groups may experience more serious health ef- fects when the AQI is over 151. Levels over 300 are considered hazardous, accord- ing to the EPA's air quality index. Some worker advocates say Oregon's proposed permanent rules won't go far enough to keep workers safe. The possible permanent rules exclude smoke protections for agricultural labor housing and don’t include mandates for stopping work above a certain AQI. Existing regulations and AQI At the federal level, OSHA lacks spe- cific rules to protect workers from smoke. The agency has regulations to protect workers from general airborne hazards through ventilation controls, and guide- lines on indoor air quality, neither of which can be accomplished for people who work outside. In 2019, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D – Ore- gon) introduced the Farmworker Smoke Protection Act, which would require em- ployers to provide workers N95 masks or other respirators and direct federal OSHA to develop standards around wildfire smoke exposure. The bill failed to advance, but Merkley recently told USA Today he plans to introduce an up- dated bill in the coming weeks. California is the only state with per- manent rules to protect workers from outdoor smoke. They require employers to provide respirators for voluntary use at AQI levels above 151 and mandate fit- Transparency Continued from Page 1A The news investigation alleged the institute lobbied the legislature on be- half of the forest products industry and “attempted to suppress scientific infor- mation that did not cast current forest management practices in a positive light,” auditors wrote. State legislators created the Oregon Forest Resources Institute in 1991, when industry representatives supported a bill they said was intended to educate and inform the public about forestry, ac- cording to Wednesday’s report. Governed by a 13-member board and supported by a state tax on harvesting timber, the institute has eight full-time workers, according to the audit. It gets some help from the state’s Department of Forestry. In their report, auditors described “ongoing confusion over what exactly” the Oregon Forest Resources Institute is, or what it “ought to be.” The institute is a bit like an agricul- tural commodity commission — which are intended to promote specific Oregon crops such as blueberries or wheat — but has some key differences. For in- stance, the state’s Department of Agri- culture reviews information developed by the commodity commissions to make sure it’s factual and consistent with state law. While the institute is a state agency, it’s not clear how much oversight the state has over it, auditors said. On top of the fact that the institute is mandated by law to support the indus- try, all voting members of the institute’s board are required by law to represent different components of the forest prod- ucts industry. Two non-voting roles are filled by the dean of the Oregon State University Col- lege of Forestry and by a public member appointed by legislative leaders. State law bars conservation or environmental interests from serving in that public representative role on the board, and the law doesn’t require the information the institute provides to the public through ads or school curriculum or oth- er means to be objective, auditors said. All of those factors challenge the in- stitute’s “ability to provide objective education to the public on forests,” au- ditors said. Auditors urge transparency, oversight In a prepared statement, Secretary of tested respirators when the AQI exceeds 500. Last week, the state of Washington is- sued emergency rules to protect workers from smoke. Employers must provide re- spirators for voluntary use when the AQI reaches 151, as well as provide people rest breaks and access to spaces where the air is filtered. Oregon OSHA has no specific rules on protecting employees from wildfire smoke, though the agency does have a general duty clause that requires em- ployers to maintain a safe workspace, and issued guidance, but not requirements, during last year’s Labor Day fires urging employers to keep work- ers safe. Oregon OSHA's guidance encouraged employers to stop outdoor work when the AQI reached 151, provide N95 masks, and re-arrange work schedules. A recent report from the Oregon De- partment of Environmental Quality highlighted that there's been an increase in the number of days that wildfire smoke creates unhealthy air conditions for sensitive groups. Climate change also is expected to make wildfires more fre- quent and intense. Oregon considers permanent rules Under Oregon OSHA’s proposed rules, employers must monitor smoke expo- sure by checking the Environmental Pro- tection Agency or Department of Envi- ronmental Quality’s websites, or through other options. If the AQI is great- er than 101, they must offer employees, at no cost, respirators for voluntary use. Once the AQI is greater than 151, the draft rules require workers to be medi- cally evaluated for and wear fit-tested re- spirators. Several worker advocates said they were pleased the draft rules include mandatory respirator use when the AQI is 151 or greater instead of following Cali- fornia OSHA's standard of 500. “We have heard from advocates in California that 500 is way too high,” said Ira Cuello-Martinez, climate policy asso- ciate at PCUN, Oregon’s farmworker union based in Woodburn. “Oregon can lead the country and stand up for people who’ve been the most impacted by wild- fires in recent years.” Growers' associations, such as the Oregon Farm Bureau, have said they con- sider an AQI level of 151 too low to require respirator use and support requiring em- ployers to provide respirators for volun- tary use at that level and mandating their use when the AQI is higher. Medical evaluations and fit testing when fire season is already underway may present challenges for employers, State Shemia Fagan, whose office over- sees state audits, said the institute “must improve transparency” and de- velop processes to assess the quality of its educational materials. “Proper use of public resources is vi- tal to earning the trust of Oregonians,” Fagan said. In their report, auditors suggested the Legislature change state law to give more direction on the institute’s pur- pose and goals, to increase the number of people on its board who aren’t associ- ated with industry, and create an over- sight function to make sure the informa- tion the institute distributes is sound. In this year’s legislative session — which concluded in June — lawmakers floated reforms that would have re- duced the agency’s budget and boosted oversight, but those measures only passed the House of Representatives and were not made into law. Lawmakers did cut the harvest tax that timber com- panies pay, though. State auditors also recommended legislators clarify whether the institute can influence, or try to influence, state laws. While the law is not clear about what the institute can and can’t do with re- spect to lobbying, the institute could seek a formal legal opinion from the state’s Department of Justice, which could help clarify matters, auditors said. Memmott said auditors didn’t evalu- ate the proposals the institute testified about at the legislature to see whether they were good public policy. said Samantha Bayer, policy counsel for the Oregon Farm Bureau. "We really support training, and we support proper education, and we would completely support having to make pro- tective equipment available for employ- ees at an AQI of 151," Bayer said. "I don’t think 500 is the right number, but 151 seems far too low to require mandatory respiratory protection." The Oregon Farm Bureau also would prefer a 24-hour AQI average instead of more frequent monitoring to trigger the rules, Bayer said. She said some agricul- tural worksites are so expansive that air quality may vary in different parts of one farm or forest. Worker advocates expressed concern over the voluntary respirator use, saying workers may fear singling themselves out if they request a respirator. “If something is voluntary and a work- er asks for it, that worker is probably seen as problematic or troublesome, and a lot of my clients are bold and brave, but some of them are providing for a lot of family and are afraid to lose their job,” said Kate Suisman, an attorney at the Northwest Workers’ Justice Project. C.S. said she had to ask a manager each day for an N95 mask last summer. Workers also may be unlikely to vol- untarily wear respirators, which slow people down, due to most agricultural employers’ piece-rate pay systems, said Steven Hecker, a professor emeritus at the University of Oregon’s Labor Educa- tion and Research Center and the Uni- versity of Washington’s School of Public Health. Elin Miller, co-chair of the Oregon Wine Council, the owner of a vineyard and hazelnut farm in the Umpqua Valley and a former EPA administrator, said she doesn't think respirators will slow down all workers. She said she would like to see rules similar to Washington's tem- porary rules requiring employers to pro- vide respirators when the AQI reaches 151 but not mandating their use. To mitigate the pressure people feel to work, advocates have suggested employ- ers pay people by the hour during ex- tremely hot or smoky conditions instead of basing it on how much they pick, Hecker said. The draft rules also require employers to try rearranging work schedules to avoid working in high-AQI situations, and to train employees, in languages they readily understand, on the dangers of wildfire smoke, how to use a respira- tor, the meaning of “sensitive groups,” the employers’ safety precautions in smoky conditions, and how to report wildfire smoke exposure issues without fear of retaliation. Hecker considers the language WEDNESDAY, JULY 28, 2021 | 3A around "sensitive groups" in the draft rules a helpful component. He said it's incorrect to assume that someone is healthier than average sim- ply because they are capable of working in an intense job, especially when it comes to farmworkers whose health may have suffered from previous workplace exposure to hazards and who tend to have less access to health care, he said. About 53% of farmworkers do not have health insurance, according to the most recent National Agricultural Work- ers Survey. People in lower socioeconomic groups are also more likely to have asthma, COPD and type 2 diabetes, which smoke and heat will exacerbate, Hecker said. Concerns about agricultural housing The draft smoke protection rules ex- empt agricultural labor housing, an ex- clusion worker advocates have chal- lenged. About 9,000 Oregonians live in such housing, Corvin said. “(In the draft rules) farmworkers are covered as workers when they’re out in the field, but when they’re in their houses, they’re not covered," Suisman, the attorney, said. "Some of it does have air filtration, and some of it looks like a shack." Hecker said as a result, farmworkers and their families who live in labor hous- ing are often unable to escape the haz- ards of smoke even when they aren't working. Oregon’s rules for agricultural labor housing have no specific requirements around smoke protections, although they do require “shelter for the occu- pants against the elements.” COVID-19 labor housing rules have an option to re- quire air purifiers if capacity in sleeping rooms can't be reduced. Oregon OSHA has said permanent ru- lemaking for agricultural labor housing must happen in a process separate from the excessive heat and wildfire smoke rulemaking. The labor housing rulemaking com- mittee was suspended last year due to the pandemic, but met in May, Corvin said. OSHA will likely address labor housing in the temporary rules, he said, but did not provide details on what they might include. Dora Totoian covers agricultural workers through Report for America, a program that aims to support local jour- nalism and democracy by reporting on under-covered issues and communities. You can reach her at dtotoian@states- manjournal.com The hike up Saddle Mountain in the Coast Range offers old-growth forest, wildflower meadows and sweeping views from the Pacific Ocean to the Oregon Cascade volcanoes. ZACH URNESS/STATESMAN JOURNAL of carbon storage, “as well as a source of jobs for tens of thousands of state resi- dents, especially in rural communities.” In 2017, about 60,000 people worked in jobs related to forest products in Ore- gon, according to the audit. Isselmann said the agency agreed with the four recommendations audi- tors made to her agency. But she said the agency did not agree that it wasn’t transparent – pointing to its website, which explains how the institute is funded and who is on the board of direc- tors. Claire Withycombe is a reporter at the Statesman Journal. Contact her at cwithycombe@statesmanjournal.com, 503-910-3821 or follow on Twitter @kcwithycombe. Support local journal- ism by subscribing to the Statesman Journal. LOCAL ADVISORS Forestry institute response In a written response to the audit, the executive director of the institute, Erin Isselmann, said the agency did not think the law that created the institute “undermines” the benefit of the insti- tute for the public. Auditors had pointed out that the law gave the institute broad authority with little oversight, which can undermine public trust. Isselmann also argued that since the agency is funded by taxes on the forest products industry, “to deny the industry the right to determine how these funds should be spent in support of their in- dustry is not only unfair, but would un- dermine faith in the ability for the gov- ernment to allocate resources impar- tially.” Isselmann said supporting the in- dustry “is important to Oregonians be- cause of the many social, environmen- tal and economic benefits that forests provide to the state and all Oregonians.” She pointed to forests’ roles as recre- ation sites, wildlife habitat and sources | Salem Area Caitlin Davis CFP® Chip Hutchings www.edwardjones.com Member SIPC FINANCIAL ADVISOR FINANCIAL ADVISOR West | 503-585-1464 Lancaster | 503-585-4689 Jeff Davis Tim Sparks FINANCIAL ADVISOR FINANCIAL ADVISOR Mission | 503-363-0445 Commercial | 503-370-6159 Garry Falor CFP® Tyson Wooters FINANCIAL ADVISOR FINANCIAL ADVISOR West | 503-588-5426 South | 503-362-5439 Keizer Area Mario Montiel FINANCIAL ADVISOR Keizer | 503-393-8166 Surrounding Area Bridgette Justis Tim Yount FINANCIAL ADVISOR FINANCIAL ADVISOR Sublimity | 503-769-3180 Silverton | 503-873-2454 Kelly Denney FINANCIAL ADVISOR Dallas | 503-623-2146 OR-GCI0555203-01
