Dairy spokesman: Officials 'did what they had to do and held their nose'

By CAROL RYAN DUMAS

Capital Press

The California State Water Resources Control Board has voted to raise fees tied to dairymen's water quality permits by 27.4 percent.

In a 2-0 vote with one abstention, the board on Sept. 19 adopted fee increases totaling $27.6 million. About $775,000 of the increase goes to the confined animal facilities programs.

For dairies with 3,000 or more milking cows, the increased fee of $7,134, from the current $5,600, will mean an annual fee of about $7,812 when the state's 9.5 percent water permit surcharge is added, said J.P. Cativiela, program coordinator for Dairy Cares, a coalition of California dairy organizations.

Increased fees apply to all sizes of confined animal facilities and to all businesses operating under the General Order Waste Discharge Requirements, including processing plants and municipal wastewater treatment facilities.

Increased fees are a result of California's massive deficit and legislators' decision to slash spending. The Legislature shifted the costs of the water-quality programs from taxpayers to permit holders, Cativiela said.

"The bottom line is the state board said and did what they had to do and held their nose doing it. They knew no one would like these increases," he said.

The reason there's no money in the state budget is because the economy is so weak, but increasing fees is bad for dairymen and bad for California's economy, he said.

"It's a huge deal. Dairymen are in an awful economic spot," said Rob Vandenheuvel, manager of California Milk Producers Council.

Trying to recover from the downturn in 2009, dairymen are again on the verge of negative margins due to high feed costs, and any additional costs are a burden. But that doesn't matter much to bureaucrats, he said.

"We opposed it, but there's really not a whole lot we can do," he said.

If there's any good news, it's that given the fee increases over the last few years, dairymen shouldn't see any more dramatic spikes in fees going forward, Cativiela said.

And dairymen can receive a 50 percent discount in those fees if they are certified under the California Dairy Quality Assurance Program, said Michael Marsh, executive director of Western United Dairymen's Association.

Certification requires three, two-hour classes pertaining to federal and state water-quality regulations and an inspection, he said, adding that most producers have already taken the classes. The certification lasts five years and would save producers thousands of dollars.

Annual dairy fees

No. of milking cows new fee current fee change

3000 or more $7,812 $6,132 $1,680

1,500 to 2,999 $4,883 $3,833 $1,050

700 to 1499 $2,344 $1,840 $504

300 to 699 $1,172 $920 $252

Less than 300 $586 $460 $126

Fees include 9.5% surcharge

SOURCE: Dairy Cares