|
Dairy Partnership Receives California’s Highest
Environmental Award
Photo: GEELA Acceptance Photo
Photo: GEELA Group Photo
Davis, California – November 27, 2007 – On November 20th the California Dairy
Quality Assurance Program (CDQAP) became one of a select group of organizations
or projects to receive California’s highest and most prestigious environmental
honor, the Governor’s Environmental and Economic Leadership Award (GEELA).
The CDQAP received the award in the category for “Environmental and Economic
Partnerships”, having demonstrated exceptional leadership in building
public-private collaborations helping conserve California’s resources and
protecting and enhancing the environment.
“I’m proud to honor this year’s award recipients for their sustained commitment,
innovative solutions and strategic investment to protect our environment and
boost our economy,” said Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The CDQAP comprises 17 regulatory agencies, dairy organizations, environmental
advocacy groups and the University of California. The partnership offers
classroom and on-farm assistance in meeting regional, state and federal
environmental regulations.
“California’s dairy industry is the most heavily regulated in the country,” said
the University of California’s Dr. Michael Payne, the CDQAP’s director. “Nowhere
else are monitoring and reporting requirements for water quality more
comprehensive than in the Central Valley. California dairies also face the
strictest regulations in the nation for control of dust and air emissions.”
Making sense of these complex regulations and providing outreach to the state’s
nearly 2,000 family dairy farms requires leveraging financial, personnel and
technical resources of each of the partnering organizations.
With new air and water regulations being promulgated or modified, the CDQAP has
responded by offering a variety of courses, some statewide in scope and some
specific to particular regions. Producers frequently take more than one class.
Since the program’s formation in 1997 some 2,400 producers or dairy advisers
have attended one or more CDQAP classes for a total of more than 8,400 classroom
contacts.
The CDQAP reaches dairy producers through a variety of other methods including
Web pages, newsletters, alert bulletins and symposiums and advisory board
presentations. Information from the CDQAP is also made available for industry,
university and regulatory publications.
Because class curricula and materials are developed collaboratively with the
regulatory and academic experts, dairy producers have come to trust that finding
the CDQAP logo on materials means that they are getting concise, factual and
timely information.
The CDQAP also offers producers the opportunity to prepare for and undergo a
third party environmental compliance evaluation. To date 256 dairies have
successfully completed these on-farm audits.
CDQAP partners include the US Environmental Protection Agency, California
Environmental Protection Agency, California Department of Food and Agriculture,
California Resources Agency, State Water Resources Control Board, California
Department of Fish and Game, USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, Milk
Producers Council, California Dairy Campaign, Western United Dairymen,
California Farm Bureau Federation, the California Milk Advisory Board and
Sustainable Conservation.
While core funding has been provided for a decade by the California Milk
Advisory Board, other partners including US EPA and the California Department of
Food and Agriculture have been generous with grants and other in-kind support.
The Governor's Environmental and Economic Leadership Awards program was
established in 1993. Recipients are selected by a large panel of evaluators and
the Secretaries of Cal/EPA, the Resources Agency, Business, Transportation and
Housing Agency, the Department of Food and Agriculture, the State and Consumer
Services Agency, and the Governor’s Office. For more information about GEELA,
visit the Cal/EPA Web site at http://www.calepa.ca.gov/Awards/GEELA/.
About the CDQAP
Established in 1997, the California Dairy Quality Assurance Program (CDQAP) is a
partnership of regulatory agencies, academia and the dairy industry working
cooperatively to promote the health of the consumer, the environment and dairy
livestock. The voluntary program provides education, resources and funding for
dairy producers in the following areas: Environmental Stewardship, Johne’s
Disease Control, Food Safety and Emergency Preparedness, and Animal Welfare. For
more information, contact CDQAP toll-free at 1-866-66CDQAP, or visit
www.cdqap.org. |
