UCLA NEWSROOM — California’s agricultural and other outdoor workers have always labored under hot conditions, especially in arid Southern California, but the effects of global warming are now increasing their exposure to extreme heat and wildfire smoke. To provide more protections for outdoor workers, Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia introduced legislation this month that would direct California’s Division of Occupational Health and Safety to develop a new “ultrahigh” heat standard and strengthen air quality protections. The bill was supported by research from students in UCLA School of Law’s California Environmental Legislation and Policy Clinic, an experiential learning course that provides students with hands-on training in environmental lawmaking. Students in the UCLA Food Law and Policy Clinic are supporting the bill’s campaign this semester through stakeholder engagement and development of an awareness-raising strategy highlighting environmental harms to outdoor laborers. The future standard would include mandatory measures like work breaks, increased monitoring for heat sickness, and access to cool water and shade structures when temperatures exceed 105 degrees Fahrenheit, building on existing rules that kick in at 80 degrees. If passed, the bill would also direct Cal/OSHA to lower the air quality threshold for employers to distribute respiratory protective equipment to workers, reducing workers’ exposure to harmful particulate matter pollution from wildfires and other sources. Current Cal/OSHA rules require mandatory respirators when the air quality index, an EPA measure for reporting air quality, exceeds 500, indicating hazardous conditions. The legislation directs Cal/OSHA to set new rules at a threshold of 200 or lower.