Re: Emergency Temporary Standard/Emergency Regulation, Infectious Disease Prevention: SARS-CoV-2 Virus That Causes COVID-19

On behalf of the Virginia State Dairymen's Association (VSDA), and its members who represent the dairy industry in Virginia, we submit the following comments with regards to the proposed Emergency Temporary Standard/Emergency Regulation, Infectious Disease Prevention: SARS-CoV-2 Virus That Causes COVID-19 (Regulation). 

We have concerns about the generalities and one size fits all approach that these proposed regulations would have on dairy farmers that are already following national guidance to make sure that employee health is given the utmost importance. We have received guidance from numerous state and national agencies, as well as industry specific guidance from the dairy industry. These proposed regulations aren't tailored to the specific dairy industry needs and circumstances.

 We also have concerns with the speed and process at which the regulation is being adopted.  The Regulations contain numerous conflicting provisions.  Asking the Board to make an informed decision and act on the content of the regulations or any necessary technical amendments after a 10-day comment period, one day to review the totality of those comments, and approving is simply not reasonable and invites further confusion.

The Regulation calls for all employers to perform a risk assessment and assign each employee with a given category of “very high”, “high”, “medium” or “low” risk. With many dairy farmers operating farms with the support of their families there is concern how this would impact farms where the employees are also the family members. These requirements for those diary farms in the medium category will be especially difficult, as they lack a human resource officer or legal counsel, to comply with, especially without ample time to update their processes or training.  These businesses will have to develop a risk-based plan, provide training, provide screenings, keep records with no amount of time built in to come into compliance or stay in compliance with the Regulation.  Dairy farms also hire contractors for numerous duties on farms and these are often weather dependent, such as crop harvesting, and fertilizer or chemical application. Limiting

access to areas of the farms and coordinating schedules that can change hourly during peak times is simply not feasible.

The health and safety of our dairy farm families, their employees and support industry personnel are of the utmost importance. We rely on everyone involved in the dairy industry to continue to produce the dairy products  so their health is paramount. We are concerned that as well intentioned as this proposal is, that there are too many over generalizations, lack of specifics and overly burdensome requirements that will significantly impact farms that don't have the resources to implement a plan that wasn't designed for a dairy farm. Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the proposed regulations.