BILL ANALYSIS AB 1912 Page 1 Date of Hearing: May 5, 2010 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Felipe Fuentes, Chair AB 1912 (Evans) - As Amended: April 8, 2010 Policy Committee: AgricultureVote:7 - 0 Judiciary 8 - 2 Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: Yes Reimbursable: No SUMMARY This bill creates the California Apiary Research Commission (CARC) with prescribed membership, powers, duties and responsibilities, and requires an affirmative vote by individual beekeepers and businesses in order to become active. Specifically, this bill: 1)Establishes the membership, powers and duties of the CARC. 2)Requires the CARC reimburse the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) for all expenses. 3)Requires the CARC to establish an assessment following the marketing season each year, no later than March 1. 4)Establishes that the assessment may not be greater than one dollar per bee colony. FISCAL EFFECT The maximum assessment rate allowed under this legislation is $1 per colony of bees. There are approximately 2 million colonies operating in California each year, so the maximum assessment revenue would be about $2 million per year. The actual assessment rate would likely be some fraction of that. Most likely the program would be similar to other mid-range research programs within CDFA and would cost approximately $500,000 per year. COMMENTS AB 1912 Page 2 1)Rationale . According to the sponsor, the California State Bee Keepers Association, honey bees are a critical component of the agricultural community. Honey bees pollinate approximately $6 billion worth of crops in California. Urban development and the on-going water crisis have diminished bee food supplies. Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) has reduced the nation's bee population by 25% in the past three years. The decline of honey bees has created issues for other agricultural sectors that rely on honey bees for pollination of crops. The sponsor believes there is a need for organized research to protect the health of honey bees to avoid an imbalance for our agricultural food supply. 2)Honey Bees in Agriculture . According to the Congressional Research Service, honey bees are the most economically valuable pollinators of agricultural crops worldwide. Scientists at universities and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) frequently assert that bee pollination is involved in about one-third of the U.S. diet, and contributes to the production of a wide range of fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, forage crops, some field crops, and other specialty crops. The monetary value of honey bees as commercial pollinators in the United States is estimated at about $15-$20 billion annually. 3)Colony Collapse Disorder . Starting in 2006, commercial migratory beekeepers along the East Coast of the United States began reporting sharp declines in their honey bee colonies. Because of the severity and unusual circumstances of these colony declines, scientists named this phenomenon colony collapse disorder (CCD). Current reports indicate that beekeepers in most states have been affected. Overall, the number of managed honey bee colonies dropped an estimated 32% in 2006-07 and 38% in 2007-08. Preliminary loss estimates for the winter of 2008-09 are reported to be close to 30%. To date, the precise reasons for colony losses are not yet known. In states reporting CCD, some beekeepers have lost 50 to 90% of their colonies, often within a matter of weeks. Bee colonies affected by CCD can appear healthy as few as three weeks prior to collapse, but then the adult bees disappear from the colonies--hence the historic nickname, "disappearing disease." The disappearing bees leave behind a box full of honey, pollen, capped brood, a queen, and maybe a AB 1912 Page 3 few worker bees. Beekeepers report that in colonies with CCD, dead bees are not found in the hive or on the ground outside of the colonies. Instead, the adult bees simply disappear. The final symptom is that small hive beetles, wax moths, and other nearby honey bees ignore the empty hive, even though the hive contains foodstuffs on which they ordinarily feed. Analysis Prepared by : Julie Salley-Gray / APPR. / (916) 319-2081