BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  AB 2612
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   April 28, 2010

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

           AB 2612 (Committee on Agriculture) - As Amended:  April 7, 2010  


          Policy Committee:                              AgricultureVote:8  
          - 0 

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          Yes    Reimbursable:              No

           SUMMARY  

          This bill is the Assembly Agricultural Committee omnibus bill  
          dealing with animal rendering and the State Organic Program  
          (SOP). Specifically, this bill: 

          1)Expands the definition of a "collection center" for  
            slaughtered animals to include a "pet food processor."

          2)Changes the license expiration date from year of issuance to  
            December 31 of each year.

          3)Exempts a "collection center" from registration as a  
            transporter of kitchen grease if they are licensed as a  
            collection center in accordance with this chapter.

          4)Expands the definition of an "exempt handler" to include a  
            handler that sells organic agricultural products but whose  
            gross income from such sales is $5,000 or less, annually, and  
            expands the definition of an "exempt producer" to include a  
            producer that sells organic agricultural products, but whose  
            gross income from such sales is $5,000 or less, annually.  

          5)Makes technical changes to the SOP, including updating  
            references to the State Public Health Officer from the State  
            Director of Health Services. 

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          1)There are no costs associated with the slaughtered animal  
            provisions of this legislation.








                                                                  AB 2612
                                                                  Page  2


          2)Changing the definition of "exempt handler," which exempts  
            certain certified organic registrants from submitting  
            specified information could result in savings of approximately  
            $20,000 per year 

           COMMENTS  

           Purpose  . This is the Agricultural Committee's omnibus bill  
          dealing with updates and clarifications to the statutes dealing  
          with dead animal COPA.  These proposals have been submitted by  
          the respective industry representatives.

          Over the past year, the rendering program has been reviewed by  
          the industry and the California Department of food and  
          Agriculture (CDFA) in preparation for a comprehensive regulatory  
          update.  During this review, certain provisions of law were  
          identified that needed updating.  The definition of collection  
          center, the fee section and calendar year regulatory authority  
          were three provisions that needed clarifying language to  
          modernize the program statutes.  

          In December 2008, SOP staff, the California Organic Program  
          Advisory Committee (COPAC), and participants from the organic  
          industry formed the Organic Products Technical Planning  
          Committee to begin the process of reviewing and evaluating SOP's  
          policies and procedures.  The changes in this legislation come  
          from that review process.

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Julie Salley-Gray / APPR. / (916)  
          319-2081