BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2402
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Date of Hearing: April 30, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
AB 2402 (Buchanan) - As Introduced: February 21, 2014
Policy Committee:
AgricultureVote:7-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill makes an appropriation of $2.5 million from the
General Fund (GF) to the Noxious Weed Management Account (NWMA)
administered by the California Department of Food and
Agriculture (CDFA) to renew activities under the noxious weed
management program, and makes changes to the distribution of
NWMA funds to increase the percentage allocated to research,
risk assessment, and control strategies.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)One-time appropriation of $2.5 million from GF to the NWMA.
2)Estimated costs to the NWMA of approximately $115,000 per year
for the first three years to cover CDFA administration of the
program.
COMMENTS
1) Purpose. Noxious and invasive weeds have had a significant
economic impact on the state through lower agricultural
productivity, increased fire risk, increased consumption of
water, and other resource degradation. Invasive weeds disrupt
native ecosystems and crowd out native California plant
species, spoiling recreational opportunities and negatively
affecting the value of public lands.
2) Competition for water. Management of noxious weeds is
arguably more important in drought years. Weeds compete with
crops and other local plants for water, limiting agricultural
yields and forcing farmers and ranchers to spend millions in
AB 2402
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order to protect their plantings. This bill adds a
requirement that a weed management program demonstrate it will
increase water supply and flow in order to be eligible for
funding.
3) Re-allocation of NWMA funds. This bill makes the following
changes to the allocation of NWMA funds:
a) Increases from 10% to 20% the allocation for grants to
fund research on the biology and management of noxious
weeds and risk assessment, mapping, and prioritization of
various noxious weeds.
b) Increases from 10% to 20% the allocation to CDFA for
developing noxious weed control strategies and effective
biological control agents, educational efforts, and program
management.
c) Decreases from 80% to 60% the allocation for grants to
weed management areas and county agricultural commissioners
for control and abatement programs.
4) Noxious weed management program background. The noxious weed
management program began in 1999 with a $200,000 annual, three
year appropriation. In 2000, another $5 million was
appropriated to fund weed management project grants.
Since the program's creation, $16.1 million in private funding
and resources have matched the $5.6 million appropriated state
dollars. No additional funds have been appropriated since
2000 and, following the allocation of those grant funds, the
program has been idle.
Eradication of noxious weeds has been shown to provide
long-term economic savings to local, state, and federal
governments and agencies as well. For example, the State of
Oregon found that the exclusion or eradication of six species
on the Oregon noxious weed list (five of which are also on
California's list) resulted in over $50 million in savings to
that state.
Analysis Prepared by : Joel Tashjian / APPR. / (916) 319-2081
AB 2402
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