BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE on AGRICULTURE
Senator Cathleen Galgiani, Chair
BILL NO: SB 348 HEARING: 04/02/13
AUTHOR: Galgiani FISCAL: Yes
VERSION: 02/20/13 CONSULTANT: Anne Megaro
Agricultural seed: county seed enforcement subventions
SUMMARY :
This bill extends the operation and repeal dates for provisions
of the California Seed Law, including an annual county
subvention for enforcement activities necessary to carry out
these provisions, until July 1, 2019 and January 1, 2020,
respectively.
BACKGROUND AND EXISTING LAW :
The California Seed Law (CSL) was enacted in 1967 to ensure that
agricultural and vegetable seed is properly and accurately
identified on the product label. Seed is analyzed through the
Seed Services program administered by the California Department
of Food and Agriculture (CDFA). The CSL is locally enforced by
county agricultural commissioners who enter into cooperative
agreements with the secretary of CDFA and agree to maintain a
statewide compliance level on all seed sold in the county. In
return, county agricultural commissioners receive annual
subvention payments for expenses incurred in association with
approved enforcement work plans (Food and Agriculture Code (FAC)
§ 52251, et seq.).
Funding for this program is entirely supported through industry
seed assessments and registration fees and is administered by
CDFA. Every labeler of agricultural or vegetable seed offered
for sale in California, or any person who sells that seed in
this state, must annually register as a seed labeler and pay an
annual fee of $40. In addition, those who are registered seed
labelers must also pay an assessment capped at 40 cents per $100
gross annual dollar volume sales. The secretary shall determine
the rate of assessment, not to exceed the department's cost of
carrying out these provisions (FAC § 52321; 52351-6).
CDFA allocates $120,000 for subvention payments among all
counties for costs incurred by enforcement of the CSL. At the
discretion of the secretary and upon recommendation of the Seed
Advisory Board, counties with no registered seed labelers may
annually receive $100. Counties with registered seed labelers
shall receive subventions based upon the volume of work
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performed (FAC § 52323-5).
Currently, there are 13 counties that do not have registered
seed labelers and receive subvention funds: Alpine, Amador,
Calaveras, Del Norte, El Dorado, Inyo, Lake, Mariposa, Mono,
Plumas, Sierra, Trinity, and Tuolumne. In addition, there are
three counties with registered seed labelers that received
subvention funds but did not complete approved work plans:
Contra Costa, Marin, and Napa.
PROPOSED LAW :
This bill:
1. Extends from July 1, 2014 to July 1, 2019 the
inoperative date, and from January 1, 2015 to January 1,
2020 the repeal date, of an optional county subvention
program for enforcement activities of provisions of the
California Seed Law.
2. Makes technical amendments.
COMMENTS :
Purpose of Bill: According to the author, this bill is
necessary for the continued allocation of industry-derived
subvention funds to counties for the enforcement of the
California Seed Law. These payments provide county agricultural
commissioners the ability to perform local seed inspection and
enforcement services to ensure that seed sold in California is
properly and accurately identified on the product label.
Without this subvention, it is unlikely that the CSL would be
enforced in a cost-effective manner.
Sunset Date: The sunset dates for these provisions have been
extended several times since 1993, and this bill marks the third
extension within 10 years. The last extension in 2009 was
passed with zero "no" votes. Therefore, the committee may wish
to consider if the sunset dates should be repealed, making these
provisions permanent.
RELATED LEGISLATION :
AB 1255 (T. Berryhill), Chapter 281, Statutes of 2009. Extends
to January 1, 2015, the operation of provisions of the
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California Seed Law, including a subvention program.
AB 856 (Galgiani), Chapter 425, Statutes of 2008. Extends to
January 1, 2010, the operation of provisions of the California
Seed Law, including a subvention program. Provides that the
minimum $100 subvention may not be allocated to counties without
registered seed labelers.
AB 315 (Salinas), Chapter 394, Statutes of 2003. Requires the
secretary to pay a total annual subvention to counties of
$120,000. Extends to July 1, 2009, the operation of provisions
in the California Seed Law.
SUPPORT :
California Seed Association (Sponsor)
Rural County Representatives of California
OPPOSITION :
None received