BILL NUMBER: SB 1328 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Senator Hill
FEBRUARY 21, 2014
An act to amend Section 13350 of, and to add Sections 12022.7 and
13304 to, the Business and Professions Code, relating to weights and
measures.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1328, as introduced, Hill. Weights and measures.
(1) Under existing law, the Department of Food and Agriculture has
general supervision of weights and measures and weighing and
measuring devices sold or used in the state, and provides that the
duty of enforcing and carrying out those provisions is vested with
the Secretary of Food and Agriculture and in each sealer acting under
the supervision and direction of the secretary. Existing law makes
it unlawful for any person to sell poultry or smoked, fresh, frozen,
cooked, dried, or pickled meats or fish other than by weight
determined at the time of sale on a scale properly sealed in
accordance with specified requirements, except as specified. Existing
law specifies that fat added to fresh meat or roasts shall not be
considered tare weight if the package is labeled as containing added
fat. A violation of the provisions, or any regulations adopted
pursuant to those provisions, regulating weights and measurements is
a crime.
This bill would authorize the secretary, by regulation, to
establish a uniform policy consistent with federal law relating to
the use of dry tare weight or wet tare weight methods of measurement
for the retail sale of meat, poultry, and fish products. Because a
violation of a regulation adopted pursuant to those provisions would
be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
(2) Existing law provides the criteria and methodology, as
specified, by which local officials are to measure and verify the
accuracy of a point-of-sale system used by retail establishments as a
means for determining the price of an item being purchased by a
consumer, and authorizes the board of supervisors of a county, by
ordinance, to charge a point-of-sale inspection fee or an annual
registration fee for the county's costs for inspection and testing.
Existing law provides that a sealer may reinspect any retail facility
that has a compliance rate of less than 98%.
The bill would establish a compliance rate modeled after the
accuracy requirements described in the National Institute of
Standards and Technology Handbook 130 for grocery stores, as defined,
that have a policy to refund the amount of the product or provide
the product free of charge in the event that the amount charged is
greater than the amount advertised, posted, marked, displayed, or
quoted.
(3) Existing law authorizes a city or county to license any kind
of business, unless prohibited by law, and authorizes the city or
county to levy license fees.
This bill would authorize the secretary, by regulation, to impose
an additional assessment of up to $2 for the license of a business
that uses a point-of-sale system, to be deposited in the Department
of Food and Agriculture Fund, which would be available to the
secretary, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for purposes of
carrying out the provisions regulating the use of point-of-sale
systems.
(4) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse
local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 12022.7 is added to the Business and
Professions Code, to read:
12022.7. The secretary may adopt regulations consistent with
federal law to establish a uniform policy relating to the use of dry
tare weight or wet tare weight methods of measurement for the retail
sale of meat, poultry, and fish products.
SEC. 2. Section 13304 is added to the Business and Professions
Code, to read:
13304. The secretary may adopt regulations to impose an
additional assessment of up to two dollars ($2), not to exceed the
amount necessary to carry out the provisions of this chapter, to
obtain a business license for a business that uses a point-of-sale
system. The additional assessment shall be deposited in the
Department of Food and Agriculture Fund, and shall be available to
the secretary, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for purposes of
carrying out the provisions of this chapter.
SEC. 3. Section 13350 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
13350. (a) The board of supervisors of any county or city and
county that has adopted or that adopts an ordinance for the
purposes of determining the pricing accuracy of a retail
establishment using a point-of-sale (POS) system, shall base the
initial standard inspection of the POS system on the following
criteria:
(1) The initial standard inspection shall be performed by
collecting a random sample of items that shall include a maximum of
50 percent sale items from either:
(i) One department of a retail store.
(ii) Multiple areas of a retail store.
(iii) The entire store.
(2) The initial standard inspection shall be performed by testing
a minimum random sample of 10 items for a retail establishment with
three or fewer POS checkout registers.
(3) The initial standard inspection shall be performed by testing
a minimum random sample of 25 items for a retail establishment with 4
to 9 POS checkout registers.
(4) The initial standard inspection shall be performed by testing
a minimum random sample of 50 items for retail establishments with 10
or more POS checkout registers.
(5) The sealer shall verify that the lowest advertised, posted,
marked, displayed, or quoted price is the same as the price displayed
or computed by the point-of-sale equipment or printed receipt. Only
items computed at a higher price than the lowest advertised, posted,
marked, displayed, or quoted price shall be considered not in
compliance.
(6) The minimum random sample size shall not apply to inspections
of any establishment at which fewer items than the number specified
as the minimum sample size are marked or displayed with a posted or
advertised item price.
(7) The maximum percentage of sale item restriction in paragraph
(1) shall not apply to inspections of any establishment at which a
marketing or promotional practice does not enable the sampling of the
minimum required percentage of nonsale items, such as "Everything In
Store 50 percent Off" or the like.
(8) The compliance rate percentage of a retail establishment shall
be determined by dividing the number of items in compliance by the
sample size multiplied by 100.
(b) Enforcement action may be taken for any item not in
compliance.
(c) The sealer may reinspect any retail facility that has a
compliance rate of less than 98 percent.
(d) (1) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), for a grocery store that
has a policy to refund the amount of the product, or to provide the
product free of charge, if the amount charged for the item is greater
than the price advertised, posted, marked, displayed, or quoted, the
compliance rate shall be modeled after the accuracy requirements
specified in the National Institute of Standards and Technology
Handbook 130, 2014 Edition (HB 130) - Examination Procedures for
Price Verification.
(2) For purposes of this subdivision, "grocery store" means a
full-line, self-service retail store with gross annual sales of two
million dollars ($2,000,000) or more, and that sells a line of dry
groceries, canned goods, or nonfood items, and some perishable items.
(d)
(e) The board of supervisors, by ordinance, may charge
a point-of-sale system inspection fee or an annual registration fee,
not to exceed the county's total cost of inspecting or testing the
accuracy of prices accessed or generated by the system pursuant to
this section.
(e)
(f) The board of supervisors, by ordinance, may charge
a reinspection fee for reinspections of a retail establishment that
fails the prior inspection, not to exceed the county's total cost of
reinspecting or testing the accuracy of prices accessed or generated
by the system pursuant to this section.
SEC. 4. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.