BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 234
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Date of Hearing: April 15, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Jimmy Gomez, Chair
AB
234 (Gordon) - As Introduced February 4, 2015
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: YesReimbursable:
No
SUMMARY:
This bill expands from "restaurant" to the more general "food
facility" the type of facility to which a community food
producer (CFP) or gleaner can sell fruits, vegetables, or eggs.
AB 234
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FISCAL EFFECT:
Negligible state costs.
The cost impact on local Environmental Health (EH) departments
who enforce food safety standards in their jurisdictions should
also be negligible, as this expansion of the types of facilities
a CFP or gleaner can sell to is not expected to materially
impact local food safety regulatory activities. Current law
provides for full cost recovery if local EH departments are
required to intervene based on public complaint or food illness
recalls.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. According to the author, California has become a
trailblazer in progressive food and farm legislation. This
bill expands on efforts in recent years to allow gleaners and
CFPs to engage in direct sales of produce to the public. By
striking the word "restaurant" and replacing it with "food
facility," this bill ensures explicit clarification as to what
entities CFPs are allowed to sell or provide whole uncut
fruit, vegetables or unrefrigerated shell eggs to.
2)Background. Last year, AB 1990 (Gordon), Chapter 580, Statutes
of 2014, defined "CFPs" and "gleaners," and allows CFPs or
gleaners to sell or provide whole uncut fruits, vegetables, or
unrefrigerated shell eggs directly to the public, to a
permitted restaurant, or to a cottage food operation, if the
CFP complies with a specified requirements. 3)
Permits, registration, and inspections are not required. However,
local jurisdictions are authorized to register these
AB 234
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operations if they deem it necessary, and to recover such
costs through fees. Governor Brown issued the following
signing statement when approving the bill: "There is some
concern that AB 1990 would inadvertently limit the existing
paths for producers and gleaners to sell locally. This is not
my intent. The language in this bill is clearly expansive,
not restrictive." This bill responds to the signing statement
by clarifying CFPs or gleaners may sell to all food
facilities.
Analysis Prepared by:Lisa Murawski / APPR. / (916)
319-2081