BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 296
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Date of Hearing: March 17, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PRIVACY AND CONSUMER PROTECTION
Gatto, Chair
AB
296 (Dodd) - As Introduced February 12, 2015
SUBJECT: Weights and measures: inspection: fees
SUMMARY: Extends the authority of the board of supervisors of a
county and the state Department of Food and Agriculture
(Department) to charge fees to recover the costs of the County
Sealer related to the inspection and testing of weighing and
measuring devices, from January 1, 2016, to January 1, 2019.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Requires the sealer of a county to inspect and test weighing
and measuring devices, as specified, that are used or sold in
the county. (Business and Professions Code (BPC) Section
12210)
2)Requires the sealer of a county to weigh or measure packages
to determine whether they contain the amount represented, as
provided. (BPC 12211)
3)Authorizes, until January 1, 2016, the board of supervisors of
a county, by ordinance, to charge fees, not to exceed the
county's total cost of actually inspecting or testing weighing
and measuring devices required of the county sealer, to
recover the costs of the county sealer to perform these
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duties. (BPC 12240)
4)Requires, until January 1, 2016, the Department Secretary to
establish by regulation an annual administrative fee to
recover reasonable administrative and enforcement costs
incurred by the Department for exercising supervision over and
performing investigations in connection with the activities
performed by sealers described above, and requires the
administrative fee to be collected for every device registered
with each county office of weights and measures and paid
annually to the Department of Food and Agriculture Fund. (BPC
12241)
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose of this bill . This bill would extend by three years
the fee authorization for counties and the state Department of
Food and Agriculture to recoup their costs for the inspection
and testing of weighing and measuring devices by county
sealers, a program that has been ongoing since 1982. The
measure is sponsored by the California Agricultural
Commissioners and Sealers Association.
2)Author's statement . According to the author's office, "This
bill would extend a statutory sunset date of AB 1623 (Yamada,
2012) which is set to expire on January 1, 2016. AB 296
extends the sunset through to January 1, 2019. This will
allow local governments to continue to recover costs
associated with the administration of the annual device
registration program. Accurate measurements are vital to
protecting consumers from fraudulent and inadvertent errors.
Precise scales allow consumers to make informed decisions
about their purchases while maintaining a level and
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competitive marketplace for businesses."
3)County Sealers . The inspection and testing of weighing and
measuring devices is overseen by a County Sealer of Weights
and Measures. Historically, these Sealers have been
responsible for ensuring that 'equity prevails' in the
marketplace and that consumers reliably get precisely what
they paid for. As such, these Sealers and their offices
enforce the laws and regulations of the state under the
general direction and oversight of the Department Secretary.
In practice, this oversight involves the inspection and
testing of packaged commodities and all commercially-used
weighing and measuring devices.
In order to help pay for the cost of the inspection and testing
program, legislation was passed in 1982 to authorize county
boards of supervisors to establish fees for business locations
to partially fund local weights and measures enforcement
programs. That program and the related fee authorization have
been amended many times since then to add new devices to the
registration program and adjust the schedule of maximum fees
in statute. The program now applies to virtually all weighing
and measuring devices used commercially (such as gas pumps,
water meters, grocery scales, taxi meters, etc.), with the
exception of farm milk tanks and grocery store check-out
scanners. In 2012-13, the device registration program had
expenditures of $23.1 million statewide.
These fees are the single largest source of revenue for the
county program outside of the County General Fund, and the
authorization has been extended by statute nine separate times
since 1985, mostly recently by AB 1623 (Yamada) in 2012. It
is important to note that this same authorization also permits
the Department to establish by regulation an administrative
fee to recover costs incurred for supervision and
investigation of the same program. However, this bill does not
change any of the "fee caps" for location fees, specific
device fees, and total registration fees, which are usually
negotiated between the counties and the businesses affected
and then codified in statute. The fee authorization statute
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is currently set to expire on January 1, 2016.
4)Arguments in support . According to the Rural County
Representatives of California (RCRC), "County Agriculture
Commissioners and Sealers perform valuable services for county
residents and those within the local agriculture industry.
For example, one of those roles is ensuring that actual
weights and sizes are accurate. Weighing and measuring
devices must be inspected in a timely manner so that consumers
are protected against unscrupulous business operators.
"In order to perform the much-needed services, County
Agriculture Commissioners must recover their costs. Thus, we
believe it appropriate that Boards of Supervisors continue to
be able to adopt fee schedules so that a county's costs can be
recovered, while at the same time balancing the needs of
industry with the protections of consumers."
5)Previous legislation . 6)AB 1623 (Yamada), Chapter 234,
Statutes of 2012, extended the sunset date on the county board
of supervisor's authority to charge fees to recover the costs
of the County Sealer to perform specified inspections until
January 1, 2016, and established or revised certain device fee
caps.7)
AB 2361 (Ruskin), Chapter 260, Statutes of
2010,8) extended the sunset date on the authority of the board
of supervisors of a county to charge fees to recover the costs
of the county sealer to perform specified duties until January
1, 2013.
AB 889 (Ruskin), Chapter 529, Statutes of 2005, extended the
sunset date to January 1, 2011, and established a gradual
increase in the fees that may be adopted by a board of
supervisors in order to more fully fund the local weights and
measure device inspection program. The bill also established
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a two-tiered fee schedule that provided both a location fee
and a device fee to more effectively capture the cost of the
initial device inspection.
AB 1810 (Wiggins), Chapter 512, Statues of 2000, extended the
sunset dates on the civil penalty authority and on device
registration fees to January 1, 2006.
SB 189 (Kelley), Chapter 476, Statutes of 1997, extended the
sunset date of the fee authorization to January 1, 2001.
AB 1728 (Murray), Chapter 47, Statutes of 1995, extended the
sunset date of the fee authorization to January 1, 1998.
SB 1644 (Kelley), Chapter 592, Statutes of 1994, established
the current administrative fine provisions for weights and
measures.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
California Agricultural Commissioners and Sealers Association
(Sponsor)
California State Association of Counties
Rural County Representatives of California
Opposition
None received.
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Analysis Prepared
by: Hank Dempsey/P. & C.P./(916) 319-2200