BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 751 Page 1 Date of Hearing: April 15, 2015 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE Henry T. Perea, Chair AB 751 (Cooper) - As Introduced February 25, 2015 SUBJECT: Vertebrate pest control research: repeal extension. SUMMARY: Extends the Vertebrate Pest Control Research (VPCR) Program and Advisory Committee until January 1, 2026. EXISTING LAW: 1)Requires the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) to establish and administer a research program to control vertebrate pests, as specified. 2)Requires CDFA to establish the VPCR Advisory Committee, and requires the Advisory Committee to make recommendations to CFDA regarding VPRC each year. 3)Requires each county agricultural commissioner to pay a AB 751 Page 2 specified fee to CDFA based on the amount of vertebrate pest control material sold, distributed, or applied in the county. 4)Establishes the VPCR Account in the CDFA Fund, and continuously appropriates the funds in the account for purposes of carrying out the provisions relating to VPRC. 5)Repeals all of the provisions specified above on January 1, 2016. FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown. This bill has been keyed fiscal by Legislative Counsel. COMMENTS: The VPCR Program was established in 1990, in response to changes by the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that relate to the requirements of manufacturers of rodenticides and similar products. The manufacturers concluded that they could not recover the cost for development of such data and dropped the registration of the products. CDFA recognized that there was a need for such products and developed an oversight and fiscal structure to support the research and funding of data requirements for EPA, thereby creating this research program. The VPCR law was updated in 2005 to provide a more defined scope for this research program, as well as, better parameters on how the funds are used. CDFA, upon recommendation from the VPCR Advisory Committee, may charge up to one dollar per pound of vertebrate pest control material sold, distributed, or applied. The VPCR program focuses on finding safer alternative methods to AB 751 Page 3 control pest. The research is funded with the sale of rodenticides, which has helped develop or improve control of vertebrate pests. The program raises and spends an average of roughly $480,000 per year. The author states that without this program, CDFA loses the authority to register rodenticides and could cause the rodenticides to be unavailable to the public. The sunset to these provisions has been extended three times, in 1995, 2000 and 2005. This bill will extend the VPCR Program and Advisory Committee until 2026. The Committee may wish to consider the policy of extending the sunset ten years versus eliminating the sunset. If the VPCR program has benefited the affected parties and there is no controversy regarding the structure, eliminating the sunset could provide more stability to long term research projects. REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION: Support California Farm Bureau Federation California Fresh Fruit Association AB 751 Page 4 California Alfalfa & Forage Association Opposition None on file Analysis Prepared by:Victor Francovich / AGRI. / (916) 319-2084