BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 862|
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CONSENT
Bill No: AB 862
Author: Committee on Agriculture
Amended: 6/25/15 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE AGRICULTURE COMMITTEE: 5-0, 7/7/15
AYES: Galgiani, Cannella, Berryhill, Pan, Wolk
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 74-0, 5/22/15 (Consent) See last page for
vote
SUBJECT: Agriculture
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill makes clarifying and substantive changes to
the Food and Agricultural Code in regards to citrus pest and
disease prevention expenditure reimbursements and adds
"cultivated mushrooms" and "herbs" to the list of products that
cannot be sold in areas in proximity to a certified farmers'
market. This bill makes technical changes.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Authorizes California Citrus Pest and Disease Prevention
Committee (CCPDPC) to develop, under the approval of the
secretary of the Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), a
statewide citrus-specific pest and disease work plan and
recommend an annual assessment rate and budget. The CCPDPC
shall reimburse the secretary for all reasonable expenditures
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incurred in carrying out, implementing, and administering the
statewide work plan.
2)Authorizes the CDFA to adopt regulations to encourage the sale
of California agricultural products directly from farmer to
consumer, and to ensure that sales activities are free from
fraud, deception, or misrepresentation.
3)Requires a certified farmers' markets (CFM) operator to
annually register with CDFA by applying for and obtaining a
certificate from the county agricultural commissioner.
4)Requires all vendors to pay a stall fee not greater than $2.00
per marketing day, with exceptions. Fees are collected by the
CFM operator and deposited into the Department of Food and
Agriculture Fund to be used to cover the reasonable costs to
carry out CFM administration, inspection, and enforcement
(Food and Agricultural Code §47021).
5)Requires CFM vendors to post a conspicuous sign at the point
of sale that states the name and county location of the
vendor's farm/ranch and the statement "We Grow What We Sell"
or such similar statement.
6)Prohibits CFM operators who operate other non-agricultural
marketing events in close proximity to a CFM from allowing the
sale of fresh whole fruits, nuts, vegetables, and flowers
outside of the CFM area.
This bill:
1)Makes technical amendments to the Food and Agricultural Code
such as correcting the name of the state Department of Public
Health, providing the correct name for county agricultural
commissioners and county sealers of weights and measures, and
clarifying that any division, office, or other entity within
CDFA, rather than any agency within CDFA, may issue or renew
licenses, registrations, or other indicia of authority issued
by the department.
2)Allows the secretary of CDFA to collect all, rather than only
reasonable, expenditures for costs relating to citrus pest and
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disease prevention.
3)Adds "cultivated mushrooms" and "herbs" to the list of
products that cannot be sold in areas in proximity to a
certified farmers' market.
4)Makes technical amendments.
Background
The CCPDPC within the CDFA was created to advise the secretary
on efforts to prevent and manage citrus pests and diseases. An
assessment is levied on citrus producers and deposited into the
Citrus Disease Management Account for the sole purpose of
combating citrus-specific pests and diseases. This account may
also contain funds from federal and other non-General Fund
sources. The current assessment rate is 8 cents per 40 pound
carton, which amounts to $16 million annually and represents 64%
of the total budget for this program (Food and Agricultural Code
§5911 et seq.).
Asian citrus psyllid (ACP) is an invasive pest that feeds on
citrus plants' leaves and stems and causes shoot deformation and
plant stunting. More importantly, ACP may transmit
Huanglongbing (HLB), a bacterial plant disease that causes
citrus trees to produce unpalatable/inedible fruit before
ultimately killing the tree.
CDFA is responsible for administering and regulating the direct
sale of agricultural products to consumers to ensure product
quality and to prevent fraud, deception, or misrepresentation in
the marketplace. One form of direct marketing regulated by CDFA
is CFMs. Currently, there are nearly 800 CFMs in California and
3,350 certified farmers selling directly to consumers. At the
local level, county agricultural commissioners are responsible
for issuing producer and operator certificates and conducting
on-site inspections to verify that all agricultural products
sold at the CFM are grown by the producer (Food and Agricultural
Code §47000 et seq.).
The Certified Farmers' Market Advisory Committee, composed of 17
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members appointed by the secretary of CDFA, was created to make
recommendations to the secretary on all matters pertaining to
direct marketing, including administration, enforcement,
inspections, fees, civil penalties, and an annual budget (Food
and Agricultural Code §47011).
Comments
Citrus. SB 1018 (De León, Chapter 924) signed into law in 2014
specifies that only reasonable, rather than all, expenditures
incurred by CDFA be reimbursed from the Citrus Disease
Management Account for responsibilities related to the Citrus
Pest and Disease Prevention Program. This bill also requires
the secretary to first notify the CCPDPC of any changes to
program activities or increases in expenditures.
SB 1018 addressed citrus industry concerns that CCPDPC was not
notified before budgetary spending authority was increased or
when additional funds were requested by CDFA to cover costs
related to this program. The current bill retains provisions of
SB 1018 but requires the CCPDPC to reimburse the secretary for
all expenditures incurred in carrying out this program.
Mushrooms and herbs. This bill adds only cultivated mushrooms
and herbs, not all agricultural products, to the list of
products banned from sale in areas near a CFM. When these CFM
laws were enacted, the intent was to ban only traditional raw
products (such as fresh whole fruits, vegetables, nuts, and
flowers) from being sold in an adjacent non-certified market or
vending area. However, cultivated mushrooms and herbs were
inadvertently left out at that time and are now included in this
bill.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: Yes
SUPPORT: (Verified8/18/15)
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Certified Farmers' Markets of Sacramento
OPPOSITION: (Verified8/18/15)
None received
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the author, "This is the
Assembly Committee on Agriculture's Omnibus bill to make
corrections and provide clarifications to the codes on
agricultural matters. The provisions of this measure are
non-controversial, have no opposition, and have been vented with
the appropriate agencies and industry groups."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 74-0, 5/22/15
AYES: Achadjian, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla,
Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau,
Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly,
Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina
Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez,
Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden,
Irwin, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low,
Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin,
Nazarian, Obernolte, Patterson, Perea, Quirk, Rendon,
Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark
Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Atkins
NO VOTE RECORDED: Alejo, Jones, O'Donnell, Olsen, Waldron,
Weber
Prepared by:Anne Megaro / AGRI. / (916) 651-1508
8/19/15 21:00:54
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