BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1135
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 29, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE
Henry T. Perea, Chair
AB 1135
(Committee on Agriculture) - As Amended April 21, 2015
SUBJECT: Agricultural products.
SUMMARY: This bill makes additions and clarifying corrections
to the Citrus Pests and Disease Management Program (CPDMP) and
the Certified Farmers' Market (CFM) statutes. Specifically,
this bill:
1)Deletes the term "reasonable" so that all of CDFA's related
CPDMP costs are reimbursed;
2)Adds cultivated mushrooms and herbs to the products list that
are prohibited to sell in adjacent non-CFMs; and,
3)Corrects the certification or renewal requirements for a
farmer to be certified to sell at a CFM, by requiring the
farmer to submit to the county agricultural commissioner
(CAC), in the county where the land or facility is located,
the crops that the farmer plans to harvest.
EXISTING LAW establishes the California Citrus Pest and Disease
Prevention Committee (CCPDPC) within CDFA to advise the
AB 1135
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Secretary of CDFA on efforts to prevent and manage citrus pests
and diseases; authorizes an assessment on citrus producers for
the sole purpose of combating citrus-specific pests and
diseases; permits the use of funds from federal and other
non-General Fund sources; authorizes CCPDPC to develop, under
the approval of CDFA, a statewide citrus-specific pest and
disease work plan and recommend an annual assessment rate and
budget; and, requires the CCPDPC to reimburse CDFA for all
reasonable expenditures incurred in carrying out, implementing,
and administering the statewide work plan.
Existing law establishes that CFMs are point-of-sale locations
for California agricultural products that are registered and
operated in accordance with specified provisions. Existing law
requires an operator of a CFM to establish a clearly defined
marketing area where only agricultural products may be sold.
Existing law prohibits an operator of a CFM that also operates,
manages, or otherwise controls a separate sales activity or
vending event or marketing area in close proximity, adjacent, or
contiguous to the operator's CFM from allowing the sale or
distribution of fresh whole fruits, nuts, vegetables, and
flowers by vendors selling within those sales activity or
vending event or marketing areas. Under existing law, a
violation of these provisions is an infraction or misdemeanor,
as specified. Existing law requires a CFM operator or producer
to annually register with CDFA by applying for and receiving a
certificate from CAC. Existing law requires a producer farming
fruit, vegetables, nuts, herbs, and similar crops, once
certified, to annually submit information requested by CDFA
about the specific crops that the producer will harvest, or
intends to harvest, for sale directly to the public.
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FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown. Legislative Counsel has keyed this
bill fiscal.
COMMENTS: Last year's SB 1018 (De León) placed restrictions on
CDFA's management of CPDMP, including limiting CDFA's
reimbursements to being "reasonable costs." This bill removes
the term "reasonable" so that all CDFA's related costs are
reimbursed by CPDMP.
Last year's AB 1871 (Dickinson) rewrote and updated the
provisions for CFMs, increasing the fees, expanding the
violations, strengthening enforcement and restricting the sale
of agricultural products in ancillary markets adjacent to a CFM;
all at the request of the CFM managers and participating
farmers. In reviewing this statute, it has been discovered that
there were errors in the language, which this bill, AB 1135
(Agriculture) corrects.
Cultivated mushrooms and herbs were omitted as prohibited
agricultural products for sale in non-CFMs, and the registration
process for certifying a farmer was missing the oversight of
CAC. This bill simply corrects these two mistakes.
RELATED LEGISLATION: SB 1018 (De León), Chapter 924, Statutes
of 2014, specified that only reasonable, rather than all,
expenditures incurred by CDFA be reimbursed from the Citrus
Disease Management Account (CDMA) for responsibilities related
to the program; and, required CDFA obtain approval from CCPDPC
for any changes to the program activities or increases in
expenditures.
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AB 604 (De León and Fuller), Chapter 17, Statutes of 2010,
authorized CDFA to spend any monies it had collected in CDMA on
citrus specific pest and disease programs through June 30, 2010.
AB 281 (De León, Chapter 426, Statutes of 2009) established
CCPDPC and CDMA within CDFA to prevent and manage citrus pests
and diseases, and allows CCPDPC to levy fees on citrus producers
to pay for citrus disease detection and control programs.
AB 1871 (Dickinson), Chapter 579, Statutes of 2014, revised
provisions related to CFMs by increasing fees and penalties and
expanding requirements, enforcement, and violations.
AB 654 (Hall), Chapter 409, Statutes of 2013, extended the
sunset date to January 1, 2018, for the collection of CFM
operator fees and enforcement provisions.
SB 513 (Cannella), Chapter 337, Statutes of 2011, extended the
sunset date to January 1, 2014, for the collection of CFM
operator fees and enforcement provisions.
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REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
Certified Farmers' Markets of Sacramento
City of Beverly Hills
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by:Jim Collin / AGRI. / (916) 319-2084