BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1811
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Date of Hearing: March 30, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE
Bill Dodd, Chair
AB 1811
(Dodd) - As Amended February 25, 2016
SUBJECT: Fertilizer: organic input material: inspections.
SUMMARY: Deletes requirement for organic input material (OIM)
manufacturers to be inspected annually and makes other technical
changes. Specifically, this bill:
1)Deletes the requirement that OIM manufacturers be inspected at
least once per year.
2)Expands the California Department of Food and Agriculture's
(CDFA) ability to do site inspections by deleting language
that inspections are done during registration process.
3)Changes the approval of third party inspections from the
National Organic Program (NOP) to the Secretary (Secretary) of
CDFA and expands that approval to all OIM manufacturers to
both in-state or out-of-state.
4)Makes technical, non-substantive changes.
AB 1811
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EXISTING LAW: Existing law regulates fertilizing materials, as
defined, and which includes OIM, and provides for the licensure
of individuals who manufacture or distribute fertilizing
materials; requires OIM manufacturers to be inspected at least
once per year; authorizes CDFA to perform site inspections of
OIM manufacturing processes used to validate label nutrient
guarantees, claims, and compliance with specified federal
standards during the registration process, and to accept
inspections performed by a third-party organization recognized
by NOP for out-of-state OIM manufacturers; and, requires all
inspection records obtained by the third-party organization to
be made available to the Secretary upon request.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown.
COMMENTS: AB 856 (Caballero), Chapter 257, Statutes of 2009,
established the OIM manufacturers' licensure program, with a new
fee structure and authorized inspections of OIM manufacturers.
This was in response to an incident of a OIM manufacturer
adulterating their product with non-organic substances and
putting organic growers at risk of decertification.
In order to accommodate the cost of annual inspections of all
OIM manufacturing facilities, CDFA has used alternative funding
sources derived from non-organic fertilizer production. This
has created an inequality in the marketplace. If CDFA were to
raise the fee structure levied on OIM manufacturers to
supplement the high inspection costs, fees would be unbearable
for small manufacturers. This proposal seeks to relieve the
fiscal burden borne by non-organic fertilizer producers and
establish a sustainable OIM inspection protocol that is
cost-effective and while maintaining oversight of OIM
manufacturers.
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The U.S. Department of Agriculture's NOP only requires
facilities that produce liquid high-nitrogen products (greater
than 3% nitrogen) to be inspected annually. No other state,
which regulates OIM manufacturing facilities, inspects every
facility annually.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
California Certified Organic Farmers
La Rocca Vineyards
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by:Jim Collin / AGRI. / (916) 319-2084
AB 1811
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