BILL ANALYSIS Ó
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1811|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
CONSENT
Bill No: AB 1811
Author: Dodd (D)
Amended: 5/27/16 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE AGRICULTURE COMMITTEE: 5-0, 6/21/16
AYES: Galgiani, Cannella, Berryhill, Pan, Wolk
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 79-0, 4/21/16 (Consent) - See last page for
vote
SUBJECT: Fertilizer: organic input material: registration:
inspections
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill authorizes the California Department of Food
and Agriculture (CDFA) to develop a new schedule for organic
input material label registrations; authorizes provisional label
registrations, as specified; prioritizes inspections for
high-risk products and manufacturers; and authorizes CDFA to
determine whether a fertilizer material is mislabeled, as
specified.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Requires CDFA to enforce laws and adopt regulations relating
AB 1811
Page 2
to the manufacture, labeling, and distribution of fertilizing
materials.
2)Defines "organic input material," or OIM, to mean any bulk or
packaged commercial fertilizer, agricultural mineral,
auxiliary soil and plant substance, specialty fertilizer, or
soil amendment, excluding pesticides, that is used in organic
crop and food production that complies with the National
Organic Program standards.
3)Requires every manufacturer or distributor of fertilizing
materials to obtain a license from CDFA. All licenses are
renewed in January of each odd-numbered year and are valid for
two years.
4)Requires fertilizing material label registration for each
differing product, such as changes in the guaranteed analysis
or derivation statement. All registrations are renewed in
January of an even-numbered year and are valid for two years.
5)Establishes licensing and registration fees.
6)Authorizes CDFA to inspect OIM manufacturers at least once per
year.
7)Authorizes CDFA to cancel an existing registration or refuse
to register any fertilizer material which the secretary
determines to be detrimental or harmful to plants, animals,
public safety, or the environment, or for any product that
contains false or misleading claims.
8)Authorizes CDFA to collect an assessment fee not to exceed
$0.002 per dollar of sales of all fertilizing materials.
AB 1811
Page 3
9)Authorizes CDFA to inspect, sample, and analyze fertilizing
materials and to conduct investigations concerning the use,
sale, adulteration, or misbranding of any substance.
This bill:
1)Allows for a provisional registration of a label for OIMs or
fertilizers during the registration renewal process while
labels are being corrected and reprinted.
2)Authorizes CDFA to develop a schedule for all label
registrations and renewals, which shall be valid for two
years.
3)Expands CDFA's authority to conduct inspections by removing
the requirement that OIM manufacturers be inspected annually
during the registration process and, instead, requires CDFA to
give priority to inspecting high-risk products and
manufacturers.
4)Authorizes CDFA, rather than the National Organic Program, to
approve third-party inspectors for out-of-state OIM
manufacturers.
5)Authorizes CDFA to grant a provisional registration for a
maximum of six months for a registered product undergoing
renewal.
6)Authorizes CDFA to make a determination whether or not a
fertilizing material is being distributed under the name of
another fertilizing material.
Background
AB 1811
Page 4
The Fertilizing Materials Inspection Program within CDFA was
created to ensure that fertilizer materials are safe and meet
the quality and quantity as guaranteed on the product's label.
This program is responsible for licensing manufacturers,
reviewing and registering product labels, conducting
inspections, and providing research and education regarding the
safe use and handling of fertilizing material.
Comments
Need for this bill. This bill addresses several concerns
regarding OIM fertilizers, such as changing registration renewal
dates to ease workload on departmental staff, authorizing CDFA
to inspect high-risk products and manufacturers more often,
allowing manufacturers to sell product while the label is
undergoing renewal, and authorizing CDFA to make a determination
on an individual basis whether a fertilizing material requires a
new label.
Registration renewal schedule. Currently, all fertilizing
materials must renew label registrations on the same day
(January 1 of the odd-numbered year). In order to approve a
label registration, CDFA must ensure that all claims, submitted
data, and other information is valid. If scientific evaluation
is required, a CDFA senior environmental scientist reviews the
data, performs an environmental assessment, and consults with
outside experts. After this process, the label may be approved.
Given that all label registrations are due on the same date,
this bill allows CDFA to develop a new schedule to change
registration renewal dates to ease workload on departmental
staff.
Inspections. Currently, CDFA is required to inspect every OIM
manufacturer at least once per year. Given budget constraints,
CDFA has had to use alternative, non-OIM sources of funding to
complete this task. Suggestions to raise the fee structure on
OIM manufacturers to fully cover this cost have been met with
AB 1811
Page 5
concerns that higher fees would be too burdensome for smaller
OIM manufacturers. Therefore, this bill authorizes CDFA to,
instead, inspect OIM manufacturers based on high-risk factors,
such as nitrogen content, while reserving the ability for CDFA
to inspect all OIM manufacturers as needed.
Nitrogen is a highly valuable resource and, as such, is at risk
for adulteration in fertilizing materials. In fact, the strict
inspection requirements on OIM products are the result of an
investigation that discovered an organic manufacturer illegally
using non-organic/synthetic materials in an OIM product. If an
OIM were adulterated with non-organic nitrogen, an organic
producer unknowingly using this non-organic product would be at
risk of losing organic certification. Furthermore, the federal
USDA National Organic Program (NOP) requires that only OIM
products with a 3% or greater nitrogen content be inspected.
Thus, this bill conforms state law with NOP standards but
maintains CDFA's discretion to inspect any OIM manufacturer.
Is a new label necessary? Concerns have been raised by some
organic fertilizer manufacturers that a new label is required
for a product because the OIM changed but did not change the
N-P-K values for the final product. For instance, if chicken
feathers are replaced by turkey feathers and the N-P-K values
are consistent, should a new label be required? This bill
authorizes CDFA to make determinations such as these on an
individual basis.
CDFA regulations. CDFA has stated that they will pursue
regulations should this bill pass. The regulations will include
dates and procedures for the new registration requirements,
provisional registration allowances during renewal, and what
products or entities are included as high risk products or
manufacturers of OIM.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
AB 1811
Page 6
Com.:YesLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified8/2/16)
California Certified Organic Farmers
La Rocca Vineyards
True Organic Fertilizers
OPPOSITION: (Verified8/2/16)
None received
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the author, "AB 1811 will
conform the Department's inspections of OIM manufacturers to NOP
while not limiting the Department's ability to inspect any OIM
manufacturer on a discretionary basis, at the same time,
providing increased fiscal equity between OIM and non-organic
fertilizer programs. Further, AB 1811 will provide fertilizer
manufacturers the ability to conduct business during their
license renewal periods."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 79-0, 4/21/16
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Arambula, Atkins, 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, Jones-Sawyer, Kim,
Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis,
Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte,
O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Quirk, Rodriguez, Salas,
Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner,
Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Rendon
NO VOTE RECORDED: Ridley-Thomas
AB 1811
Page 7
Prepared by: Anne Megaro / AGRI. / (916) 651-1508
8/3/16 19:22:37
**** END ****