Amended in Assembly March 1, 2016

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 1894

Introduced by Committee on Agriculture

February 11, 2016

An act to amend begin delete Section 48003 of end delete begin insert Sections 48003, 61345, 61412, 61805, and 62211 of, and to add Section 61306.5 to, end insert the Food and Agriculture Code, relating to begin delete agriculture. end delete begin insert food and agriculture, and making an appropriation therefor. end insert

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1894, as amended, Committee on Agriculture. begin delete Handlers: navel oranges, Valencia oranges, lemons, and mandarin citrus varieties: failure to pay fees. end delete begin insert Food and agriculture: omnibus bill. end insert

begin insert (1) end insert begin insert   end insert Existing law establishes the California Citrus Advisory Committee and requires the committee to develop and make recommendations to the Secretary of Food and Agriculture regarding procedures for implementing an inspection program. Existing law requires producers of navel oranges, Valencia oranges, lemons, or mandarin citrus varieties grown in this state and prepared for fresh market in certain counties of the state to pay an assessment, as provided. Existing law requires the assessment to be collected from the producer by the first handler, and requires that the assessment be remitted to the Department of Food and Agriculture by the first handler, along with an assessment form, at the end of each month during the marketing season. Existing law requires any handler that does not file the required assessment report and assessments by the 10th day of the month following the month for which the assessment is payable to pay a penalty of 10% of the assessment owed, and, in addition, 1.5% interest per month on the unpaid balance.

This bill would instead require a handler to file the required assessment form and pay the assessment and inspection fees by the last day of the month immediately following the month in which the commodities were received, and would additionally apply the 10% penalty and 1.5% interest to a failure to pay an inspection fee. The bill would make a handler personally liable for the payment of assessments and inspection fees.

begin insert

(2) Existing law regulates the production, handling, and marketing of milk and dairy products and requires every milk handler subject to that regulatory scheme to pay specified assessments and fees to the secretary to cover the costs of regulating milk. In that regard, existing law requires every milk handler who receives manufacturing milk subject to the milk marketing regulatory requirements or a handler subject to a milk stabilization and marketing plan, including producer-handlers, to deduct a specified assessment from payments made to producers for manufacturing milk or market milk, respectively. Existing law establishes the Department of Food and Agriculture Fund as a special fund, and continuously appropriates moneys in the fund for the administration and enforcement of, among other things, laws regulating the marketing of milk and other dairy products and the stabilization and marketing of market milk.

end insert begin insert

This bill would, for purposes of those provisions, define the term “educational and research activities” and would additionally provide for the regulation of milk and dairy products-related educational and research activities. The bill would authorize the use of moneys from the above-described assessments and fees for administering and enforcing the manufacturing milk and market milk laws, including the regulation of those educational and research activities. By authorizing the expenditure of moneys from the fund for a new purpose, that is, for milk and dairy-related educational and research activities, the bill would make an appropriation.

end insert

Vote: majority. Appropriation:  begin delete no end delete begin insert yes end insert . Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

Section 48003 of the Food and Agricultural Code
is amended to read:

48003.  

(a) Every person acting as a handler of commodities
subject to this chapter shall be personally liable for the payment
of assessments and inspection fees. Any handler who fails to file
the required assessment form or pay an assessment or inspection
fee by the last day of the month immediately following the month
in which the commodities were received shall pay to the secretary
a penalty of 10 percent of the assessment, inspection fee, or the
sum of both the assessment fee and the inspection fee, owed and,
in addition, 1.5 percent interest per month on the unpaid balance.

(b) It shall be unlawful for a handler to refuse to collect the
assessments or remit the assessments and the proper forms required
by this chapter.

(c) A handler shall not charge a producer an administrative fee
for collecting or remitting an assessment.

(d) A producer who disputes the amount of the assessment may
file a claim with the secretary. The producer shall prove his or her
claim by a preponderance of the evidence.

(e) A producer may not bring a claim against a handler for
damages, or otherwise, in connection with the assessment or the
required deduction by the handler of the moneys owed to the
producer.

begin insert

begin insert SEC. 2. end insert   

end insert

begin insert Section 61306.5 is added to the end insert begin insert Food and Agricultural
Code end insert begin insert , to read: end insert

begin insert

begin insert 61306.5. end insert   

“Educational and research activities” means any
effort to develop and improve the management practices of dairy
producers and processors, including, but not limited to, practices
associated with the environmental sustainability of land, air
quality, and water quality.

end insert

begin insert

begin insert SEC. 3. end insert   

end insert

begin insert Section 61345 of the end insert begin insert Food and Agricultural Code end insert begin insert is
amended to read: end insert

61345.  

begin insert (a) end insert begin insert   end insert Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 61801),
Chapter 2.5 (commencing with Section 62500), and Chapter 3
(commencing with Section 62700) shall be liberally construed as
being complementary of, and supplemental to, this chapter, and
these chapters shall constitute a single comprehensive scheme for
the regulation of the production and handling of begin delete milk. end delete begin insert milk and
related educational and research activities. end insert However, each of the
chapters, and each article, section, subdivision, sentence, clause,
and phrase of each chapter is severable.

begin delete

If

end delete

begin insert (b) end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert If end insert one of the chapters or any article, section, subdivision,
sentence, clause, or phrase of any one of the chapters is for any
reason held void, invalid, or unconstitutional, the decision shall
not affect the validity of any other chapter or any of its articles,
sections, subdivisions, sentences, clauses, or phrases.

begin insert

begin insert SEC. 4. end insert   

end insert

begin insert Section 61412 of the end insert begin insert Food and Agricultural Code end insert begin insert is
amended to read: end insert

61412.  

begin insert (a) end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert (1) end insert begin insert   end insert Every milk handler who receives manufacturing
milk subject to begin delete the provisions of end delete this article shall deduct as an
assessment from payments made to producers for manufacturing
milk the sum of one and two-tenths cents ($0.012) per
hundredweight of manufacturing milk.

begin delete

The

end delete

begin insert (2) end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert The end insert amount of the assessments begin delete so end delete deducted begin insert pursuant to
paragraph (1) end insert shall be paid to the begin delete director end delete begin insert secretary end insert on or before
the 45th day following the last day of the month during which the
manufacturing milk was received.

begin delete

Every

end delete

begin insert (b) end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert (1) end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert Every end insert milk handler who receives manufacturing milk
subject to begin delete the provisions of end delete this article that purchases or handles
manufacturing milk from producers shall pay a fee of six-tenths
of one cent ($0.006) per hundredweight of manufacturing milk.

begin delete

The

end delete

begin insert (2) end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert The end insert amount of the fee shall be paid to the begin delete director end delete begin insert secretary end insert
on or before the 45th day following the last day of the month in
which the manufacturing milk was received.

begin insert

(c) Moneys from the amounts paid to the secretary pursuant to
subdivisions (a) and (b) may be used to administer and enforce
this chapter.

end insert

begin insert

begin insert SEC. 5. end insert   

end insert

begin insert Section 61805 of the end insert begin insert Food and Agricultural Code end insert begin insert is
amended to read: end insert

61805.  

The purposes of this chapter are to do all of the
following:

(a) Provide funds for administration and enforcement of this
chapter, by assessments to be paid by producers and handlers of
market milk in the manner prescribed in this chapter.

(b) Authorize and enable the begin delete director end delete begin insert secretary end insert to prescribe
marketing areas and to determine minimum prices to be paid to
producers by handlers for market milk begin delete which end delete begin insert that end insert are necessary
due to varying factors of costs of production, health regulations,
transportation, and other factors in the marketing areas of this state.
In determining minimum prices to be paid producers by handlers,
the begin delete director end delete begin insert secretary end insert shall endeavor under like conditions to
achieve uniformity of cost to handlers for market milk within any
marketing area. However, no minimum prices established or
determined under this chapter shall be invalid because uniformity
of cost to handlers for market milk in any marketing area is not
achieved as a result of the minimum producer prices so established
or determined.

(c) Authorize and enable the begin delete director end delete begin insert secretary end insert to formulate
stabilization and marketing plans, subject to the limitations
prescribed in this chapter with respect to the contents of the
stabilization and marketing plans, and to declare the plans in effect
for any marketing area.

(d) Enable the dairy industry, with the aid of the state, to develop
and maintain satisfactory marketing conditions, bring about and
maintain a reasonable amount of stability and prosperity in the
production of market milk, and provide means for begin delete carrying on
essential end delete begin insert conducting end insert educational begin insert and research end insert activities.

begin insert

begin insert SEC. 6. end insert   

end insert

begin insert Section 62211 of the end insert begin insert Food and Agricultural Code end insert begin insert is
amended to read: end insert

62211.  

begin insert (a) end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert (1) end insert begin insert   end insert Every handler subject to the provisions of any
stabilization and marketing plan, including a producer-handler,
shall deduct as an assessment from payments made to producers
for market milk, including the handler’s own production, the sum
of one and six-tenths cents ($0.016) per hundredweight of market
milk.

begin delete

The

end delete

begin insert (2) end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert The end insert amount of the assessments so deducted shall be paid to
the begin delete director end delete begin insert secretary end insert on or before the 45th day following the last
day of the month during which such market milk was received.

begin delete

Every

end delete

begin insert (b) end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert (1) end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert Every end insert handler subject to the provisions of any
stabilization and marketing plan that purchases or handles market
milk from producers, including the handler’s own production, if
any, shall pay a fee of eight-tenths of one cent ($0.008) per
hundredweight of market milk.

begin delete

The

end delete

begin insert (2) end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert The end insert amount of such fee shall be paid to the begin delete director end delete begin insert secretary end insert
on or before the 45th day following the last day of the month in
which begin delete such end delete begin insert that end insert market milk was received.

begin insert

(c) Moneys from the amounts paid to the secretary pursuant to
subdivisions (a) and (b) may be used to administer and enforce
this chapter.

end insert