BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2511
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Date of Hearing: April 13, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Lorena Gonzalez, Chair
AB
2511 (Levine) - As Amended March 28, 2016
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|Policy |Agriculture |Vote:| 9 - 0 |
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No
SUMMARY:
This bill:
1)Defines "biochar" as a material derived from thermochemical
conversion of biomass in an oxygen-limited environment
containing at least 60 percent carbon.
AB 2511
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2)Adds biochar to the definition of "auxiliary and soil plant
substances" by including it in the list of products intended
to be used for influencing soils, plant growth, or crop or
plant quality.
3)Specifies that soil amendments, except biochar, are excluded
from the definition of auxiliary and soil plant substances.
FISCAL EFFECT:
1)The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) is
expected to incur increased costs for the additional
inspections and reviews pursuant to this bill. If two
inspectors and two environmental scientists were needed for
routine sample inspections, ongoing costs would be in the
range of $430,000 a year (Food and Agriculture Fund).
2)The fiscal costs of additional inspections will be partially
offset by fees and assessments of biochar manufacturers.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose: According to the author, AB 2511 will help the
environment and the agriculture industry by encouraging the
biochar market to expand. The author argues that proper
regulatory oversight is needed to ensure that consumers are
protected and that there is an equitable marketplace.
2)Background: Biochar is a type of charcoal created by heating
woody waste materials or biomass in a process called
pyrolysis. When combined with other materials, biochar has a
number of agricultural benefits, including helping with water
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retention and promoting the growth of microbes. Biochar is
also thought to be environmentally beneficial by reducing
fertilizer runoff and leeching; and the process that creates
biochar leaves behind pure carbon rather than having that
carbon enter the atmosphere.
3)Cost savings through AB 1811. If enacted, AB 1811 (Dodd),
which passed the Assembly Agriculture Committee on March 30,
2016, would reduce the fiscal costs of AB 2511 because no
additional inspectors would be needed to inspect biochar. AB
1811 provides CDFA flexibility in how it inspects organic
input material, and CDFA staff believes they could use that
flexibility to assign existing inspectors for biochar
inspections. If AB 1811 becomes law, then CDFA would incur
annual costs in the range of $200,000.
Analysis Prepared by:Luke Reidenbach / APPR. / (916)
319-2081