BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON HEALTH
Senator Ed Hernandez, O.D., Chair
BILL NO: SB 746
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|AUTHOR: |Wolk |
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|VERSION: |February 27, 2015 |
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|HEARING DATE: |April 22, 2015 | | |
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|CONSULTANT: |Vince Marchand |
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SUBJECT : Food safety: grist mills
SUMMARY : Exempts from the requirements to register as a food
processing facility, and to obtain a permit as a retail food
facility, a historic water-driven grist mill, effective January
1, 2018, in order to allow grain to be milled, packaged and sold
at the mill without having to meet the requirements of a food
processing facility or a retail food facility.
Existing law:
1.Prohibits any person from engaging in the manufacture,
packing, or holding of any processed food unless the person
has a valid registration as a food processing facility from
the Department of Public Health (DPH).
2.Exempts from the food processing facility registration
requirements any person whose manufacturing, packing, or
holding of processed food is limited solely to temporarily
holding processed foods for up to seven days for further
transport if the foods are not potentially hazardous foods, or
to any person whose manufacturing, packing, or holding of
processed food is limited solely to certain activities that
are authorized under other specified permits and licenses.
3.Prohibits any food facility from being open for business
without a valid permit from DPH or the local health agency
having jurisdiction over the food facility.
4.Defines "food facility" as an operation that stores, prepares,
packages, serves, vends, or otherwise provides food for human
consumption at the retail level.
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5.Establishes various requirements that food facilities must
meet, including requiring that the interior floor, sides, and
top of the food holding area to be constructed of a smooth,
washable, impervious material capable of withstanding frequent
cleaning.
6.Exempts from the definition of "food facility" certain
specified entities, including premises operated by a producer
that sells only whole produce grown by the producer, provided
the sales are conducted on premises controlled by the
producer.
This bill:
1.Exempts from the requirement to register as a food processing
facility, beginning January 1, 2018, the milling, packaging,
and selling of grain produced and sold at a water-driven grist
mill on the National Register of Historic Places, provided
best management practices suitable for a historic water-driven
grist mill are followed for the processing and handling of the
product, the flour is identified as being produced in a
historic mill using traditional methods, and the product meets
applicable federal food adulteration purity standards.
2.Exempts from the definition of food facility, beginning
January 1, 2018, for purposes of law requiring food facilities
to obtain a permit from DPH or the local health agency having
jurisdiction over the food facility, a water-driven grist mill
that is on the National Register of Historic Places and that
has onsite sales of grain that is milled at the facility.
3.Makes various legislative findings and declarations related to
the recent moratorium on the closure of state parks and the
use of innovative tools to stabilize the Department of Parks
and Recreation (DPR) and broaden its financial base, and that
a more entrepreneurial and robust revenue-generation strategy
must be established for the state parks.
4.States the intent of the Legislature to encourage DPR and DPH
to consult with each other to develop and implement
additional, reasonable improvements designed to increase
public health security at the Bale Grist Mill State historic
Park, without impairing or adversely affecting historical,
cultural, or natural resources.
FISCAL
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EFFECT : This bill has not been analyzed by a fiscal committee.
COMMENTS :
1.Author's statement. According to the author, in 2011, as part
of the Governor's efforts to cut state expenditures, the Bale
Grist Mill and 69 other state parks were selected for closure.
The Napa County Regional Park and Open Space District, in
partnership with the Napa Valley State Parks Association, is
working to keep the mill open to the public. Being able to
sell flour produced at the mill for human consumption is an
important element in generating the revenues needed to keep
this National Historic landmark open to the public.
2.Bale Grist Mill State Historic Park. The Bale Grist Mill
State Historic Park is located near St. Helena in Napa County.
According to its website, the water-powered mill was built in
1846. Both the mill and its 36-foot water wheel are protected
as a state historic landmark and have been partially restored.
3.Double referral. This bill was heard in the Senate Natural
Resources Committee on April 14, 2015, and passed with a 7-0
vote.
4.Support. The Napa County Board of Supervisors (Napa County)
writes in support that the Bale Grist Mill is one of only two
remaining water-driven mills west of the Mississippi River.
Napa County states that the mill currently sells flour
produced at the mill, but it must be labeled as not fit for
human consumption because the mill is not registered as either
a retail food facility or a food processing facility. Napa
County cannot meet the standards for a retail food facility or
a food processing facility because the physical historic
construction of the mill makes it impossible to comply with
current codes. For example, wood floors are not allowed, the
porous grinding stone is not allowed, and contact between
grain/flour and the wood in the grain chutes and flour bins is
not allowed. Napa County supports this bill to allow the Bale
Grist Mill to be financially viable and not dependent on state
subsidies.
This bill is also supported by the Napa County Regional Park and
Open Space District and the City of Napa, which makes similar
arguments to Napa County.
5.Prior legislation. This bill is nearly identical to SB 170
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(Wolk) of 2014, which would have taken effect on January 1,
2016. SB 170 was vetoed by the Governor, who stated:
"Exempting these products by January 1, 2016, is premature, as
no best management practices yet exist for historic
water-driven grist mills. I will direct the Department of
Public Health and the Department of Parks and Recreation to
continue working with proponents on this and other potential
solutions to help raise needed revenues."
AB 1589 (Huffman), Chapter 533, Statutes of 2012, required DPR
to develop a plan to increase revenues at state parks,
appropriated $10 million in Proposition 84 general obligation
bond funds for the installation of revenue collection
equipment and other improvements at state parks, and
authorized taxpayers to voluntarily contribute to the state
park system through the income tax system.
6.Should a special permit be required? One of the provisions of
this bill adds a historic grist mill to the list of entities
exempted from the requirement to register as a food processing
facility. There are currently 10 exemptions listed in current
law, and each of these existing exemptions requires the entity
to have a specialized permit or license. For example, the
following entities are among those exempted from registering
as a food processing facility: a holder of a valid bottled
water or water vending machine license; a holder of a valid
cold storage license; a holder of a valid cannery license; a
holder of a valid winegrower's license or wine blender's
license; and a holder of a permit issued by a local health
department to operate a processing establishment that only
holds or warehouses processed food, under specified
conditions. The Legislature may wish to consider whether the
exemption proposed by this bill should follow the same form,
and require a permit to be issued to the grist mill by the
local health department.
SUPPORT AND OPPOSITION :
Support: Napa County Regional Park and Open Space District
(sponsor)
Napa City Council
Napa County Board of Supervisors
Oppose: None received.
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