BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE
Senator Cathleen Galgiani, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: SB 822 Hearing Date: 3/29/16
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|Author: |Roth |
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|Version: |1/5/16 Introduced |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|Anne Megaro |
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Subject: Agricultural pest control: citrus disease prevention
SUMMARY :
This bill would appropriate $5 million from the General Fund to
the Citrus Disease Management Account within the California
Department of Food and Agriculture Fund for the purpose of
combating citrus disease or its vectors. This bill would also
increase the monthly citrus assessment fee from $0.09 to $0.12
per 40 pound carton.
BACKGROUND AND EXISTING
LAW :
California is the top-producing agricultural state in the nation
with $54 billion in agricultural commodity value in 2014.
California is also a top producer of citrus fruits and is ranked
second only to Florida in citrus production but first in citrus
product sold fresh to market. According to the most recent
census, in 2012, the $2.1 billion California citrus industry
grew nearly 4 million tons of citrus on 270,000 acres and
provided more than 14,000 jobs.
Existing law establishes the California Citrus Pest and Disease
Prevention Committee (CCPDPC) within the California Department
of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) to advise the secretary of CDFA
on efforts to prevent and manage citrus pests and diseases. An
assessment is levied on citrus producers and deposited into the
Citrus Disease Management Account for the sole purpose of
combating citrus-specific pests and diseases. This account may
also contain funds from federal and other non-General Fund
SB 822 (Roth) Page 2 of ?
sources. The current assessment rate is $0.09 per 40 pound
carton, which amounts to $15 million annually and represents
more than half of the total budget for this program (AB 281,
Statutes of 2009; Food and Agricultural Code §5911 et seq.).
Asian citrus psyllid (ACP) is an invasive pest that feeds on
citrus plants' leaves and stems and causes shoot deformation and
plant stunting. More importantly, ACP may transmit
Huanglongbing (HLB), a bacterial plant disease that causes the
plant to produce unpalatable/inedible fruit before ultimately
killing the tree. According to CDFA, HLB is the most
devastating disease of citrus in the world. There is no cure
and infected plants must be destroyed.
The first discovery of ACP and HLB in the United States was in
Florida in 1998 and early September 2005, respectively. Within
2 years, the disease HLB spread to all citrus-producing counties
and infected over half of all citrus trees in the state.
Studies have shown that the economic damage due to HLB in
Florida alone has resulted in a loss of $7.8 billion and 7,513
jobs since 2007, reducing the industry to nearly a quarter of
the size it once was. The disease HLB has also been detected in
Georgia, Louisiana, South Carolina, Texas, and most recently,
California.
In 2008, the pest ACP was first identified in Southern
California. In in the last two years, ACP has rapidly spread
north into commercial citrus groves and residential trees, and
quarantine boundaries have expanded to encompass one-third of
the state. Meanwhile, in March 2012, HLB was detected in a
residential, multi-grafted citrus tree in Los Angeles County.
The tree was destroyed, however the disease was detected again
in 2015 in 17 trees located in the surrounding areas. The new
finds and the rapid northern migration is a cause of great
concern, raising CDFA's surveillance, trapping, and analytical
workloads.
According to the University of California, Agriculture and
Natural Resources (UCANR), the citrus industry, the University
of California, and both the state and federal governments are
working to eliminate and prevent the establishment of ACP and
HLB in California. Much of the research is conducted with
funding from the citrus industry through the Citrus Research
Board, UCANR, CDFA Specialty Crops Block Grants, and the United
States Department of Agriculture - National Institute of Food
SB 822 (Roth) Page 3 of ?
and Agriculture (USDA-NIFA).
The Agricultural Act of 2014 (H.R. 2642) was signed into law on
February 7, 2014, and directs $125 million of the USDA Specialty
Crop Research Initiative funding toward citrus disease research
over the next 5 years. In FY 2015, the federal government
awarded $20 million in grants nationwide to university
researchers and extension projects to aid in the fight against
HLB.
PROPOSED
LAW :
This bill:
1. Appropriates $5 million from the General Fund to the
Citrus Disease Management Account within the Department of
Food and Agriculture Fund for the purpose of combating
citrus disease or its vectors.
2. Increases the monthly citrus assessment fee from $0.09
to $0.12 per 40 pound carton.
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT:
According to the author, "SB 822 will provide much needed
funding to continue to combat the spread and devastating effects
of Huanglongbing (HLB) on California's citrus industry.
Florida has already lost approximately $7.8 billion in revenue,
162,000 citrus acres, and 7,513 jobs to HLB and similar impacts
are being seen in Texas. While California's citrus industry has
slowed the spread of the disease by raising $15 million per year
for trapping and treatments, it is not enough. SB 822 seeks to
increase the assessment on citrus growers to raise up to an
additional $5 million and provide an appropriation from the
General Fund to help protect California's $3 billion citrus
industry, 22,000 jobs and countless residential citrus trees so
important to California's rich history."
COMMENTS :
Vetoed: Governor Brown vetoed a similar bill in 2013, AB 571
(Gatto), stating "While I am acutely aware of the devastating
SB 822 (Roth) Page 4 of ?
effects of the Asian citrus psyllid and its vector
Huanglongbing, this program has mostly been funded by the citrus
industry and the federal government. If the current support is
inadequate, let's review our options during the budget process."
Funding sources: The CCPDPC is funded by the California citrus
industry and federal grants. Of the $25 million annual budget,
roughly $15 million is funded through the $0.09 per carton
assessment fee and $10 million through the United States
Department of Agriculture. However, this year, the federal
government approved an additional $2 million in funding that
will be used to increase psyllid detection and trapping in the
San Joaquin Valley. The CCPDPC received a one-time $1 million
appropriation from the General Fund in FY 2013-14 (AB 110,
Statutes of 2013), however no other monies from California's
General Fund have been appropriated.
Residential citrus: Over half of all citrus trees in California
are located in residential backyards. Currently, $12 million of
the industry-assessed fees are being used to detect and trap ACP
and remove HLB-infected citrus trees in the Los Angeles Basin,
the area of greatest infestation. None of the assessment fees
are currently being used to treat commercial citrus groves.
RELATED
LEGISLATION :
AB 862 (Agriculture) Chapter 374, Statutes of 2015. Among other
provisions, specifies that all expenditures incurred by CDFA be
reimbursed by the Citrus Disease Management Account.
SB 1018 (De León) Chapter 924, Statutes of 2014. Requires the
Secretary of CDFA to notify the CCPDPC for any changes to
program activities or increases in expenditures, and specifies
that only reasonable, rather than all, expenditures incurred by
CDFA be reimbursed by the program's funding account.
AB 571 (Gatto). Vetoed, 2013. This bill would have
appropriated $5 million from the General Fund to the Citrus
Disease Management Account within the California Department of
Food and Agriculture Fund for the purposes of combating citrus
disease or its vectors.
AB 604 (De León and Fuller) Chapter 17, Statutes of 2010.
SB 822 (Roth) Page 5 of ?
Authorizes CDFA to spend any monies it had collected in the
Citrus Disease Management Account on citrus specific pest and
disease programs through June 30, 2010.
AB 281 (De León) Chapter 426, Statutes of 2009. Establishes the
California Citrus Pest and Disease Prevention Committee and the
Citrus Disease Management Account within CDFA to prevent and
manage citrus pests and diseases. The Account shall consist of
money from industry assessment fees but may also include federal
and other non-General Fund sources.
SUPPORT :
California Citrus Mutual (Sponsor)
Southwest California Legislative Council
Western Growers Association
OPPOSITION :
None received
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