BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 822
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Date of Hearing: June 29, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE
Bill Dodd, Chair
SB
822 (Roth) - As Amended May 31, 2016
SENATE VOTE: 38-1
SUBJECT: Agricultural pest control: citrus disease prevention:
monthly assessment.
SUMMARY: This bill increases the maximum monthly citrus
assessment fee from $0.09 to $0.12 cents per 40 pound carton.
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 (GF) 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.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Senate Committee on
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Appropriations, this bill would increase the citrus industry
assessed fee authority by $0.03 per carton, from $0.09 to $0.12.
If the fee were raised to the maximum level, revenues would
annually increase by roughly $5 million in special funds.
COMMENTS: Citrus is a $2 billion industry in the state of
California. California produces 82% of the United States' fresh
citrus and directly employs more than 14,000 people. It
contributes an additional $1.2 billion in economic value to the
state and supports another 10,000 jobs.
In March of 2012, Huanglongbing (HLB) was found in a Los
Angeles-area backyard. HLB is a bacterial plant disease that
destroys the production, appearance and value of citrus trees,
ruining the citrus. HLB is spread mainly by the Asian citrus
psyllid (ACP). To date there is no known controls for HLB other
than removing and destroying infected groves. After a 2005
discovery in
Florida, it took only two years for HLB to transmit to all 32
Florida citrus producing counties
and infect over half of the citrus trees in that state.
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 USDA. However, this year, the federal
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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 GF in FY 2013-14; however, no other
monies from California's GF have been appropriated.
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.
According to the author, this bill will provide much needed
funding to continue to combat the spread and devastating effects
of HLB on California's citrus industry.
RELATED LEGISLATION :
AB 862 (Agriculture), Chapter 374, Statutes of 2015, specified
that all expenditures incurred by CDFA be reimbursed by the
Citrus Disease Management Account.
SB 1018 (De León), Chapter 924, Statutes of 2014, required the
Secretary of CDFA to notify the CCPDPC for any changes to
program activities or increases in expenditures, and specified
that only reasonable, rather than all, expenditures incurred by
CDFA be reimbursed by the program's funding account.
AB 571 (Gatto) of 2013, would have appropriated $5 million from
the GF to the Citrus Disease Management Account within the CDFA
Fund for the purposes of combating citrus disease or its
vectors. This bill was vetoed by the Governor.
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AB 604 (De León and Fuller), Chapter 17, Statutes of 2010,
authorized 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, established
CCPDPC 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-GF sources.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
California Citrus Mutual (Sponsor)
Southwest California Legislative Council
Western Growers Association
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by:Victor Francovich / AGRI. / (916)
319-2084
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