BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    




                   Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
                           Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair

                                           443 (Galgiani)
          
          Hearing Date:  8/17/2009        Amended: 8/17/2009
          Consultant:  Bob Franzoia       Policy Vote: Food & Ag 3-0
          _________________________________________________________________ 
          ____
          BILL SUMMARY:AB 443, the California Apple Pest and Disease  
          Prevention Act, would:
          - Require the Secretary of Food and Agriculture to appoint an 11  
          member committee from nominations received from the California  
          Apple Commission (commission) to administer provisions of the  
          bill.
          - Establish a 2 to 5 member scientific advisory panel to advise  
          the committee and secretary with information regarding biology,  
          life cycle, range, reproduction, and known control methods for  
          pests and diseases. 
          - Provide that the Department of Food and Agriculture may  
          investigate complaints referred by the commission and levy civil  
          penalties.
          _________________________________________________________________ 
          ____
                            Fiscal Impact (in thousands)

           Major Provisions         2009-10      2010-11       2011-12     Fund
           Apple pest and disease pre-
          vention program regulations       Up to $75 one time    Special*  
           

             - scientific advisory panel      Estimated $200 annually    
          Special*
                        
             - revenue                    ($750) annually on current  
          assessment rate             Special*
             
          * Food and Agriculture Fund (all costs offset by assessment)
          _________________________________________________________________ 
          ____

          STAFF COMMENTS: The apple commission was founded in 1994 as a  
          state marketing order. The commission was formerly known as the  
          California Apple Association and the California Granny Smith  
          Association, which was founded in 1986.  The commission is  
          funded by an assessment of $0.24 on each 40-pound box of apples  










          produced by the member growers and that the commission's budget  
          averages $750,000 per year.  
            
          This bill is similar to AB 1021 (Berryhill) 2008 which was  
          vetoed by the Governor due to the delay in passing the 2008-09  
          Budget.  As noted in the following chart, apple production has  
          declined significantly:
          Apple Fruit Utilized Production and Average Grower Return  
          Between 1998 and 2007
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
          |Crop  |Utilized|Fresh  |       |Processin|       |       |       |
          |Year  |        |Market |       |g        |       |       |       |
          |      |Producti|       |       |         |       |       |       |
          |      |on      |       |       |         |       |       |       |
          |------+--------+-------+-------+---------+-------+-------+-------|
          |      |        |       |       |Total    |       |Canned |       |
          |------+--------+-------+-------+---------+-------+-------+-------|
          |      |Tons    |Quantit|Value  |Quantity |Value  |Quantit|Value  |
          |      |        |y      | $/ton |  tons   |       |y      |       |
          |      |        |  tons |       |         |$/ton  |  Tons |$/tons |
          |------+--------+-------+-------+---------+-------+-------+-------|
          |1998  |430,000 |200,000|544.00 |230,000  |103.00 |10,000 |144.00 |
          |      |        |       |       |         |       |       |       |
          |------+--------+-------+-------+---------+-------+-------+-------|
          |2007  |172,500 |77,500 |$862.00|95,000   |$252.00|       |       |
          |      |        |       |       |         |       |---    |---    |
          |      |        |       |       |         |       |       |       |
           -----------------------------------------------------------------