BILL ANALYSIS �
AJR 29
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ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AJR 29 (Allen)
As Amended August 24, 2012
Majority vote
AGRICULTURE 9-0
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|Ayes:|Galgiani, Valadao, Bill | | |
| |Berryhill, Hill, Ma, | | |
| |Mendoza, Olsen, Perea, | | |
| |Yamada | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Memorializes the United States Department of
Agriculture (USDA), the United States Environmental Protection
Agency (USEPA), the California Department of Food and
Agriculture (CDFA), the California Department of Fish and Game
(DFG) and the California Department of Pesticide Regulation
(DPR), to officially recognize the importance of pollinators to
the food supply and the environment, declares the urgency of
Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), and promotes a healthy
environment for pollinators. Specifically, this resolution:
1)States bees and other pollinators are essential to the
majority of flowering plants and to the production of over 130
food crops.
2)States farmers and growers depend on pollinators for seed
production.
3)States honeybees are the main pollinators we depend on, but
native pollinators are also essential.
4)Lists a variety of California crops that depend on honeybees
and declares that poor pollination leads to poor fruit
development.
5)Declares that one in three bites of food we eat is dependent
on bees' pollination.
6)States that in 2006, bees in the United States (US) started
disappearing in large numbers and was labeled CCD.
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7)Declares that many interacting causes, such as pathogens,
habitat loss and pesticides, are likely contributors to CCD.
8)Declares that, since 2006, commercial beekeepers report annual
losses higher than normal numbers.
9)States bees are a keystone indicator species and their decline
suggests broader environmental degradation, and that a
majority of biologists believe that bee population decline and
the impact on biodiversity is a greater threat than climate
change.
10)Resolves that the California Legislature urge USDA, USEPA,
CDFA and DPR to officially recognize the critical importance
of pollinators to our food supply and to our environment.
11)Resolves that the California Legislature urge USDA, USEPA,
CDFA, DFG and DPR to declare the urgency of Colony Collapse
Disorder, as well as for further identifying the reasons
underlying Colony Collapse Disorder.
12)Resolves that the California Legislature urge USDA, USEPA,
CDFA, DFG and DPR to promote healthy environments for all
pollinators through existing and new funding sources.
13)Directs the Clerk of the Assembly to send copies of this
resolution to the Governor, Secretary of the Senate, and the
author for distribution.
FISCAL EFFECT : None
COMMENTS : Bee pollination is responsible for $15 to $20 billion
in added crop value, particularly for specialty crops such as
almonds and other nuts, berries, fruits, and vegetables. About
one mouthful in three in our diet, directly or indirectly,
benefits from honey bee pollination. While there are native
pollinators, honey bees are more prolific and the easiest to
manage for the large scale pollination that US agriculture
requires. In California, the almond crop uses approximately 1.3
million colonies of bees, roughly half of all honey bees in the
US.
The number of managed honey bee colonies has dropped from five
million in the 1940s to only 2.5 million today. At the same
time, the need for hives to supply pollination service has
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risen. Bee colonies are trucked farther and more often than in
the past. Bee colony health has been declining since the 1980s.
The spread into the United States of varroa and tracheal mites,
in particular, created major new stresses on honey bees. Other
stressors include habitat loss, lack of genetic diversity and
pesticides.
Beginning in October 2006, some beekeepers began reporting
losses of 30-90% of their hives. While colony losses are not
unexpected during winter weather, the magnitude of loss suffered
by some beekeepers was highly unusual. This phenomenon has been
termed CCD. The main symptom of CCD is a hive that includes all
of the following: 1) no, or a low number, of adult honey bees
present in the hive; 2) a live queen in the hive; and, 3) no
dead honey bees in the hive. Often there is still honey in the
hive and immature bees are present.
USDA formed a CCD steering committee in 2007 to examine the many
factors that have led to CCD. According to a USDA 2011 report
on CCD, the CCD Steering Committee is assisting the development
of science-based best management strategies that use current
research results associated with CCD incidence and pollinator
decline in general. As part of these efforts, the CCD Steering
Committee member agencies are working together to examine ways
to mitigate impacts on pollinator health. This effort is
coordinated with different federal partners (USDA, the
Department of the Interior, and USEPA), states, and
stakeholders, to look for workable solutions to CCD.
Analysis Prepared by : Victor Francovich / AGRI. / (916)
319-2084
FN: 0005542