BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 337|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 337
Author: Monning (D)
Amended: 6/20/11 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE NATURAL RES. AND WATER COMMITTEE : 6-3, 6/14/11
AYES: Pavley, Evans, Kehoe, Padilla, Simitian, Wolk
NOES: La Malfa, Cannella, Fuller
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 60-0, 4/14/11 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Sustainable seafood
SOURCE : Monterey Bay Aquarium
DIGEST : This bill provides that the voluntary
sustainable seafood program, each component of the program,
and actions taken by the Ocean Protection Council to
implement the program are not regulations for the purposes
of the Administrative Procedure Act, and requires that any
substantive amendments or revisions to the protocol be
developed in a transparent process and adopted by the
council in a public meeting.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
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1. Requires the Ocean Protection Council (OPC) to develop
and implement a voluntary sustainable seafood program
containing the following four components: (a) A
protocol to guide entities on how to be independently
certified to internationally accepted standards for
sustainable seafood; (b) a marketing assistance program
for California caught seafood certification; (c) a
competitive grant and loan program for assisting
California fisheries in qualifying for certification;
and (d) the design of a label to be used exclusively for
California caught sustainable seafood.
2. Requires the guidance protocol to be developed in a
transparent process by the OPC in a public meeting.
Also requires the OPC to publicly document that
statutorily specified criteria for certification to
internationally accepted standards for sustainable
seafood have been met, including Guidelines for the
Ecolabeling of Fish and Fishery Products from Marine
Capture Fisheries promulgated by the Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
3. Requires regulations adopted by state agencies to be
adopted in accordance with the procedures of the
Administrative Procedures Act (APA), which sets out
specific requirements and timelines for public notice,
public hearings and public comments, and requires
regulations to be submitted to the Office of
Administrative Law (OAL) for approval. The APA requires
OAL to review proposed regulations for conformity with
the legal standards of necessity, clarity, authority,
nonduplication, reference and consistency.
4. Defines a regulation to include every rule, regulation,
order, or standard of general application or the
amendment, supplement, or revision of any rule,
regulation, order, or standard adopted by any state
agency to implement, interpret, or make specific the law
enforced or administered by it, or to govern its
procedure.
This bill provides that the state's voluntary sustainable
seafood program developed and implemented by the OPC, each
component of the program, and actions taken by the OPC to
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implement the program, are not regulations for the purposes
of the APA.
Background
In 2009, AB 1217 (Monning), Chapter 279, Statutes of 2009,
was passed and signed by Governor Schwarzenegger. That
legislation established a sustainable seafood program at
the OPC that is required to adhere to international
sustainable seafood standards. Generally, these standards
are designed to avoid overfishing and they also establish a
management system that meets specified criteria. This
program is non-regulatory and is open to fishermen and
businesses within a fishery who voluntarily seek to
establish the sustainability of that fishery. AB 1217 also
authorized marketing assistance to sustainable fisheries
which would be administered through competitive grants or
loans by the OPC.
Additionally, the statute directs the OPC to develop a
protocol to guide entities on how to be independently
certified as sustainable and to design a label or labels
that may be used exclusively to identify seafood caught in
California.
The statute stipulates that the protocol is to be developed
in a transparent process and adopted by the OPC in a public
meeting. In addition, the protocol must meet or exceed the
standards for the "Eco-labeling of Fish and Fishery
Products from Marine Capture Fisheries" promulgated by the
FAO. The OPC itself will not certify fisheries in
California, but instead it will guide entities on how to
become certified as sustainable through existing
organizations.
At the March 3, 2010 OPC meeting, the OPC approved a
recommendation to appoint a public advisory board to assist
the staff of the OPC in implementation of AB 1217. The
panel members represent state or federal fishery management
agencies, non-governmental organizations, the commercial
fishing industry, fish processors, fish retailers or
traders, restaurateurs, public health/nutrition officials,
fishing port officials, and the scientific community.
Following three public meetings and a period of public
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comment, a draft protocol was presented to the OPC on May
12, 2011.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 7/11/11)
Monterey Bay Aquarium (source)
7th Generation Advisors
CalCoast
Coastal Conservancy
Defenders of Wildlife
Environmental Defense Fund
Monterey Fish Market
Planning and Conservation League
Save Our Shores
Sierra Club California
OPPOSITION : (Verified 7/11/11)
Turtle Island Restoration Network
California Fisheries and Seafood Institute
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : Supporters include the Coastal
Conservancy, a coalition of ocean conservation
organizations including the Monterey Bay Aquarium
(sponsor), Environmental Defense Fund, Defenders of
Wildlife, Save Our Shores, and 7th Generation Advisors. On
the issue of the APA exemption, the Coastal Conservancy
states that the formal APA rulemaking process would
unnecessarily duplicate the transparency and public
participation already required by AB 1217. Further, the
Coastal Conservancy states that the sustainable seafood
certification methodologies may be updated as frequently as
every six months for the foreseeable future, especially
considering that this is a new and evolving program.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The Turtle Island Restoration
Network advocates for an amendment requiring greater
outreach by the OPC that would provide more extensive
public notice to low-income, non-English speaking, and
other non-governmental organizations. It also opposes the
APA exemption.
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The California Fisheries and Seafood Institute considers
the voluntary sustainable seafood initiative to be
regulatory in nature that should be subject to the APA
process.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 60-0, 4/14/11
AYES: Achadjian, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, Bill
Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford,
Brownley, Buchanan, Campos, Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro,
Cook, Davis, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eng, Fletcher, Fong,
Fuentes, Furutani, Gatto, Gordon, Hagman, Halderman,
Hall, Hayashi, Roger Hern�ndez, Hill, Huber, Hueso,
Huffman, Jeffries, Lara, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Miller,
Mitchell, Monning, Nestande, Nielsen, Norby, Pan, Perea,
V. Manuel P�rez, Portantino, Silva, Skinner, Smyth,
Solorio, Swanson, Torres, Valadao, Wieckowski, Yamada,
John A. P�rez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Alejo, Butler, Charles Calderon, Conway,
Feuer, Galgiani, Garrick, Gorell, Grove, Harkey, Jones,
Knight, Logue, Mansoor, Mendoza, Morrell, Olsen, Wagner,
Williams, Vacancy
CTW:kc 7/12/11 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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