BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  SB 707
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   August 17, 2011

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

               SB 707 (Cannella and Wolk) - As Amended:  June 21, 2011 

          Policy Committee:                              AgricultureVote:9 
          - 0 

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program: 
          No     Reimbursable:              

           SUMMARY  

          This bill adds olive trees to the existing annual assessment of 
          one percent on gross sales on specified stock.  In addition, 
          this bill includes olive tree growers on the advisory board that 
          advises the director of the California Department of Food and 
          Agriculture on the assessment and the on-going research to 
          improve the health of the trees.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          1)The existing one percent assessment on fruit tree, nut trees, 
            and grapevines in 2010 generated $1.2 million in funding for 
            the Fruit Tree, Nut Tree and Grapevine Improvement Advisory 
            Board (IAB).

            Olives are a modest but growing sector of California 
            agriculture.  In 2009 there were approximately 31,000 acres of 
            olive trees, or slightly less than three percent of the total 
            acreage dedicated to fruit and nut trees. Including olive 
            trees in the assessment will likely generate an additional 
            $20,000 in revenue for the program. 

          2)The fees paid for this program is deposited in the Department 
            of Food and Agriculture Fund, a continuously appropriated 
            fund.  By increasing moneys in a continuously appropriated 
            fund, this bill would make an appropriation.

           COMMENTS  

           1)Background and Purpose  . Under current law an annual assessment 
            of one percent of gross sales is applied to all deciduous pome 








                                                                  SB 707
                                                                  Page  2

            and stone fruit trees, nut trees, and grapevines sold within 
            the state, produced within the state, or shipped from the 
            state.  This assessment is used to fund research designed to 
            reduce and eliminate diseases affecting the trees. This bill 
            adds olive trees to the list of trees affected by the 
            assessment. 

            Supporters, such as the California Olive Council, note that 
            adding olives to the program provides California nurseries 
            with plant materials that are disease-free and certified as 
            true-to-type.  Over the past five years, olive oil plantings 
            have increased significantly.  Further, the addition of olives 
            to the IAB allows the study of diseases such as verticillium 
            wilt, which has prevented olives from being planted in large 
            areas of the Central Valley.  The inclusion of olive trees in 
            the IAB will help ensure that nurseries and olive farmers have 
            certified disease-free trees that are true-to-type. Further, 
            with the increasing number of varietal specific oils being 
            produced and marketed, the true-to-type validation has an 
            increasing importance to farmers and consumers.

           2)Related Legislation  . SB 818 (Wolk), also pending before this 
            committee, redefines California's olive oil labeling 
            requirements to conform to US labeling standards as outlined 
            in the U.S. Standards for Grades of Olive Oil and Olive-Pomace 
            oil published in the Federal Register that took effect on 
            October 25, 2010 (federal regulations).   

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Julie Salley-Gray / APPR. / (916) 
          319-2081