BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1990
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1990 (Gordon)
As Amended May 15, 2014
Majority vote
AGRICULTURE 6-0 APPROPRIATIONS 17-0
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|Ayes:|Eggman, Skinner, Dahle, |Ayes:|Gatto, Bigelow, |
| |Pan, Quirk, Yamada | |Bocanegra, Bradford, Ian |
| | | |Calderon, Campos, |
| | | |Donnelly, Eggman, Gomez, |
| | | |Holden, Jones, Linder, |
| | | |Pan, Quirk, |
| | | |Ridley-Thomas, Wagner, |
| | | |Weber |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Creates definitions for "community food producer"
(CFP), as specified, in order to establish a CFP as an "approved
[food] source" to sell or provide specified food products
directly to the public and other specified users; and, provides
for enforcement and due process procedures. Specifically, this
bill :
1)Defines a CFP as a producer of agricultural products on land
that is compliant with local land use, as specified, that is
not land zoned for agricultural use.
2)Adds CFP to the list of entities not considered a food
facility under the cottage food law.
3)Defines "gleaner" as a person that legally gathers or harvests
an agricultural crop, as specified, made available by that
agricultural crop's owner.
4)Permits a CFP, unless a local ordinance prohibits such
activity, to sell or provide whole uncut fruits, vegetable, or
unrefrigerated eggs, directly to the public, a permitted
restaurant, or a cottage food operator, if they meet all the
following criteria:
a) Requires agricultural products be grown or produced in
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compliance with the Health and Safety Code defining an
"approved source" which includes meeting food safety
guidelines issued by a regulatory agency;
b) Requires agricultural products to be labeled with the
name and address of the CFP; and,
c) Requires "conspicuous signage" be provided in lieu of
product labeling if the CFP is selling at the site of
production. The signage is to include, but not be limited
to, the name and address of the CFP.
5)Permits a local city or county health enforcement office to
require a CFP to register with them, and to include, but not
be limited to, providing the name, address, and telephone
number of the CFP.
6)Permits a public health enforcement officer (PHEO) to enter
and inspect a CFP's operation in response to a food recall or
food safety compliant. Allows the PHEO to recover reasonable
costs from the CFP for the inspection.
7)Permits a PHEO to issue to a CFP, a cease and desist order for
violations of this chapter, prohibiting further sales until
the CFP and its operations have been cleared by the PHEO's
agency.
8)Permits a CFP, upon receiving a cease and desist order, 15
days to request a hearing before a hearing officer; failure to
request such a hearing, as specified, is deemed a waiver to
the CFP's right to a hearing.
9)Establishes that violations of this chapter are a misdemeanor;
each offense shall be punished by a fine of not less than $25
or more than $1,000, or by imprisonment in the county jail for
a term not exceeding six months, or by both fine and
imprisonment.
EXISTING LAW establishes the California Retail Food Code (CRFC),
with uniform health and sanitation standards for retail food
facilities and provides for the enforcement of those standards
by local health agencies and by the State Department of Public
Health, as specified; requires farm stands, as defined, to
comply with specified requirements governing food safety and
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sanitation; and, makes a violation of the code a crime.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, this bill has negligible fiscal impact to the
California Department of Public Health and has potentially minor
enforcement costs to local public health agencies, partially
recoverable through inspection fees, with any remainder likely
reimbursable.
COMMENTS : The movement of reducing greenhouse gas, but reducing
transportation of products, especially food stuffs, has placed
the focus on supplying more food items locally. Additionally,
the belief that fresher foods provide more flavors and are
healthier has fueled the desire for local foods. "Growing
Cities" is a recent documentary film released in 2013 at film
festivals, which examines the role of urban farming in America
and asks how much power it has to revitalize our cities and
change the way we eat. This bill tries to address this issue at
the most local level.
According to the author, this bill attempts to resolve the
uncertainty by local agencies regarding the direct sale of food
products from various types of garden properties, without the
expressed authorization of their local health enforcement
agency, and to provide statewide guidance for oversight for the
wide range and scope of such operations. This bill does provide
definitions to identify CFPs and their properties as an approved
source of food, and authorizes the sale of their products to the
public. It also provides for PHEOs to act upon an occurrence of
a food safety incident.
This bill would provide a statewide approach in providing
oversight of CFPs, while reducing the demands on local
governments to adopt individual ordinances. There are some
local jurisdictions that have adopted local ordinances in order
to establish requirements over the selling of CFPs. The selling
of CFPs is a practice that apparently is currently occurring and
increasing within the state. There may be a need for a
statewide approach to CFPs activities.
Conventional and organic farms have many requirements on them in
order to produce food for the public. They are restricted in
how they use pesticides and fertilizers, and have reporting
requirements. They cannot use products except in accordance
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with label instructions, some of which have re-entry
restrictions or waiting periods before harvest. The only
oversight CFP would have is in response to a food safety recall
or complaint. The urban use of pesticides and fertilizers has
been identified in water runoff due to overuse, or due to use
not in accordance with label instructions. This bill creates a
new standard for public food requirements than what currently
exists.
Tracking food borne illnesses is a difficult task for PHEO,
especially if food products do not carry a label containing
their origins. This bill provides that in lieu of a label, if
the product is sold at the site of production, "conspicuous
signage" is required, and would include, but not be limited to,
the name and address of the seller.
Related Legislation: AB 1252 (Health Committee), Chapter 556,
Statutes of 2013, made various technical, clarifying, and
conforming changes to CRFC, the state's principal law governing
food safety and sanitation in retail food facilities, and made
changes necessary to implement California's cottage food
operations law.
AB 551 (Ting), Chapter 406, Statutes of 2013, authorized a city
or county, after a public hearing, to establish by ordinance, a
zone within its boundaries for the purpose of entering into
voluntary enforceable contracts with landowners, for the use of
vacant, unimproved, or blighted lands, for small-scale
production of agriculture crops and animal husbandry.
AB 224 (Gordon), Chapter 404, Statutes of 2013, defined
community-supported agriculture (CSA) within the direct
marketing program regulated by CDFA; established regulatory
parameters and required CSA registration fees to fund
administration and related programmatic costs, as specified;
and, required CDFA to file an order to adopt, amend, or repeal
regulations relating to the fee.
AB 1616 (Gatto), Chapter 415, Statutes of 2012, defined the
production and sale of certain non-potentially hazardous foods
prepared in a home kitchens as a cottage food operation (CFO);
required CFOs to be registered or permitted; exempted CFOs from
CRFC; excluded CFOs from specified food processing
establishments and Sherman Law requirements; required CFOs to
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meet specified requirements relating to training, sanitation,
preparation, labeling, and permissible types of sales, and be
subject to inspections under specified circumstances; and, made
related requirements.
AB 2168 (Jones), Chapter 447, Statutes of 2008, expanded the
definition of direct marketing to include farm stands, field
retail stands, and other forms of direct marketing, revised
related definitions, and authorized CDFA to adopt regulations to
regulate direct marketing, as specified.
Analysis Prepared by : Jim Collin / AGRI. / (916) 319-2084
FN: 0003599