BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1990|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1990
Author: Gordon (D), et al.
Amended: 7/1/14 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE HEALTH COMMITTEE : 7-1, 6/25/14
AYES: Hernandez, Morrell, Beall, De Le�n, DeSaulnier, Evans,
Monning
NOES: Nielsen
NO VOTE RECORDED: Wolk
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 73-1, 5/27/14 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Community food production
SOURCE : California Conference of Directors of Environmental
Health
DIGEST : This bill permits a community food producer, defined
as a producer of agricultural products on land that is not zoned
for agricultural use, to sell whole uncut fruits or vegetables,
or unrefrigerated shell eggs, directly to the public, including
restaurants, if the community food producer follows certain
requirements.
ANALYSIS : Existing law:
1.Establishes the California Retail Food Code (CRFC), which
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governs all aspects of retail food safety and sanitation in
California under the CRFC. Specifies that primary
responsibility for enforcement of the CRFC is with local
enforcement agencies, typically local environmental health
departments (LEHDs).
2.Requires, under the CRFC, that food be obtained from "approved
sources," which is defined as sources that comply with all
applicable laws, or a producer, manufacturer, distributor, or
food facility that is acceptable to the enforcement agency
based on a determination of conformity with applicable laws,
or, in the absence of applicable laws, with current public
health principles and practices, and generally recognized
industry standards that protect public health.
3.Deems as coming from an approved source any whole uncut fruit
or vegetable, or unrefrigerated shell egg, grown or produced
in compliance with all applicable federal, state, or local
laws, regulations, and food safety guidelines issued by a
regulatory agency.
4.Defines "potentially hazardous food" to mean any food capable
of supporting growth of infectious or toxigenic
micro-organisms when held at temperatures above 45 degrees
Fahrenheit.
5.Defines "farm stands" as premises established pursuant to
specified provisions of the Food and Agricultural Code, and
limits the food sales at farm stands to whole produce and
shell eggs. Prohibits live animals, birds, or fowl from being
kept or allowed within 20 feet of any area where food is
stored or held for sale.
6.Defines "community-supported agriculture program" as a program
under which a registered direct marketing producer, or a group
of registered direct marketing producers, grow food for a
group of California consumer shareholders or subscribers who
pledge or contract to buy a portion of the future crop, animal
production, or both, of the producer.
7.Permits farmers to sell fresh fruits, nuts and vegetables that
they produce, directly to the public at a certified farmers'
market, a field retail stand, or a farm stand, and exempts
this produce from certain minimum size, packaging and labeling
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requirements, subject to specified conditions. Limits farmers
to selling produce that does not conform to size, packaging
and labeling requirements only to consumers who are end users,
or individuals or entities that subsequently sell the produce
directly to end users.
8.Requires a producer that markets whole produce, shell eggs, or
processed foods through a community-supported agriculture
program to register as a direct marketing producer. Requires
the annual registration fee for registration as a direct
marketing producer to be set at the actual cost of
registration, with a maximum fee of $100 annually.
9.Requires the Department of Food and Agriculture (DFA), in
consultation with the Department of Public Health and local
health officers or designees, to publish and post on DFA's
Internet Web site small farm food safety guidelines on the
safe production, processing, and handling of both
non-potentially hazardous and potentially hazardous foods.
This bill:
1.Defines "community food producer" as a producer of
agricultural products on land that is not zoned for
agricultural use but is otherwise in compliance with
applicable local land use and zoning restrictions, including,
but not limited to, restrictions governing personal gardens,
community gardens, school gardens, and culinary gardens.
2.Exempts from the definition of "food facility," for purposes
of the CRFC, a "community food producer" as defined by this
bill.
3.Defines "gleaner," for purposes of the CRFC, as a person who
legally gathers remnants of an agricultural crop or harvests
part of, or all of, an agricultural crop made available by the
owner of the agricultural crop.
4.Permits a community food producer or a gleaner, as these terms
are defined by this bill, unless prohibited by a local
jurisdiction that has adopted an ordinance regulating
community food production, to sell or provide whole uncut
fruits or vegetables, or unrefrigerated shell eggs, directly
to the public, to a restaurant, or to a cottage food operation
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if the community food producer meets all of the following
requirements, in addition to any requirements imposed by a
locally adopted ordinance:
A. Requires agricultural products to be grown or produced
in compliance with all applicable federal, state, or local
laws, regulations, and food safety guidelines issued by a
regulatory agency;
B. Requires agricultural products to be labeled with the
name and address of the community food producer;
C. Requires conspicuous signage to be provided in lieu of a
product label if the agricultural product is being sold by
the community food producer on the site of the production.
Requires this signage to include the name and address of
the community food producer;
D. Requires best management practices (BMPs), as described
by DFA regarding small farm food safety guidelines on safe
production, processing, and handling of both
non-potentially hazardous and potentially hazardous foods;
and
E. Limits egg production to 15 dozen eggs per month.
1.Permits a local city or county health enforcement office to
require a community food producer or gleaner to register with
the city or county, and to provide specified information,
including the name, address, and telephone number of the
community food producer.
2.Permits an enforcement officer to enter into, and inspect the
operations of, a community food producer or gleaner in
response to a food safety recall or food safety complaint, and
permits the enforcement officer to recover reasonable costs
associated with an inspection from the community food producer
or gleaner.
3.Permits an enforcement officer to issue a community food
producer or gleaner a cease and desist order for violations of
the provisions of this bill, upon which the community food
producer or gleaner is prohibited from further sales until the
operations of the community food producer have been
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re-inspected and cleared by the enforcement officer's agency.
4.Permits a community food producer or gleaner, at any time
within 15 calendar days after being issued a cease and desist
order, to request in writing a hearing to show cause why the
prohibition of further sales is not warranted. Requires this
hearing to be held within 15 calendar days of the receipt of a
request for a hearing.
5.Specifies that violations of the requirements of a community
food producer or gleaner is subject to existing penalty
provisions of the CRFC, which provides for misdemeanor
penalties and fines of between $25 and $1,000 per offense.
Comments
According to the author, the agriculture movement is
experiencing burgeoning popularity, and California has become a
trailblazer in progressive food and farm legislation.
Additionally, there has been a dramatic growth in a wide range
of small community or urban gardens throughout the past decade.
These small productions sites include personal gardens, culinary
gardens, community gardens, and school gardens. AB 224
(Gordon), Chapter 404, Statutes 2013, last year's Community
Supported Agriculture (CSA) legislation provided the platform to
clarify the regulation of "community gardens" from a food safety
perspective. However, food production remains governed by a
patch-work quilt of disparate policies. Many local agencies are
unclear as to whether current law allows the direct sale of
produce from these community gardens without explicit
authorization by the LEHDs. Furthermore, no statewide guidance
currently exists with respect to the necessary regulatory
oversight given the wide range scale and scope of such
operations. The statewide approach in this bill promotes safe
community food while recognizing local land use and zoning
authority. By adhering to local land use zoning requirements, it
would reduce demands on local governments to adopt individual
local ordinances. This bill would also provide a single set of
BMPs consistent with recently enacted cottage food laws and CSA
laws.
Prior Legislation
AB 1616 (Gatto, Chapter 415, Statutes of 2012) provides a
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regulatory framework for the production in home kitchens of food
for sale, referred to as cottage food operations.
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 authorizes DFA to adopt regulations to
regulate direct marketing, as specified.
AB 593 (Strom-Martin, Chapter 833, Statutes of 1999) codified
regulations exempting direct marketers from specified packing
and labeling standards, amends fee structures, and authorizes
farmers' markets to establish rules and procedures.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/6/14)
California Conference of Directors of Environmental Health
(source)
California Association for Micro Enterprise Opportunity
Community Alliance with Family Farmers
Roots of Change
OPPOSITION : (Verified 8/6/14)
Association of California Egg Farmers
Sustainable Economics Law Center
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The California Association of
Environmental Health Administrators (CAEHA) is sponsoring this
bill to promote community food production while protecting
public health. CAEHA states that this bill fills a regulatory
void in the oversight of food production in urban settings.
CAEHA states that this bill deems food grown on
non-agriculturally zoned land to be approved, provided the
production is done in compliance with basic agricultural and
food safety best management practices. This bill follows up on
AB 224 (Gordon) from last year, which provided similar
regulatory oversight for the community supported agriculture
operations - the veggie boxes. CAEHA states that like AB 224,
this bill seeks to find a way to provide regulatory oversight
commensurate with the low public health risk of these
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operations. Because of the rapid expansion of urban agriculture
through community gardens, culinary gardens, school gardens and
even personal gardens, local agencies have had to respond to
concerns over food safety and land use. According to CAEHA, a
small number of local governments have established local
ordinances or guidelines for this community food production, but
there is a lack of statutory authority and consistency - two
factors that tend to chill the further expansion of this
positive movement. By statutorily exempting these community food
production sites from being regulated as a full-scale food
facility and by requiring adherence to sound growing and food
safety practices, subject to enforcement by local environmental
health inspectors on a complaint basis, CAEHA believes this bill
finds the balance between public health protection and
sustainable food production. Furthermore, this bill keeps
intact the necessary local government land use, zoning and
business licensing. Roots of Change supports this bill for
similar reasons. The Community Alliance with Family Farmers
(CAFF) states in support that farmers in California have a right
to erect a farm stand on their property or at the nearest paved
road and sell their produce directly to the public without a
permit. Farmers are also permitted to sell directly to the
public through farmers' markets or CSA, but they must be
registered and pay a fee to do so. CAFF states that this bill
would give urban gardeners a right to sell whole produce or
shell eggs directly to the public without obtaining a health
permit, unless agricultural production is precluded by specific
zoning restrictions.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The Sustainable Economies Law Center
(SELC) states that it appreciates the intentions of this bill
and recognizes the attempt to address the confusion that
small-scale produce growers and regulators struggle with in
trying to interpret the very vague sections of CRFC that require
foods to come from "approved sources." However, SELC states that
by clarifying that small-scale producers can sell produce
directly to consumers and restaurants, it fears that it could be
interpreted by local health and agricultural regulators as
saying that these growers cannot legally sell or donate to
grocery stores, food banks, and other food facilities. SELC is
also concerned that some jurisdictions may choose to impose the
registration requirements permitted under this bill to all
producers who may meet the definition of "community food
producer." There are some small-scale food producers who grow
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food on land that is not zoned as agricultural who already
obtain a Certified Producers' Certificate through DFA and their
local agricultural commission, thus they have committed to safe
food handling and are already deemed an approved source. SELC
states that there is need for clarification on the confusing
definition of "approved source" in the Health and Safety Code.
However, this bill as currently written poses a great risk of
increasing confusion and increasing regulatory burdens on some
of California's small-scale food producers.
The Association of California Egg Farmers (ACEF) opposes this
bill unless all reference to "unrefrigerated shell eggs" is
removed from the bill. ACEF states that California consumers are
demanding safe and healthy food. ACEF states that California's
egg farmers have long been at the forefront of developing
programs and practices to aggressively combat the spread of food
borne pathogens to protect public health, maintain consumer
confidence and sell safe, fresh, wholesome eggs. The pinnacle
of California's efforts to protect California's consumers was
the creation of the California Egg Quality Assurance Program.
Since its inception, California egg consumers have not
experienced one shell egg trace-back associated with human
illness in more than 15 years from a California grown egg.
Prior to implementation of these standards, Salmonella
contamination of eggs was an issue. In 2010 when there was a
recall of eggs, sales slumped significantly for all eggs in
California. When egg farmers want to sell their products to
restaurants and retail stores, meeting the basic food safety
standards is paramount. This bill provides an exemption based on
where eggs are farmed, not how or by meeting specific standards.
ACEF continues to support all egg farmers and our consumers in
California. Therefore, ACEF states it cannot justify providing
an exemption to food safety standards for farms based on where
they are located, and must oppose AB 1990 unless references to
eggs are removed from the bill.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 73-1, 05/27/14
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian
Calderon, Campos, Chau, Ch�vez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley,
Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eggman, Fong, Fox,
Frazier, Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon,
Gray, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hern�ndez, Holden,
Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal,
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Maienschein, Mansoor, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Muratsuchi,
Nazarian, Nestande, Pan, Perea, John A. P�rez, V. Manuel
P�rez, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Skinner,
Stone, Ting, Wagner, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams,
Yamada, Atkins
NOES: Olsen
NO VOTE RECORDED: Gorell, Patterson, Quirk, Quirk-Silva,
Waldron, Vacancy
JL:nl 8/6/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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