BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 2730
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Date of Hearing: April 9, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE
Susan Talamantes Eggman, Chair
AB 2730 (Agriculture) - As Amended: March 18, 2014
SUBJECT : Animal disease planning.
SUMMARY : Requires the California Department of Food and
Agriculture (CDFA), on or before July 1, 2015 and to the extent
funds are available, to develop and maintain a written plan on
animal diseases likely to enter California and how to deal with
the higher priority diseases. Specifically, this bill :
1)Makes legislative findings and declarations as follows:
a) Global travel, trade and climate change introduce
invasive animals, plants, insects, and plant and animal
diseases into California; and,
b) Humans are susceptible to 85% of animal diseases.
2)Requires, on or before July 1, 2015, CDFA to develop and
maintain a written list of the reasonably likely animal
diseases that could enter California for which state action,
e.g., detection, exclusion, eradication, control or
management, would be appropriate.
3)Requires CDFA, to the extent funds are available, to develop
and maintain a written plan of the most appropriate action
options of the higher priority animal diseases listed
according to the previous required list. Requires CDFA, in
determining higher priority diseases and appropriated actions,
to consult with United States Department of Agriculture, the
University of California (UC), state agencies and departments,
and other in the scientific and research community.
4)Permits CDFA, in implementing these requirements, to contract
for scientific research with the UC or other institutions of
higher learning.
EXISTING LAW: Requires CDFA to protect and promote California
agricultural industries, including our various animal
industries; requires CDFA to periodically publish a list of
reportable animal conditions that pose or may pose significant
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threats to public health, animal health, environmental health or
the food supply; provides for quarantines, confiscation or
destruction of diseased animals; prohibits the importation of
specified animals into the state and any other form of animal
life which is detrimental to agriculture; and, such animals
shall be refused entry and shall be immediately destroyed or
shipped out of the state within 48 hours;
Permits the Regents of the University of California to collect
and, subject to statutes, import into this state from foreign
countries, parasitic and predaceous insects for use in the
control of insect pests of horticultural and agricultural crops
and of livestock; and, permits regents, for this purpose, employ
and send abroad experts who shall be allowed, in addition to
their compensation, their necessary subsistence, traveling, and
other expenses incidental to the performance of their duties.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown. Legislative Council has keyed this
bill fiscal.
COMMENTS : CDFA had developed a Foreign Animal Disease (FAD)
Emergency Response Executive Order (FADEREO), and then revised
it January 2006. It lays out procedures and protocols for
dealing with FAD, including a California scenario for a
pandemic and Avian Influenza event. Due to the virulent nature
of many animal diseases, and their potential transmittal to
humans, urgent response is essential to protect animals and
humans. According to CDFA's FADEREO of lessons learned from
previous outbreaks, "early and continuous surveillance for FAD's
in California is the single most effective method of preventing
a FAD from becoming established."
CDFA has historically responded to the discovery of an invasive
animal disease by identifying it in their state lab, notifying
the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), identifying the
consequences of the disease, the need of quarantine and economic
consequences to our state and nation. Upon certain findings,
they convene a Technical Working Group (TWG) that reviews the
situation and provides recommendations for an eradication
program that may include a multi-faceted program involving
detection protocols, regulatory actions, treatment strategies
and research priorities.
In recent years, due to state revenue shortfalls, CDFA's budget
has had significant cuts, including animal health and lab funds.
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This has put the state's livestock industry and personal pets
at risk of contracting animal health diseases or viruses. In
order to focus the limited dollars and resources more
effectively, prioritizing a list of potential of animal diseases
and health risks that could be introduced into California could
help CDFA in focusing its expertise to those areas of the
greatest risk.
AB 2730 attempts to be proactive in identifying diseases that
have a "reasonable likelihood" of entering California and
requires CDFA to develop, ahead of its entry and beyond, a
response plan, the detection protocols, regulatory actions,
treatment strategies and research priorities that a TWG would do
after the disease is present in the state.
Several years ago a similar approach was taken for pests. AB
2763 (Laird), Chapter 573, Statutes of 2008, required CDFA to
develop and maintain a list of invasive animals, plants, and
insects likely to enter California, and plan for appropriate
responses to these possible pests. The committee may wish to
ask CDFA their response and progress on AB 2763's requirements.
AB 2730 follows the path of planning ahead of a problem rather
than reacting to a problem. Having more complete response
plans in place should lead to greater prevention and protection
of our animal industries, as well as, household pets.
RELATED LEGISLATION : AB 1319 (Eggman), Chapter 623, Statutes of
2013, eliminated state indemnity compensation for the slaughter
of brucellosis-positive cattle and provided equal compensation
to owners of reacting (diseased) and non-reacting (exposed)
cattle slaughtered for the purpose of brucellosis eradication.
This bill also added the Secretary of CDFA to the Strategic
Growth Council .
AB 2763 (Laird), Chapter 573, Statutes of 2008, required CDFA to
develop and maintain a list of invasive animals, plants, and
insects likely to enter California, and plan for appropriate
responses to these possible pests.
AB 955 (Flores), Chapter 503, Statutes of 2001, made several
technical and minor changes to provisions governing the
authority of CDFA to administer animal quarantines, animal
disposal, and compensation to ranchers and others, and addressed
related authority of the State Veterinarian.
AB 2730
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REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Farm Bureau Federation
Agricultural Council of California
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Jim Collin / AGRI. / (916) 319-2084