SB 348, as amended, Galgiani. Agricultural seed: county seed enforcement subventions.
Existing law, the California Seed Law, provides for an optional subvention program under which a county may enter into a cooperative agreement with the Secretary of Food and Agriculture to receive an annual apportionment of funds from the secretary for maintaining a statewide compliance level on all seed within the county. Under those provisions, a county with no registered seed labelers may annually receive $100, at the discretion of the secretary, and a county with registered seed labeler operations may annually receive a subvention based on enforcement activity generated by the registered seed labeler operations within the county and upon the performance of enforcement activities necessary to carry out the provisions of the California Seed Law. Existing law makes those provisions inoperative on July 1, 2014, and repeals those provisions on January 1, 2015.
This bill would extend the operation of these provisions until July 1,begin delete 2019,end deletebegin insert 2016,end insert and would repeal the provisions on January 1,begin delete 2020.end deletebegin insert 2017.end insert
Under existing law, the fees collected pursuant to the California Seed Law are continuously appropriated to the Department of Food and Agriculture to carry out its provisions.
By extending the operation of these subvention provisions, this bill would make an appropriation.
The bill would make other technical changes.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: yes. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
Section 52322 of the Food and Agricultural Code
2 is amended to read:
The secretary shall prepare an annual statement of the
4operating expenditures and income related to this chapter that shall
5be presented to the board for review as soon as possible following
6the termination of any fiscal year. A copy of this statement shall
7be made available to any interested person upon request.
Section 52323 of the Food and Agricultural Code is
9amended to read:
(a) The department’s cost of carrying out this chapter
11shall be funded from money that is received by the secretary
12pursuant to this chapter. The secretary shall also pay annually, in
13arrears, one hundred twenty thousand dollars ($120,000), to
14counties as an annual subvention for costs incurred in the
15enforcement of this chapter. The department’s costs of
16administering this chapter shall be paid before allocating funds to
17the counties under this section.
18(b) This section shall become inoperative on July 1,begin delete 2019,end deletebegin insert 2016,end insert
19
and, as of January 1,begin delete 2020,end deletebegin insert 2017,end insert is repealed, unless a later enacted
20statute, that becomes operative on or before January 1,begin delete 2020,end deletebegin insert 2017,end insert
21 deletes or extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and
22is repealed.
Section 52324 of the Food and Agricultural Code is
24amended to read:
(a) The subvention program under Section 52323 is
26an optional program available to counties. The subvention to
27counties under Section 52323 shall be annually apportioned as
28follows:
29(1) At the discretion of the secretary and upon recommendation
30of the Seed Advisory Board, counties with no registered seed
31labelers may annually receive one hundred dollars ($100).
P3 1(2) Counties with registered seed labeler operations shall receive
2subventions based upon units of enforcement activity generated
3by the registered seed labeler operations within the county and
4upon the performance of enforcement activities necessary to carry
5out
this chapter. The units of activity shall be determined by the
6secretary, taking into consideration the number of lots and kinds
7of seed labeled by each registered seed labeler operation within
8the county. The rate per unit of activity shall be established by
9dividing the total statewide units of activity into the annual funds
10available to the counties under Section 52323 after deducting the
11amount required for subventions in paragraph (1). Apportionment
12to individual counties shall be based upon the county’s total units
13of activity performedbegin delete timesend deletebegin insert multiplied byend insert the established rate.
14(b) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,begin delete 2020,end delete
15begin insert
2017,end insert and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute,
16that is enacted before January 1,begin delete 2020,end deletebegin insert 2017,end insert deletes or extends
17that date.
Section 52325 of the Food and Agricultural Code is
19amended to read:
(a) Commissioners of counties that choose to participate
21in the subvention program shall enter into a cooperative agreement
22with the secretary, whereby the commissioner agrees to maintain
23a statewide compliance level, determined by the secretary, on all
24seed within the county. The cooperative agreement shall be in
25effect for a five-year period. The units of activity and
26apportionment calculated under paragraph (2) of subdivision (a)
27of Section 52324 to each individual participating county shall be
28established annually in a memorandum of understanding between
29the commissioner and the secretary.
30(b) The secretary, upon recommendation of the board or upon
31the secretary’s own
initiative, may withhold a portion of the funds
32designated to a county pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision
33(a) of Section 52324 if that county fails to meet the performance
34standards established by the secretary and set forth in the
35cooperative agreement with that county.
36(c) The secretary shall provide a written justification to the board
37for any action taken by the secretary that does not fully implement
38a recommendation made by the board pursuant to subdivision (b).
39(d) This section shall become inoperative on July 1,begin delete 2019,end deletebegin insert 2016,end insert
40 and, as of January 1,begin delete 2020,end deletebegin insert
2017,end insert is repealed, unless a later enacted
P4 1statute, that becomes operative on or before January 1,begin delete 2020,end deletebegin insert 2017,end insert
2 deletes or extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and
3is repealed.
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