Amended  IN  Assembly  March 22, 2017

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2017–2018 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill No. 933


Introduced by Committee on Agriculture (Assembly Members Caballero (Chair), Mathis (Vice Chair), Aguiar-Curry, Gallagher, Gray, Irwin, Jones-Sawyer, Quirk, and Salas)

February 16, 2017


An act to amend Section 4401.5 Sections 224, 4401.5, and 36004 of the Food and Agricultural Code, relating to fairs. food and agriculture, and making an appropriation therefor.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 933, as amended, Committee on Agriculture. State-supported fairs: food and fiber exhibits. Food and agriculture omnibus bill.
(1) Existing law provides for the distribution to counties of funds transferred to the Department of Food and Agriculture Fund from the Motor Vehicle Fuel Account as partial reimbursement for county expenses incurred in carrying out various agricultural programs, as specified. Existing law appropriates to the Department of Food and Agriculture moneys in the Department of Food and Agriculture Fund transferred from the account, as prescribed, for, among other things, disbursement to counties for the uniform application of state agricultural policy and administration of programs supervised by the Secretary of Food and Agriculture.
This bill would make the California Agricultural Commissioners and Sealers Association eligible for this disbursement. Because the bill would make money in a continuously appropriated fund available for a new purpose, it would make an appropriation.

Existing

(2) Existing law requires the Secretary of Food and Agriculture to expend up to $100,000 in any fiscal year for an exhibit or exhibits at a state-supported fair that demonstrates the process of production and use of food and fiber and to annually provide for a conference of fair judges to aid the Department of Food and Agriculture in prescribing regulations for the judging of exhibits and for the premiums paid for all classes, sections, and types of exhibits, and authorizes the secretary to expend up to $15,000 in any fiscal year for these purposes.
This bill would instead authorize rather than require the secretary to expend up to $100,000 in any fiscal year for those exhibits.
(3) Existing law, the Milk and Milk Products Act of 1947, regulates milk and milk products and establishes standards for the manufacturing, handling, processing, and marketing of milk and milk products. The act, except as specified, requires there appear upon the package or container of a market milk or market cream product the date established by the processor as the date upon which, to ensure quality, the product is normally removed from the shelf or similar location.
This bill would require that the date established by the processor and that appears on the package or container of the market milk or cream be to ensure consumer quality.
Vote: MAJORITY2/3   Appropriation: NOYES   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 Section 224 of the Food and Agricultural Code is amended to read:

224.
 Moneys transferred by the Controller to the Department of Food and Agriculture Fund from the Motor Vehicle Fuel Account pursuant to Section 8352.5 of the Revenue and Taxation Code shall be expended by the Secretary of Food and Agriculture as follows:
(a) Of the amount transferred each fiscal year, nine million dollars ($9,000,000) is hereby appropriated to the Department of Food and Agriculture for payment to the counties for pesticide use enforcement programs supervised by the Director of Pesticide Regulation. Reimbursement shall be apportioned to the counties in relation to each county’s expenditures to the total amount expended by all counties for the preceding fiscal year for pesticide use enforcement programs, as determined by the director, or with the collective agreement of the agricultural commissioners, disbursement to counties for a current fiscal year according to criteria developed in work plans, or any combination of reimbursement and disbursement as agreed upon by the director and the agricultural commissioners. The amount to be transferred to any county for a fiscal year may be increased or decreased by the director to compensate for incorrect previous transfers to that county, or adjusted based on evaluations of annual county Pesticide Enforcement Workplans conducted by the Department of Pesticide Regulation.
(b) Of the amount transferred each fiscal year, two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000) is hereby appropriated to the Department of Food and Agriculture for state and county liaison activities and for departmental expenses directly related to administration of this section.
(c) Of the amount transferred each fiscal year, one million five hundred thousand dollars ($1,500,000) is hereby appropriated to the department Department of Food and Agriculture for divisional and departmental overhead charges to the Department of Food and Agriculture.
(d) Of the amount transferred each fiscal year in excess of the amount transferred in the 2006–07 fiscal year, 7 percent is hereby appropriated to the department Department of Food and Agriculture for full disbursement to individual counties, in proportion to the distribution each county is to receive pursuant to subdivision (g) the California Agricultural Commissioners and Sealers Association, as specified in Section 2003, and individual counties. The funds dispersed to individual counties, pursuant to subdivision (g), shall be in a proportion to offset expenses associated with programs, personnel, and materials that ensure the uniform application of state agricultural policy or administer programs supervised by the secretary.
(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, of the amount transferred each fiscal year, three million dollars ($3,000,000) is hereby appropriated for distribution to counties in a manner prescribed by the secretary for pest detection or trapping programs. These funds are intended to supplement funds available for pest detection or trapping in the annual Budget Act. As a condition of receiving these funds, counties shall not reduce their level of support from any other funds for pest detection or trapping programs. If a county declines to participate in a pest detection or trapping program, or fails to conduct the program to the state’s satisfaction, the secretary shall reduce, by the amount that would otherwise be allocated to the county, funds available pursuant to this subdivision and any state allocations from the annual Budget Act. Those forfeited funds are hereby appropriated to the Department of Food and Agriculture for purposes of operating the pest detection or trapping programs in those counties.
(f) (1) Of the amount transferred each fiscal year, three million dollars ($3,000,000) is hereby appropriated to the Department of Food and Agriculture to be used for emergency detection, investigation, or eradication of agricultural plant or animal pests or diseases during the fiscal year, upon approval of the Director of Finance. At the end of each fiscal year, any unencumbered balance of these funds shall be carried over to the next fiscal year, or at the discretion of the secretary, may be used for planning and research involving detection, investigation, eradication, and methods of quarantine compliance for agricultural plant or animal pests or diseases.
(2) The department shall develop policies, in consultation with the agricultural commissioners and in compliance with any requirements of the annual Budget Act, to guide the ongoing use of these funds.
(g) The total amount transferred during each fiscal year less the amounts provided in subdivisions (a) to (f), inclusive, is hereby appropriated to be paid to the counties for agricultural programs authorized by this code that are supervised by the department Department of Food and Agriculture and administered by agricultural commissioners. Reimbursement shall be apportioned to the counties in relation to each county’s expenditures to the total amount expended by all counties for the preceding fiscal year for agricultural programs, as determined by the secretary, or with the collective agreement of the agricultural commissioners, disbursement to counties according to criteria developed in work plans for a current fiscal year, or any combination of reimbursement and disbursement as agreed upon by the secretary and the agricultural commissioners. The amount to be transferred to any county for a fiscal year may be increased or decreased by the secretary to provide that, insofar as those transferred unclaimed refundable gas tax funds for apportionment to the counties are available, no county shall receive smaller combined apportionments of gas taxes and unclaimed refundable gas taxes than that county would have received had the gas taxes been apportioned without the transfer required by Section 8352.5, as determined by the secretary, except that the amount of unclaimed refundable gas tax funds to be transferred to any county for a fiscal year may be increased or decreased by the secretary to compensate for incorrect previous transfers to that county, and to account for any failure to meet the criteria listed in Section 224.5.

(h)This section shall become operative on July 1, 2008.

SECTION 1.SEC. 2.

 Section 4401.5 of the Food and Agricultural Code is amended to read:

4401.5.
 (a) The secretary may expend an amount not to exceed a total of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) in any fiscal year for any exhibit or exhibits located on any state-supported fair demonstrating, in a creative and innovative manner, the process of production and use of food and fiber from the producer to the consumer in this state.
(b) The secretary may annually provide for a conference of fair judges to aid the department in prescribing regulations adopted pursuant to Section 4501. The secretary may expend up to fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000) in any fiscal year for these purposes.

SEC. 3.

 Section 36004 of the Food and Agricultural Code is amended to read:

36004.
 (a) At the time of sale to the consumer by a retail store of any product designated in this section section, there shall appear upon the package or container of such the product the date established by the processor as the date upon which, in order to insure ensure consumer quality, such the product is normally removed from the shelf or similar location from which the product is offered for sale to the consumer.
(b) This section applies to the following products:
(1) Market milk.
(2) Market cream.
(3) Any milk product which that is required by any provision of this code, or by any regulation adopted by the director secretary pursuant thereto, to this code, to be made from market milk or any component or derivative of market milk.
(c) This section does not apply to any milk or milk products processed, packaged, and sold by distributors directly to consumers.
(d) This section does not apply to any bulk shipments of milk or milk products between distributors.
(e) The director secretary shall, in compliance with applicable provisions of this code and Chapter 4.5 3.5 (commencing with Section 11371) 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, and after public hearing or hearings, adopt regulations pertaining to (1) responsibility for affixing to packages or other containers the quality assurance date provided for in this section; section, (2) the manner, style, form, and place of affixation of such the date to packages and other containers in a conspicuous place in a form which that is readily seen and easily understood by the buyer; buyer, and (3) the administration and enforcement of the requirements of this section.