Bill Text: NY A07568 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishes the apiary industry advisory committee; defines terms; requires the commissioner of agriculture and markets to give a beekeeper advanced notice of any inspection of an apiary; establishes the cooperative honeybee health improvement program; makes related provisions.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-06-07 - substituted by s7111 [A07568 Detail]
Download: New_York-2021-A07568-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 7568 2021-2022 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY May 14, 2021 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. LUPARDO -- (at request of the Department of Agri- culture and Markets) -- read once and referred to the Committee on Agriculture AN ACT to amend the agriculture and markets law and the real property tax law, in relation to bee health and the beekeeping industry; and to repeal certain provisions of the agriculture and markets law relating thereto The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 169-d of the agriculture and markets law is 2 REPEALED. 3 § 2. Article 15 of the agriculture and markets law, as added by chap- 4 ter 166 of the laws of 1925, sections 173, 174, 175 and 175-b as amended 5 by chapter 430 of the laws of 1985, subdivision 9 of section 174 as 6 added by chapter 276 of the laws of 2000, section 175-c as amended by 7 chapter 310 of the laws of 1962 and section 175-d as added by chapter 8 398 of the laws of 1938, is amended to read as follows: 9 ARTICLE XV 10 BEE DISEASES 11 Section 173. Apiary industry advisory committee. 12 173-a. Definitions. 13 173-b. Eradication of bee diseases and certain insects affecting 14 bees. 15 173-c. Cooperative honey bee health improvement program. 16 174. Keeping of diseased and banned bees prohibited; existence 17 of disease to be reported. 18 175. [Transportation of bees and bee material.19175-b.] Rules and regulations. 20 [175-c] 175-a. Review by court. 21 [175-d.] 175-b. Violations; remedies. 22 § 173. Apiary industry advisory committee. 1. There is hereby estab- 23 lished within the department an apiary industry advisory committee which EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD09713-02-1A. 7568 2 1 shall consist of no more than fifteen members to be appointed by the 2 commissioner based on their experience and expertise in the apiary 3 industry. Of the members so appointed, at least two members shall repre- 4 sent each of the three sectors of the apiary industry, commercial beek- 5 eepers, part-time beekeepers and hobbyist beekeepers; at least one 6 member shall represent the horticulture or vegetable industry and one 7 member shall be an officer or employee of the Cornell cooperative exten- 8 sion service or the New York state college of agriculture and life 9 sciences at Cornell university. Members shall be appointed for a term of 10 three years and may serve until their successors are chosen provided, 11 however, that of the members first appointed, five shall serve for a 12 term of one year, five shall serve for a term of two years, and five 13 shall serve for a term of three years. Members shall serve without sala- 14 ry. The commissioner or his or her designee shall be the chairperson of 15 the committee. 16 2. The duties and responsibilities of the apiary industry advisory 17 committee shall include providing advice, comments and recommendations 18 to the commissioner regarding state government plans, policies and 19 programs affecting the apiary industry and such other matters as the 20 commissioner may request in relation to this article. 21 3. The advisory committee shall meet at least once annually, at times 22 and places set by the commissioner. 23 4. The commissioner may ask other individuals to attend the commit- 24 tee's meetings or work with it as needed. 25 § 173-a. Definitions. When used in this article: 26 1. "Apiary" shall mean any location used for raising honey bees or 27 producing honey or other bee related products. 28 2. "Colony" shall mean any production unit of bees. 29 3. "Nucleus colony or nucs" shall mean a starter colony, consisting of 30 a laying queen and up to five frames of brood and bees. 31 4. "Beekeeper" shall mean any individual or entity that maintains 32 managed honey bees for profit, research, recreational, or educational 33 purposes. 34 5. "Queen" shall mean the single reproductive female in a colony of 35 honey bees. 36 6. "Brood comb" shall mean the beeswax structure of cells where the 37 queen bee lays eggs in which immature bees are reared. 38 § 173-b. Eradication of bee diseases and certain insects affecting 39 bees. The commissioner may cause inspections to be made of apiaries in 40 the state for the discovery of infectious, contagious or communicable 41 diseases and for the discovery of insects and parasitic organisms 42 adversely affecting bees, and for the discovery of species or subspecies 43 of bees which have been determined by him to cause injury, directly or 44 indirectly, to this state's [useful] managed bee population, crops, or 45 other plants. [He] The commissioner shall provide a beekeeper or such 46 beekeeper's designated agent with reasonable advance notice of any 47 inspection of an apiary. The commissioner may also cause investigations 48 to be made as to the best method for the eradication of diseases of 49 bees, insects or parasitic organisms adversely affecting bees, or for 50 the eradication of species or subspecies of bees which have been deter- 51 mined by [him] the commissioner to cause injury, directly or indirectly, 52 to this state's [useful] managed bee population, crops, or other plants 53 and [he] the commissioner may plan and execute appropriate methods for 54 such eradication. 55 The commissioner shall have access to all apiaries, structures, appli- 56 ances, buildings, vehicles, airplanes, vessels or premises where bees orA. 7568 3 1 honey or comb used in apiaries may be[. He] and may open any hive, colo- 2 ny, package or receptacle of any kind containing or which [he] the 3 commissioner has reason to believe contains any bees, comb, bee 4 products, used beekeeping appliances, or anything else which is capable 5 of transmitting contagious or infectious diseases of bees or which is 6 capable of harboring insects or parasitic organisms adversely affecting 7 bees, or species or subspecies of bees which have been determined by 8 [him] the commissioner to cause injury, directly or indirectly, to this 9 state's [useful] managed bee population, crops, or other plants. 10 § 173-c. Cooperative honey bee health improvement program. 1. In 11 support of the duties outlined in this article, as well as the goals and 12 objectives for pollinator protection; the commissioner shall create a 13 cooperative honey bee health improvement program which will require 14 that: 15 (a) All beekeepers shall provide to the commissioner the number of 16 managed colonies; the county in which each of these colonies is located; 17 and current contact information of the individual or individuals respon- 18 sible for the care of these bees. All beekeepers shall also indicate 19 whether they intend to sell nucleus colonies. This information shall be 20 updated and provided to the commissioner on an annual basis. 21 (b) The department shall use this information to communicate the inci- 22 dence of infectious diseases and parasites at the county level to beek- 23 eepers and bee clubs and to notify beekeepers of the potential need for 24 the department to prohibit the movement or selling of diseased or 25 infested bees or require the destruction of such bees. The department 26 shall also use this information to establish the boundaries of disease 27 and parasite infestations in the area surrounding a confirmed disease or 28 parasite infestation. 29 (c) Any individual or business that intends to sell nucs or queens 30 produced within and offered for sale to other persons in New York must 31 first have an inspection of its apiaries, as authorized by section one 32 hundred seventy-three-b of this article, by the department which 33 inspections shall continue on an annual basis, so long as nucs or queens 34 are offered for sale. These inspections shall ascertain whether such 35 beekeeper's apiaries are free from American Foulbrood and whether levels 36 of other infectious diseases and parasites in the operation render the 37 nucs or queens unfit for sale. Any individual or business whose nucs or 38 queen rearing colonies are found to be infested with American Foulbrood, 39 after laboratory confirmation, shall be prohibited from selling nucs and 40 queens until the affected apiaries are reinspected and found to be free 41 from American Foulbrood. If upon re-inspection, symptoms of American 42 Foulbrood are found to persist, the prohibition from selling nucs and 43 queens shall continue, and the department shall take samples for labora- 44 tory testing for the continued presence of American Foulbrood. Should 45 the laboratory test results show the samples free from American Foul- 46 brood, the department shall promptly notify the individual or business 47 of the test results and the termination of the prohibition of the sale 48 of nucs and queens. 49 (d) No person shall knowingly transport, move, buy, sell, possess, 50 barter, offer for sale or barter, deliver, or offer for transportation 51 any species or subspecies of bees which have been determined by the 52 commissioner to cause injury, directly or indirectly, to the public 53 health or welfare or to this state's managed bee population, crops, or 54 other plants; provided, however, that the commissioner may, at his or 55 her discretion, exempt the transportation, sale, possession, movement,A. 7568 4 1 or delivery of such bees used for scientific or educational purposes 2 under such safeguards as deemed necessary by the commissioner. 3 (e) Every shipment of live bees in cages or packages without comb into 4 this state from another state or foreign country, shall be accompanied 5 by a permit issued by the commissioner, or by a certificate of freedom 6 from disease executed by an official of such state or foreign country 7 recognized by the commissioner. 8 (f) Every shipment of a colony of bees, used brood comb, used beekeep- 9 ing equipment, or live bees on comb into this state from another state 10 or foreign country, shall be accompanied by a permit issued by the 11 commissioner or by a certificate of freedom from diseases and parasitic 12 organisms adversely affecting bees and from species or subspecies of 13 bees which have been determined by the commissioner to cause injury 14 directly or indirectly, to the public safety or to the state's managed 15 bee population, crops, or other plants; and certifying that a proper 16 inspection was made not earlier than sixty days preceding the date of 17 shipment. Such certificate shall be executed by the certifying official 18 of such state or foreign country. A duplicate of such certificate must 19 be received by the department before any such shipment enters the state. 20 Every transportation company that knowingly receives such shipment shall 21 immediately notify the commissioner thereof, giving the name and address 22 of the consignor or consignee. 23 2. The goals of the cooperative honey bee health improvement program 24 shall be to: 25 (a) document the health of the state's managed pollinator population, 26 including the presence of parasites, diseases, and environmental threats 27 to the state's population of managed pollinators; 28 (b) provide information on honey bee health to beekeepers, stakehold- 29 ers and academia to inform research and best management practices 30 related to pollinator health; 31 (c) document the annual population of managed pollinators in each 32 county within New York state; and 33 (d) collect contact information for each beekeeper to allow for better 34 communication among the department and beekeepers relating to the inci- 35 dence of parasites, disease and other health threats that could be tran- 36 smitted within the flight range of managed pollinators. 37 3. There shall be no fee or other registration cost for participation 38 in the cooperative honey bee health improvement program. 39 4. A beekeeper required to submit information to the commissioner 40 pursuant to this section may request that such information be exempted 41 from disclosure pursuant to subdivision five of section eighty-nine of 42 the public officers law. 43 § 174. Keeping of diseased and banned bees prohibited; existence of 44 disease to be reported. 1. No person shall keep in [his] such person's 45 possession or under [his] such person's care any colony of bees affected 46 with a contagious or infectious disease or infested by [insects] disease 47 or parasitic organisms adversely affecting bees, or by species or 48 subspecies of bees which have been determined by the commissioner to 49 cause injury, directly or indirectly, to the public safety or to this 50 state's [useful] managed bee population, crops, or other plants. Any 51 person who knows that any bees owned or controlled by [him are affected52with, or have been exposed to, any contagious or infectious disease,53insects or parasitic organisms adversely affecting bees, or by species54or subspecies of bees which have been determined by the commissioner to55cause injury, directly or indirectly, to this state's useful bee popu-56lation, crops, or other plants,] such person exceed disease or parasiteA. 7568 5 1 tolerances or are a species or subspecies of bees that have been deter- 2 mined by the commissioner to cause injury, directly or indirectly, to 3 the public health or welfare or to this state's managed bee population, 4 crops, or other plants, such tolerances and determinations to be estab- 5 lished in regulation by the commissioner, shall at once report such fact 6 to the commissioner, stating all facts known to [him] such person with 7 reference to said contagion, infection, or exposure. Information 8 regarding allowable disease and parasite tolerances and species and 9 subspecies of bees shall be made available on the department's website. 10 2. No person shall hide or conceal any bees or used beekeeping equip- 11 ment from [the inspector] department apiary inspectors or give false 12 information in any manner pertaining to this article. No person shall 13 resist, impede or hinder the commissioner or [his] the commissioner's 14 duly authorized representatives in the discharge of his or her or their 15 duties. 16 3. Whenever the commissioner or [his] the commissioner's duly author- 17 ized representatives shall determine that any colony of bees, bee mate- 18 rial, structures or appliances is infected with, or has been exposed to, 19 contagious or infectious diseases of bees, or is infested with or has 20 been exposed to insects or parasitic organisms adversely affecting bees, 21 or to species or subspecies of bees which have been determined by the 22 commissioner to cause injury, directly or indirectly, to this state's 23 [useful] managed bee population, crops, or other plants, said colonies 24 of bees and material, structures or appliances shall be immediately 25 placed under quarantine and a written notice thereof shall be served on 26 the owner or caretaker. No person shall move, tamper with, handle, or 27 otherwise disturb or molest or cause to be moved, tampered with, 28 handled, or otherwise disturbed or molested any colonies, materials, or 29 appliances so quarantined without a written permit from the commissioner 30 or [his] the commissioner's duly authorized representatives. 31 4. (a) All species and subspecies of bees which have been determined 32 by the commissioner to cause injury, directly or indirectly, to the 33 public health or welfare shall be destroyed per commissioner order. 34 (b) A beekeeper who received notification that he or she is prohibited 35 from selling nucs or queens as they have been deemed unfit for sale by 36 laboratory confirmation of American Foulbrood, may be ordered by the 37 commissioner to destroy such colonies. 38 (c) During the time specified in either such order authorized by this 39 subdivision, the quarantined colonies and equipment shall not be 40 removed, molested or tampered with except by written permission of the 41 commissioner or the commissioner's duly authorized representative. No 42 damage shall be awarded to the owner for the loss of any apiary, bees, 43 hives, apiary appliance or bee product destroyed under the provisions of 44 this section or a regulation or order made in pursuance thereof. 45 4-a. All species and subspecies of bees determined by the commissioner 46 to cause injury to this state's [useful] managed bee population, crops, 47 or other plants and all bees, beehives, bee fixtures or appurtenances 48 infected with, or exposed to, contagious or infectious diseases of bees, 49 or infested with, or exposed to, insects or parasitic organisms adverse- 50 ly affecting bees, or with or to species or subspecies of bees which 51 have been determined by [him] the commissioner to cause injury, directly 52 or indirectly, to this state's [useful] managed bee population, crops, 53 or other plants, are hereby declared to be nuisances to be abated as 54 hereinafter described. 55 5. If any inspection made by the commissioner or [his] the commission- 56 er's duly authorized representative discloses that any apiary, appli-A. 7568 6 1 ances, structures, colonies or comb constitute a nuisance within the 2 meaning of this section, the commissioner or [his] the commissioner's 3 duly authorized representatives may with the co-operation and consent of 4 the owner or person in charge immediately proceed to abate the nuisance 5 by destroying or treating such colonies and equipment, or he or she may 6 order the owner or person in charge to destroy or treat such colonies or 7 equipment as may be deemed advisable. In case the owner or person in 8 charge will not consent to the abatement of the nuisance by immediate 9 destruction or treatment, the commissioner or [his] the commissioner's 10 duly authorized representative shall notify [in writing] the owner, 11 occupant or person in charge of the premises in writing that such 12 nuisance exists and order that the same be abated within five days after 13 a date which shall be specified in said order. Such order shall also 14 contain directions setting forth the method or methods which shall be 15 taken to abate the nuisance and shall be served upon the owner, occupant 16 or person in charge of the premises either personally or by registered 17 or certified mail. 18 6. [If the] Any person believed to have violated any provision of this 19 article shall receive written notice of such alleged violation and an 20 opportunity to be heard to dispute such alleged violation. A beekeeper 21 who receives an order that directs the destruction or treatment of any 22 bees, hives, fixtures or appurtenances [and the owner thereof considers23himself to be aggrieved thereby, he] deemed a nuisance or notification 24 that such beekeeper is prohibited from selling nucs and queens pursuant 25 to paragraph (c) of subdivision one of section one hundred seventy- 26 three-c of this article may, within five days from the receipt of the 27 order[, present to the commissioner a request for a review. Written28notice of such request must be served by mail upon the commissioner] or 29 notification, request a hearing thereon. The order or notification 30 shall advise the beekeeper of the right to such hearing, the procedure 31 to be followed and the manner in which the request may be made to the 32 commissioner. Upon receipt of such [notice] request, the commissioner 33 shall [cause an investigation to be made] give the beekeeper ten days' 34 notice in writing of a hearing for the beekeeper to show cause why the 35 destruction, treatment or prohibition on selling by the order or notifi- 36 cation is not appropriate. The hearing shall be held on the record. The 37 request for a [review] hearing shall act to stay all proceedings until 38 [the matter has been investigated and] a final determination rendered by 39 the commissioner. During the time specified in the order and during any 40 extended time [permitted by reason of such review], pending such final 41 determination, the quarantined colonies and equipment shall not be 42 removed, molested or tampered with except by written permission of the 43 commissioner or [his] the commissioner's duly authorized representative. 44 No damage shall be awarded to the owner for the loss of any apiary, 45 bees, hives, apiary appliance, or bee product destroyed under the 46 provisions of this section or any regulation or order made in pursuance 47 thereof. 48 7. Persons keeping bees shall keep them in hives of such construction 49 that the frames and combs may be easily removed without damaging them 50 for examination of the brood for the purpose of determining whether 51 disease exists in the brood. 52 8. No person shall knowingly expose in any place to which bees have 53 access any bee product, hive or other apiary appliance in such manner 54 that contagious or infectious diseases of bees may be disseminated ther- 55 efrom.A. 7568 7 1 9. The commissioner may promulgate rules and regulations to establish 2 appropriate tolerance levels for [insects] diseases or parasitic organ- 3 isms adversely affecting bees within hives, fixtures, structures or 4 appurtenances. Beehives conforming with such established tolerance 5 levels shall not be considered nuisances under this section. If upon 6 inspection a hive is found to exceed such tolerance levels, the commis- 7 sioner may consider such apiary to be a nuisance and may order the 8 destruction or treatment of the apiary as set forth in subdivisions 9 four, four-a, five and six of this section. 10 § 175. [Transportation of bees and bee material. 1. No person shall11transport, move, sell, barter, offer for sale or barter, deliver, or12offer for transportation any colony of bees, used comb, used beekeeping13material, or live bees unless it be within the beekeeper's own premises14without a permit from the commissioner, except that colonies of bees and15used beekeeping equipment which are not infected with or have not been16exposed to bee disease, and which are not infested with and have not17been exposed to insects or parasitic organisms adversely affecting bees,18or to species or subspecies of bees which have been determined by the19commissioner to cause injury, directly or indirectly, to this state's20useful bee population, crops, or other plants may be moved or trans-21ported without a permit provided that the commissioner has been notified22in writing of such intention not less than ten days before the bees and23equipment are moved.242. No person shall transport, move, buy, sell, possess, barter, offer25for sale or barter, deliver, or offer for transportation any species or26subspecies of bees which have been determined by the commissioner to27cause injury, directly or indirectly, to this state's useful bee popu-28lation, crops, or other plants, provided, that the commissioner may at29his discretion exempt the transportation, sale, possession, movement, or30delivery of such bees for scientific or educational purposes under such31safeguards as he may deem necessary.323. Every shipment of live bees in cages or packages without comb into33this state from another state or foreign country, shall be accompanied34by a permit issued by the commissioner, or by a certificate of freedom35from disease executed by an official of such state or foreign country36recognized by the commissioner.374. Every shipment of a colony of bees, used comb, used beekeeping38equipment, or live bees on comb into this state from another state or39foreign country, shall be accompanied by a permit issued by the commis-40sioner or by a certificate of freedom from disease, from insects and41parasitic organisms adversely affecting bees and from species or subspe-42cies of bees which have been determined by the commissioner to cause43injury directly or indirectly, to this state's useful bee population,44crops or other plants and certifying that a proper inspection was made45not earlier than sixty days preceding the date of shipment. Such certif-46icate shall be executed by an official of such state or foreign country47recognized by the commissioner. A duplicate of such certificate shall be48mailed to the commissioner before any such shipment enters this state.49Every transportation company upon receipt of such shipment shall imme-50diately notify the commissioner thereof, giving the name and address of51the consignor and consignee.52§ 175-b.] Rules and regulations. The commissioner is hereby author- 53 ized, after public hearing, to adopt, promulgate and issue such rules 54 and regulations as [he] the commissioner may deem necessary to carry out 55 and give full force and effect to the provisions of this article, 56 including, but not limited to, the designation of species or subspeciesA. 7568 8 1 of bees determined by him or her to cause injury, directly or indirect- 2 ly, to the public safety or to this state's [useful] managed bee popu- 3 lation, crops, or other plants. Such rules and regulations shall be 4 filed and open for public inspection at the principal office of the 5 department and shall have the force and effect of law. 6 [§ 175-c.] § 175-a. Review by court. The [action] final determination 7 of the commissioner on a [request for review] hearing as authorized by 8 subdivision six of section one hundred [seventy-five herein] seventy- 9 four of this article may be reviewed in the manner provided by article 10 seventy-eight of the civil practice law and rules, provided, however, 11 that a stay shall not be granted by the court or a justice thereof pend- 12 ing final determination of the matter except on notice to the commis- 13 sioner. The [decision] determination of the commissioner after the 14 opportunity for a hearing and any hearing shall be final unless within 15 thirty days from the receipt of written notice thereof a proceeding is 16 instituted to review the same. 17 [§ 175-d.] § 175-b. Violations; remedies. The commissioner may insti- 18 tute such action at law or in equity as may be necessary to enforce 19 compliance with any provision of this article or of any rule or regu- 20 lation promulgated thereunder and in addition to any other remedy 21 prescribed in article three of this chapter or otherwise may apply for 22 relief by injunction if necessary to protect the public interest or 23 abate a nuisance as defined in this article without alleging or proving 24 that an adequate remedy at law does not exist. Such application may be 25 made to the supreme court in any district or county as provided [by the26civil practice act] civil practice law and rules and the rules of prac- 27 tice of the court, or to the supreme court in the third judicial 28 district. 29 § 3. The subdivision heading and paragraph c of subdivision 9 of 30 section 301 of the agriculture and markets law, the subdivision heading 31 as amended by chapter 440 of the laws of 1993 and paragraph c as amended 32 by chapter 536 of the laws of 2008, are amended to read as follows: 33 "Gross sales [value]" means the proceeds from the sale of: 34 c. Honey, royal jelly, bee pollen, propolis and beeswax produced by 35 bees in hives located on [an otherwise qualified farm operation but36which does not independently satisfy the gross sales requirement] land 37 used in agricultural production in conjunction with the same or an 38 otherwise qualified farm operation; 39 § 4. Paragraph (e) of subdivision 2 of section 483 of the real proper- 40 ty tax law, as amended by chapter 35 of the laws of 2016, is amended to 41 read as follows: 42 (e) structures and buildings used in the production of honey, royal 43 jelly, bee pollen, propolis and beeswax including those structures and 44 buildings used for the storage of bees. For purposes of this section, 45 this shall not include those structures or buildings and portions there- 46 of used for the sale of maple syrup or sale of honey and beeswax. The 47 term "structures and buildings" shall not include silos, bulk milk tanks 48 or coolers, or manure storage, handling and treatment facilities as such 49 terms are used in section four hundred eighty-three-a of this title. 50 § 5. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after 51 it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amend- 52 ment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implemen- 53 tation of this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and 54 completed on or before such effective date.
