6046.
(a) There is hereby created in the Department of Food and Agriculture the Pierce’s Disease Control Program.(b) The Governor shall appoint a statewide coordinator, and the secretary shall provide an appropriate level of support staffing and logistical support for combating Pierce’s disease and its vectors.
(c) (1) There is hereby created the Pierce’s Disease Management Account in the Food and Agriculture Fund.
(2) The account shall consist of money transferred from the General Fund under subdivision (d) and money made available from federal, industry, and other sources. Money made available from federal, industry, and other sources shall be available for expenditure without regard to fiscal year for the purpose of combating Pierce’s disease or its vectors. State general funds to be utilized for research shall only be expended when the secretary has received commitments from nonstate sources for at least a 25-percent match for each state dollar to be expended.
(d) (1) The sum of six million nine hundred thousand dollars ($6,900,000) is hereby appropriated from the General Fund to the account created by this article in the Department of Food and Agriculture Fund and shall be available for expenditure by the department without regard to fiscal year for the purpose of combating Pierce’s disease or its vectors.
(2) It is the intent of the Legislature that a total of thirteen million eight hundred thousand dollars ($13,800,000) be made available from the General Fund for purposes of providing funding to the program established by subdivision (a). Therefore, it is further the intent of the Legislature, in addition to the appropriation in paragraph (1), to appropriate six million nine hundred thousand dollars ($6,900,000) from the General Fund in the Budget Act of 2000 to the department for the purpose of funding the program established by subdivision (a).
(e) The funds appropriated pursuant to this section to the Food and Agriculture Fund for the purpose of combating Pierce’s disease and its vectors shall be used for costs that are incurred by the state or by local entities during and subsequent to the fiscal year of the act that added this section for the purpose of research and other efforts to combat Pierce’s disease and its vectors.
(f) Whenever, in any county, funds are allocated by the Department of Food and Agriculture for local assistance regarding Pierce’s disease and its vectors, those funds shall be made available to a local public entity, or local public entities, designated by that county’s board of supervisors.
(g) Funds appropriated for local assistance shall not be allocated to the local public entity until the local public entity creates a Pierce’s disease workplan that is approved by the department. Any funds allocated by the department to a designated local public entity or designated local public entity shall be utilized for activities consistent with the local Pierce’s disease workplan or other programs or workplans approved by the department. It shall be the responsibility of the designated local public entity to develop and implement the local Pierce’s disease workplan. Upon request, the department shall provide consultation to the local public entity regarding its workplan.
(h) The workplan created by the designated local public entity shall include, but is not limited to, all of the following:
(1) In coordination with the department, the development and delivery of producer outreach information and training to local communities, groups, and individuals to organize their involvement with the workplan and to raise awareness regarding Pierce’s disease and its vectors.
(2) In coordination with the department, the development and delivery of ongoing training of the designated local public entity’s employees in the biology, survey, and treatment of Pierce’s disease and its vectors.
(3) The identification within the designated local public entity of a local Pierce’s disease coordinator.
(4) The proposed treatment of Pierce’s disease and its vectors. Treatment programs shall comply with all applicable laws and regulations and shall be conducted in an environmentally responsible manner.
(5) In coordination with the department, the development and implementation of a data collection system to track and report new infestations of Pierce’s disease and its vectors in a manner respectful of property and other rights of those affected.
(6) On an annual basis, while funds appropriated by this section are available for encumbrance, the department shall review the progress of each local public entity’s activities regarding Pierce’s disease and its vectors and, as needed, make recommendations regarding those activities to the local public entity.
(i) Notwithstanding Section 7550.5 of the Government Code, the department shall report to the Legislature on January 1, 2001, and each January 1 while this section is operative, regarding its expenditures, progress, and ongoing priorities in combating Pierce’s disease and its vectors in California.
(j) This article shall become inoperative on January 1, 2006, and as of January 1, 2007, is repealed, unless a later enacted statute that is enacted before January 1, 2007, deletes or extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is repealed.