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SB-1466 Citrus Nursery Stock Pest Cleanliness Program.(2007-2008)

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SB1466:v95#DOCUMENT

Amended  IN  Assembly  June 05, 2008
Amended  IN  Senate  May 12, 2008
Amended  IN  Senate  April 09, 2008
Amended  IN  Senate  March 27, 2008

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2007–2008 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill
No. 1466

Introduced  by  Senator Corbett

February 21, 2008

An act to add Article 3 (commencing with Section 6941) to Chapter 2 of Part 3 of Division 4 of the Food and Agricultural Code, relating to nurseries.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


SB 1466, as amended, Corbett. Citrus Nursery Stock Pest Cleanliness Program.
Existing law authorizes the Secretary of Food and Agriculture to, by regulation, provide for periodic inspections of nurseries and prescribe standards of cleanliness for nursery stock which is produced or sold within the state.
This bill would require the Department of Food and Agriculture to develop and establish, by January 1, 2010, the Citrus Nursery Stock Pest Cleanliness Program to protect citrus nursery stock from harmful diseases, pests, and other risks and threats. The Secretary of Food and Agriculture would be required to administer the program and to hold fact finding meetings throughout the state by July 31, 2009, to receive information from interested parties for consideration in the development of the program. The bill would specify what the program is to include, including the requirement that a person who, by any method of propagation, produces any citrus nursery stock shall comply with all agricultural practices, application specifications and deadlines, eligibility, inspection, isolation, notification, pest control, records maintenance and availability, registration, sanitation, testing, and other lawful orders issued by the secretary. The testing for certain diseases and pathogens would be required to be included in the program within 45 days after valid and reliable diagnostic protocols have been developed and proven to be efficient and effective for the testing of those diseases and pathogens. The bill would provide for a specified annual assessment to be paid by producers of citrus nursery stock to the secretary and deposited into the Department of Food and Agriculture Fund for expenditure, upon appropriation, to support the program authorize the secretary to issue orders establishing rates or prices to cover the department’s costs for its administration, testing, inspection, and other services under the program, as provided.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

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


SECTION 1.

 (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(1) Citrus is a very significant part of California’s agricultural industry. The annual farm gate value of citrus fruit produced in the state exceeds $1 billion. The estimated annual farm gate value of citrus trees produced by California’s citrus nurseries is $25 million. The total combined economic impact, using an economic multiplier of three, is more than $3 billion annually.
(2) Losses resulting from the establishment of new, devastating diseases like citrus canker and citrus greening in California would result from direct damage and mortality to citrus trees, reduced yields and quality, and increased production costs. Indirect costs would result from market disruptions and losses, increased costs for planting materials, regulatory compliance, and other such costs.
(3) Current international plant health standards define “quarantine pests” and “regulated nonquarantine pests.”
(4) Serious, quarantine pests of citrus exist in other parts of the world. Citrus canker and citrus greening present an imminent threat, as they already exist in the State of Florida. The Asian citrus psyllid, an active vector for greening, exists in many parts of the world, including Mexico. Citrus variegated chlorosis and leprosis are present in South America and have devastated citrus production in parts of the region. Citrus tristeza virus is a quarantine pest in California. Other pathogens now present in California are detrimental to the citrus industry and must be officially controlled as regulated nonquarantine pests.
(5) The active enforcement of mandatory phytosanitary regulations and the application of mandatory phytosanitary procedures with the objective of eradication or containment of quarantine pests or for the management of regulated nonquarantine pests constitute official control.
(6) Official control is subject to the principles of plant quarantine as related to international trade, in particular, the principles of nondiscrimination, transparency, equivalence, and risk analysis.
(7) The presence of certain pathogens or nonpathogen disorders in citrus nursery stock, including plants that are used as the sources of citrus propagative stock, present a clear and present danger to the agricultural industry of the state. Management and mitigation of these risks and potential harm requires the Department of Food and Agriculture to develop, establish, and administer programs that reduce the associated danger and potential harm to an acceptable level.
(8) Participation in governmentally administered official control programs for pest cleanliness must be mandatory to ensure the effective management and mitigation of the risks and potential harm associated with citrus pathogens, citrus disorders, and other citrus pests.
(b) It is therefore the intent of the Legislature to create the Citrus Nursery Stock Pest Cleanliness Program within the Department of Food and Agriculture.

SEC. 2.

 Article 3 (commencing with Section 6941) is added to Chapter 2 of Part 3 of Division 4 of the Food and Agricultural Code, to read:
Article  3. Citrus Nursery Stock Pest Cleanliness Program

6941.
 (a) The department shall develop and establish, by January 1, 2010, the Citrus Nursery Stock Pest Cleanliness Program to protect citrus nursery stock from harmful diseases, pests, and other risks and threats. This program shall be administered by the secretary.
(b) The secretary shall, by July 31, 2009, hold fact finding meetings in various parts of the state to receive information from interested parties for consideration in the development of the program. The secretary shall consider input from interested parties as to the feasibility, cost, justification, and effectiveness of the program when developing components of the program.
(c) The program shall include all of the following:
(1) Require that a person who, by any method of propagation, produces any citrus nursery stock shall comply with all agricultural practices, application specifications and deadlines, eligibility, inspection, isolation, notification, pest control, records maintenance and availability, registration, sanitation, testing, and other lawful orders issued by the secretary.
(2) Establish inspection requirements and testing standards, including retesting and other measures to ensure the accuracy and timeliness of test results.
(3) Specify phase-in periods or effective dates for the regulations and for various requirements specified in the regulations.
(4) Define relevant terms. All relevant terms, including, but not limited to, “person,” “sale,” “nursery stock,” and “plant” that are listed and defined in this code shall apply to the program.
(5) Comply with all applicable federal and state quarantine requirements, with regulations establishing pest cleanliness standards for pests other than pathogens or nonpathogenic disorders, and with disclaimer of warranties and financial responsibility requirements specified in Section 3069 of Title 3 of the California Code of Regulations.

(6)Reimburse the secretary for the services and costs associated with the department’s administration of the program, in accordance with Section 6942.

6942.

(a)Commencing January 1, 2010, and prior to January 10 of each year, or as soon thereafter as possible, the secretary shall establish an annual assessment not to exceed 1 percent on the gross sales of all citrus fruit trees, except seedlings and rootstocks, produced and sold within the state or produced within and shipped from the state by any producer of citrus nursery stock.

(b)Gross sales shall be determined at the point of sale where the stock is sold to farmers for planting, to homeowners for yard planting, or to retailers or wholesalers for resale. The assessment shall only be levied and paid once on any particular plant.

(c)The secretary may set the assessment at a lower percentage rate to cover the costs necessary to implement and carry out the program established pursuant to this article.

(d)The assessment shall be due and payable to the secretary by April 10 of each year.

(e)The secretary may conduct audits and ensure that an assessment is being properly paid.

(f)Any money that is received by the department pursuant to this article shall be paid into the State Treasury and shall be credited to the Department of Food and Agriculture Fund. Upon appropriation, money in the fund that is received pursuant to this article shall be expended solely to support the program established pursuant to this article.

(g)The secretary shall levy on all delinquent and unpaid assessments pursuant to this article a collection charge of 20 percent of the amount due and payable.

6942.
 (a) Several important diseases and pathogens, including, but not limited to, stubborn disease, caused by Spiroplasma citri; citrus leprosis, caused by citrus leprosis rhabdovirus; citrus variegated chlorosis, caused by pathovar of Xylella fastidiosa; and Huanglongbing, caused by Candidatus Liberobacter asiaticus or Candidatus Liberobacter africanum, currently cannot be included in the program because valid and reliable testing methods and practical testing protocols do not exist for determining their absence from citrus trees intended for use as registered sources of citrus propagative stock. These specified diseases and pathogens and any other serious citrus disease or pathogen that threatens the citrus industry shall be included in the program within 45 days after valid and reliable diagnostic protocols have been developed and proven to be efficient and effective for the purpose of ensuring that citrus trees registered as sources of citrus propagative stock are tested free of the diseases and pathogens described in this subdivision.
(b) Criteria relative to the proven efficiency and effectiveness of disease diagnostics for the pathogens described in subdivision (a) shall include adequate diagnostics capacity to perform the required testing and its economic feasibility and practicality.

6943.
 The secretary may issue orders establishing rates or prices, without regard to Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code as provided by subdivision (g) of Section 11340.9 of the Government Code, to cover the department’s costs for its administration, testing, inspection, and other services under the program established pursuant to this article, subject to both of the following:
(a) The rates or prices shall take into consideration departmental cost savings associated with economy of scale factors.
(b) The nursery stock license fees received by the department pursuant to Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 6701) shall be factored into the calculation of the rates or prices for the services provided by the department under this program.

6943. 6944.
 This article shall be construed liberally to effectuate the Legislature’s intent that an effective citrus nursery stock pest cleanliness program in the department be established and administered by the secretary.