Existing law requires the Secretary of Food and Agriculture to establish and administer a research program to control vertebrate pests, as specified. Existing law requires the secretary to establish the Vertebrate Pest Control Research Advisory Committee, and requires the committee to make recommendations to the secretary regarding vertebrate pest control research each year. Existing law requires each county agricultural commissioner to pay a specified fee to the secretary based on the amount of vertebrate pest control material sold, distributed, or applied in the county. Existing law establishes the Vertebrate Pest Control Research Account in the Department of Food and Agriculture Fund, and continuously appropriates the funds in the account to the secretary for purposes of carrying out the provisions relating to vertebrate pest control research. Existing law repeals all of the provisions
specified above on January 1, 2016.
This bill would extend the operation of those provisions until January 1, 2026. By extending the secretary’s authority to expend funds in a continuously appropriated fund, the bill would make an appropriation.