Bill Text: CA AB1232 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Department of Food and Agriculture: resilient and higher welfare grant program.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)
Status: (Failed) 2024-02-01 - From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56. [AB1232 Detail]
Download: California-2023-AB1232-Amended.html
|
Amended
IN
Assembly
April 12, 2023 |
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION
Assembly Bill
No. 1232
| Introduced by Assembly Member Connolly |
February 16, 2023 |
An act to add Article 7.5 (commencing with Section 540) to Chapter 3 of Part 1 of Division 1 of the Food and Agricultural Code, relating to agriculture.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1232, as amended, Connolly.
Department of Food and Agriculture: resilient and higher-welfare higher welfare grant program.
Existing law requires the Department of Food and Agriculture to promote and protect the agricultural industry of the state. Existing law, the Cannella Environmental Farming Act of 1995, requires the department to establish and oversee an environmental farming program to provide incentives to farmers whose practices promote the well-being of ecosystems, air quality, and wildlife and their habitat.
This bill would require the department to establish and administer a resilient and higher-welfare higher welfare grant program to support the implementation of higher standards of care and more climate-smart farming practices by providing education materials,
outreach, and incentives to producers and processors seeking to improve farm animal welfare and increase capacity to meet growing demand for higher-welfare higher welfare and welfare-certified products, to comply with regulatory requirements, and to make necessary climate adaptations. The bill would require the department to establish an annual competitive grant application process that enables producers and processors seeking to improve farm animal welfare to apply to the department for financial assistance and to give priority to certain applications. The bill would require the department to conduct outreach and education to producers and processors with regard to the program and to publish an annual
a report on or before January 1, 2029, on its internet website summarizing the results of the program.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NOBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Article 7.5 (commencing with Section 540) is added to Chapter 3 of Part 1 of Division 1 of the Food and Agricultural Code, to read:Article 7.5. Resilient, Humane, and Climate-Smart Agriculture
540.
It is the intent of the Legislature that the department, in administering the program established pursuant to this article, seek to support the implementation and expansion of improved farm animal care and climate-smart farming practices, prioritizing limited resource and socially disadvantaged farmers or ranchers, by providing incentives to eligible entities.541.
Unless the context otherwise requires, the definitions in this article govern the construction of this article:(a) “Animal welfare certification” means a value-added certification program offered by an organization or agency that uses independent, on-farm auditors to routinely assess a producer’s compliance with specific farm animal care standards, recognized by the secretary as meeting all of the following criteria:
(1) Publicly available certification protocol and standards.
(2) Standards that do all of the following:
(A) Exceed conventional industry standards, based on industry guidelines.
(B) Prohibit routine caging, crating, and tethering of animals.
(C) Include, at a minimum, provisions for space allowance, environmental enrichment, ability to engage in natural behaviors, pain control and physical alterations, animal handling and transport, and responsible antibiotic use where antibiotics are used only for the purpose of treating sick or injured animals or controlling diagnosed outbreaks of disease.
(3) Auditors with no vested or financial interest in audit outcomes who possess a background in animal care science, or have received equivalent training, and are able to recognize and apply established farm animal care
standards and protocols.
(4) A requirement for producers to comply with 100 percent of standards to receive certification.
(b) “BIPOC advisory committee” means the Black, Indigenous, and People of Color Farmer Advisory Committee established by the department.
(c) “Higher welfare” means the result of practices that do all of the following:
(1) Exceed conventional industry standards, based on industry guidelines.
(2) Prohibit routine caging, crating, and tethering of animals.
(3) Include, at a minimum, provisions for space allowance, environmental
enrichment, ability to engage in natural behaviors, pain control and physical alterations, animal handling and transport, and responsible antibiotic use where antibiotics are used only for the purpose of treating sick or injured animals or controlling diagnosed outbreaks of disease disease.
(d) “Limited resource farmer or rancher” has the same definition as in Section 760.107 of Title 7 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
(e) “Processor” means any small or very small mobile livestock or poultry slaughter operation where state or federal inspection is maintained.
(f) “Producer” means any person who raises livestock or poultry for meat, eggs, dairy, or fiber, without limit to property ownership or minimum acreage of production.
(g) “Socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher” has the same meaning as defined in Section 512.
(h) “Welfare-certified producer” means any producer currently participating in one or more animal welfare certifications.
542.
(a) The department shall, in coordination with the BIPOC advisory committee, establish and administer a resilient and(1) Seeks to support the implementation of higher standards of care and more climate-smart farming practices by providing education materials, outreach, and incentives, including grants, to producers and processors seeking to improve farm animal welfare and
increase capacity to meet growing demand for higher-welfare higher welfare and welfare-certified products, to comply with regulatory requirements, to make necessary climate adaptations, or any combination of these things.
(2) Aligns with the Farmer Equity Act of 2017 (Article 6 (commencing with Section 510)).
(b) (1) The department shall establish an annual competitive grant application process that enables producers and processors seeking to improve farm animal welfare to apply to the department for financial assistance.
(2) A person,
group of individuals, nonprofit organization, or tribal government entity shall be eligible to submit a grant application under the program as a producer if it meets both of the following conditions:
(A) The individual or entity leases, rents, or owns land in California regardless of whether the land is publicly owned or privately owned or is tribal land.
(B) The individual or entity raises livestock or uses indigenous Indigenous livestock production practices, or both of these things, on land described in subparagraph (A) and is seeking to improve farm animal welfare and increase capacity to meet growing demand
for higher-welfare higher welfare and welfare-certified products, to comply with regulatory requirements, or to make necessary climate adaptations, or any combination of these things.
(3) A person, group of individuals, nonprofit organization, or tribal government entity shall be eligible to submit a grant application under the program as a processor if it processes livestock in California and is seeking to improve farm animal welfare and increase capacity to meet growing demand for higher-welfare
higher welfare and welfare-certified products, to comply with regulatory requirements, or to make necessary climate adaptations, or any combination of these things.
(c) The department shall award grants for costs associated with improving farm animal welfare to meet increasing demand for higher-welfare higher welfare and welfare-certified products, comply with welfare-based regulatory requirements, meet climate impact needs, achieve or maintain participation in an animal welfare certification program, or any combination of these things.
These costs may include any of the following:
(1) Auditing and certification fees required for animal welfare certification.
(2) On-farm improvements required by a producer to meet the standards of an animal welfare certification program or welfare-based regulation, including, but not limited to, all of the following:
(A) Infrastructure improvements related to providing animals with access to the outdoors or pasture, including purchasing or constructing fencing, mobile and permanent housing or shelter, seeds and starts, soil building supplies, compost and compost structure supplies, mulch, organic fertilizer and pest control, hedgerow and ecosystem enhancement planting and design, and water lines and
irrigation structures for watering outdoor animals.
(B) Infrastructure improvements related to providing animals with cage- and crate-free, enriched indoor environments, including purchasing or constructing enrichment materials to encourage species-specific natural behaviors like nesting, rooting, scratching, dustbathing, wallowing, and foraging, and infrastructure to enable free movement of animals indoors, improve ventilation, and provide natural light.
(C) Infrastructure improvements related to increasing the capacity of existing welfare-certified producers’ operations to meet increasing consumer, retailer, and institutional demand for products carrying one or more animal welfare certifications, including
purchasing or constructing more or larger animal housing infrastructure, more efficient feeding equipment, and animal handling infrastructure.
(3) On-farm improvements required to safeguard animal welfare and help animals adapt to increasing climate impacts such as extreme heat, drought, wildfires, and flooding. These on-farm improvements include, but are not limited to, infrastructure improvements to increase outdoor shade and shelter access, integrate drought-resistant grasses on grazing or pastureland, transition to pasture-based management, improve or expand watering systems, improve indoor ventilation, and provide structure hardening.
(4) Improvements related to expanding access to higher-welfare
higher welfare processing facilities, including, but not limited to, any of the following:
(A) Purchasing or constructing mobile processing facilities.
(B) Purchasing equipment to improve animal handling and slaughter, including controlled atmosphere stunning infrastructure and technology.
(C) Implementing humane handling and slaughter trainings for workers that are accessible in all relevant and culturally appropriate languages.
(5) Labor or consulting costs, or both, associated with a project to improve farm animal welfare.
(6) Rent or leasing fees
associated with an operation’s expansion of outdoor access or transition to pasture-based management.
543.
(a) In awarding grants pursuant to this article, the department shall give first priority to applications for projects that occur in and benefit disadvantaged communities identified pursuant to Section 39711 of the Health and Safety Code and to applications(b) After giving priority
pursuant to subdivision (a), the department shall give next priority to grants for costs associated with achieving or maintaining participation in an animal welfare certification program or meeting welfare-based regulations.
(c) The department shall make available not less than 15 percent of the funds made available to the program for the purposes of animal welfare training and certification support, financial and farm planning, communication support, program recruitment, recordkeeping support, application process support, and translation support to limited resource and socially disadvantaged farmers or ranchers, as well as developing capacity and expertise of technical assistance providers to support limited resource and socially disadvantaged farmers or ranchers to enhance animal welfare practices.
544.
The department shall, in coordination with the BIPOC advisory committee, conduct outreach and education for producers and processors regarding the potential of the producer or processor under this article to request financial assistance with the costs associated with achieving or maintaining participation in an animal welfare certification program. In conducting the education and outreach, the department shall specify how a producer or processor may request financial assistance and be accessible by non-English speakers, including translation, interpretation, or captioning of outreach materials and events.545.
(a) The department shall publish(1) The number and demographics of producers and processors requesting financial assistance.
(2) The number and demographics of producers and processors receiving
financial assistance.
(3) The number and species of livestock that were involved in projects that received financial assistance.
(4) The projects for which the assistance was provided.
(5) The level of alignment with the Farmer Equity Act of 2017 (Article 6 (commencing with Section 510)).
(6) The amount of assistance provided to each producer and processor in dollars.
(7) The total amount of assistance provided in dollars.
(8) The results of outreach and education efforts by the department.
(b) The department shall post the report published pursuant to subdivision (a) on its internet website.
