BILL NUMBER: SB 140 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Senator Corbett
FEBRUARY 11, 2009
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, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect
immediately.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 140, as introduced, 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 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, 2010, 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, 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 authorize the department to designate specified types of
entities to perform the disease and pathogen diagnostic testing and
analysis under the program, as provided. The bill would authorize the
secretary to establish and enforce regulations necessary to carry
out the purposes of the program, and 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.
This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as
an urgency statute.
Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated 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 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, 2010, 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, 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.
(d) The secretary may also adopt and enforce regulations that are
necessary to carry out the purposes of this article.
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. (a) The department may designate the following types of
entities to perform the required disease and pathogen diagnostic
testing and analysis under the program:
(1) Entities that have responsibilities associated with the citrus
industry and that derive their authority from this code.
(2) Entities that are associated with a California public
university.
(b) An entity authorized pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be
proficient in the protocols for which it is approved by the
department.
(c) An entity authorized pursuant to this section shall be subject
to reapproval by the department every three years under the same
criteria set forth in subdivisions (a) and (b).
(d) The department shall have no liability for any errors or
omissions of an entity authorized pursuant to this section.
6944. The secretary may issue orders establishing rates or prices
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) and the costs of
the administrative functions of the program shall be factored into
the calculation of the rates or prices for the services provided by
the department under this program.
6945. 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.
6946. The secretary may adopt regulations and issue orders as
authorized by this title. The adoption, amendment, or repeal of a
regulation, and the issuance of an order, establishing rates or
prices under this title, or establishing diseases to be inspected
under Section 6942, shall be exempt from the rulemaking provisions of
the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with
Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2). However, the
secretary shall transmit those regulations and orders to the Office
of Administrative Law for filing with the Secretary of State and
publication in the California Code of Regulations.
SEC. 3. This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the
meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate
effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
In order to protect the citrus nursery stock, citrus crops, and
their associated industries by preventing the introduction and
establishment of pests and diseases, it is necessary that this act
take effect immediately.