Bill Text: CA SB362 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Agriculture: victory garden growers.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2010-08-02 - From committee with author's amendments. Read second time. Amended. Re-referred to Com. on AGRI. [SB362 Detail]

Download: California-2009-SB362-Amended.html

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BILL NUMBER: SB 362	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  MAY 28, 2009
	AMENDED IN SENATE  MAY 20, 2009

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Florez

                        FEBRUARY 25, 2009

   An act to amend Sections 62708.5 and 62722 of the Food and
Agricultural Code, relating to milk.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 362, as amended, Florez. Milk pooling: exemptions.
   Existing law, the Gonsalves Milk Pooling Act (the act), provides
for equalization pools and milk pooling to govern the production and
distribution of fluid milk and fluid cream. The act authorizes the
Secretary of Food and Agriculture to develop a pooling plan, with
specified items required to be included in the pooling plan, under
which producers of milk are assigned a pool quota that determines the
amount of class 1 milk the producer can sell to handlers within the
pooling system and the prices to be paid by handlers to producers.
   The act permits a producer-handler, as specified, who elects to
operate outside the pool to make certain prescribed deductions from
its class 1 sales, excluding sales to a handler, before being
required to account to the pool.
   This bill would instead permit a producer-handler who elects or
has elected to operate outside the pool to make deductions for all of
its production from its class 1 sales before being required to
account to the pool. The bill would also delete certain provisions
relating to the participation of milk production of exempted
producer-handlers in either the base pool or overbase pool and to the
transfer by a producer-handler of the option to join or operate
outside the pool.
   The act provides that producers of certified milk or guaranteed
raw milk have the option, at the time of the adoption of the initial
pooling plan, to be subject to the plan or to be excluded from the
plan.
   This bill would  also include   provide that,
on or after January 1, 2010,  a dairy farm that produces and
processes raw milk, as defined,  within those provisions
  shall have the option to be or continue to be subject
to the pooling plan or to be prospectively excluded from the pooling
plan  . The bill would make conforming and technical changes.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 62708.5 of the Food and Agricultural Code is
amended to read:
   62708.5.  (a) A producer-handler, for purposes of this chapter,
shall also include, as a separate and distinct category of
producer-handlers, any producer and any handler who purchases or
handles fluid milk or fluid cream produced by this producer if all of
the ownership of the handler and all of the ownership of the
producer is owned by the same person or persons and their ownership
in the producer or handler is at least 95 percent identical for each
person with their ownership in the handler or producer. This
ownership shall not exceed 10 individual persons or owners of
equitable interest in a partnership, corporation, or other legally
constituted business association.
   (b) The ownership required by this section may be through a
partnership, corporation, or other legally constituted business
association if the entities are owned by the same person or persons,
and there is at least 95 percent identity of ownership for each
person with their ownership in the handler or producer. For purposes
of this section, a "person" or "persons" includes the spouse, or
other persons of lineal consanguinity of the first or second degree
or collateral consanguinity to the fourth degree, and their spouses,
and includes an adopted child the same as a natural child and kindred
of the half blood equally with those of the whole blood of the owner
and ownerships by persons so related shall be considered single
ownership by one person. For purposes of this section, property
pledged or hypothecated in any manner to others shall be considered
"owned" if equitable ownership with management and control remain
with the producer-handler.
   (c) Ownership as provided in this section shall have existed at
the time of the base period selected by the producer under Section
62707 and at all other times thereafter.
   (d) Any such producer-distributor may, until August 6, 1969, do
either of the following:
   (1) Join and operate wholly within the pool.
   (2) Have its entire original production base and pool quota
determined during the base period it selected as a producer pursuant
to Section 62707, established as a part of the pooling plan, and,
nevertheless elect to operate entirely outside of the pool to the
extent authorized by this section.
   (e) Any producer-handler who qualifies under this section and
elects or has elected to operate outside the pool, to the extent of
the authority granted, shall have the right to make deductions for
all of its production from its own class 1 sales before being
required to account to the pool.
   (f) The deductions from class 1 sales authorized pursuant to this
section may be made irrespective of the fact that the average class 1
usage in the pool for that month may be less than 100 percent of the
pool quota in that pool.
   (g) The fact that a producer-handler qualifies as to one of its
milk production operations under this section does not prevent it
from operating on an entirely separate nonqualifying basis (and,
therefore, subject to pooling) at other milk production facilities,
and with other nonqualifying persons at these other milk production
facilities. This section does not prevent a producer-handler from
purchasing or selling pool quota or production base as otherwise
provided in this chapter.
   (h) If at any time ownership, as defined in this section, ceases,
the producer-handler shall no longer be eligible for the options in
this section, shall account to the pool as a separate handler, and
shall be entitled to reentry into producer participation in the pool
on the same basis as a producer-handler may under the last paragraph
of Section 62708.
  SEC. 2.  Section 62722 of the Food and Agricultural Code is amended
to read:
   62722.  Pooling plans shall not apply to the production of goats
milk or producer-handlers who produce and sell less than 500 gallons
of fluid milk used for class 1 purposes per day unless they
specifically request entry into the pool at the time of the adoption
of the initial pooling plan for that area.  A dairy farm that
produces and processes raw milk and a   A 
producer of certified milk or guaranteed raw milk shall have the
option, at the time of the adoption of the initial pooling plan under
this chapter, to be subject to the plan, and accordingly to have a
production base and pool quota established for the producer, or to be
excluded from the plan.  On or after January 1, 2010, a dairy
farm that produces and processes raw milk shall have the option to be
or continue to be subject to the pooling plan or to be prospectively
excluded from the pooling plan.  For purposes of this section,
"dairy farm that produces and processes raw milk" means a vertically
integrated operation that includes a dairy farm and processing plant
owned and operated by the same entity that produces guaranteed raw
milk, or grade A raw milk, to be sold to the consumer.
   (a) Any such producer of less than 500 gallons of fluid milk per
day, dairy farm that produces and processes raw milk, producer of
certified milk, or producer of guaranteed raw milk, electing to be
excluded from the plan, may at any later time be admitted to the
pool, but with only the production base and pool quota to which the
producer would have originally been entitled or the producer's
existing production and average daily class 1 usage during the 12
months preceding the producer's entry into the pool, whichever is
less.
   (b) Any producer claiming exemptions from the provision of any
pooling plan by reason of the provisions of Section 62708, 62708.1,
or this section, who loses his or her exemption by failure to meet
the requirements for exemptions set forth in those sections shall
automatically be deemed to have applied for and become a part of a
producer pool on September 1st following any year ended August 31st
during which the secretary determines the producer is no longer
entitled to exemption, and the producer's admittance into such a pool
shall be on the basis of the production base and pool quota
calculations as set forth in those sections.