Amended  IN  Senate  March 20, 2023

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill
No. 485

Introduced by Senator Becker

February 14, 2023

An act to amend Section 568 of the Food and Agricultural Code, and to add Section 39730.7.5 to the Health and Safety Code, relating to air resources.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


SB 485, as amended, Becker. Methane emissions: livestock: feed additives.
Existing law, the Cannella Environmental Farming Act of 1995, requires the Department of Food and Agriculture 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. The act requires the Secretary of Food and Agriculture to convene a 9-member Scientific Advisory Panel on Environmental Farming for specified purposes, including to review data on the impact that agriculture has on the environment and recommend to the secretary and appropriate state agencies the best available science on environmental impacts of agriculture. Existing law specifies the qualifications of members of the panel and requires the Secretary for Environmental Protection to appoint 2 members of the panel.
This bill would expand the membership of the board to 10 members, including a 3rd member appointed by the Secretary for Environmental Protection who would be required to have scientific research expertise in livestock emissions. The bill would also expand the scope of the duties of the panel by requiring the panel to oversee enteric fermentation emission reduction programs and to provide suggestions on which mitigation strategies for the enteric fermentation emissions reduction program need to apply as new research is made available and approved, as specified.
Existing law requires the State Air Resources Board to approve and begin implementing a comprehensive short-lived climate pollutant strategy, as specified, to achieve a reduction in the statewide emissions of methane by 40%, hydrofluorocarbon gases by 40%, and anthropogenic black carbon by 50% below 2013 levels by 2030. Existing law requires the state board, in consultation with the Department of Food and Agriculture to adopt regulations to reduce methane emissions from livestock manure management operations and dairy manure management operations, consistent with the strategy, by up to 40% below the dairy sector’s and livestock sector’s 2013 levels by 2030.
This bill would require, on or before June 1, 2025, the state board, in cooperation with the Department of Food and Agriculture, to develop and implement offset or inset compliance protocols to incentivize the use of livestock feed additives that reduce enteric fermentation. The bill would require the state board and the department to perform various duties relating to encouraging the use of feed additives that reduce enteric fermentation, as described. The bill would require the state board, in partnership with the department, to set an adoption target of feed additives through the year 2040. The bill would also require the state board to provide the Legislature with a report, 2 years after an effective feed additive is commercially available, as determined by the state board, about further funding and scientific research that is necessary to improve compliance and accuracy of the offset program, and to convene a workgroup, as specified, for related purposes, on or before August 1, 2025, among other duties. The bill would require the department to report to the Legislature on an outreach plan for potential applicants for voluntary incentive programs, as provided, and to provide technical assistance to any small farms, as defined, for any enteric fermentation program created, among other duties. The bill would allocate, upon appropriation by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act for these purposes, as specified, the sum of $10,000,000 to the state board for early research, development, and demonstration projects of enteric fermentation.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

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


SECTION 1.

 It is the intent of the Legislature to do all of the following:
(a) Provide incentives for scientifically effective, safe, and economic feed additives that reduce methane emissions from enteric fermentation in livestock.
(b) Signal to investors and manufacturers California’s interest and support for scientifically sound feed additives that can reduce methane in livestock.
(c) Recognize the need for more accurate and available research on enteric fermentation solutions for the quicker approval of livestock feed additives that require safety approval from federal and state agencies.
(d) Recognize Department of Food and Agriculture’s and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s existing efforts to support expedited approval methods for dairy feed additives, and encourage further partnership that also ensures no harm to public or environmental harm.
(e) Recognize that the State Air Resources Board’s March 2022 “Analysis of Progress toward Achieving the 2030 Dairy and Livestock Sector Methane Emissions Target” finds viable enteric fermentation feed additives to be a viable supportive solution to meeting the targets of Section 39730.5 of the Health and Safety Code, and all of the following:
(1) To fully achieve the 2030 target, California must maintain an annual appropriation of seventy-five million dollars ($75,000,000) toward manure management and mitigation projects through 2028, and must maintain the same level of natural gas pipeline build-out.
(2) Dairy and livestock sectors may fall short of the 2030 target without an enteric strategy and sufficient public funding.
(3) A feed strategy is likely to be available in the next three to five years, inclusive, which can help achieve the 2030 target.

SEC. 2.

 Section 568 of the Food and Agricultural Code is amended to read:

568.
 (a) The secretary shall convene a nine-member 10-member Scientific Advisory Panel on Environmental Farming to advise the secretary on the implementation of the Healthy Soils Program established pursuant to Section 569, and the State Water Efficiency and Enhancement Program established by the department from moneys made available pursuant to Chapter 2 of the Statutes of 2014, and to assist federal, state, and local government agencies, as appropriate or necessary, on issues relating to the impact of agricultural practices on air, water, and wildlife habitat to do the following:
(1) Review data on the impact that agriculture has on the environment and recommend to the secretary and appropriate state agencies the best available science on environmental impacts of agriculture, as well as practices and policies based on that information to advance the goals of this article, including Section 569.
(2) Compile the net environmental impacts that agriculture creates for the environment, identified pursuant to paragraph (1).
(3) Research, review, and comment on data upon which proposed environmental policies and regulatory programs are based to ensure that the environmental impacts of agricultural activities are accurately portrayed and to identify incentives that may be provided to encourage agricultural practices with environmental benefits.
(4) Assist government agencies to incorporate policies and practices identified pursuant to paragraph (1) into environmental regulatory programs.
(5) Oversee the department’s Alternative Manure Management Program and Dairy Digester Research and Development Program, and any new programs established by the department for enteric fermentation emission reduction.
(6) Provide suggestions on which mitigation strategies for the enteric fermentation emissions reduction program need to apply as new research is made available and approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
(b) (1)  Members of the panel shall be highly qualified and professionally active or engaged in the conduct of scientific research. Of the members first appointed to the panel, two shall serve for a term of two years and three shall serve for a term of three years, as determined by lot. Thereafter, members shall be appointed for a term of three years. The members shall be appointed as follows:
(A) Five members shall be appointed by the secretary as follows:
(i) At least two members shall have a minimum of five years of training and experience in the field of agriculture and shall represent production agriculture.
(ii) At least one member shall have training and field experience in on-farm management practices that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, sequester carbon, or both.
(iii) At least one member shall be certified as a producer pursuant to federal Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. Sec. 6501 et seq.).
(iv) At least one member shall have technical expertise in agricultural conservation planning and management.
(B) Two Three members shall be appointed by the Secretary for Environmental Protection. One shall have a minimum of five years of training and experience in the field of human health or environmental science, and one shall have expertise in greenhouse gas emissions reductions practices related to agriculture. agriculture, and one shall have scientific research expertise in livestock emissions.
(C) Two members who have a minimum of five years of training and experience in the field of resource management shall be appointed by the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency. One member shall additionally have expertise in climate change adaptation and climate change impacts in the agricultural sector.
(2) The secretary may also appoint, in consultation with the panel, ex officio nonvoting members to the panel.
(c) The panel may establish ad hoc committees, which may include professionals, scientists, or representatives of nongovernmental entities, to assist it in performing its functions.
(d) The panel shall be created and maintained with funds made available from existing resources within the department to the extent they are available.
(e) The State Air Resources Board shall consult with the secretary and the panel, as appropriate, in developing the quantification methods described in subdivision (b) of Section 16428.9 of the Government Code as it relates to the demonstration and quantification of on-farm greenhouse gas emissions reductions.

SECTION 1.SEC. 3.

 Section 39730.7.5 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:

39730.7.5.
 (a) On or before June 1, 2025, the state board, in cooperation with the Department of Food and Agriculture, shall develop and implement offset or inset compliance protocols to incentivize the use of livestock feed additives that reduce enteric fermentation.
(b) (1) The state board shall, in partnership with the Department of Food and Agriculture, set an adoption target of feed additives through the year 2040, which may be achieved through the use of voluntary incentives, if and when effective feed additives are demonstrated to be scientifically proven, cost effective, and safe.
(2) In order to achieve the goal described in paragraph (1), the state board shall do all of the following:
(A) Begin examining an offset compliance protocol to cover the cost difference for feed additives that reduce enteric fermentation when the state board determines that those feed additives are commercially available.
(B) Determine a baseline enteric fermentation rate for livestock based on age, lactation state, cattle type, and feed type to be used in determining enteric emission rate for individual dairy operations.
(C) Provide the Legislature with a report, two years after an effective feed additive is commercially available, as determined by the state board, about further funding and scientific research that is necessary to improve compliance and accuracy of the offset program, as well as alternative long-term solutions to scaling adoption among livestock farmers. The report shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(D) Convene a workgroup on repurposing existing data from other government agencies and entities that are helpful to improve emissions data assumptions regarding enteric fermentation on or before August 1, 2025.
(i) The workgroup shall include a representative of the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board, the United States Department of Agriculture, if available, the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District, the State Water Resources Control Board, and any other relevant agencies.
(ii) The state board shall make publicly available on the state board’s internet website or through other means information about further data that is needed to improve the quality of emissions data.
(E) Develop a needs assessment for long-term enteric fermentation reduction planning.
(3) In order to achieve the goal described in paragraph (1), the Department of Food and Agriculture shall do all of the following:
(A) Report to the Legislature on an outreach plan for potential applicants for voluntary incentive programs and include an estimate of funding necessary for third-party or department outreach efforts. The report shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(B) When low-emission dairy products using enteric fermentation feed additives become commercially available, establish a public awareness campaign to encourage early adoption and purchasing of those products.
(C) Develop a needs assessment for long-term enteric fermentation reduction planning.
(D) Provide technical assistance to any small farms for any enteric fermentation program created. For purposes of this clause, a small farm is a farm with 1,500 or fewer livestock.
(c) Upon appropriation by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act or another statute for the purposes described in paragraph (2) of subdivision (b), the sum of ten million dollars ($10,000,000) is hereby allocated to the state board for early research, development, and demonstration projects of enteric fermentation.