BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 689|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 689
Author: Dodd (D)
Amended: 6/23/15 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE AGRICULTURE COMMITTEE: 3-0, 6/30/15
AYES: Galgiani, Cannella, Pan
NO VOTE RECORDED: Berryhill, Wolk
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 77-0, 4/30/15 (Consent) - See last page for
vote
SUBJECT: Marketing of eggs: violations: administrative and
civil penalties
SOURCE: Association of California Egg Farmers
Pacific Egg & Poultry Association
DIGEST: This bill authorizes the California Department of Food
and Agriculture (CDFA) to refuse to issue, or suspend or revoke,
an egg handler or egg producer certificate of registration, as
specified; authorizes CDFA to adopt regulations to classify egg
marketing violations and increase the maximum civil penalty from
$1,000 to $10,000; and authorizes CDFA and county agricultural
commissioners, in lieu of prosecution, to levy an administrative
penalty, as specified.
ANALYSIS: Existing federal and state law provides for the
regulation of eggs and egg products to assure that healthful,
wholesome eggs of known quality are sold in California, to
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facilitate the orderly marketing of shell eggs in a uniform
manner, and to prevent the marketing of deceptive, adulterated,
or mislabeled containers of eggs (Food and Agriculture Code
§27501 et seq.; Egg Products Inspection Act, 21 USC §1031 et
seq.).
Existing state law:
1)Authorizes CDFA, and county agricultural commissioners under
the supervision of the Secretary of CDFA (Secretary), to
enforce laws and regulations for eggs produced, shipped, or
sold in California. The Egg Safety and Quality Management
Program ensures that eggs sold in California are properly
handled, transported, refrigerated, and labeled for quality,
origin, grade and size. (Food and Agriculture Code §27501 et
seq.).
2)Requires egg producers and egg handlers selling eggs in
California to register with CDFA.
3)Establishes the Shell Egg Advisory Committee to advise the
Secretary on all matters pertaining to standards for shell
eggs, including quality, sampling, inspection, fees, budget,
and components of the Egg Quality Assurance Plan.
4)Requires the Secretary to establish a policy manual describing
the procedures for providing notice to a person charged with a
violation and for conducting a hearing.
5)Authorizes the district attorney in the county where a
violation occurs to prosecute a violator of egg marketing laws
or regulations.
6)Authorizes CDFA, in lieu of prosecution, to bring civil action
against any person in violation of egg marketing laws and
regulations for a maximum penalty of $1,000 per violation.
7)Provides for criminal punishment and procedures for persons
engaging in unlawful acts related to egg marketing, punishable
as a misdemeanor.
This bill:
1)Requires the Secretary of CDFA to adopt regulations that would
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classify violations of egg marketing laws and regulations as
minor, moderate, or serious and, subject to penalties from $50
to $10,000.
2)Authorizes CDFA to refuse to issue, or suspend or revoke, an
egg producer's or egg handler's registration if the applicant
fails to pay in full a fine, fee, assessment, or penalty or if
the applicant has violated a provision of egg marketing laws
or regulations.
3)Requires CDFA to adopt regulations to establish procedures for
a hearing and appeals process and establish a maximum time
period an applicant must wait before reapplying for
registration.
4)Increases the civil penalty for violations up to $10,000.
5)Authorizes a county agricultural commissioner to take an egg
marketing violator to county court and deposit any money
recovered into the county's general fund.
6)Authorizes the Secretary or a commissioner, in lieu of
prosecution, to levy an administrative penalty against a
violator in an amount according to the penalty schedule to be
created by CDFA, not to exceed $10,000.
7)Provides the process for which an administrative penalty is
levied by the Secretary or a commissioner, including notice of
violation, hearing and appeals process, payment, and
involvement of the county court in the event of nonpayment.
Comments
Penalty increase. This bill increases the maximum penalty for
violations of egg marketing provisions from $1,000 to $10,000.
Although this is a seemingly large increase, the low penalty of
$1,000 has not been changed since 1990. A weak penalty could be
construed as the "cost of doing business" and not serve as a
strong incentive for egg producers and handlers to comply with
state laws and regulations.
Egg safety. CDFA developed regulations to reduce the risk of
Salmonella Enteritidis (SE) contamination, and these regulations
went into full effect on January 1, 2015. These regulations
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implement a vaccination program to protect against SE; implement
a chick-monitoring program for environmental SE; establish hen
enclosure requirements; and require that every container of eggs
sold in California include a new label statement indicating
"California Shell Egg Food Safety Compliant" or "CA SEFS
Compliant" (3 CCR 1350).
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified7/14/15)
Association of California Egg Farmers (co-source)
Pacific Egg & Poultry Association (co-source)
OPPOSITION: (Verified 7/14/15)
None received
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the author, "Currently,
violations of shell egg marketing regulations are
under-enforced. District attorneys may hesitate to allocate
limited resources to a commercial/agricultural issue that brings
little return to the county due to caps on penalties. While the
Secretary of Food and Agriculture can pursue civil penalties,
using a statewide office to pursue local violations is
cumbersome. [This] bill provides enforcement authority to local
agricultural commissioners who have expertise in the issue.
AB689 will weed out bad actors and ensure California's consumers
are protected."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 77-0, 4/30/15
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Chang, Chau,
Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd,
Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia,
Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove,
Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones,
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Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low,
Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin,
Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Perea,
Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago,
Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber,
Wilk, Williams, Wood, Atkins
NO VOTE RECORDED: Campos, Chávez, Gomez
Prepared by:Anne Megaro / AGRI. / (916) 651-1508
7/14/15 16:52:53
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