SECTIONS 2271-2287 - California Statutes

FOOD AND AGRICULTURAL CODE

SECTION 2271-2287

2271. The commissioner shall keep a record of his official acts.

2272. (a) The commissioner shall make an annual report to the
director on the condition of agriculture in his or her county and on
what is being done to eradicate, control, or manage pests, and
actions relating to the exclusion of pests or quarantine against
pests. The commissioner may include in the annual report information
relating to organic farming methods, biotechnology, integrated pest
management, and biological control activities in the county. The
commissioner shall also furnish from time to time to the director any
other information the director may require.
(b) This section shall become operative July 1, 1999.

2273. The commissioner shall also make a monthly report to the
board of supervisors if and when so required by the board.

2274. The commissioner shall learn about all pests that may exist,
or are likely to exist, in his county.

2275. The commissioner, for the purpose of learning the best and
most efficacious methods of performing his or her duties, shall
attend the annual meeting of the California Agricultural
Commissioners and Sealers Association or its successor, and any other
meetings as the secretary or director shall require.

2276. The commissioner shall, for the purpose of becoming informed
about new and dangerous agricultural pests, observing and learning
new and better methods of pest control, and determining the best and
most efficacious methods of conducting the work of his department,
consult with staff members of the United States Department of
Agriculture, the State Department of Agriculture, the University of
California, and with agricultural commissioners of other counties. He
shall make such trips outside of the county which are necessary for
such purposes, if authorized by the board of supervisors.

2276.5. (a) The Legislature finds and declares that, acting under
policy direction of the Secretary of Food and Agriculture, California'
s unique system of county agricultural commissioners forms the front
line of defense in protecting the state from the many exotic and
invasive species threatening our people, commerce, and environment.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature that agricultural
commissioners take an increasingly assertive and proactive role in
the exclusion and detection of exotic and invasive species in the
urban environment, particularly those potentially spread by human
activities, such as landscaping and yard maintenance.

2277. The commissioner shall, if directed by the board of
supervisors, collect, prepare, and install exhibits for public
information which illustrate the work of his department, depict the
resources of the county, or display the products of the county.

2278. The commissioner may disseminate information which relates to
pests that may exist in his county, or are likely to exist in it.
The information may include life histories, habits, methods of
detection, and methods of control of such pests.

2279. The commissioner shall compile reports of the condition,
acreage, production, and value of the agricultural products in his
county. The commissioner may publish such reports, and shall transmit
a copy of them to the director.

2280. The director, when acting in person with a commissioner, has
all the rights of such commissioner.

2281. Except as otherwise specifically provided, in all cases where
provisions of this code place joint responsibility for the
enforcement of laws and regulations on the director and the
commissioner, the commissioner shall be responsible for local
administration of the enforcement program. The director shall be
responsible for overall statewide enforcement and shall issue
instructions and make recommendations to the commissioner. Such
instructions and recommendations shall govern the procedure to be
followed by the commissioner in the discharge of his duties. The
director shall furnish assistance in planning and otherwise
developing an adequate county enforcement program, including
uniformity, coordination, training, special services, special
equipment, and forms, statewide publicity, statewide planning, and
emergency assistance.
The instructions and recommendations shall include a cost analysis
of the local administration of such programs, determined from data
supplied by the commissioner pursuant to Section 2272. Such cost
analysis shall identify the joint programs or activities for which
funds necessary to maintain adequate county administration and
enforcement have not been provided. The director shall develop,
jointly with the commissioners, county priorities for such
enforcement programs and activities.
The director shall report annually to the Legislature his findings
concerning the cost analysis with specific regard to programs where
funds are inadequate for an efficient enforcement program, together
with a listing of the priorities jointly established by the director
and the commissioners that are contained in the formal instructions
and recommendations of the director.

2282. (a) Except as provided in Section 2282.5, and to the extent
funds are appropriated in the annual Budget Act, the Secretary of
Food and Agriculture or the Director of Pesticide Regulation may
allocate annually to each county an amount determined by the
secretary or the director not to exceed one-third of the amount
expended by the county during the previous fiscal year for the
programs of joint responsibility under the jurisdiction of the
secretary or director, as applicable. The allocations shall be made
from funds appropriated to the secretary or the director for purposes
of carrying out activities of joint responsibility with the
commissioners at the local levels.
(b) The annual report to the Legislature required by Section 2281
shall include findings for each of the following joint programs,
including the amounts allocated to, and expended by, the counties in
the previous fiscal year and the proposed amount to be allocated by
the secretary for each program for the ensuing budget year:
(1) Pest detection.
(2) Pest eradication.
(3) Pest management control.
(4) Pest exclusion.
(5) Seed inspection.
(6) Nursery inspection.
(7) Fruit and vegetable quality control.
(8) Egg quality control.
(9) Apiary inspection.
(10) Crop statistics.
The report shall also specify the programs that have been
augmented with state funds each year since 1980 because of new
legislative mandates, or because of pest infestations or outbreaks
occurring since that date, and the annual amounts of those
augmentations.

2282.5. (a) The development of work plans for allocation of the
funding appropriated in the Budget Act to the department for local
assistance for agricultural plant and animal pest and disease
prevention shall be the responsibility of the department. The
department shall establish criteria for the development of the work
plans and for allocating the appropriated funds.
(b) Of the amount appropriated in the Budget Act to the department
for local assistance for agricultural plant and animal pest and
disease prevention, five million five hundred thousand dollars
($5,500,000) shall be utilized solely for high-risk pest exclusion
activities. The work plans for the exclusion of high-risk pests shall
be developed by the department with the county agricultural
commissioners and in consultation with affected industry
representatives. In order to determine the effectiveness of high-risk
pest exclusion programs in each county, the criteria established by
the department for the work plan shall include, but need not be
limited to, the following:
(1) The number of high-risk plant shipments entering each county.
(2) The number of high-risk entry points in each county.
(3) The number of state action quarantine pests intercepted or
detected annually in each county.
(4) The work hours expended by each county in conducting exclusion
of high-risk pests.
(5) The rate of interceptions and rejections per inspection
activity.
(c) To remain eligible for funding under this section, a county
shall maintain its support of ongoing operational costs of the county
agricultural commissioner programs listed in subdivision (b) of
Section 2282, at 1997-98 fiscal year levels.
(d) Funds allocated for high-risk pest exclusion activities
pursuant to subdivision (b) may not be expended for any purpose other
than the exclusion or detection of high-risk pests consistent with
the work plans prescribed in subdivision (a) or scientific
evaluation. Funds allocated by each county on or after September 28,
1998, shall not be allocated to other programs listed in subdivision
(b) of Section 2282 until the county work plan is approved by the
department consistent with the funding appropriated in the Budget Act
to the department for local assistance for agricultural plant and
animal pest and disease prevention for this purpose.

2283. The commissioner, in carrying out his responsibilities under
Section 2281, may assist the department in the conduct of surveys or
investigations pursuant to Section 461 for the purpose of preventing
the introduction and spread of injurious insect or animal pests,
plant diseases, and noxious weeds under Section 403.

2284. The commissioner may, with the approval of the board of
supervisors, contract with any person or association to certify the
condition of a shipment of a product regulated under this code. The
condition certified to may include the temperature of the product.
The contract shall provide for payment to the commissioner for the
commissioner's total cost in performing the certification.

2285. For the purpose of developing necessary information and
securing the best results for agriculture in this state, the
commissioner may correspond and meet with any interested individual,
agency, group, association, or educational institution with an
interest in, or information regarding, agricultural practices, as
resources allow. As used in this section "agriculture" includes, but
is not limited to, developments and issues regarding all agricultural
practices, traditional and alternative pest control methodology, and
other areas of agriculture resource management. The California
Agricultural Commissioners and Sealers Association may provide a
forum by which a commissioner keeps informed and may facilitate
discussions with other associations, institutions, agencies,
organizations, or groups relating to resource management and
protection for agriculture.

2286. The discretionary immunity doctrine as applied to a public
entity and an employee of a public entity pursuant to Sections 815.2
and 820.2 of the Government Code applies to decisions of a county
department of agriculture and an employee of a county department of
agriculture enforcing a state or local pest control or pest
eradication statute, regulation, or ordinance. Nothing in this
section authorizes or affects the filing of an action challenging the
legal authority of the county department of agriculture to undertake
the pest control or eradication action.

2287. Whenever the commissioner determines that it is necessary to
more effectively or more efficiently carry out a program listed in
subdivision (b) of Section 2282, the commissioner may enter into a
mutual aid agreement with other counties for the purpose of sharing
staff, equipment, expertise, information, and other resources
necessary to meet the needs of the program.