SECTIONS 5341-5353 - California Statutes

FOOD AND AGRICULTURAL CODE

SECTION 5341-5353

5341. To prevent the introduction into, or the spread within this
state, of pests, the director shall maintain at such places within
this state as he deems necessary plant quarantine inspection stations
for the purpose of inspecting all conveyances which might carry
plants or other things which are, or are liable to be, infested or
infected with any pest.

5341.5. (a) Every operator of a motor vehicle entering the state
with a shipment of any agricultural commodity shall cause the vehicle
and the shipment to be inspected, and shall obtain a certificate of
inspection, at the plant quarantine inspection station nearest the
point of entry into the state.
(b) Failure to obtain the required certificate of inspection shall
subject the operator of the vehicle and the registered owner of the
vehicle, if a different person or legal entity, to separate civil
penalties of not more than two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500)
for each violation. In determining the severity of the penalty to be
imposed, the court shall consider any prior violations of the same
nature within the preceding 24 months, the commodity being
transported, and any evidence, including deviation from normal and
usual routes, that the operator of the vehicle intentionally avoided
inspection.
(c) Inspection shall not be required when the operator of the
vehicle would be required to travel a distance of 15 miles or more
from normal and usual routes for the particular trip to obtain the
required inspection and certification, or when weather conditions or
road closures on normal and usual routes prevent travel to the
nearest plant quarantine inspection station.
(d) Violation of this section is a separate offense from violation
of any other provision of this code and proceedings under this
section shall not be deemed to prevent separate proceedings for any
other offense.
(e) Proceedings under this section may be brought by the secretary
or, with the secretary's concurrence, by the district attorney of
the county in which the violation occurred. The civil penalty shall
be awarded to the agency which brings the enforcement action for use
by that agency in enforcing the provisions of this code.
(f) The secretary may, by regulation or executive order, as the
secretary deems advisable, permit exceptions for certain commodities,
areas, and times consistent with the purposes of this division,
patterns of local traffic near border areas, and availability of
inspection stations.
(g) Persons holding a valid permit to transport cattle pursuant to
Section 21067 are exempt from this section.

5342. Plant quarantine officers at plant quarantine inspection
stations may ascertain the origin, quantity, and kinds of meat and
meat products, poultry and poultry products, eggs, and livestock
transported into or out of this state through the stations. The
operator of any vehicle which is transporting any such commodity into
or out of the state through any plant quarantine inspection station
shall stop and give this information upon request to a plant
quarantine officer at the plant quarantine inspection station. Such
request may be by a sign which is openly displayed at the station or
by any other means which is deemed by the director as effective.
The director may accept, on behalf of the state, donations of
money from any person to defray the costs of the department under
this section. Any such money shall be paid into the State Treasury
and credited to the Department of Agriculture Fund. The director may
limit expenditures under this section relating to livestock to the
amounts so donated for this purpose, and shall limit expenditures
under this section relating to poultry and poultry products and eggs
to the amounts so donated for this purpose.

5343. The director shall cause conspicuous signs to be erected at
or near each inspection station which disclose the existence of the
station.

5343.5. At any inspection station maintained at or near the
California border by the director pursuant to Section 5341, the
following sign shall be conspicuously posted in block letters not
less than four inches in height:
"NOTICE: IF YOU ARE A CALIFORNIA RESIDENT, THE FEDERAL GUN CONTROL
ACT MAY PROHIBIT YOU FROM BRINGING WITH YOU INTO THIS STATE FIREARMS
THAT YOU ACQUIRED OUTSIDE OF THIS STATE.
IN ADDITION, IF YOU ARE A NEW CALIFORNIA RESIDENT, STATE LAW
REGULATES YOUR BRINGING INTO CALIFORNIA HANDGUNS AND OTHER DESIGNATED
FIREARMS AND MANDATES THAT SPECIFIC PROCEDURES BE FOLLOWED.
IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THE PROCEDURES TO BE FOLLOWED IN
BRINGING FIREARMS INTO CALIFORNIA OR TRANSFERRING FIREARMS WITHIN
CALIFORNIA, YOU SHOULD CONTACT THE CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
OR A LOCAL CALIFORNIA LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY."

5344. (a) It is unlawful for the operator of any vehicle to fail to
stop the vehicle at an inspection station or to willfully avoid an
inspection station. It is also unlawful for the operator to fail to
stop either upon demand of a clearly identified plant quarantine
officer or upon demand of an officer of the California Highway
Patrol, when the officer orders the operator to stop for the purpose
of determining whether any quarantine which is established pursuant
to any provision of this division is being violated.
(b) Notwithstanding Section 5309, a violation of this section is a
misdemeanor and grounds for the vehicle to be stopped for
inspection.

5345. It is unlawful for any person to operate upon any highway in
this state any vehicle which, in violation of Section 5344, was not
stopped as required by that section, if the person who is operating
such vehicle knows of such violation of Section 5344. The violation
of this section continues unless and until one of the following
occurs:
(a) A period of 24 hours has elapsed following the violation of
Section 5344.
(b) The operator who violated Section 5344 has been apprehended
and the vehicle which is involved has been inspected and released
from quarantine by any authorized state plant quarantine officer. An
operator who is so apprehended does not violate this section by
reason of operating the vehicle en route to the closest inspection
station immediately following his apprehension for violation of
Section 5344, nor does any other person, who operates the vehicle for
such purpose, violate this section.

5346. (a) It is unlawful for any person to conceal any plant from
any plant quarantine officer or to fail to present it or any
quarantined article for inspection at the request of such officer.
(b) It is unlawful to move into California any outdoor household
article from a federally regulated gypsy moth area unless accompanied
by certification that the article has been inspected and does not
contain gypsy moth egg masses. The director may adopt regulations to
specify the type of certification and inspection required as
necessary to carry out this section.

5348. Plant quarantine officers, and officers of the California
Highway Patrol, are authorized to cite persons for any violation of
this article.

5349. (a) It is unlawful for the operator of a vehicle to
intentionally route the vehicle and travel on that route in order to
prevent the vehicle from passing through a plant quarantine
inspection station.
(b) Notwithstanding Section 5309, a violation of this section is a
misdemeanor.

5350. (a) The director shall establish a program for the inspection
of conveyances entering California through airport and maritime
facilities to prevent the introduction into, or the spread within,
this state of pests.
(b) The director shall maintain plant quarantine inspection
stations at points of entry at airports and marine terminals pursuant
to Section 5341.
(c) The director shall establish a program for the dissemination
of information at airports and marine terminals in order to provide
the users of the facilities information regarding the pest control
and quarantine requirements of this state.
(d) The director may authorize the inspection and certification of
conveyances outside the state if the director finds that the
inspection and certification meets the standards established for
in-state inspection and certification programs and, for that purpose,
may enter into any agreements necessary with any other state or the
federal government. The director may provide that conveyances
inspected and certified pursuant to this subdivision are not required
to be inspected at California airports or marine terminals.
(e) The functions of this section shall be performed by the
Division of Plant Industry, Pest Exclusion Branch, of the department,
and the duties shall be performed by plant quarantine officers.

5350.5. (a) The director may establish a task force comprised of
representatives of the following industries:
(1) Air common carriers.
(2) Port authorities.
(3) Maritime common carriers.
(4) Other industries that the director deems appropriate.
(b) The goal of this task force shall be to develop and implement
a program of preventive measures to reduce the likelihood that pests
will be transported into the state aboard aircraft or vessels. The
program may include, but is not limited to:
(1) Educational materials to warn passengers of the special
quarantine and pest exclusion rules and regulations that apply in
California.
(2) Recommendations of appropriate methods for distributing those
educational materials to passengers.
(3) Special training for employees of carriers who handle cargo
and baggage that may contain pests.
(4) Special training and educational materials aimed at enlisting
the assistance of passenger ticket agents in educating potential
passengers of the special pest exclusion measures in effect at
California points of entry.
(5) Public announcements to passengers enroute to California
regarding the rules and regulations related to transporting pests
into the state.
(c) The program shall include methods for determining the
effectiveness of the preventative measures developed pursuant to this
section.
(d) The task force shall also develop a program for the purposes
of seeking federal funds sufficient to maintain airport pest
inspection activities at the same levels as the level maintained
during the 1991-92 fiscal year.

5351. (a) The director shall levy a service charge, to the extent
authorized by subsection (b) of Section 1513 of Title 49 of the
United States Code, based on the schedule established pursuant to
Section 5353, on each air carrier or foreign air carrier engaged in
foreign air commerce, as those terms are defined by Section 5353, for
the use of airport facilities for plant and animal pest inspection,
quarantine, and eradication.
(b) For the purposes of this section, "airport facilities" means
those airports owned or operated by any public entity.

5352. To the extent permitted by federal law, the director shall
levy a fee on commercial marine carriers, based on the schedule
established pursuant to Section 5353, for the use of marine terminal
facilities for plant and animal pest inspection, quarantine, and
eradication. The director shall identify and establish a list of
countries which the director has reason to believe are potential
sources of exotic plant and animal pests.

5353. (a) Each air carrier or foreign air carrier engaged in
foreign air commerce which carries animals or plants or other
materials which are, or are likely to be, infected or infested with
any pest shall pay a charge of eighty-five dollars ($85) to the
director upon the initial landing in this state of each flight of the
carrier which originates outside the United States.
(b) Each commercial marine carrier engaged in foreign commerce
which carries animals or plants or other materials which are, or are
likely to be, infected or infested with any pest shall pay a fee of
two hundred dollars ($200) to the director upon the initial arrival
in this state of the carrier on a voyage which originated outside the
United States from a country identified and listed by the director
pursuant to Section 5352, or which made an intermediate stop on that
voyage in a country identified and listed by the director pursuant to
Section 5352.
(c) Each such carrier shall maintain records, which shall be
subject to inspection by the director, and pay the charges and fees
prescribed by this section in accordance with a procedure adopted by
the director, by regulation.
(d) Each such carrier who fails to pay the charges and fees
required pursuant to this section and the regulations adopted
pursuant to this section is subject to a penalty of 2 percent on the
amount of the unpaid charge or fee for each month, or portion
thereof, that the charges or fees are not paid.
(e) The charges and fees collected pursuant to this section shall
be deposited in the Department of Food and Agriculture Fund and shall
be used by the director for the purposes of this section and Section
5350.
(f) The director may, by regulation, increase or decrease any of
the charges or fees prescribed in subdivision (a) or (b) upon
determining that the revenue received is inadequate or in excess of
the amount needed to conduct an effective inspection program. The
maximum adjusted charge or fee shall not exceed three times the
amount of the charge or fee specified in subdivision (a) or (b).
(g) The director may contract with federal and state agencies and
with county agricultural commissioners to assist the director in
carrying out the purposes of this section and Section 5350.
(h) The regulations adopted by the director pursuant to this
section shall be deemed to relate to rates for purposes of Section
11343 of the Government Code and are not subject to review, approval,
or disapproval by the Office of Administrative Law pursuant to
Article 6 (commencing with Section 11349) of Chapter 3.5 of Part 1 of
Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
(i) "Air carrier," "foreign air carrier," and "foreign air
commerce", as used in this section, and Section 5351 shall have the
same meaning as specified in subsections (3), (22), and (23),
respectively, of Section 1301 of Title 49 of the United States Code.