SECTIONS 560-568 - California Statutes

FOOD AND AGRICULTURAL CODE

SECTION 560-568

560. This article shall be known as the Cannella Environmental
Farming Act of 1995.

561. The Legislature finds and declares the following:
(a) California agriculture helps to feed the world and fuel our
economy. Agriculture provides one out of every 10 jobs in California,
and our state has led the nation in total farm production every year
since 1948. During 1993, California's 76,000 farms generated nearly
$20 billion in cash receipts and another $70 billion in economic
activity.
(b) Many farmers engage in practices that contribute to the
well-being of ecosystems, air quality, and wildlife and their
habitat. Agriculture plays a pivotal role in preserving open space
that is vital to the environment. Seventy-five percent of the nation'
s wildlife live on farms and ranches. Freshwater streams and
stockponds on farms and ranches provide habitat to millions of fish.
Corn, wheat, rice, and other field crops provide bountiful food and
habitat for deer, antelope, ducks, geese, and other wildlife.
(c) Environmental laws should be based on the best scientific
evidence gathered from public and private sources.
(d) Best scientific evidence should include the net environmental
impact provided by agriculture.
(e) Additional research is necessary to adequately inventory the
impact that agriculture has on the environment. Recognition should be
afforded to agricultural activities that produce a net benefit for
the environment, which is consistent with the growing trend of
providing incentives for the private sector to undertake economic
activities that benefit the environment.

564. Unless the context otherwise requires, the following
definitions govern the construction of this article:
(a) "Agricultural activities" means those activities that generate
products as specified in Section 54004.
(b) "Department" means the Department of Food and Agriculture.
(c) "Panel" means the Scientific Advisory Panel on Environmental
Farming.
(d) "Secretary" means the Secretary of Food and Agriculture.

566. (a) The department shall establish and oversee an
environmental farming program. The program shall provide incentives
to farmers whose practices promote the well-being of ecosystems, air
quality, and wildlife and their habitat.
(b) The department may assist in the compilation of scientific
evidence from public and private sources, including the scientific
community, industry, conservation organizations, and federal, state,
and local agencies identifying the net environmental impacts that
agriculture creates for the environment. The department shall serve
as the depository of this information and provide it to federal,
state, and local governments, as needed.
(c) The department shall conduct the activities specified in this
article with existing resources, to the extent they are available.

568. (a) The secretary shall convene a five-member Scientific
Advisory Panel on Environmental Farming to advise and assist federal,
state, and local government agencies on issues relating to air,
water, and wildlife habitat to do the following:
(1) Review data on the impact that agriculture has on the
environment and recommend to appropriate state agencies data that the
panel approves as scientifically valid. A state agency that receives
data recommended by the panel may adopt and incorporate the data
into the appropriate program. If a state agency does not utilize the
data recommended by the panel, it shall provide the panel with a
written statement of reasons for not utilizing the data. The reasons,
at a minimum, shall specify the scientific basis for not utilizing
the data. The reasons shall be provided within 180 days of receiving
the data from the panel.
(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 benefits identified
pursuant to paragraph (1) into environmental regulatory programs.
(b) 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:
(1) Three members shall be appointed by the secretary. At least
one of these members shall have a minimum of five years of training
and experience in the field of agriculture and shall represent
production agriculture.
(2) One member, who has a minimum of five years of training and
experience in the field of human health or environmental science,
shall be appointed by the Secretary of the Environmental Protection
Agency.
(3) One member, who has a minimum of five years of training and
experience in the field of resource management, shall be appointed by
the Secretary of the Resources Agency.
(c) The panel may establish ad hoc committees, which may include
professionals or scientists, 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.