SECTIONS 62500-62508 - California Statutes

FOOD AND AGRICULTURAL CODE

SECTION 62500-62508

62500. The production and distribution of milk, and the components
thereof, is hereby declared to be a business affected with a public
interest. This chapter is enacted in the exercise of the police
powers of this state for the purpose of protecting the health and
welfare of the people of this state.

62501. It is hereby declared that the dairy industry is a paramount
agricultural industry of the state, and the normal processes of
producing and marketing milk are enterprises of vast economic
importance to the state and of vital importance to the consuming
public which should be safeguarded and protected in the public
interest. The Legislature finds that the marketing of milk requires
producers to receive prompt payment. It is the policy of this state
to protect producers against loss of payment for bulk milk. The
public interest requires the establishment of a system to provide
payment security for producers.

62502. It is recognized by the Legislature that the powers
conferred upon the director by Chapter 1 (commencing with Section
61301), Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 61801), and Chapter 3
(commencing with Section 62700) are inadequate to enable the dairy
industry to maintain satisfactory producer payment protection.
Therefore, those powers must be supplemented by the powers conferred
by this chapter upon the director to establish and administer a milk
producers security trust fund.

62503. This chapter shall be liberally construed. If any article,
section, subdivision, sentence, clause, or phrase of this chapter is
for any reason held to be unconstitutional or invalid as applied to
any person or as applied under certain circumstances, that decision
shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions of this
chapter or the application of this chapter to any other person or
under any other circumstances.
The Legislature hereby declares that it would have enacted each
article, section, subdivision, sentence, clause, or phrase of this
chapter regardless of the fact that one or more other articles,
sections, subdivisions, sentences, clauses, or phrases are declared
unconstitutional or invalid.

62504. Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 61301), Chapter 2
(commencing with Section 61801), and Chapter 3 (commencing with
Section 62700) shall be liberally construed as being complementary
of, and supplemental to, this chapter, and these chapters shall
constitute a single comprehensive scheme for the regulation of the
production and handling of milk. However, each of the chapters, and
each article, section, subdivision, sentence, clause, and phrase of
each chapter is severable.
If one of the chapters or any article, section, subdivision,
sentence, clause, or phrase of any one of the chapters is for any
reason held void, invalid, or unconstitutional, the decision shall
not affect the validity of any other chapter or any of its articles,
sections, subdivisions, sentences, clauses, or phrases.

62505. This chapter does not preclude any producer from bringing
any action against any handler in any court of competent
jurisdiction.

62506. In order to effectuate the purposes of this chapter, the
Milk Producers Security Trust Fund is hereby created.

62507. It is hereby declared, as a matter of legislative
determination, that producers and handlers appointed to the Milk
Producers Security Trust Fund Board are intended to represent and
further the interest of a particular agricultural industry concerned,
and that this representation and furtherance is intended to serve
the public interest. Accordingly, the Legislature finds that, with
respect to persons who are appointed to the board, the particular
agricultural industry concerned is tantamount to, and constitutes,
the public generally within the meaning of Section 87103 of the
Government Code.

62508. This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the Norman
S. Waters-Ruben S. Ayala Milk Producers' Security Act of 1987.