Agricultural seed: county seed enforcement subventions.

Existing law, the California Seed Law, provides for an optional subvention program under which a county may enter into a cooperative agreement with the Secretary of Food and Agriculture to receive an annual apportionment of funds from the secretary for maintaining a statewide compliance level on all seed within the county. Under those provisions, a county with no registered seed labelers may annually receive $100, at the discretion of the secretary, and a county with registered seed labeler operations may annually receive a subvention based on enforcement activity generated by the registered seed labeler operations within the county and upon the performance of enforcement activities necessary to carry out the provisions of the California Seed Law. Existing law makes those provisions inoperative on July 1, 2014, and repeals those provisions on January 1, 2015. This bill would extend the operation of these provisions until July 1, 2016, and would repeal the provisions on January 1, 2017. Under existing law, the fees collected pursuant to the California Seed Law are continuously appropriated to the Department of Food and Agriculture to carry out its provisions. By extending the operation of these subvention provisions, this bill would make an appropriation. The bill would make other technical changes.