Cattle protection: brands: inspection: fees.

(1) Existing law establishes a system for the recordation of cattle brands and establishes various fees in connection with the recordation and the use of a brand, as specified. Existing law also establishes various inspection fees per cattle, as specified. Existing law requires these fees to be deposited in the Department of Food and Agriculture Fund, a continuously appropriated fund. This bill would increase the inspection fees and other various fees in connection with the recordation and use of cattle brands. By increasing the amount of fees deposited in a continuously appropriated fund, this bill would make an appropriation. (2) Existing law requires cattle to be inspected before being moved or transported under certain circumstances, including whenever cattle are sold. This bill would exempt cattle that are being sold or whose ownership is being transferred from these inspection provisions if the individual or entity with a controlling interest in the cattle remains unchanged, if the cattle will not be moved out of state or out of a modified point-of-origin inspection area, and if the cattle are associated with either a registered brand or dairy exemption number. The bill would require, within 30 days of ownership transfer, all persons who have ownership in the cattle, including both the transferor and the transferee, to self-certify, under penalty of perjury, to the Department of Food and Agriculture as to their ownership in the cattle on a form prescribed by the department. By creating a new crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would authorize the department to charge a fee to cover the reasonable costs of processing the form but would prohibit the fee from exceeding $50 or the department's actual costs of conducting these activities. (3) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.