Livestock inspection.

(1) Existing law, the California Meat and Poultry Supplemental Inspection Act, requires each person to be licensed before operating a meat processing establishment or a custom livestock slaughterhouse and provides for the inspection of those establishments. Existing law exempts from these licensing and inspection requirements certain persons and activities, including owners of livestock who slaughter, on their own premises, livestock of their own raising, as specified, and a mobile slaughter operator who provides services to that owner, where the slaughter occurs on the owner's premises and the meat is thereafter transported for the owner to an establishment for further processing. Existing law requires all fees, charges, and collections collected pursuant to the act to be deposited in the Department of Food and Agriculture Fund to be used for the enforcement of the act. Existing law provides that a violation of these provisions is a misdemeanor. This bill would include a new exemption for a mobile slaughter operator where the livestock is not of the owner's own raising but the slaughter occurs on the premises of the person who raised the livestock, subject to specified conditions. The bill would provide that this exemption shall not apply to the slaughter of more than 5 head of cattle on a single premises in a calendar month. (2) Existing law requires any person who desires to use a brand in this state to record the brand with the Bureau of Livestock Identification. Existing law requires cattle to be inspected prior to being moved or transported under certain circumstances, including before cattle are moved out of the state. Existing law authorizes the Secretary of Food and Agriculture to impose a service charge not to exceed $12 for each site at which an inspection is performed. Existing law also establishes various inspection fees per head of cattle to supplement this site-based charge, as specified. Existing law requires all of these fees to be deposited in the Department of Food and Agriculture Fund. Existing law provides for amounts deposited in the fund pursuant to these provisions to be continuously appropriated. This bill would increase the authorized site-based service charge for brand inspections to $25 for an inspection of 29 head of cattle or less at each site or $15 for an inspection of 30 head of cattle or more at each site. By increasing the amount of an existing fee, the revenue of which is continuously appropriated, the bill would make an appropriation. (3) Existing law authorizes the Secretary of Food and Agriculture to issue various annual permits, and to charge a fee for those permits, to allow cattle to be transported out of the state without a brand inspection. Existing law provides for permit fees to be deposited in the Department of Food and Agriculture Fund. Existing law provides for amounts deposited in the fund pursuant to these provisions to be continuously appropriated to cover the cost of issuing or renewing the permits. Existing law provides that a violation of these provisions is a misdemeanor. This bill would authorize the secretary to issue an additional annual permit. Under the bill, this permit would allow cattle to be transported out of the state without a brand inspection if the cattle are only moved for exhibition purposes and other specified conditions are met. The bill would authorize the Department of Food and Agriculture to charge a fee for the exhibition permit not to exceed $10 per head of cattle. The bill would also require the department to accept the exhibition permits of other states and allow cattle to return to their state of origin under those permits without an inspection. By creating a new fee, the revenue of which is continuously appropriated, the bill would make an appropriation. Because the bill would create a new permit that is subject to specified conditions, the violation of which would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (4) 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.