Food and agriculture.

(1) Existing law regulates rendering, which is defined as the recycling, processing, and conversion of, among other things, inedible kitchen grease. Existing law requires renderers and collection centers to be licensed and to pay a specified license fee. Existing law, operative until July 1, 2020, authorizes the Department of Food and Agriculture to charge each licensed renderer and collection center an additional fee, up to a specified maximum amount per year for each licensed rendering plant or collection center, to cover the reasonable costs of administering provisions regulating renderers, collection centers, and transporters of inedible kitchen grease. Existing law requires fees and penalties collected pursuant to these provisions to be deposited into the Department of Food and Agriculture Fund (fund) and continuously appropriates the collected funds for the purposes described above. This bill would extend the operation of the provisions authorizing the department to charge an additional fee until July 1, 2025, and would repeal them on January 1, 2026. By extending the operation of provisions authorizing the collection of fees and penalties that are deposited into a continuously appropriated fund, this bill would make an appropriation. (2) Existing law requires transporters of inedible kitchen grease to be registered and to pay a registration fee. Existing law, operative until July 1, 2020, authorizes the department to charge each registered transporter an additional fee per vehicle, up to a specified maximum amount per year for each transporter, for purposes of administering the provisions regulating these transporters. Existing law requires fees and penalties collected pursuant to these provisions to be deposited into the fund and continuously appropriates the collected funds for the purposes described above. This bill would extend the operation of the provisions authorizing the department to charge an additional fee until July 1, 2025, and would repeal them on January 1, 2026. By extending the operation of provisions authorizing the collection of fees and penalties that are deposited into a continuously appropriated fund, this bill would make an appropriation. (3) Existing law, until January 1, 2020, requires the Secretary of Food and Agriculture (secretary) to create an industry-funded standardization program for purposes of implementing and enforcing provisions relating to fruits, nuts, and vegetable standards. Existing law requires the secretary to adopt regulations reasonably necessary to carry out those provisions, including establishing assessment rates and procedures for payment of assessments. Existing law establishes specified assessment rates for commodities that are not otherwise subject to a mandatory inspection fee, and for commodities that are subject to a mandatory inspection fee, to be deposited into the fund and used for implementing and enforcing the provisions specified above. Existing law requires the secretary to exempt any commodity subject to those provisions if a petition representing a specified percentage of the producers is submitted to the secretary, as specified. This bill would extend the repeal date of the standardized program provisions to January 1, 2025. (4) Existing law, the California Seed Law (the seed law) , regulates the shipment, delivery, transport, and sale of agricultural or vegetable seed, as defined, within the state, as well as the investigation and prosecution of breach of contract or patent infringement claims against farmers for unauthorized possession or use of genetically engineered plants. The seed law is enforced by the secretary and by county agricultural commissioners and their qualified representatives, as provided. The seed law establishes a subvention program under which the secretary is required to annually apportion $120,000, in aggregate, among counties that choose to participate in the program as a subvention for costs that the counties incur in the enforcement of the seed law. Under the seed law, the provisions that establish and govern participation in the program are inoperative on July 1, 2019, except as specified, and all provisions relating to the program are repealed on January 1, 2020. This bill would extend the inoperative dates specified above to July 1, 2020, and would extend the repeal dates specified above to January 1, 2024. Under existing law, the moneys collected pursuant to the seed law, including registration fees, assessments, and penalty revenues, are continuously appropriated to the department to carry out its provisions. By extending the operation of these subvention provisions, this bill would make an appropriation.