Bees: Apiary Protection Act.

(1) Existing law, the Apiary Protection Act, provides for the regulation and management of apiaries. Existing law requires that registration of an apiary be filed with the agricultural commissioner of the county in which the apiary is located, or with the Secretary of Food and Agriculture if there is no agricultural commissioner in the county. Existing law requires any person relocating a bee colony from a registered apiary in one county to another county where the apiary is not registered to notify the county agricultural commissioner within 72 hours of the first movement. Existing law conditions the availability of certain protections under the Apiary Protection Act on a beekeeper's compliance with this requirement. Existing law exempts information provided pursuant to this requirement from disclosure pursuant to the California Public Records Act. Existing law also requires any apiary operator, or the apiary operator's designated representative, to notify a county agricultural commissioner when relocating a bee colony within the county, but does not impose a 72-hour deadline for providing notice or include other provisions relating to this requirement that are consistent with the above-described provisions regarding notice of a relocation to another county. Existing law makes it an infraction for any person to fail to comply with specified requirements of the Apiary Protection Act, including the above-described notification requirements. This bill would recast provisions regarding notice of relocation within a county to be consistent with those regarding notice of relocation to another county, including, among other things, by imposing a 72-hour deadline for providing notice of relocation within a county or subsequent movement within the destination county, and by exempting information provided pursuant to that notification requirement from disclosure pursuant to the California Public Records Act. By imposing a notification requirement of shorter duration, the violation of which is a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) Existing law that becomes operative on and after January 1, 2020, authorizes the secretary or a county agricultural commissioner, in lieu of prosecution, and in addition to any other penalty that is provided in the Apiary Protection Act, to impose an administrative civil penalty for a violation of certain requirements of the Apiary Protection Act regulating the registration and identification of apiaries and the relocation of bee colonies, pursuant to a prescribed hearing and appeals process. This bill would further delay the operative date of these provisions until January 1, 2021. (3) Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect. (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.