Existing law, the Sherman Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Law, contains various provisions regarding the packaging, labeling, and advertising of food, drugs, and cosmetics. A violation of any of these provisions is punishable as a misdemeanor. This bill would require all manufacturers of Asian rice based noodles to place labels on the Asian rice based noodles that indicate the date of manufacture and to include a warning that the Asian rice based noodles are perishable and must be consumed within 4 hours of manufacture. Existing law, the California Retail Food Code, establishes uniform health and sanitation standards for retail food facilities, as defined. The law requires the State Department of Public Health to adopt regulations to implement and administer those provisions, and delegates primary enforcement duties to local health agencies. A violation of any of these provisions is punishable as a misdemeanor. This bill would permit the sale of Asian rice based noodles, as defined, that have been at room temperature for no more than 4 hours and would prohibit the sale of Asian rice based noodles unless they are labeled according to the requirements of this bill. This bill would also require the local enforcement agency to approve the manner in which Asian rice based noodles kept at room temperature are to be consumed, cooked, or destroyed. By imposing new duties upon local agencies and expanding the definition of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. 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 with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
Sponsored bills
The Senior Citizens and Disabled Citizens Property Tax Postponement Law, until February 20, 2009, authorized a claimant, as defined, to file a claim with the Controller to postpone the payment of ad valorem property taxes, where household income, as defined, did not exceed specified amounts. Existing law authorized the Controller, upon approval of the claim, to either make payment directly to specified entities, or to issue the claimant a certificate of eligibility that constituted a written promise of the state to pay the amount specified on the certificate, as provided. Existing law required these payments to be made out of specified funds appropriated to the Controller, as specified, and also required repaid property tax postponement payments to be transferred, as specified, to the General Fund. Existing law, on and after February 20, 2009, prohibits a person from filing a claim for postponement, and prohibits the Controller from accepting applications for postponement, under the Senior Citizens and Disabled Citizens Property Tax Postponement Law. This bill would establish the County Deferred Property Tax Program for Senior Citizens and Disabled Citizens, authorize a county to elect to participate in the program by adopting a resolution indicating the county's intention to participate in and administer the program, and specify that the requirements of a county or county officials set forth in the bill are conditioned upon the county's passage of the above-described resolution. Under the program, a participating county would be authorized to defer a claimant's property taxes retroactively, for property taxes due on or before February 20, 2010, and prospectively, as specified. This bill would require a claimant, as defined, to use the application form of a county to initiate participation in the program. The bill would authorize the county treasurer or county tax collector to review the claimant's application for program participation, as specified, and, if the claimant is eligible, and if there are sufficient funds within the county's Property Tax Deferral Fund, which this bill would require a participating county to establish within its treasury, to (1) defer property taxes on the claimant's residential dwelling for that fiscal year, (2) issue a subvention payment to that county, in an amount equivalent to the amount of the deferred property taxes, from the county's Property Tax Deferral Fund, (3) direct the county auditor to apportion that subvention payment in the same manner as if the property taxes had been paid, and (4) provide a letter or other written notice to the claimant, noting the relevant fiscal year of participation, for use as written confirmation of participation. The bill would authorize the county treasurer of a participating county, if he or she makes a specified determination, upon the adoption of a specified resolution by that county's board of supervisors, to deposit specified funds in the county treasury for the purpose of investment of those funds in the county's Property Tax Deferral Fund. This bill would require the amount of property taxes deferred, plus any interest accrued thereon, to be secured by a county property tax lien, as specified. The bill would also require the lien to be evidenced by a notice of lien, and various county officials to process and record the notice of lien, as specified. The bill would require a participating county to charge a claimant a specified adjusted rate of interest on the amount owed for the deferment of property taxes. The bill would require the amount secured by the lien to be increased to reflect the accrual of interest on the property taxes deferred, or decreased by the amount of any payment made to reduce the amount secured by the lien, as specified. The bill would provide procedures for the release of the lien if the obligation is paid in full or otherwise discharged, and would require all amounts owed by a claimant under the program to become due immediately under specified circumstances. This bill would authorize a participating county to charge an application fee to the claimant to offset the actual costs of administering the program, and would require the fee proceeds to be deposited in an account within the county's Property Tax Deferral Fund, to be used exclusively for those administrative costs. The bill would require the letter or other written confirmation of participation in the program provided by the county to be considered as evidence of program participation.
(1) Existing law requires every person who is the first to sell any agricultural- or structural-use pesticide product for use in this state that is packaged in rigid, nonrefillable, high-density polyethylene (HDPE) containers of 55 gallons or less to establish a recycling program, or demonstrate participation in a recycling program to ensure HDPE containers are recycled. Existing law requires that the recycling program be certified by an accredited 3rd-party organization, as specified, as being in compliance with certain standards, as specified. Existing law requires any person who is required to establish or participate in this recycling program to provide to the Director of Pesticide Regulation, at least annually, a document certifying that this requirement has been met. This bill would instead require the registrant of any production agricultural- or structural-use pesticide product for use in this state that is packaged in HDPE containers of 55 gallons or less to establish a recycling program, or demonstrate participation in a recycling program to ensure HDPE containers are recycled. The bill would delete the 3rd-party certification requirements pertaining to the recycling program. The bill would require any registrant who is required to establish or participate in this recycling program to provide to the director, at least annually, a document certifying that this requirement has been met. (2) Existing law requires a person engaged in the business of operating a collection center to obtain a license from the Department of Food and Agriculture for each collection center operated. "Collection center" is defined to mean a receiving area for the temporary storage of animal carcasses, packinghouse waste, or other products before transportation to a licensed rendering plant. Existing law makes a violation of these provisions a crime. This bill, instead, would define "collection center" to mean a receiving area for the temporary storage of animal carcasses, packinghouse waste, or other products before transportation to a licensed rendering plant or pet food processor. Because this bill would change the definition of an existing crime, it would impose a state-mandated local program. (3) Existing law requires persons engaged in certain businesses, including, among others, rendering, pet food processing, and operating a collection center, to obtain a license from the department. Existing law provides that those licenses are valid for a year from the date of issuance. This bill, instead, would provide that those licenses shall expire on December 31 of each year. (4) Existing law requires any person or entity who engages in the transportation of inedible kitchen grease, as defined, to be registered with the department. An applicant for registration as a transporter of inedible kitchen grease is required to include a registration fee of $100, except for any renderer who registers. This bill would also exempt a collection center that registers from this registration fee. (5) Existing law, the California Organic Products Act of 2003, provides that persons engaged in the production or handling of raw agricultural products sold as organic or the processing or handling of processed food sold as organic shall register with the Secretary of Food and Agriculture. Under existing law the registration form must include, among other things, a map showing the location and dimensions of the facility or farm where the products are produced. If the registrant has not had control of the property for 36 months, existing law requires that the registrant provide the land use history of the property for the last 36 months from the previous owners. If the registrant does not own the property, existing law requires the registrant to provide documentation from the owner granting permission for the parcel to be registered as organic. This bill would provide that, with respect to the registration form, producers shall include a detailed physical description of the location and dimensions of the facility or farm where the products are produced and exempt producers shall, in addition to the physical description, include a map, as specified. The bill would define an exempt producer as a producer whose annual gross agricultural income from organic sales totals $5,000 or less. The bill would provide that the above requirements regarding prior land use and permission from the owner would only apply to exempt producers or exempt handlers, and would define an exempt handler as a handler whose annual gross agricultural income from organic sales totals $5,000 or less. (6) Under existing law a producer required to register with the secretary is required to list all substances applied to the crop, soil, or irrigation water as part of the registration. Under this bill only producers whose annual gross agricultural income from organic sales totals $5,000 or less would be required to include this information in their registration. (7) Existing law establishes a schedule of fees that the registrant is required to pay to the secretary based on the gross sales of the registrant. This bill would allow the secretary to require the registrant to submit its gross sales by commodity and acreage and to provide the exact dollar amount of sales of $25,000,001 or more. This bill would also authorize the secretary to adopt regulations that supersede the registration provisions applicable to persons engaged in organic production, processing, and handling to the extent reasonably necessary to provide an online system of registration. (8) Existing law requires the secretary to establish the California Organic Products Advisory Committee to advise the secretary regarding his or her responsibilities under the act. Under existing law the committee is comprised of 15 members and allows the members to have alternates. Existing law provides that 6 members and their alternates must be producers, 2 processors, 2 consumer representatives, 2 technical representatives, one wholesale distributor, one environmental representative, and one retail representative. Existing law provides that alternates at large may be appointed as specified. This bill would delete the provisions regarding the appointment of alternates at large. (9) Existing law imposes, until January 1, 2011, a $100 food safety fee on every person who is engaged in the manufacture, packing, or holding of processed food. This bill would extend that fee until January 1, 2016. (10) This bill would make certain conforming and technical changes. (11) 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.
The California Farmland Conservancy Program Act establishes a program for grants from the Department of Conservation for the acquisition of agricultural conservation easements or fee title. The act imposes requirements for the funding of agricultural conservation easements. The act creates the California Farmland Conservancy Program Fund. The moneys in the fund, upon appropriation, are required to be used for the purposes of the program, including the purchase of agricultural conservation easements. The act requires an applicant for an agricultural conservation easement to meet specified eligibility criteria related to commercial agricultural production and agricultural land conservation, and specifies criteria the Director of Conservation is required to consider in evaluating the proposal. This bill, notwithstanding any other provision of the act, would authorize the Director of Conservation to make grants from a source other than the fund, and, upon appropriation by the Legislature from that source, disburse moneys for those grants to an applicant for the acquisition of an agricultural conservation easement, if the director determines that the grant meets the purposes of the act and additional specified requirements, including that the easement does not, and will not, substantially prevent agricultural uses on the easement property and that any restriction on the current or reasonably foreseeable agricultural use of the easement property would only be imposed to restrict those areas of the property that are not in cultivation. Existing law also establishes the Soil Conservation Fund, which provides money, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for specified land use purposes. This bill would establish the Farm, Ranch, and Watershed Account within the Soil and Conservation Fund from which money would be disbursed to provide the above grants.
Existing law, the Williamson Act, authorizes a city or county to enter into 10-year contracts with owners of land devoted to agricultural use, whereby the owners agree to continue using the property for that purpose, and the city or county agrees to value the land accordingly for purposes of property taxation. Existing law sets forth procedures for reimbursing cities and counties for property tax revenues not received as a result of these contracts. This bill would, beginning January 1, 2011, and until January 1, 2015, authorize a county, in any fiscal year in which payments authorized for reimbursement to a county for lost revenue are less than 12 of the participating county's actual foregone general fund property tax revenue, to revise the term for new contracts and require the assessor to value the property, as specified, based on the new contract. The bill would provide that a landowner may choose to nonrenew and begin the cancellation process. The bill would also provide that any increased revenues generated by properties under a new contract shall be paid to the county.
Under the State Civil Service Act, veterans of the Armed Forces who take an entrance examination for state employment are allowed extra points by virtue of their status as veterans. Existing law provides that if a member of the Armed Forces successfully passes a state civil service examination and becomes qualified for the veterans' preference within 6 months after the establishment of the employment list, he or she is entitled to receive the additional points at that time. This bill would extend the time in which a member of the Armed Forces may receive the additional points to 12 months after the establishment of the employment list.
Existing law provides that most felonies are punishable by a triad of terms of incarceration in the state prison, comprised of low, middle, and upper terms. Previous law that required the court to impose the middle term, unless there were circumstances in aggravation or mitigation of the crime, was amended to provide that the choice of the appropriate term rests within the sound discretion of the court. Existing provisions related to sentence enhancements involving criminal street gang activity, firearms, and sentencing generally specify that the appropriate term rests within the sound discretion of the court. Existing law repeals the provision giving the court this discretionary authority on January 1, 2011, and on that date, makes operative alternate provisions that require the court to impose the middle term, unless there are circumstances in mitigation or aggravation of the crime. This bill would extend to January 1, 2012, the provisions of law that provide that the court shall, in its discretion, impose the term or enhancement that best serves the interests of justice. The bill would also make conforming changes. This bill would incorporate amendments to Section 1170 of the Penal Code proposed by SB 399, contingent on the prior enactment of that bill. This bill would amend Proposition 21, an initiative statute adopted by the voters at the March 7, 2000, statewide primary election that provides that its provisions may be amended by the Legislature by a 23 vote of the membership of each house, and therefore requires a 23 vote.
This measure would recognize March 31, 2010, as the anniversary of the birth of César Chávez, and would call upon all Californians to participate in appropriate observances to remember César Chávez as a symbol of hope and justice to all persons.
This measure would recognize the contributions of the automotive aftermarket to the state and consumers and its efforts to educate the motoring public about the benefits of proper vehicle maintenance. The measure also would recognize and support the designation of April as National Car Care Month and encourage all citizens to participate in activities that promote proper vehicle maintenance.
This measure would recognize May 2010 as Asian and Pacific Islander American Heritage Month.