Article 8. Powers And Duties of California Food And Agricultural Code >> Division 2. >> Chapter 2. >> Article 8.

The commissioner shall keep a record of his official acts.

(a) The commissioner shall make an annual report to the director on the condition of agriculture in his or her county and on what is being done to eradicate, control, or manage pests, and actions relating to the exclusion of pests or quarantine against pests. The commissioner may include in the annual report information relating to organic farming methods, biotechnology, integrated pest management, and biological control activities in the county. The commissioner shall also furnish from time to time to the director any other information the director may require.
  (b) This section shall become operative July 1, 1999.

The commissioner shall also make a monthly report to the board of supervisors if and when so required by the board.

The commissioner shall learn about all pests that may exist, or are likely to exist, in his county.

The commissioner, for the purpose of learning the best and most efficacious methods of performing his or her duties, shall attend the annual meeting of the California Agricultural Commissioners and Sealers Association or its successor, and any other meetings as the secretary or director shall require.

The commissioner shall, for the purpose of becoming informed about new and dangerous agricultural pests, observing and learning new and better methods of pest control, and determining the best and most efficacious methods of conducting the work of his department, consult with staff members of the United States Department of Agriculture, the State Department of Agriculture, the University of California, and with agricultural commissioners of other counties. He shall make such trips outside of the county which are necessary for such purposes, if authorized by the board of supervisors.

(a) The Legislature finds and declares that, acting under policy direction of the Secretary of Food and Agriculture, California' s unique system of county agricultural commissioners forms the front line of defense in protecting the state from the many exotic and invasive species threatening our people, commerce, and environment.
  (b) It is the intent of the Legislature that agricultural commissioners take an increasingly assertive and proactive role in the exclusion and detection of exotic and invasive species in the urban environment, particularly those potentially spread by human activities, such as landscaping and yard maintenance.

The commissioner shall, if directed by the board of supervisors, collect, prepare, and install exhibits for public information which illustrate the work of his department, depict the resources of the county, or display the products of the county.

The commissioner may disseminate information which relates to pests that may exist in his county, or are likely to exist in it. The information may include life histories, habits, methods of detection, and methods of control of such pests.

The commissioner shall compile reports of the condition, acreage, production, and value of the agricultural products in his county. The commissioner may publish such reports, and shall transmit a copy of them to the director.

The director, when acting in person with a commissioner, has all the rights of such commissioner.

Except as otherwise specifically provided, in all cases where provisions of this code place joint responsibility for the enforcement of laws and regulations on the director and the commissioner, the commissioner shall be responsible for local administration of the enforcement program. The director shall be responsible for overall statewide enforcement and shall issue instructions and make recommendations to the commissioner. Such instructions and recommendations shall govern the procedure to be followed by the commissioner in the discharge of his duties. The director shall furnish assistance in planning and otherwise developing an adequate county enforcement program, including uniformity, coordination, training, special services, special equipment, and forms, statewide publicity, statewide planning, and emergency assistance. The instructions and recommendations shall include a cost analysis of the local administration of such programs, determined from data supplied by the commissioner pursuant to Section 2272. Such cost analysis shall identify the joint programs or activities for which funds necessary to maintain adequate county administration and enforcement have not been provided. The director shall develop, jointly with the commissioners, county priorities for such enforcement programs and activities. The director shall report annually to the Legislature his findings concerning the cost analysis with specific regard to programs where funds are inadequate for an efficient enforcement program, together with a listing of the priorities jointly established by the director and the commissioners that are contained in the formal instructions and recommendations of the director.

(a) Except as provided in Section 2282.5, and to the extent funds are appropriated in the annual Budget Act, the Secretary of Food and Agriculture or the Director of Pesticide Regulation may allocate annually to each county an amount determined by the secretary or the director not to exceed one-third of the amount expended by the county during the previous fiscal year for the programs of joint responsibility under the jurisdiction of the secretary or director, as applicable. The allocations shall be made from funds appropriated to the secretary or the director for purposes of carrying out activities of joint responsibility with the commissioners at the local levels.
  (b) The annual report to the Legislature required by Section 2281 shall include findings for each of the following joint programs, including the amounts allocated to, and expended by, the counties in the previous fiscal year and the proposed amount to be allocated by the secretary for each program for the ensuing budget year:
  (1) Pest detection.
  (2) Pest eradication.
  (3) Pest management control.
  (4) Pest exclusion.
  (5) Seed inspection.
  (6) Nursery inspection.
  (7) Fruit and vegetable quality control.
  (8) Egg quality control.
  (9) Apiary inspection.
  (10) Crop statistics. The report shall also specify the programs that have been augmented with state funds each year since 1980 because of new legislative mandates, or because of pest infestations or outbreaks occurring since that date, and the annual amounts of those augmentations.

(a) The development of work plans for allocation of the funding appropriated in the Budget Act to the department for local assistance for agricultural plant and animal pest and disease prevention shall be the responsibility of the department. The department shall establish criteria for the development of the work plans and for allocating the appropriated funds.
  (b) Of the amount appropriated in the Budget Act to the department for local assistance for agricultural plant and animal pest and disease prevention, five million five hundred thousand dollars ($5,500,000) shall be utilized solely for high-risk pest exclusion activities. The work plans for the exclusion of high-risk pests shall be developed by the department with the county agricultural commissioners and in consultation with affected industry representatives. In order to determine the effectiveness of high-risk pest exclusion programs in each county, the criteria established by the department for the work plan shall include, but need not be limited to, the following:
  (1) The number of high-risk plant shipments entering each county.
  (2) The number of high-risk entry points in each county.
  (3) The number of state action quarantine pests intercepted or detected annually in each county.
  (4) The work hours expended by each county in conducting exclusion of high-risk pests.
  (5) The rate of interceptions and rejections per inspection activity.
  (c) To remain eligible for funding under this section, a county shall maintain its support of ongoing operational costs of the county agricultural commissioner programs listed in subdivision (b) of Section 2282, at 1997-98 fiscal year levels.
  (d) Funds allocated for high-risk pest exclusion activities pursuant to subdivision (b) may not be expended for any purpose other than the exclusion or detection of high-risk pests consistent with the work plans prescribed in subdivision (a) or scientific evaluation. Funds allocated by each county on or after September 28, 1998, shall not be allocated to other programs listed in subdivision (b) of Section 2282 until the county work plan is approved by the department consistent with the funding appropriated in the Budget Act to the department for local assistance for agricultural plant and animal pest and disease prevention for this purpose.

The commissioner, in carrying out his responsibilities under Section 2281, may assist the department in the conduct of surveys or investigations pursuant to Section 461 for the purpose of preventing the introduction and spread of injurious insect or animal pests, plant diseases, and noxious weeds under Section 403.

The commissioner may, with the approval of the board of supervisors, contract with any person or association to certify the condition of a shipment of a product regulated under this code. The condition certified to may include the temperature of the product. The contract shall provide for payment to the commissioner for the commissioner's total cost in performing the certification.

For the purpose of developing necessary information and securing the best results for agriculture in this state, the commissioner may correspond and meet with any interested individual, agency, group, association, or educational institution with an interest in, or information regarding, agricultural practices, as resources allow. As used in this section "agriculture" includes, but is not limited to, developments and issues regarding all agricultural practices, traditional and alternative pest control methodology, and other areas of agriculture resource management. The California Agricultural Commissioners and Sealers Association may provide a forum by which a commissioner keeps informed and may facilitate discussions with other associations, institutions, agencies, organizations, or groups relating to resource management and protection for agriculture.

The discretionary immunity doctrine as applied to a public entity and an employee of a public entity pursuant to Sections 815.2 and 820.2 of the Government Code applies to decisions of a county department of agriculture and an employee of a county department of agriculture enforcing a state or local pest control or pest eradication statute, regulation, or ordinance. Nothing in this section authorizes or affects the filing of an action challenging the legal authority of the county department of agriculture to undertake the pest control or eradication action.

Whenever the commissioner determines that it is necessary to more effectively or more efficiently carry out a program listed in subdivision (b) of Section 2282, the commissioner may enter into a mutual aid agreement with other counties for the purpose of sharing staff, equipment, expertise, information, and other resources necessary to meet the needs of the program.