Article 4. Testing, Weighing, And Sampling of California Food And Agricultural Code >> Division 15. >> Part 1. >> Chapter 9. >> Article 4.

The director shall supervise the testing of milk fat and milk solids not fat, and the weighing and sampling of market milk delivered to handlers. The director may, in order to effectuate the purposes of this article, assess all producers, producer-handlers, and handlers a fee which shall be used exclusively for the supervision and checking the corrections of the milk fat, milk solids not fat, and bacteriological tests, and the weighing and sampling of all market milk delivered to handlers in accordance with the stabilization and marketing plans established pursuant to Division 21 (commencing with Section 58001).

(a) Every handler subject to any stabilization and marketing plan established pursuant to Division 21 (commencing with Section 58001), including a producer-handler, shall deduct an assessment from payments made to producers for market milk, including the handler's own production, a sum not to exceed one-tenth of one cent ($0.001) per hundredweight of market milk. The amount of the assessment so deducted shall be paid to the director on or before the 45th day following the last day of the month during which the market milk was received.
  (b) Every handler subject to the provisions of any stabilization and marketing plan that purchases or handles milk from producers, including the handler's own production, if any, shall pay a fee not to exceed five-hundredths of one cent ($0.0005) per hundredweight of market milk. The amount of the fee shall be paid to the director on or before the 45th day following the last day of the month in which the market milk was received.

The director shall annually fix the fees in Section 34302 in an amount not to exceed the actual directly related costs for the supervision and checking required by Section 34301. These costs shall be determined annually from time records and audit procedures set forth in written findings. The written findings shall be available to interested persons for examination. The director may fix the rate of assessments or fees required by Section 34302 at lesser amounts and may adjust the rates of assessments or fees from time to time whenever he or she finds that the costs of administering this article can be defrayed from the revenues derived from lower rates. However, the rate of assessment deducted from the payments to producers for market milk, including the handler's own production, and the rate of fees paid by handlers shall at all times be in the ratio of 2 to 1. The amount of the fee shall be paid to the director on or before the 45th day following the last day of the month in which the market milk was received.

Any assessment or fee payable pursuant to this article is a debt of the person by whom the assessment or fee is payable and is due and payable to the director upon the date set forth in Section 34302. If the person does not pay the assessment or fee by the required date, the director may file a complaint against the person in a court of competent jurisdiction for the collection of the assessment or fee. If any person does not pay to the director the assessments or fees provided in this article on or before the due date specified in Section 34302, the director may add to the unpaid assessments or fees an amount not exceeding 10 percent of the unpaid assessments or fees.