Article 10. Administration of California Food And Agricultural Code >> Division 21. >> Part 3. >> Chapter 2.5. >> Article 10.

The director may use money in the Department of Food and Agriculture Fund derived from assessments and fees collected pursuant to Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 61301), Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 61801), and Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 62700) to the extent necessary to defray the costs of administering this chapter, except costs for which the fund is liable, as provided for in Section 62569.

The director is the instrumentality of this state for the purpose of administering and enforcing this chapter and to execute the legislative intent expressed in this chapter, and is hereby vested with the administrative authority specified in this chapter.

The director may exercise any or all of the powers conferred by Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 11150) of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code upon the head of a department with respect to hearings and investigations under this chapter.

For purposes of enforcing this chapter, the director may investigate any and all transactions between producers and handlers, between nonprofit cooperative associations and producers, and among handlers. For that purpose, the director shall have access to, and may enter at all reasonable hours, any place where milk is being stored, bottled, or manufactured and where milk is being bought, sold, or handled, or where the books, papers, records, or documents which relate to those transactions are kept. The director may inspect and copy those books, papers, records, or documents at any place within the state.

Any order of the director made pursuant to this chapter which substantially affects the rights of any directly affected party shall be subject to judicial review upon petition to the appropriate court. The petition shall be filed within 30 days after the effective date of the order.

Any producer who recovers from the fund shall subrogate to the director all rights of recovery against any person or organization, and the producer shall execute and deliver to the director instruments and papers and perform any other acts necessary to carry out this section.

Any payments made to producers from the fund due to a handler's default shall accrue interest at the rate of 12 percent per annum from the date of payment. The payments and accrued interest is a judgment against the defaulting handler. The judgment shall be considered a lien on all real and personal property of the defaulting handler. The director may file the lien for record with any county recorder where a defaulting handler's property is located and shall specify the amount owed, the name of the handler, the federal social security number or the federal employer tax number if known, and the last known address of the handler. The lien shall remain in full force and effect until the handler has repaid to the fund an amount equal to the default.