Article 5. Mosquito Control And Imported Tires of California Health And Safety Code >> Division 104. >> Part 11. >> Chapter 2. >> Article 5.

The Legislature finds and declares that used tires imported into this country have contained mosquitos that are carriers of disease that is harmful to humans. The Legislature further finds and declares that, in order to attempt to ensure that these mosquitos are not brought into this state, it is necessary to require that used tires not be imported into this state unless they have been certified as being free of mosquitos.

(a) No used tires that have been imported into the United States shall be imported into this state, for purposes of sale, resale or disposal, unless they are inspected and certified as free from mosquitos in any stage of development by the department or its designee. Nothing in this section is intended to require inspection of each tire entering the state. The inspection shall be conducted using standard sampling procedures.
  (b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), if a shipment of tires imported into the United States has been inspected in a state other than California and certified as free from mosquitos in any state of development by persons meeting the federal certified pesticide applicator qualifications contained in 7 U.S.C. Section 136b, then the department shall review the certification to determine whether or not it is adequate. For the purposes of this subdivision, "adequate" means that the department shall confirm that the certification was performed by persons meeting the qualifications referred to in this subdivision and that the certification applies to the shipment of tires imported into this state. If the certification is determined by the department to be adequate, the department shall make a written finding to that effect, and the inspection referred to in subdivision (a) shall not be required. The department may charge and collect a reasonable fee, not to exceed fifty dollars ($50) per shipment, to cover its costs incurred pursuant to this subdivision. If the certification is determined by the department to be inadequate, the inspection referred to in subdivision (a) shall be required.

The department shall administer this article. In carrying out this duty, the department may delegate its authority to other departments of the state or to local governmental agencies, or cooperate with other agencies in the enforcement of this article. Notwithstanding Section 116180, the department may enter into a contract for services with local agencies, in order to implement this article.

The department shall charge and collect a fee for each certificate issued by the department or its designee, which shall be in an amount reasonably necessary to produce sufficient revenue to effectively implement this article. The initial fee established by the department shall not be greater than thirty cents ($0.30) per tire or casing imported. A nonreturnable interim fee of thirty cents ($0.30) per tire or casing imported, and for which a certificate is issued by the department or its designee, is hereby established and shall remain in effect until the department adopts the necessary regulations pursuant to this article.

The department shall collect and account for all money received pursuant to this article and shall deposit it in the Vectorborne Disease Account provided for in Section 116112.

Fees collected pursuant to this article shall be subject to the annual fee increase provisions of Section 100425.

It shall be a misdemeanor to violate this article.

This article, with the exception of Section 116185, shall be inoperative upon a finding by the director that the federal government has established and is implementing a program that is at least as effective in ensuring that used tires imported into this state are free of mosquitos, as are the importation requirements established by this article.