Existing law designates the Department of Food and Agriculture as the lead department in noxious weed management and requires the department, in cooperation with the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency, to implement provisions relating to noxious weed management. Existing law creates the Noxious Weed Management Account and requires moneys appropriated from the account for expenditure by the Secretary of Food and Agriculture to be allocated for implementing provisions relating to noxious weed management and developing noxious weed control strategies, among other purposes. Existing law prohibits a person from selling, distributing, or transporting into, or within, a weed-free area any seed of a noxious weed that the secretary has declared the area to be practically free from. Under existing law, a violation of certain provisions relating to plant quarantine and pest control is a misdemeanor.

This bill would prohibit an online marketplace, as defined, from accepting payment for a noxious weed for delivery to an address located in the state. The bill would authorize the secretary to, in lieu of prosecution, levy an administrative penalty against an online marketplace that violates this prohibition and would authorize the secretary to seek all reasonable costs associated with remediating any damage caused by a violation of this prohibition. The bill would require all moneys collected pursuant to these provisions to be deposited into the Noxious Weed Management Account. By expanding the scope of a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.