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		<ns0:Id>20250AB__073294CHP</ns0:Id>
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				<ns0:ActionText>INTRODUCED</ns0:ActionText>
				<ns0:ActionDate>2025-02-18</ns0:ActionDate>
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				<ns0:ActionText>FILED</ns0:ActionText>
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		<ns0:LegislativeInfo>
			<ns0:SessionYear>2025</ns0:SessionYear>
			<ns0:SessionNum>0</ns0:SessionNum>
			<ns0:MeasureType>AB</ns0:MeasureType>
			<ns0:MeasureNum>732</ns0:MeasureNum>
			<ns0:MeasureState>CHP</ns0:MeasureState>
			<ns0:ChapterYear>2025</ns0:ChapterYear>
			<ns0:ChapterType>CHP</ns0:ChapterType>
			<ns0:ChapterSessionNum>0</ns0:ChapterSessionNum>
			<ns0:ChapterNum>440</ns0:ChapterNum>
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		<ns0:AuthorText authorType="LEAD_AUTHOR">Introduced by Assembly Member Macedo</ns0:AuthorText>
		<ns0:Authors>
			<ns0:Legislator>
				<ns0:Contribution>LEAD_AUTHOR</ns0:Contribution>
				<ns0:House>ASSEMBLY</ns0:House>
				<ns0:Name>Macedo</ns0:Name>
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		<ns0:Title>An act to add and repeal Article 5 (commencing with Section 5646) of Chapter 7 of Part 1 of Division 4 of the Food and Agricultural Code, relating to agriculture.</ns0:Title>
		<ns0:RelatingClause>agriculture</ns0:RelatingClause>
		<ns0:GeneralSubject>
			<ns0:Subject>Agriculture: neglected or abandoned crops: public nuisances: pests.</ns0:Subject>
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		<ns0:DigestText>
			<html:p>Under existing law, a neglected or abandoned plant or crop is a public nuisance if it is a menace to the agriculture of the county, district, or vicinity because of the existence of any pest, in or on it, or other condition, or if it is a host plant of, or provides a favorable or likely harbor for, any pest. Existing law defines “pest” for these purposes as an infectious, transmissible, or contagious disease of a plant, disorder of a plant that manifests symptoms or behavior characteristic of an infectious, transmissible, or contagious disease, form of animal life, or form of vegetable life, that is, or is liable to be, dangerous or detrimental to the agricultural industry of the state. Existing law prohibits a person from maintaining a neglected or abandoned plant or crop that is a public nuisance. Existing law requires a county agricultural commissioner, in writing, to notify the
			 owner of record or person in charge of a property that has a neglected or abandoned plant or crop that the commissioner has found to be a public nuisance, of the need to remove or destroy the neglected or abandoned plant or crop, as specified. If the removal or destruction of the neglected or abandoned plant or crop is undertaken by a commissioner, existing law requires the commissioner to cause a notice of lien that describes the land on which the public nuisance exists to be recorded and subjects the land to a lien for any expense that is incurred by the county subsequent to the recording of the notice in the abatement of the nuisance.</html:p>
			<html:p>This bill would authorize a county agricultural commissioner, in lieu of imposing a lien, as described above, to levy a civil penalty against a person who maintains a pest-related public nuisance in violation of the above-described prohibition, and would exclude from the definition of pest a beneficial organism that is used as a
			 biological control agent or a conservation practice standard or on-farm management practice, as specified. The bill would require the civil penalty to be levied in accordance with specified procedures, including a requirement that the person charged with the violation receive notice of the nature of the violation and be given an opportunity to be heard. If the person takes a good faith action, as defined, to rectify the violation within 30 days of receiving notice, the bill would provide that the person is not liable for that civil penalty. The bill would require that civil penalty to be in an amount of up to $500 for each acre of property found to be in violation and would authorize that amount to be increased to up to $1,000 per acre if the person does not take a good faith action to rectify the public nuisance within 45 days of issuance of the original civil penalty. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2035.</html:p>
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		<ns0:DigestKey>
			<ns0:VoteRequired>MAJORITY</ns0:VoteRequired>
			<ns0:Appropriation>NO</ns0:Appropriation>
			<ns0:FiscalCommittee>YES</ns0:FiscalCommittee>
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	<ns0:Bill id="bill">
		<ns0:Preamble>The people of the State of California do enact as follows:</ns0:Preamble>
		<ns0:BillSection id="id_DDCC744F-059B-4B7D-A8C4-E1B5E3B4C40D">
			<ns0:Num>SECTION 1.</ns0:Num>
			<ns0:ActionLine action="IS_ADDED" ns3:href="urn:caml:codes:FAC:caml#xpointer(%2Fcaml%3ALawDoc%2Fcaml%3ACode%2Fcaml%3ALawHeading%5B%40type%3D'DIVISION'%20and%20caml%3ANum%3D'4.'%5D%2Fcaml%3ALawHeading%5B%40type%3D'PART'%20and%20caml%3ANum%3D'1.'%5D%2Fcaml%3ALawHeading%5B%40type%3D'CHAPTER'%20and%20caml%3ANum%3D'7.'%5D%2Fcaml%3ALawHeading%5B%40type%3D'ARTICLE'%20and%20caml%3ANum%3D'5.'%5D)" ns3:label="fractionType: LAW_SPREAD||commencingWith: 5646" ns3:type="locator">
				Article 5 (commencing with Section 5646) is added to Chapter 7 of Part 1 of Division 4 of the 
				<ns0:DocName>Food and Agricultural Code</ns0:DocName>
				, to read:
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				<ns0:LawHeading id="id_53D0C4BF-8FB5-4959-8DE4-6A779914ED63" type="ARTICLE">
					<ns0:Num>5.</ns0:Num>
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						<ns0:LawHeadingText>Civil Penalties</ns0:LawHeadingText>
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					<ns0:LawSection id="id_7CCC91DE-BB07-46F3-A39D-66254E4FF68F">
						<ns0:Num>5646.</ns0:Num>
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							<ns0:Content>
								<html:p>For purposes of this article, all of the following definitions apply:</html:p>
								<html:p>
									(a)
									<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
									“Good faith action” means a diligent and honest effort to abate the nuisance identified in a notice provided by the agricultural commissioner, as determined by a reasonable person.
								</html:p>
								<html:p>
									(b)
									<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
									(1)
									<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
									“Pest” has the same meaning as defined in Section 5006.
								</html:p>
								<html:p>
									(2)
									<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
									“Pest” does not include a beneficial organism that is used as a biological control agent or a conservation practice standard or an on-farm management practice, including a standard or practice identified by the Natural
						  Resources Conservation Service of the United States Department of Agriculture’s Field Office Technical Guide or through the Healthy Soils Program, established pursuant to Section 569.
								</html:p>
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						</ns0:LawSectionVersion>
					</ns0:LawSection>
					<ns0:LawSection id="id_B3239783-ED45-4E6E-9888-6A2A535C1A4E">
						<ns0:Num>5647.</ns0:Num>
						<ns0:LawSectionVersion id="id_A077FFB7-32F7-434E-B617-0756ABA97406">
							<ns0:Content>
								<html:p>
									(a)
									<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
									In lieu of imposing a lien pursuant to Article 4 (commencing with Section 5631), a commissioner may levy a civil penalty against a person who violates Section 5553 if the violation constitutes a pest-related nuisance to an adjoining or nearby property and the violation results in economic or ecological damage or would result in economic or ecological damage if the pest-related nuisance is not abated. The civil penalty shall be in an amount of up to five hundred dollars ($500), based on the severity of the nuisance and the person’s ability to pay, for each acre of property found to be in violation of Section 5553, as described in this subdivision.
								</html:p>
								<html:p>
									(b)
									<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
									(1)
									<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
									A minimum of 30 days before a civil penalty is levied pursuant to subdivision (a), the person charged with a violation shall receive notice of the nature of the violation and shall be given an opportunity to be heard. This shall include the right to review the evidence and the right to present evidence on their own behalf.
								</html:p>
								<html:p>
									(2)
									<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
									The notice shall include the internet website of the University of California Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program.
								</html:p>
								<html:p>
									(3)
									<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
									Upon service of the notice, the commissioner shall refer the person charged with the violation to the nearest University of California Cooperative Extension service office.
								</html:p>
								<html:p>
									(4)
									<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
									If the person charged with the violation cannot, after a reasonable search, be found
						  within the county, the notice shall be served by posting copies of it in three conspicuous places upon the property or premises or by mailing a copy of the notice to the
						  owner of the property or premises at their last known address.
								</html:p>
								<html:p>
									(5)
									<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
									(A)
									<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
									The notice shall include, either within the notice or in a separate document that accompanies the notice, a statement that reads: “This is a notice of a violation of Section 5553 of the California Food and Agricultural Code, relating to maintaining a public nuisance. This notice of a violation has been issued by your county’s agricultural commissioner. A party may appeal this notice of a violation pursuant to Section 5311 of the California Food and Agricultural Code. For more information or assistance, please contact their office. Do not ignore this notice.”
								</html:p>
								<html:p>
									(B)
									<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
									The statement described in
						  subparagraph (A) shall be in both English and in any other language that over 10 percent of the persons residing within the county solely speak.
								</html:p>
								<html:p>
									(c)
									<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
									If the person charged with the violation takes a good faith action to rectify the violation within 30 days of receiving notice pursuant to subdivision (b), the person shall not be liable for a civil penalty pursuant to subdivision (a).
								</html:p>
								<html:p>
									(d)
									<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
									If the person charged with the violation does not take a good faith action to rectify the violation within 45 days from the issuance of a civil penalty pursuant to subdivision (a), the commissioner may increase the previously issued civil penalty of up to one thousand dollars ($1,000), based on the severity of the nuisance and the person’s ability to pay, for each acre of property found to be in
						  violation of Section 5553, as described in subdivision (a).
								</html:p>
								<html:p>
									(e)
									<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
									For purposes of this article, none of the following constitute sole evidence of a violation of Section 5553:
								</html:p>
								<html:p>
									(1)
									<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
									The use or presence of a biological control or beneficial organism.
								</html:p>
								<html:p>
									(2)
									<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
									(A)
									<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
									The use of a conservation practice standard, identified by the Natural Resources Conservation Service of the United States Department of Agriculture’s Field Office Technical Guide, or an on-farm management practice, identified through the Healthy Soils Program, established pursuant to Section 569.
								</html:p>
								<html:p>
									(B)
									<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
									Subparagraph (A) does not limit a commissioner’s authority to abate a pest that is
						  harbored by a neglected or abandoned plant or crop. 
								</html:p>
								<html:p>
									(f)
									<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
									Subdivision (d) of Section 5311 shall apply to any civil penalty levied pursuant to this article.
								</html:p>
								<html:p>
									(g)
									<html:span class="EnSpace"/>
									Any moneys recovered by the commissioner pursuant to this article shall be deposited into the county general fund in the county in which the action is brought and shall be allocated to the commissioner to cover costs related to the enforcement of this division.
								</html:p>
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					</ns0:LawSection>
					<ns0:LawSection id="id_9EED9CD4-101F-42A7-8739-F4E40FCBA678">
						<ns0:Num>5648.</ns0:Num>
						<ns0:LawSectionVersion id="id_ACD7EF9D-714A-4071-BB6A-831BDBD0DA19">
							<ns0:Content>
								<html:p>This article shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2035, and as of that date is repealed.</html:p>
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