YOUR DUES DOLLARS AT WORK

by CCA Vice President of Government Affairs Kirk Wilbur

CCA enjoyed significant legislative success in 2021, most notably with two CCA-sponsored bills signed into law which took effect January 1 of this year. The first, AB 1103 (Dahle), established a statewide framework for “Livestock Pass” programs – several of which have subsequently been established throughout the state in recent months. The second, SB 332 (Dodd), promotes the use of prescribed fire by minimizing prescribed fire practitioners’ financial liability for the uncommon circumstance in which controlled burns escape their designated burn area.

In the second year of the 2021-22 Legislative Session, CCA has sought to build upon last year’s success by continuing to support prescribed fire and other forest resilience policies under consideration in Sacramento. Additionally, CCA has sponsored two bill to preserve policies that enhance the viability of agricultural operations within the state. Finally, CCA has successfully worked in the Capitol this year to amend or defeat legislation which threatened to harm ranching operations, and we continue to oppose harmful measures still pending before lawmakers.

As the Legislature heads into its Summer Recess, this article provides an update on CCA’s lobbying efforts in 2022 (note that some legislation was still pending before policy committees as of press time, so the below may not reflect some bills’ final disposition as of July 1, when Summer Recess began).

August 31 is the last day of the 2021-22 Legislative Session, after which Governor Newsom will have until September 30 to sign bills into law or veto them. CCA will provide a final update on the Association’s legislative year in the November edition of California Cattleman.

CCA-Sponsored Legislation

Current Status: Will be heard in the Senate Transportation Committee June 28. Vote History: Passed Assembly 72-0.

The Basic Inspection of Terminals (BIT) program, administered by the California Highway Patrol (CHP), requires commercial trucking fleets to have their vehicles, maintenance records and driving records inspected by CHP at least once every six years. Even minor violations can result in severe consequences, including suspension

of a motor carrier permit. In 2016, CCA-sponsored AB 1960 (Lackey) exempted agricultural vehicles from BIT inspections. That exemption is set to expire January 1, 2023 – meaning agricultural vehicles would be subject to BIT inspections after that date. AB 2415 would extend the BIT exemption for ag vehicles an additional three years, until Jan. 1, 2026, and would provide CHP time to complete a still-pending report about the exemption required by AB 1960.

Current Status: Will be heard in the Assembly Water, Parks & Wildlife Committee June 28. Vote History: Passed Senate 39-0.

In 2015, budget trailer bill SB 88 required water rightsholders to install a water measurement device on any water diversion greater than 10 acre-feet per year. In 2016, State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) regulations required these measurement devices to be installed by a “qualified individual,” defined as a professional engineer or certified contractor for diversions greater than 100 acre-feet per year. Given the costs of labor – including travel to often-remote diversions – hiring such qualified individuals was estimated at a cost of $1,800-$15,000 per diversion. To avoid these steep costs, CCA sponsored AB 589 (Bigelow) in 2017, which allowed ranchers to self-certify as a “qualified individual” for purposes of installing their own measurement devices upon completion of a UC Cooperative Extension measurement course. AB 589 is set to sunset on Jan. 1, 2023. Given the success of the courses and the SWRCB’s approval of the training, SB 880 seeks to indefinitely extend the availability of these UCCE water measurement and reporting courses.

Other CCA-Priority Legislation

CCA-SUPPORTED

Current Status: Will be heard in the Senate Environmental Quality Committee June 29. Vote History: Passed Assembly Floor 62-2; Passed Senate Nat. Res. & Water 7-0.

Under existing law, prescribed fire, thinning and fuel reduction projects undertaken on federal lands to reduce the risk of high-severity wildfire are exempt from California Environmental Quality Act analysis when those projects have undergone equivalent review under the National Environmental Policy Act. This exemption is currently set to sunset on Jan. 1, 2023. AB 267 would extend the exemption an additional three years, until Jan. 1, 2026.

CCA-OPPOSED

Current Status: Will be heard in the Senate Education Committee June 23. Vote History: Passed Assembly Floor 47-7-22.

AB 558 would incentivize local educational agencies to provide “plant-based food options” and “plant-based milk options” in school meals by providing a reimbursement of up to $0.30 per meal for such options – well in excess of the additional cost of providing those options. In opposing the bill, CCA has highlighted the nutritional benefits of beef and California ranchers’ leadership on GHG emission reductions. CCA defeated a previous version of this legislation, Nazarian’s AB 479, in 2019, and succeeded in having AB 558 held in the Assembly Education Committee last year. As a two-year bill, AB 558 was revived in early 2022, limping out of the Assembly with just 47 votes in January (with seven legislators voting against the bill and 22 not recording a vote).

CCA-SUPPORTED

Current Status: Held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. Vote History: Passed Assm. Agriculture Comm. 9-0; passed Assm. Local Gov’t Comm. 8-0.

AB 1773 would have appropriated $40 million from the General Fund in the 2022-23 Fiscal Year “to make subvention payments to counties…in proportion to the losses incurred by those counties by reason of the reduction of assessed property taxes.” While AB 1773 was held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee, its intent has been reflected (though at a lower appropriation level) in the 2022-23 State Budget: The Budget Bill passed by the Legislature in mid-June, SB 154, includes $25 million for Williamson Act subvention payments.

CCA-SUPPORTED

Current Status: Held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. Vote History: Passed Assembly Natural Resources Committee 9-1.

AB 2479 sought to hold the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) accountable for promised investments in prescribed fire, requiring CAL FIRE to detail how it would increasingly utilize prescribed fire to treat at least 50,000 acres per year by 2025 and how it would achieve “historic fire frequencies” and maintenance of “desirable fuel loads” by 2030. The bill also sought to prioritize forest restoration investments on lands with “permanent, enforceable mechanisms,” such as lands with conservation easements.

CCA-SUPPORTED

Current Status: Held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. Vote History: Passed Assembly Natural Resources Committee 11-0.

CalRecycle operates the Farm and Ranch Solid Waste Cleanup and Abatement Grant Program to assist in the cleanup of illegal dumping on agricultural lands. However,

the Program is oversubscribed and Program funds may be used by cities, counties and other public entities to cleanup parcels zoned for agriculture but which are vacant or otherwise not actively used for agricultural purposes. Allows ranchers to directly access cleanup funds via grants distributed to cities, counties and resource conservation districts and would have prioritized funding for cleanup of active agricultural operations. CCA-OPPOSED

Current Status: Held in the Assembly Agriculture Committee. Vote History: N/A.

Sponsored by radical animal rights group Direct Action Everywhere (or “DxE”), AB 2764 would have prohibited the creation or expansion of “commercial animal feeding operations” with annual revenues over $100,000 – effectively an outright moratorium on such operations (as originally introduced, the bill sought to similarly constrain development and expansion of slaughter facilities). The bill was contrary to state and federal efforts to strengthen and expand the beef supplychain, and CCA was able to ensure that the legislation did not so much as receive a policy hearing in the California Legislature. CCA-SUPPORTED

Current Status: Will be heard in the Assembly Water, Parks & Wildlife Committee June 28. Vote History: Passed the Senate 35-0.

SB 856 seeks to reduce the population of wild pigs in the state by implementing an annual hunting validation authorizing the take of any number of wild pigs. Unfortunately, as originally introduced, SB 856 had several defects which prompted CCA to oppose the bill. For instance, as introduced, SB 856 would have limited farmers’ and ranchers’ ability to take property damaging pigs at nighttime, when pigs are most active. The legislation also initially sought to outlaw hunting wild pigs within enclosed preserves – businesses sometimes used to supplement farm and ranch income which serve wounded warriors and others unable to engage in conventional hunting activities. CCA negotiated amendments ensuring that landowners may immediately take property-damaging pigs at any time and to “grandfather” existing hunting preserve operations, and now supports the bill as amended.

CCA-SUPPORTED

Current Status: Will be heard in the Assembly Judiciary Committee June 28. Vote History: Passed the Senate 38-0; passed the Assembly Natural Resources Committee 10-0. million in the Budget Act of 2021 to fund a prescribed fire claims fund administered by CAL FIRE. This year’s SB 926 would implement and operationalize the Prescribed Fire Liability Pilot Program to administer the claims fund, detailing how prescribed burners and landowners may apply for – and be awarded – coverage for losses resulting from permitted prescribed fires. If signed into law, the legislation would complement last year’s CCA-Sponsored SB 332 (Dodd), which immunized prescribed fire practitioners and landowners from liability for CAL FIRE costs incurred in suppressing escaped prescribed fires. SB 926 has an “urgency clause,” meaning it would take effect immediately upon being signed into law by Governor Newsom.

CCA-SUPPORTED

Current Status: Will be heard in the Assembly Water, Parks & Wildlife Committee June 28. Vote History: Passed the Senate 39-0.

A follow-up to last year’s CCA-supported SB 322 (Laird), which failed to advance out of the Senate Appropriations Committee, SB 977 would establish the California Conservation Ranching Incentive Program. This Program would provide block grants to government agencies, nonprofit organizations and other “eligible entities” to support landowners’ efforts to enhance, restore and preserve California rangelands. Specifically, ranchers would be able to access grant funds by entering into agreements to engage in practices that result in conservation benefits such as carbon sequestration or providing habitat for birds and other wildlife.

Other Bills of Interest

NO CCA POSITION

Current Status: Will be heard in the Assembly Natural Resources Committee June 27. Vote History: Passed the Senate 29-7.

This bill seeks to reduce the amount of plastic used in single-use packaging and food service ware, and to ensure that such products sold in California are recyclable or compostable. While CCA has not taken a position on SB 54, the Association worked with the author’s office to ensure that the bill does not conflict with packaging requirements under the Federal Meat Inspection Act and other federal laws and that there is a “health and safety” exemption for packaging which come into direct contact with raw meat products. Similar legislation regarding plastics used in shipping – AB 2026 (Friedman) – contains a similar exemption for “packaging for raw, uncooked, or butchered meat.”

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