Title FAC — California Food & Agric. Code

The California beekeeping industry provides critical pollination services to growers of over 90 California agricultural crops that constitute one-third of our daily diet and 37.5 percent of California’s total agricultural production. Additionally, California beekeepers rank in th…

The establishment of the commission is necessary for the efficient creation and management of a research program to protect the health of honeybees, an integrated approach to manage pests and diseases common to honeybees, and to develop more efficient colony management practices.…

The provision of pollination services, production of honey, bees, queen bees, and other hive products in this state is hereby declared to be affected with a public interest. This chapter is enacted in the exercise of the police power of this state for the purpose of protecting th…

The commission form of administration created by this chapter is designed to provide those engaged in beekeeping the opportunity to avail themselves of the benefits of collective action in the broad field of apiary research necessary to achieve the purposes stated in this chapter…

No action taken by the commission or by any individual commission member, that is in accordance with this chapter or with regulations adopted under this chapter, is a violation of the Cartwright Act (Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 16700) of Part 2 of Division 7 of the Busines…

This chapter shall be liberally construed. If any provision of this chapter or the application thereof to any person or circumstances is held to be invalid, the invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of the chapter which can be given effect without the inval…

Unless the context otherwise requires, the definitions in this article govern the construction of this chapter.

“Apiary” means the physical location where beekeepers place one or more colonies of honeybees. As an adjective, “apiary” means pertaining to any aspect of beekeeping or the beekeeping industry.

“Beekeeper” means a person who keeps bees.

“Bees” means honey-producing insects of the genus Apis. It includes all life stages of these insects. For purposes of this chapter, bees and honeybees are interchangeable terms.

“Books and records” means books, records, contracts, documents, memoranda, papers, correspondence, or other written data pertaining to matters relating to the activities subject to this chapter.

“Colony” means the queen, the adult worker and drone bees, and the brood (eggs, larvae, and pupae) living together in a single society.

“Commission” means the California Apiary Research Commission.

“Department” means the Department of Food and Agriculture.

“Districts” consist of the following: (a) District 1 consists of the California Counties of El Dorado, Marin, Napa, Sacramento, Solano, Sonoma, and all counties north of these counties. (b) District 2 consists of the California Counties of Inyo, Kern, San Luis Obispo, and all cou…

“Ex officio members” are nonvoting members of the commission.

“Hive” means the structure containing a honeybee colony.

“Hive products” means materials collected or generated by honeybees, other than bees and honey, including, but not limited to, beeswax, pollen, royal jelly, venom, and propolis.

“Fiscal year” means the period beginning January 1 of any year and extending through the last day of December of that same year.

“Out-of-state beekeeper” means a producer whose principal residence is in an area outside of California.

“Pest” means American foulbrood or any other disease, parasite, virus or fungus, predator, or hereditary disorder that is detrimental to honeybees.

“Pollination unit” means a colony of adequate strength to meet the criteria delineated in a pollination contract for use in commercial crop pollination.

“Principal residence” means where the producer pays his or her state and local income tax.

“Producer” means an individual beekeeper or business who owns or operates, or owns and operates, more than 50 colonies in California, with the intent to earn income.

“Secretary” means the Secretary of Food and Agriculture.

(a) There is in the state government the California Apiary Research Commission. The commission shall be composed of six assessment-paying producers and one public member. Producers without reference to districts shall elect one producer member with principal residence from each o…

(a) The secretary may require the commission to correct or cease any existing activity or function that is determined by the secretary to be in violation of this chapter or not to be in the public interest. (b) If the commission refuses or fails to cease those activities or funct…

The commission or the secretary may bring an action for judicial relief from the secretary’s written notice, or from noncompliance by the commission with the written notice, in a court of competent jurisdiction, which may issue a temporary restraining order, permanent injunction,…

The commission shall reimburse the secretary for all expenditures incurred by the secretary in carrying out his or her duties and responsibilities under this chapter. However, a court may, if it finds that the secretary acted arbitrarily or capriciously in restricting the activit…

Each producer member of the commission shall have an alternate member appointed or elected in the same manner as the member. An alternate member, in the absence of the member for which he or she is an alternate, shall serve in place of the member on the commission. An alternate m…

The public member shall have an alternate member appointed in the same manner as the public member. The alternate public member, in the absence of the public member, shall serve in place of the public member. The alternate public member serving in place of the public member shall…

Any vacancy on the commission, including, but not limited to, the failure of any person elected to the commission as a member or alternate member to continue in his or her position due to a change in status making him or her ineligible to serve, or due to death, removal, or resig…

A producer member, or his or her alternate, shall be an assessment-paying beekeeper who has a financial interest in producing, or causing to be produced, pollination units, bees, honey, or hive products for market. The producer member or his or her alternate shall be so qualified…

The public member, or his or her alternate, shall have all the powers, rights, and privileges of any other member on the commission. The public member shall not have any financial interest in the beekeeping industry.

The term of office of all members and alternates, except any ex officio member, shall be three years from the date of their election, but they may serve until their successors are elected.

The commission may sue and be sued and enter into contracts. Copies of its proceedings, records, and acts, when authenticated, shall be admissible in evidence in all courts of the state, and shall be prima facie evidence of the truth of all statements therein.

A quorum of the commission is a majority of the producer members. Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, the vote of a majority of members present at a meeting at which there is a quorum shall constitute an act of the commission.

The secretary or his or her representatives shall be notified and may attend each meeting of the commission and any committee meeting of the commission. However, the secretary is not entitled to attend an executive session of the commission called for the purpose of discussing po…

No member of the commission or of any committee established by the commission, which may include nonmembers of the commission, shall receive a salary. Except for ex officio government members, the members may receive reasonable and necessary traveling expenses and meal allowances…

If the secretary is required to concur in a decision of the commission, he or she shall indicate his or her response to the commission within 15 working days from notification of the decision. The response may be a request that additional information be provided.

All moneys received by any person from assessments levied under the authority of this chapter or otherwise received by the commission shall be deposited in banks designated by the commission and shall be disbursed by order of the commission through an agent or agents designated f…

The state shall not be liable for the acts of the commission or its contracts. Payment of all claims arising by reason of the administration of this chapter or acts of the commission shall be limited to the funds collected by the commission. No member, alternate member, or any ag…

The powers and duties of the commission include, but are not limited to, all of those contained in this article.

The commission may adopt, amend, and repeal bylaws, rules, regulations, orders, and operating procedures necessary to carry out this chapter, including regulations governing appeals from actions taken by the commission pursuant to any of its regulations or operating procedures. T…

The commission may administer and enforce this chapter and perform all acts and exercise all powers incidental to, or in connection with, or deemed reasonably necessary for, the proper or advisable effectuation of this chapter.

The commission may appoint its own officers, including a chairperson, one or more vice chairpersons, and other officers as it deems necessary. The officers have the powers and duties delegated to them by the commission.

The commission may employ a person to serve at the pleasure of the commission as president and chief executive officer of the commission, and other personnel, including legal counsel, necessary to carry out this chapter. The commission may retain a management firm or the staff fr…

The commission may fix the compensation for all employees of the commission.

The commission may appoint committees composed of both board members and nonmembers of the commission to advise the commission in carrying out this chapter.

The commission may establish offices and incur expenses, enter into any and all contracts and agreements, including contracting in its name to receive or render services in formulating and conducting plans and programs, create liabilities, and borrow funds in advance of receipt o…