BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE AGRICULTURE COMMITTEE
Senator Abel Maldonado, Chairman
BILL NO: AB 771 HEARING: 7/3/07
AUTHOR: De Leon FISCAL: Yes
VERSION: 6/28/07 CONSULTANT: John Chandler
Citrus: seedless mandarins.
BACKGROUND AND EXISTING LAW
California has been growing citrus for over 50 years, starting
in southern California and slowly moving into the San Joaquin
Valley. As citrus production has moved from the urbanizing
southern California regions, the varieties of citrus produced
changed with the tastes of consumers. The standards of the
citrus industry, the seeded Valencia orange and seedless Navel
Orange, are slowly losing ground to the demands of consumers for
easily pealable seedless mandarin citrus varieties. Mandarins
have grown in acreage; the San Joaquin Valley alone has over
25,000 acres of mandarins accounting for 20% of valley citrus
production in 2005.
The California bee industry provides essential pollination
services to California agriculture. Bees pollinate over 130
different fruit, vegetable, nut, ornamental, and fiber crops in
California. While bees pollinate many of these crops, the
forage for nectar and pollen is used to feed their colony and
produce honey. With the rise in almond production in
California, the number of bee hives in the state has also grown
substantially. Following the almond bloom period, beekeepers
will move their bees in the vicinity of citrus groves to allow
their bees to forage on the citrus. It is estimated that during
the citrus bloom period, approximately 250,000 to 300,000 bee
colonies are located within the citrus belt.
The most popular seedless mandarin varieties grown in California
include the Clementine and the Murcott. Both of these varieties
produce seedless fruit that is easy to peel meeting the changing
demands of citrus consumers. When Clementine or Murcott flowers
are cross pollinated with other citrus varieties, their fruit
will set seeds. The most effective means of cross pollination
is by foraging bees which carry pollen from flower to flower.
Bees' pollination effectiveness is why they are so essential to
the success of so many other California crops which require
cross pollination to be productive.
PROPOSED LAW
AB 771 - Page 2
AB 771 would do the following:
Establish Coexistence Working Groups of no more than ten
individuals primarily affected stakeholders that may be
established by CDFA to address conflicts between sectors of
agriculture. These working groups would develop, review,
and provide findings and recommendations to CDFA regarding
coexistence of various sectors of agriculture that may be
in conflict.
o Coexistence Working Groups may develop best
management practices to foster coexistence between
agriculture groups, identify means of coordination and
communication among involved agriculture sectors to
develop consensus on voluntary production practices,
and work with the State Board of Food and Agriculture
to provide a forum for dialogue on agriculture
coexistence.
Establish the Mandarin and Honeybee Coexistence Working
Group Act that shall be established by January 15, 2008, to
address coexistence issues and develop best management
practices for Fresno, Kern, Madera, and Tulare counties.
Require CDFA to adopt emergency regulations for Fresno,
Kern, Madera, and Tulare counties to address coexistence
issues with seedless mandarin producers to ensure seedless
fruit and give bees' access to citrus for the 2008 citrus
bloom if the coexistence working group fails to reach
consensus by February 15, 2008. CDFA may also adopt
similar regulations at anytime.
Specify that regulations adopted by CDFA may include
fees paid by persons subject to and benefiting from adopted
regulations.
COMMENTS
1.Supporters of AB 771 state that this bill would enable the
growing seedless mandarin industry to protect their industry
from the quality damage caused due to bee cross pollination.
Further, most bees found in the California citrus belt are
stored there to feed off of the citrus bloom between
pollinating services around the nation. While the bee
industry utilizes citrus bloom, the citrus industry ends up
with undesirable seeds in their fruit. The establishment of a
coexistence working group would enable stakeholders to work on
finding a mutually beneficial solution to the seedless
mandarin and bee dispute. The February 15, 2008, requirement
for CDFA emergency regulations would provide the needed hammer
to focus the working group to establish best management
AB 771 - Page 3
practices in a timely manner.
2.This bill would require the establishment of the Seedless
Mandarin and Honeybee Coexistence Working Group by January 15,
2008, and by February 15, 2008, require CDFA to adopt
emergency regulations. Thus allowing the working group only
about one month after forming to establish best management
practices. This timeframe seems entirely too short for a
workable solution to be developed by the working group. The
committee may want to consider extending the timeframe of the
workgroup to address coexistence issues between seedless
mandarins and honeybees.
3.The bill would authorize CDFA to adopt regulations and
establish fees to address coexistence issues related to
seedless mandarins and honeybees, notwithstanding other
avenues to resolve the conflict outlined in the bill. This
would mean that CDFA could adopt regulations at any time
without regard to any efforts by the Seedless Mandarin and
Honeybee Coexistence Working Group. The committee may want to
consider providing an opportunity for the working group to
perform its duty and allow any recommended best management
practices to take effect before authorizing CDFA regulations.
4.This bill establishes the authority of CDFA to establish
coexistence working groups to address conflict between sectors
of the agriculture industry. In the same bill, separate
language defines the establishment of a different coexistence
working group, specifically for seedless mandarins and
honeybees. It would seem that the general language for a
coexistence working group should be sufficient to address
seedless mandarin and honeybee conflict without requiring
separate language. The committee may want to consider what is
the value of having a separate act just for the seedless
mandarin and honeybee conflict if the bill already establishes
authority for CDFA to form coexistence working groups.
5.Should regulations be adopted by CDFA, they will be authorized
to establish a fee paid by persons CDFA feels are subject to
the regulations and benefit from the regulations. The
benefiting party from regulations could theoretically include
both seedless mandarin growers for protection of the crop, bee
keepers maintaining access to citrus for honey production, or
any pollinator that would benefit from healthy bee hives
nourished on citrus pollen. The committee may want to
consider if the fee should be capped and the payee further
defined.
AB 771 - Page 4
6.When this bill was heard on our June 19th hearing, it was held
by the author with the understanding that all parties would
work together to try and develop a more reasonable bill for
all parties. While the author and sponsors have made an
effort to address concerns expressed by opponents as evidenced
by the amended language, major opponents have not changed
their position on this bill. The committee may want to
consider if this bill meets the charge of this committee from
the June 19th hearing.
PRIOR ACTIONS
Irrelevant to the current version of the bill
SUPPORT
California Citrus Mutual
Carman Family Farms
Griffith Farms
Nisei Farmers League
Paramount Citrus
California Grocers Association
Three Individuals
OPPOSITION
California Farm Bureau Federation
California Minnesota Honey Farms
California State Beekeepers Association
Fresno County Farm Bureau
Strachan Apiaries, Inc.
SueBee
Terra Bella Honey Company
Tulare County Farm Bureau
California Seed Association
Miller Honey Farms
Eight Individuals