California Legal Codes and Statutes

California State Legal Resource Portal

Article 6 - Financial Provisions

California Food and Agricultural Code — §§ 65071-65077

Sections (7)

Amended by Stats. 2019, Ch. 324, Sec. 10. (AB 1801) Effective January 1, 2020. Provisions operative or inoperative as prescribed in Sections 65061, 65066, 65068, and 65069. Repealed conditionally pursuant to Section 65066.

(a)In order to carry out the programs and administer the activities that are conducted pursuant to this chapter, an assessment of one dollar ($1) per head shall be paid on each sale of cattle and calves. The assessment shall be charged on all cattle and calves, except the following:

(1)Hides, skins, or the offal of animals.

(2)Any cattle or calves that are transported for purposes other than for sale or slaughter and without a change of ownership.

(3)Any cattle or calves custom slaughtered exclusively for the owner, members of the owner’s household, or the owner’s nonpaying guests or employees.

(4)Any cattle or calves weighing less than 200 pounds.

(5)Any cattle or calves originating outside the state transported solely to a stockyard or slaughter facility to be sold or slaughtered within 30 calendar days of arrival.

(6)Any cattle or calves sold within 10 days of being purchased where the seller can demonstrate the assessment has been paid within the past 10 days.

(b)The assessment charged pursuant to this chapter shall not

be charged or collected more than once from each owner upon the same animal.

Added by Stats. 2018, Ch. 410, Sec. 2. (SB 965) Effective January 1, 2019. Provisions operative or inoperative as prescribed in Sections 65061, 65066, 65068, and 65069. Repealed conditionally pursuant to Section 65066.

(a)Each person who is required to pay or collect the assessment shall maintain a complete and accurate record of all transactions subject to assessments under this chapter. These records shall contain information required by the secretary relating to the payment or collection of assessments, shall be preserved for a period of two years, and shall be offered and submitted for inspection and audit at any reasonable time upon written demand by the secretary or the secretary’s duly authorized agent.

(b)All information obtained by the secretary or the secretary’s duly authorized agent from any inspection or audit of records shall be confidential and shall not be disclosed except when required in a judicial

proceeding.

Added by Stats. 2018, Ch. 410, Sec. 2. (SB 965) Effective January 1, 2019. Provisions operative or inoperative as prescribed in Sections 65061, 65066, 65068, and 65069. Repealed conditionally pursuant to Section 65066.

(a)The assessment for cattle or calves, whether originating in the state or out of state, shall be paid by the seller. The assessment shall be charged and collected from the seller or from the seller’s account and paid to the council by each operator of a stockyard, livestock auction market, or slaughter facility. The assessment is due and payable to the council on or before the 15th day of the month next succeeding the month in which the cattle and calves are sold. Assessments that are not collected in the manner provided in this subdivision shall be collected from the seller by the Bureau of Livestock Identification at the time that brand inspection fees are collected.

(b)The assessment for cattle or calves for which the assessment would

not otherwise be collected pursuant to subdivision (a) and that are also exempt from a brand inspection shall be charged and collected from the seller and paid to the council in a manner determined by the department.

(c)Any assessment that is not collected in the manner specified in subdivision (a) or (b) shall be paid to the council directly by the seller on or before the 15th day of the month next succeeding the month in which the sale occurs.

Added by Stats. 2018, Ch. 410, Sec. 2. (SB 965) Effective January 1, 2019. Provisions operative or inoperative as prescribed in Sections 65061, 65066, 65068, and 65069. Repealed conditionally pursuant to Section 65066.

The assessments that are collected by the Bureau of Livestock Identification pursuant to this article shall be forwarded to the secretary at the same time and in the same manner as the inspection fees that are provided for in Article 9 (commencing with Section 21281) of Chapter 6 of Division 10. The secretary shall reimburse, from any money that is collected pursuant to this section, the Bureau of Livestock Identification and any other bureaus or agencies of the state for any additional expenses that are incurred by them in the administration or enforcement of this chapter.

Added by Stats. 2018, Ch. 410, Sec. 2. (SB 965) Effective January 1, 2019. Provisions operative or inoperative as prescribed in Sections 65061, 65066, 65068, and 65069. Repealed conditionally pursuant to Section 65066.

Any person who is subject to the assessment that is required by Section 65071 may obtain a refund of the assessment collected by submitting to the council a claim for a refund. The claim shall be submitted to the council by mail, facsimile, electronic mail, or a refund request form through the council’s Internet Web site within 90 days after the date of the brand inspection or the date of payment of the assessment, whichever date is later. The refund of an assessment shall be made by the council within 60 days of the date on which the refund request is received. The council or the department may not place conditions on the issuance of the refund except for requiring the claim for the refund to demonstrate the fee has been paid. The secretary, department, council, or producers, by referendum, shall not limit or inhibit a refund

under this section for a person that has paid the assessment required by Section 65071.

Added by Stats. 2018, Ch. 410, Sec. 2. (SB 965) Effective January 1, 2019. Provisions operative or inoperative as prescribed in Sections 65061, 65066, 65068, and 65069. Repealed conditionally pursuant to Section 65066.

(a)Proprietary information obtained pursuant to this article by the council or the secretary, including the names and addresses of producers and the amounts of individual refunds or the identity of a person that received a refund pursuant to Section 65075, is confidential and shall not be disclosed except when required by a court order after a hearing in a judicial proceeding.

(b)Data that is aggregated from proprietary information, including the total amount refunded by the council annually, is not confidential, and may be disclosed to the public, if the data does not disclose proprietary information of an individual producer and the data does not identify an individual producer.

Added by Stats. 2018, Ch. 410, Sec. 2. (SB 965) Effective January 1, 2019. Provisions operative or inoperative as prescribed in Sections 65061, 65066, 65068, and 65069. Repealed conditionally pursuant to Section 65066.

An assessment that is levied pursuant to this chapter is a personal debt of the assessed person.