Existing law authorizes the Department of Food and Agriculture to expend all moneys made available for its use. Existing law, the Apiary Protection Act, provides for the regulation and management of apiaries, including regulations for bees used in the pollination of agricultural crops.
This bill would establish the Managed Honeybee Health Program under the administration of the department, in consultation with an advisory committee, as described below, for the purpose of enhancing the health and well-being of managed honeybees in California that are necessary to support the ecological and economic viability of California agriculture. The bill would authorize the department, to the extent that funds are available, to provide incentives, grants, research, technical assistance, education, and outreach to eligible recipients for health intervention projects that enhance the health and well-being of managed honeybees used in pollination services and to fund demonstration projects that further the goals of the program. The bill would authorize the department to determine priorities for the program and to consider, in awarding grants, whether a project applicant or project meets specified criteria in awarding grants. The bill would require the department to establish an advisory committee, comprised as specified, and to consult the advisory committee on the development of program frameworks, guidelines, incentives, and technical assistance. The bill would create the Managed Honeybee Health Account in the Department of Food and Agriculture Fund and would authorize moneys in the account to be expended by the department, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the purpose of the program. The bill would authorize the department to collect nonstate, federal, and private funds, require those funds to be deposited into the Managed Honeybee Health Special Fund Subaccount within the Managed Honeybee Health Account, and continuously appropriate moneys in the subaccount to the department for the purpose of the program, thereby making an appropriation. The bill would make implementation of these provisions contingent ​upon an appropriation by the Legislature for the program.