AB 226: Retail food safety: fishermen’s markets.

Existing law, the California Retail Food Code, establishes uniform health and sanitation standards for, and provides for regulation by the State Department of Public Health of, retail food facilities and various types of food. Among other things, the code requires nonpermanent food facilities that handle nonprepackaged food to protect the food from contamination and limit the display and handling of nonprepackaged food. The code also establishes specified food safety and sanitation requirements for certified farmers markets governing food preparation, storage, and sampling, among other things. Under existing law, local health agencies are primarily responsible for enforcing the code. A person who violates any provision of the code is guilty of a misdemeanor, except as otherwise provided.

This bill would create a new type of nonpermanent food facility, defined as a fishermens market, that would be a food facility operated by a licensed commercial fisherman or an entity representing two or more California-licensed commercial fishermen or California-licensed commercial fishermen and California-registered aquaculturists, that sells only raw edible aquatic plants, raw fresh fish, or fresh frozen fish, caught by California-licensed commercial fishermen or harvested by California-registered aquaculturists, directly to consumers. The bill would establish and impose food safety and sanitation requirements upon a fishermens market. The bill would authorize only a licensed commercial fisherman or an entity representing two or more California-licensed commercial fishermen or California-licensed commercial fishermen and California-registered aquaculturists to act as the responsible person and sole permitholder for a fishermens market, and would require that fisherman or entity to submit a permit application and site plan, including specified information, to the enforcement agency at least 2 weeks prior to the operation of the fishermens market. The bill would define terms for its purposes and make conforming changes.

This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 113789 of the Health and Safety Code, proposed by AB 143 and AB 234, that would become operative only if this bill and either or both of those bills are chaptered and become effective January 1, 2016, and this bill is chaptered last.

By imposing new enforcement requirements on local health agencies, and by creating a new crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.