Section 224.

Moneys transferred by the Controller to the Department of Food and Agriculture Fund from the Motor Vehicle Fuel Account pursuant to Section 8352.5 of the Revenue and Taxation Code shall be expended by the Secretary of Food and Agriculture as follows:

(a) Of the amount transferred each fiscal year, nine million dollars ($9,000,000) is hereby appropriated to the Department of Food and Agriculture for payment to the counties for pesticide use enforcement programs supervised by the Director of Pesticide Regulation. Reimbursement shall be apportioned to the counties in relation to each county's expenditures to the total amount expended by all counties for the preceding fiscal year for pesticide use enforcement programs, as determined by the director, or with the collective agreement of the agricultural commissioners, disbursement to counties for a current fiscal year according to criteria developed in work plans, or any combination of reimbursement and disbursement as agreed upon by the director and the commissioners. The amount to be transferred to any county for a fiscal year may be increased or decreased by the director to compensate for incorrect previous transfers to that county, or adjusted based on evaluations of annual county Pesticide Enforcement Workplans conducted by the Department of Pesticide Regulation.

(b) Of the amount transferred each fiscal year, two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000) is hereby appropriated to the Department of Food and Agriculture for state and county liaison activities and for departmental expenses directly related to administration of this section.

(c) Of the amount transferred each fiscal year, one million five hundred thousand dollars ($1,500,000) is hereby appropriated to the department for divisional and departmental overhead charges to the Department of Food and Agriculture.

(d) Of the amount transferred each fiscal year in excess of the amount transferred in the 2006–07 fiscal year, 7 percent is hereby appropriated to the department for full disbursement to individual counties, in proportion to the distribution each county is to receive pursuant to subdivision (g) to offset expenses associated with programs, personnel, and materials that ensure the uniform application of state agricultural policy or administer programs supervised by the secretary.

(e) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, of the amount transferred each fiscal year, three million dollars ($3,000,000) is hereby appropriated for distribution to counties in a manner prescribed by the secretary for pest detection or trapping programs. These funds are intended to supplement funds available for pest detection or trapping in the annual Budget Act. As a condition of receiving these funds, counties shall not reduce their level of support from any other funds for pest detection or trapping programs. If a county declines to participate in a pest detection or trapping program, or fails to conduct the program to the state's satisfaction, the secretary shall reduce, by the amount that would otherwise be allocated to the county, funds available pursuant to this subdivision and any state allocations from the annual Budget Act. Those forfeited funds are hereby appropriated to the Department of Food and Agriculture for purposes of operating the pest detection or trapping programs in those counties.

(f) (1) Of the amount transferred each fiscal year, three million dollars ($3,000,000) is hereby appropriated to the Department of Food and Agriculture to be used for emergency detection, investigation, or eradication of agricultural plant or animal pests or diseases during the fiscal year, upon approval of the Director of Finance. At the end of each fiscal year, any unencumbered balance of these funds shall be carried over to the next fiscal year, or at the discretion of the secretary, may be used for planning and research involving detection, investigation, eradication, and methods of quarantine compliance for agricultural plant or animal pests or diseases.

(2) The department shall develop policies, in consultation with the agricultural commissioners and in compliance with any requirements of the annual Budget Act, to guide the ongoing use of these funds.

(g) The total amount transferred during each fiscal year less the amounts provided in subdivisions (a) to (f), inclusive, is hereby appropriated to be paid to the counties for agricultural programs authorized by this code that are supervised by the department and administered by agricultural commissioners. Reimbursement shall be apportioned to the counties in relation to each county's expenditures to the total amount expended by all counties for the preceding fiscal year for agricultural programs, as determined by the secretary, or with the collective agreement of the agricultural commissioners, disbursement to counties according to criteria developed in work plans for a current fiscal year, or any combination of reimbursement and disbursement as agreed upon by the secretary and the commissioners. The amount to be transferred to any county for a fiscal year may be increased or decreased by the secretary to provide that, insofar as those transferred unclaimed refundable gas tax funds for apportionment to the counties are available, no county shall receive smaller combined apportionments of gas taxes and unclaimed refundable gas taxes than that county would have received had the gas taxes been apportioned without the transfer required by Section 8352.5, as determined by the secretary, except that the amount of unclaimed refundable gas tax funds to be transferred to any county for a fiscal year may be increased or decreased by the secretary to compensate for incorrect previous transfers to that county, and to account for any failure to meet the criteria listed in Section 224.5.

(h) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2008.

(Repealed (in Sec. 1) and added by Stats. 2007, Ch. 421, Sec. 2. Effective January 1, 2008. Section operative July 1, 2008, by its own provisions.)