Section 5353.

(a) Each air carrier or foreign air carrier engaged in foreign air commerce which carries animals or plants or other materials which are, or are likely to be, infected or infested with any pest shall pay a charge of eighty-five dollars ($85) to the director upon the initial landing in this state of each flight of the carrier which originates outside the United States.

(b) Each commercial marine carrier engaged in foreign commerce which carries animals or plants or other materials which are, or are likely to be, infected or infested with any pest shall pay a fee of two hundred dollars ($200) to the director upon the initial arrival in this state of the carrier on a voyage which originated outside the United States from a country identified and listed by the director pursuant to Section 5352, or which made an intermediate stop on that voyage in a country identified and listed by the director pursuant to Section 5352.

(c) Each such carrier shall maintain records, which shall be subject to inspection by the director, and pay the charges and fees prescribed by this section in accordance with a procedure adopted by the director, by regulation.

(d) Each such carrier who fails to pay the charges and fees required pursuant to this section and the regulations adopted pursuant to this section is subject to a penalty of 2 percent on the amount of the unpaid charge or fee for each month, or portion thereof, that the charges or fees are not paid.

(e) The charges and fees collected pursuant to this section shall be deposited in the Department of Food and Agriculture Fund and shall be used by the director for the purposes of this section and Section 5350.

(f) The director may, by regulation, increase or decrease any of the charges or fees prescribed in subdivision (a) or (b) upon determining that the revenue received is inadequate or in excess of the amount needed to conduct an effective inspection program. The maximum adjusted charge or fee shall not exceed three times the amount of the charge or fee specified in subdivision (a) or (b).

(g) The director may contract with federal and state agencies and with county agricultural commissioners to assist the director in carrying out the purposes of this section and Section 5350.

(h) The regulations adopted by the director pursuant to this section shall be deemed to relate to rates for purposes of Section 11343 of the Government Code and are not subject to review, approval, or disapproval by the Office of Administrative Law pursuant to Article 6 (commencing with Section 11349) of Chapter 3.5 of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.

(i) "Air carrier," "foreign air carrier," and "foreign air commerce", as used in this section, and Section 5351 shall have the same meaning as specified in subsections (3), (22), and (23), respectively, of Section 1301 of Title 49 of the United States Code.

(Added by Stats. 1990, Ch. 1612, Sec. 6. Effective September 30, 1990.)