Tehama County Municipal Code Ch. 6.30 Protection from the Olive Fruit Fly

A. The board of supervisors finds and declares that the production of olives by growers constitutes an important part of Tehama County's agricultural industry. The olive fruit fly, Bactrocera oleae, is a serious olive pest not known to occur in Tehama County. Damage caused by this insect includes premature dropping of infested fruit, reduction of the usable pulp of infested fruit, and reduction of oil from infested fruit with the oil having an off-color; thereby reducing production of olive fruit, negatively impacting fruit quality and negatively impacting the quality of oil which may be extracted from infested fruit. Economic losses would be suffered by the county's olive industry if this insect pest were introduced. The state of California is in the process of repealing the state interior quarantine against the olive fruit fly and has specifically enabled local regulation. This chapter provides the minimum regulation reasonably necessary to achieve the goal of protection of the county's olive industry from the olive fruit fly.

B. The board of supervisors further finds and declares that in the normal course of events, unprocessed olives would be shipped to Tehama County for processing as early as the fourth week in August of any given year. It is reasonably necessary that the ordinance codified in this chapter be operative before such time in the year 2000. Accordingly, it is necessary that the ordinance codified in this chapter be adopted as an "urgency" ordinance if it is to have the desired impact during the calendar year of 2000.

(Ord. 1731 §1(part), 2000)

For the purposes of this chapter, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to them by this section:

A. "Agricultural commissioner" shall mean the agricultural commissioner of Tehama County.

B. "County" shall mean the county of Tehama.

C. "Host material and carriers" shall mean shipments of unprocessed olive fruit and all olive (Olea sp.) plants/nursery stock, except when in the form of seeds, cuttings, or when bareroot and free of fruit. "Carriers" shall include used harvesting equipment, except when thoroughly cleaned.

D. "OLFF" shall mean olive fruit fly either in the singular or plural as the context demands.

E. "Shipment" shall mean any article or thing, which is, may be, or has been transported from one place to another place.

F. "Person" shall include firms, corporations, companies or associations.

G. "Infestation" shall mean the detection of two or more adult OLFF within one lifecycle and within a one-mile radius, or the detection of multiple life stages indicating a breeding population.

H. "Restricted origin" shall mean one in which one or more OLFF infestations have been detected and confirmed by the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) or an origin which is not conducting CDFA approved surveys and has not adopted restrictions on the movement of hosts and possible carriers to prevent the artificial spread of OLFF into that area.

(Ord. 1731 §1(part), 2000)

No person shall move or ship into the county any host plants/nursery stock from a restricted origin, except under the following conditions:

A. The shipment is transiting the county to a destination outside of the county without undue delay or diversion; or

B. All fruit and debris have been removed from the plants prior to shipment and the shipment, except transiting shipments, is accompanied by a certificate issued by the agricultural official at origin affirming that the shipment is in compliance with the requirements of this chapter.

(Ord. 1731 §1(part), 2000)

No restriction is placed by this chapter on the shipment of processed olive fruit into the county (treated, brined, canned, etc.).

No person shall move or ship unprocessed olive fruit into or through the county unless the shipment is tarped or otherwise covered/enclosed in a manner that prevents in-transit fruit spillage/loss or exposure to olive fruit fly.

Individual bin identification tags are required for all shipments.

No person shall move or ship into the county any unprocessed olive fruit from a restricted origin, except under the following conditions:

A. The shipment is transiting the county to a destination outside of the county without undue delay or diversion; or

B. The shipment originates from a noninfested orchard as determined by California Department of Food and Agriculture approved surveys conducted by the agricultural official at origin; or

C. The shipment is being moved from an orchard in which OLFF has been detected, under a protocol (including compliance agreements) approved by the agricultural commissioner which requires either treatment or mass trapping at origin and prescribed handling of waste and culls at destination; or

D. The shipment is being moved under a pest mitigation protocol approved by the agricultural commissioner under destination county compliance agreements with processing of the olives within four hours after arrival and prescribed handling of waste and culls; and

E. Each shipment, except transiting shipments, shall be accompanied by a certificate issued by the agricultural official at origin affirming that the shipment is in compliance with the requirements of this ordinance. Alternative certification procedures may be used when the shipper has signed and is operating under a compliance agreement with the agricultural official at origin to ensure that the requirements of this chapter are met.

(Ord. 1731 §1(part), 2000)

Shipments of restricted host materials, arriving without certification or in which a viable OLFF life stage is detected, will be treated or destroyed under the supervision of the agricultural commissioner, returned to origin, or shipped to an approved destination within the OLFF infested area. The owner of the host material which constitutes the shipment is responsible for the costs of the aforementioned options. The agricultural commissioner may charge the owner of the host material constituting the shipment for the cost of supervising the treatment or destruction of the host material constituting the shipment.

If an OLFF infestation is detected in any commercial agricultural production area (in commercial or noncommercial plantings) within the county, the pest shall be treated or mass trapped at the cost of the property owner or leaseholder in a manner approved by and under the supervision of the agricultural commissioner. If the aforementioned treatment is not conducted as required by the agricultural commissioner, the pest shall be abated as provided in Section 5401, et seq., of the Food and Agricultural Code of California.

(Ord. 1731 §1(part), 2000)

Host material from a nursery, orchard, or other property in the county in which an OLFF infestation has been detected is prohibited movement from said location unless the host material is treated, handled, or processed under the supervision of the agricultural commissioner. The agricultural commissioner may charge the owner of the shipment for the cost of supervising said activities.

(Ord. 1731 §1(part), 2000)