Yolo County Municipal Code Art. 3 Organic Certification

(a) The Board of Supervisors recognizes the importance of agriculture and the promotion of sustainable agricultural practices. The Board finds that local certification of organic products is a unique opportunity to encourage, and enhance, existing agricultural operations, as well as insure the integrity of the existing organic program. A local certification program will assist in verifying compliance with organic standards, providing verification of organic products for consumers, and facilitating and encouraging the implementation of organic practices that contribute to a more sustainable management of our agricultural system.

(b) Therefore, for the reasons set forth in subsection (a), the Board of Supervisors of the County of Yolo makes the following findings:

(1) Consumer demand for certified organic products, as defined below, is increasing, with an annual growth rate of more than 20 percent per year. There is an expectation by consumers that certified organic products are verifiable. With this in mind, the County’s Agricultural Commissioner developed an organic certification program to certify local products as organic with the help of the agricultural community.

(2) Local certification of organic products will accomplish a number of desirable aims, including: verifying the authenticity of agricultural products marketed as organically grown; enhancing the credibility of organic agriculture, as defined below, as a sustainable system; enhancing the preservation of our environment to optimize the health of microorganisms, plants, animals, and people; assuring consumers that certified organic products adhere to established laws and standards; facilitating commerce in fresh and processed food that is organically produced; and encouraging organic agriculture in the County of Yolo.

For the purposes of this Article, unless otherwise apparent from the context, certain words and phrases are defined as follows:

(a) “Accreditation” means a determination made by the Secretary that authorizes a private, foreign, or State entity to conduct certification activities as a certifying agent under the National Organic Program.

(b) “Act” means the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990, as amended (7 U.S.C. section 6501, et seq.).

(c) “Administrator” means the Administrator for the Agricultural Marketing Service, United States Department of Agriculture, or the representative to whom authority has been delegated to act in the stead of the Administrator.

(d) “Agricultural Commissioner” means the Yolo County Agricultural Commissioner or the Commissioner’s designated representative.

(e) “Agriculture” means the science, art and business of cultivating the soil, producing crops and/or raising livestock.

(f) “Agricultural commodities” means commodities or products of agriculture, raw or processed, including any commodity or product derived from livestock that is marketed for human or livestock use or consumption.

(g) “Area” means the physical space surrounding food where there is more than a negligible chance of a prohibited material being absorbed by, incorporated into, or adhered to the food, soil, or growing medium. The area may differ significantly depending on the circumstances. Except in the case of the production of food, area shall not include any physical space surrounding food if an intervening event, such as the use of a cleaning method for processing equipment, or the passage of time, has made the chance of a prohibited material being absorbed by, incorporated into, or adhered to the food, negligible.

(h) “Certify,” “certification,” or “certified” means a determination made by a certifying agent that a production or handling operation is in compliance with the Act and its regulations, applicable provisions of California law, and this ordinance, which shall be documented by a certificate of organic operation.

(i) “Certified organic products” refers to Agricultural Commodities that are certified in accordance with the Act and its regulations, applicable provisions of California law, and this ordinance.

(j) “Certified operation” or “certified organic operation” means a crop or livestock production, wild-crop harvesting or handling operation that is certified by an accredited certifying agent as utilizing a system of organic production or handling as described by the Act and its corresponding regulations.

(k) “Certifying agent” means any entity accredited by the federal Secretary of Agriculture as a certifying agent for the purpose of certifying a production or handling operation as a certified organic operation.

(l) “Change in Ownership” means any change in the names, ownership interest, or status of the business ownership, other than a change among sole proprietorship and solely owned corporation.

(m) “Enforcement Action” means an action taken to enforce the provisions of this ordinance. Examples of enforcement actions are civil penalties, suspension or termination of organic certification, or formal referral to the District Attorney for civil or criminal adjudication. Reference California Food and Ag Code Section 46009, et seq.

(n) “Enforcement authority” means the Agricultural Commissioner, County of Yolo, or the District Attorney.

(o) “Field” means a contiguous area of land for agricultural production that is managed with a consistent set of production methods.

(p) “Growing medium” means a substance that provides nutrients for plants or fungi but which is separate from the land surface of the world.

(q) “Handled” means shipped, packed, repacked, sold for resale, warehoused, wholesaled, imported into the state, or stored by other than a grower, producer, processor, or retailer of that food.

(r) “Inspector” means a person who performs inspections on behalf of a certification agent.

(s) “Inspection” means the act of examining and evaluating the production or handling operation of an applicant for certification or certified operation to determine compliance with the Act and the regulations in this part.

(t) “Label” means the information affixed to the product container that designates the identity, quantity and responsibility for the product

(u) “Livestock” means any cattle, sheep, goats, swine, poultry, equine animals, domesticated game or other cultivated animals raised for food, fiber, or the production of food and fiber.

(v) “National List” means a list of allowed and prohibited substances as provided in the Act.

(w) “National Organic Program” means the program authorized by the Act for the purpose of implementing its provisions.

(x) “Organic agriculture” means a holistic production management system which promotes and enhances agro-ecosystem health, including biodiversity, biological cycles, and soil activity; emphasizes the use of management practices over the use of off-farm inputs; and utilizes cultural, biological and mechanical methods as opposed to synthetic materials.

(y) “Organic certification program” refers to the certification process established pursuant to this ordinance.

(z) “Organic Integrity” means the qualities of an organic product which are obtained through adherence to organic standards at the production level, which must be maintained through handling to the point of final sale, in order for the final product to be labeled and/or marketed as organic.

(aa) “Organic production” means a production system that is managed in accordance with the Act and regulations in this part to respond to site-specific conditions by integrating cultural, biological, and mechanical practices that foster cycling of resources, promote ecological balance, and conserve biodiversity.

(bb) “Processed” means cooking, baking, heating, drying, mixing, grinding, crushing, pressing, churning, separating, extracting juices or other materials, peeling, fermenting, eviscerating, preserving, dehydrating, freezing, or manufacturing that materially alters the flavor, keeping quality, or any other property, or the making of any substantial change of form. “Processed” does not include refrigeration at temperatures that are above the freezing point nor any other treatment that merely retards or accelerates the natural processes of ripening or decomposition.

(cc) “Produced” means grown, raised, harvested, handled, or stored under the control of the grower or producer.

(dd) “Producer” means a person who engages in the business of growing or production of food, fiber, feed, and other agricultural-based consumer products.

(ee) “Raw Agricultural Commodities” means unprocessed agricultural commodities.

(ff) “Reciprocity” means a mutual recognition between organic certification agents based on equivalent standards and verified competency assessment.

(gg) “Retailer” means a person engaged in the sale to consumers of food sold as organic and not engaged in the production, handling or processing of food sold as organic.

(hh) “Secretary” means the federal Secretary of Agriculture or a representative to whom authority has been delegated to act in the Secretary’s stead.

(a) A local program to certify producers and handlers of organic products is hereby established within Yolo County under the supervision of the Agricultural Commissioner pursuant to California Food and Agriculture Code section 46000, et seq. A fee program is also hereby established pursuant to California Food and Agricultural Code section 46014(c) to cover the costs of the organic certification program. The fees established and collected pursuant to this ordinance do not exceed the County’s reasonable costs of the organic certification program established hereunder. Such fees shall be paid directly to the Agricultural Commissioner.

(b) The following fees are hereby adopted to cover the County’s reasonable costs of the program established by this ordinance:

A prerequisite to applying for certification under this program is prior registration with the State of California as an organic producer and/or handler. The County organic certification program shall apply the requirements of the California Organic Products Act of 2003, set forth in California Food and Agriculture Code section 46000, et seq. , as well as the requirements of the Act and the National Organic Program, as defined above.

The requirements of the County organic certification program are set forth in the National Organic Program, which the County adopts as its official organic standards. The Agricultural Commissioner shall use the requirements of the National Organic Program to determine eligibility for initial and continued certification. Additional detail regarding the application and implementation of these criteria is set forth in Title 7 of the Code of Federal Regulations at Part 205 (National Organic Program), Subparts A through G. A copy of 7 Code Fed. Regs. 205 (National Organic Program Final Rule) shall be kept at the office of the Agricultural Commissioner, and shall be available for reference by any person during regular business hours.

Consistent with the National Organic Program, certification in accordance with this ordinance shall require compliance the requirements and criteria set forth the Act and in 7 Code Fed. Regs. 205, including:

Subpart A – Definitions

Subpart B – Applicability

Subpart C – Organic Production and Handling Requirements

Subpart D – Labels, Labeling, and Market Information

Subpart E – Certification

Subpart F – Administration

The denial of a request for certification may be appealed in the same manner as a notice of proposed civil penalty, as detailed in Section 10-6.306(e), below, except that in no event shall the denial of a request for certification following an administrative appeal be subject to judicial review unless otherwise authorized by California law.

(a) Failure to comply with the terms and provisions of certification as set forth above may result in the initiation of an enforcement action (including civil penalties, suspension and/or termination of certification), as determined by the Agricultural Commissioner in his, or her, sole discretion, which may include the actions set forth below.

(b) If the Agricultural Commissioner determines the terms and provisions of this ordinance have been violated by a person who has been certified as an organic producer and/or handler under these provisions, the Agricultural Commissioner shall notify the responsible party concerning the alleged violation in writing. The responsible party shall have 15 days from the date the notice is mailed to respond in writing. The Agricultural Commissioner shall review the response and make a determination as to the appropriate enforcement action, if any, and advise the responsible party in writing.

(c) For a first offense, in lieu of an enforcement action as prescribed in subdivision (a)or (b), the Agricultural Commissioner may issue a notice of non-compliance if he or she finds that the violation is of a minor nature.

(d) The Agricultural Commissioner may levy a civil penalty against any person under the enforcement jurisdiction of the County, in an amount not more five thousand dollars ($5,000) for each violation. The amount of the penalty assessed for each violation shall be based upon: the nature of the violation, the seriousness of the effect of the violation, and the impact of the penalty on the violator, including the deterrent effect on future violations.

(e) After receiving a notice of proposed civil penalty, a person shall be afforded an opportunity for a hearing before the Agricultural Commissioner, upon request made within 30 days after the issuance of the notice. At the hearing, the person shall be given the right to review the Commissioner’s evidence of the violation and to present evidence on his or her own behalf. If no hearing is requested, the Commissioner shall issue a notice of final civil penalty, which shall constitute a final and non-reviewable order. If a hearing is requested and held, the Commissioner shall issue his or her final order within 30 days after the end of hearing, and that notice of final action and order may be appealed in the manner described in California Food and Agricultural Code section 46017(d), as may be amended from time to time.

(f) Notwithstanding the penalties prescribed in subdivision (d), if the Agricultural Commissioner finds that a violation was not intentional, the Agricultural Commissioner may levy a civil penalty of not more than two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) for each violation.

(g) A civil penalty levied by the Agricultural Commissioner pursuant to this section may be recovered in a civil action brought in the name of the County.

(h) The County shall maintain in a central location, and make publicly available for inspection and copying upon request, a list of all civil penalties levied by the Agricultural Commissioner within the past five years, including the amount of each penalty, the person against whom the penalty was levied, and the nature of the violation. Copies of this list shall also be available by mail, upon written request and payment of a reasonable fee, for providing the service as set by the county.

(i) The above civil sanctions shall be in addition to and do not otherwise impair or restrict the imposition of any other sanctions provided by law (§ 1, Ord. 1344, eff. April 20, 2006)