Mobile slaughter operations: livestock.

The California Meat and Poultry Supplemental Inspection Act authorizes the Secretary of Food and Agriculture to adopt, by regulation, standards and requirements relating to inspection, sanitation, facilities, equipment, reinspection, preparation, processing, buying, selling, and transporting, among other acts, for carrying out the purposes of the act. The act requires each person to be licensed before operating a meat processing establishment or a custom livestock slaughterhouse. The act does not apply in specified circumstances, including to a mobile slaughter operator who provides services to an owner of cattle, subject to specified conditions, including the condition that the person who raised the cattle and the mobile slaughter operator maintain records, as provided. A violation of the act is a misdemeanor. This bill would exempt from the requirements of the act a mobile slaughter operator that provides services to an owner of livestock, defined to mean any cattle, sheep, goat, and swine used for human food, and slaughters multiple livestock from multiple owners under certain specified conditions, including, among others, that the slaughter occurs on the premises of one of the owners of the livestock or on the premises of the producer, as defined, and the producer that has mobile slaughter operations conducted on their premises has registered with the Department of Food and Agriculture, the meat is not for sale, and the premises or the mobile slaughter facility where the slaughter is conducted has an adequate sewer, facilities, and potable water. The bill would require a mobile slaughter operator performing these services to be licensed with the department, as prescribed. The bill would require the department to establish a license fee and a renewal fee to cover costs associated with oversight and inspection of mobile slaughter operators, and would limit the fees to the department's reasonable regulatory costs and not to exceed a specified amount. The bill would require the producer to reregister with the department if the producer moves locations or if the operation changes ownership. The bill would require a mobile slaughter operator of livestock and a producer who produces livestock to maintain records for at least one year, as prescribed, and to exhibit the records on demand of any inspector or peace officer. By expanding the scope and number of possible crimes under the act to certain slaughterers and producers of livestock that fail to comply with the act's provisions, 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.