(a) (1) The secretary shall adopt, by regulation, fees to cover the department’s reasonable regulatory costs of the administration, implementation, and enforcement of laws governing the confinement of animals, as described in Chapter 13.8 (commencing with Section 25990) of Division 20 of the Health and Safety Code.
(2) Costs of administration, implementation, and enforcement may include, but are not limited to, costs incurred for the department’s role in registration, certification, inspections, and audits.
(b) (1) The total revenue collected each year through the fees imposed pursuant to this section shall be set at an amount equal to the expenditure levels set forth in the Budget Act of each fiscal year for the activity described in subdivision (a).
(2) The secretary may adjust the fees each fiscal year to conform to the expenditure levels set forth in the Budget Act for this activity, plus any share of statewide general administrative costs assessed to the Department of Agriculture Account, Department of Food and Agriculture Fund for that fiscal year. Fee adjustments for this purpose shall not be subject to Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
(3) If the secretary determines that the revenue collected during the preceding year was greater than, or less than, the expenditure levels set forth in the Budget Act, the secretary may further adjust the fees to compensate for the over or under collection of revenue.
(c) The fees established in subdivision (a) shall include amounts sufficient to repay any amount loaned from the Department of Agriculture Account, Department of Food and Agriculture Fund in the 2020–21 and 2021–22 fiscal years to pay for the department’s reasonable regulatory costs of the administration, implementation, and enforcement conducted under laws governing the confinement of animals, as described in Chapter 13.8 (commencing with Section 25990) of Division 20 of the Health and Safety Code.
(d) The fees collected by the secretary pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be separately accounted for in the Department of Agriculture Account, Department of Food and Agriculture Fund.
(Added by Stats. 2020, Ch. 18, Sec. 2. (AB 92) Effective June 29, 2020.)