|
Agenda Item
ASR
Control 24-000266 |
||
|
MEETING
DATE: |
05/21/24 |
|
|
legal entity taking action: |
Board
of Supervisors |
|
|
board of supervisors district(s): |
All
Districts |
|
|
SUBMITTING Agency/Department: |
OC
Public Works (Approved) |
|
|
Department contact person(s): |
Amanda
Carr (714) 955-0601 |
|
|
|
Jose
Arriaga (714) 955-0101 |
|
Subject: Adopt
Resolution for Agricultural/Livestock Disaster Access Pass Program
|
ceo CONCUR |
County Counsel Review |
Clerk of the
Board |
||||||||
|
Concur |
Approved Resolution to Form |
Consent Calendar |
||||||||
|
|
|
3 Votes Board Majority |
||||||||
|
|
|
|
||||||||
|
Budgeted: N/A |
Current
Year Cost: N/A |
Annual
Cost: N/A |
||||||||
|
|
|
|
||||||||
|
Staffing
Impact:
|
No |
#
of Positions: |
Sole
Source: N/A |
|||||||
|
Current Fiscal Year Revenue: N/A
|
||||||||||
|
Prior Board Action: N/A |
||||||||||
RECOMMENDED
ACTION(S):
Adopt a Resolution
establishing an Agricultural Livestock Disaster Access Pass Program, pursuant
to California Food and Agricultural Code Section 2350 and delegate authority to
the Orange County Agricultural Commissioner/Sealer of Weights and Measures to administer
the Agricultural Livestock Disaster Access Pass Program.
SUMMARY:
Adoption of a
Resolution establishing an Agricultural Livestock Disaster Access Pass Program
and delegating authority to the Orange County Agricultural Commissioner/Sealer
of Weights and Measures to administer the program would allow limited access to
restricted areas to authorized livestock producers during a wildfire or
emergency or similar disaster to protect or care for their livestock.
BACKGROUND
INFORMATION:
Governor Newsom
signed Assembly Bill 1103 (AB 1103) on October 7, 2021, that established a
statewide framework for voluntary county adoption of an Agricultural Livestock
Disaster Access Pass Program (Program). The Program is used to issue
identification documents to specific individuals which grants them access to
specified areas during or following a flood, storm, fire, earthquake or other
disasters. This access is granted for the limited purposes of sheltering,
moving, transporting, evacuating, feeding, watering or administering veterinary
care to livestock, or to provide local expertise to peace officers and/or
emergency personnel. Access to those specified areas may only be granted by a
law enforcement official that has jurisdiction over the emergency/disaster (incident
commander), or their designee. When access is granted by emergency response
personnel other than the incident commander, the emergency response personnel
is required to notify incident command. The State Fire Marshal of the
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection was required to establish
a statewide training program for the Program. AB 1103 establishes certain
minimum standards for administration of the programs, facilitating and
streamlining adoption of county programs throughout the state. The Program is
codified in California Food and Agricultural Code 2350, California Health and
Safety Code 13105.6 and California Penal Code 409.5 (e).
On February 8,
2022, the Orange County Agricultural Commissioner’s Office (Commissioner) was
contacted by the Orange County Sheriff’s Department Emergency Management
Division (Sheriff) regarding passage of AB 1103.
The proposed
County of Orange (County) Program would delegate authority to the
Commissioner’s Office for the Program’s administration, which would include
processing applications, confirming eligibility, distribution of identification
cards, record keeping and renewal notifications.
Program
participation would be obtained through an application process. This process is
designed to confirm that the cardholder is a commercial livestock
owner-operator or managerial employee whose services are essential to providing
protection or care to livestock. Passholders must also participate in trainings
to educate them on emergency procedures and their role in providing limited
protection and or care to their commercial livestock operation, not to fight
fire or act as first responders during emergencies. If there is imminent danger,
front-line emergency personnel are empowered to use discretion when it comes to
protecting emergency crews and the public from unnecessary exposure to risk.
However, in cases when the boundaries of the closure area include agricultural
land not deemed to be at imminent risk, passholders may be allowed access to
agricultural property, at the discretion of the emergency personnel.
After reaching out
to multiple federal, state and local government agencies, including Sheriff and
OC Animal Care, the Commissioner has concluded there are only two known
commercial livestock producers here in Orange County that would qualify for the
Program. The Program does not apply to the recreational livestock operations.
Compliance
with CEQA: This
action is not a project within the meaning of CEQA Guidelines Section 15378 and
is therefore not subject to CEQA, since it does not have the potential for
resulting in either a direct physical change in the environment, or a
reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment. The
approval of this agenda item does not commit the County to a definite course of
action in regard to a project since it is an adoption of a Resolution to
establish a Program that permits limited access to evacuated areas, when deemed
safe, to care for agricultural assets. This proposed activity is therefore not
subject to CEQA. Any future action connected to this approval that constitutes
a project will be reviewed for compliance with CEQA.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
There is no financial impact associated
with the recommended actions of this Agenda Staff Report.
Successful implementation of a Program
will require the ongoing collaboration of multiple County departments,
including Orange County Fire Authority, Commissioner’s Office, Sheriff and OC Animal
Care. The cost for full implementation of the Program will vary by department.
If approved, the funding source associated with the expanded implementation of
the Program will be identified and included in future operational plans for
each department.
STAFFING IMPACT:
N/A
REVIEWING
AGENCIES:
OC Sheriff/Coroner
ATTACHMENT(S):
Attachment A - Resolution
Attachment B - California Food and Agricultural Code 2350, Health and Safety
Code 13105.6, Penal Code 409.5
Attachment C - Agricultural/Livestock Disaster Access Pass Handout
Attachment D - California Agricultural Commissioners and Sealers Association
Survey of County Livestock Disaster Pass Programs