05/07/2004 09:07 AM House FSH
| Audio | Topic |
|---|
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
HOUSE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON FISHERIES
May 7, 2004
9:07 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Paul Seaton, Chair
Representative Peggy Wilson, Vice Chair
Representative Ralph Samuels
Representative Les Gara
Representative David Guttenberg
MEMBERS ABSENT
Representative Cheryll Heinze
Representative Dan Ogg
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 282(RES)
"An Act relating to the identification of finfish in food
products and to the misbranding of food products consisting of
or containing finfish."
- MOVED CSSB 282(RES) OUT OF COMMITTEE
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
BILL: SB 282
SHORT TITLE: PREPARED FOOD:WILD/FARMED FISH DISCLOSURE
SPONSOR(S): SENATOR(S) ELTON BY REQUEST OF SALMON INDUSTRY TASK
FORCE
01/28/04 (S) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
01/28/04 (S) RES, FIN
03/03/04 (S) RES AT 3:30 PM BUTROVICH 205
03/03/04 (S) Scheduled But Not Heard
03/05/04 (S) RES AT 3:30 PM BUTROVICH 205
03/05/04 (S) Moved CSSB 282(RES) Out of Committee
03/05/04 (S) MINUTE(RES)
03/08/04 (S) RES RPT CS 4DP 1NR SAME TITLE
03/08/04 (S) NR: OGAN; DP: LINCOLN, STEVENS B,
03/08/04 (S) ELTON, WAGONER
04/28/04 (S) FIN AT 9:00 AM SENATE FINANCE 532
04/28/04 (S) Scheduled But Not Heard
04/29/04 (S) FIN AT 9:00 AM SENATE FINANCE 532
04/29/04 (S) Heard & Held
04/29/04 (S) MINUTE(FIN)
05/03/04 (S) FIN AT 9:00 AM SENATE FINANCE 532
05/03/04 (S) Moved CSSB 282(RES) Out of Committee
05/03/04 (S) MINUTE(FIN)
05/03/04 (S) FIN RPT CS(RES) 4DP 3NR
05/03/04 (S) DP: WILKEN, DYSON, HOFFMAN, STEVENS B;
05/03/04 (S) NR: GREEN, OLSON, BUNDE
05/05/04 (S) TRANSMITTED TO (H)
05/05/04 (S) VERSION: CSSB 282(RES)
05/06/04 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRALS
05/06/04 (H) FSH, L&C
05/07/04 (H) FSH AT 9:00 AM CAPITOL 124
WITNESS REGISTER
SENATOR KIM ELTON
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Sponsor by request of the Joint Legislative
Salmon Industry Task Force.
KRISTIN RYAN, Director
Division of Environmental Health
Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC)
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: During discussion of SB 282, responded to
questions.
CHERYL SUTTON, Staff
to the Joint Legislative Salmon Industry Task Force
Alaska State Legislature
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: During discussion of SB 282, provided
comments.
ACTION NARRATIVE
TAPE 04-28, SIDE A
Number 0001
CHAIR PAUL SEATON called the House Special Committee on
Fisheries meeting to order at 9:07 a.m. Representatives Seaton,
Wilson, Samuels, Guttenberg, and Gara were present at the call
to order.
SB 282 - PREPARED FOOD:WILD/FARMED FISH DISCLOSURE
Number 0037
CHAIR SEATON announced that the only order of business would be
CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 282(RES), "An Act relating to the
identification of finfish in food products and to the
misbranding of food products consisting of or containing
finfish."
Number 0060
SENATOR KIM ELTON, Alaska State Legislature, sponsor by request
of the Joint Legislative Salmon Industry Task Force, said that
SB 282 provides for disclosure similar to what now occurs at the
grocery-store level to take place in restaurants, that finfish
be identified on the restaurant menu as to whether it is farmed
or wild. Most fish consumed at the retail level is consumed in
restaurants rather than through grocery store purchases. He
suggested that the bill addresses a consumer awareness issue,
and noted that there have been a lot of stories in the press
recently about the toxin loads of farmed fish and the
environmental concerns surrounding industrial fish farms.
SENATOR ELTON opined that the proposed change will give
consumers the ability to chose what type of fish they consume,
and will provide a real boost to Alaska's wild fish industry.
He noted that the bill only applies to eating establishments
that serve the public; it won't apply to schools, correctional
facilities, or employer-provided eating establishments.
REPRESENTATIVE GUTTENBERG referred to page 4, lines 14-16, and
noted that the definition of wild fish includes fish harvested
from a lake but not fish that has been raised in captivity under
control for their entire life. He asked whether a fish raised
in a lake could be considered "captive."
SENATOR ELTON said it could but only in the same sense that a
fish harvested from the ocean could be considered a "captive" of
its ocean environment.
REPRESENTATIVE WILSON suggested that one could think of the
language as meaning that a fish raised in "man-made" captivity
could not be considered a wild fish.
CHAIR SEATON asked Senator Elton to comment on the [Department
of Conservation's] fiscal note.
SENATOR ELTON said he found that fiscal note to be somewhat
strange given that there is already a labeling requirement at
the grocery-store level, and so agency staffing levels shouldn't
be impacted, particularly since most enforcement occurs at the
consumer level - that is, consumers questioning where a product
comes from. He noted, however, that because of the funding
levels provided by the legislature, the Department of
Environmental Control (DEC) has had to operate under very
constrained budgets. Notwithstanding that point, though, he
said that he expects the DEC to comply with the labeling
requirement proposed by SB 282 in the same way it already
complies with the labeling requirement at the grocery-store
level. He acknowledged that the department disagrees with him
on this point.
Number 0630
KRISTIN RYAN, Director, Division of Environmental Health,
Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), explained that
the DEC's fiscal note is based on the fact that an additional
environmental health technician will have to be hired in order
to ensure the compliance of the estimated 665 restaurants
impacted by the proposed change. These restaurants will need a
significant amount of technical assistance. Additionally, the
DEC has estimated that approximately 70 establishments will not
comply and thereby engender enforcement action by the DEC.
MS. RYAN pointed out that Senator Elton's assumption that
instituting the proposed change will be similar to what was done
with regard to instituting labeling at the grocery-store level
is inaccurate because that change was not mandatory; the
existing statute uses the word, "may" - not "shall" - and thus
the DEC does not enforce labeling at the grocery-store level nor
did it promulgate regulations. The change proposed by SB 282,
however, requires the DEC to enforce the labeling requirement
and to promulgate regulations.
MS. RYAN, in response to questions, predicted that the
restaurants impacted by SB 282 will require assistance in
identifying the source of their fish, in relaying that
information, and in complying, generally, with the new labeling
requirement. She explained that if SB 282 passes, the DEC will
inform restaurants of the new requirements, and then, when it is
time to draft regulations, will provide public notice to
interested parties. She pointed out that interested parties
will get an opportunity to comment on proposed regulation
changes during the regulation drafting process.
MS. RYAN in response to further questions, said that the "shall"
on page 3, line 21, puts the onus on the DEC to ensure that
restaurants comply with the change proposed by SB 282. She
opined that one of the benefits of the existing legislation
regarding labeling at the grocery-store level is that it
"established what the definition would be ... [and] gave people
the opportunity to use it as a marketing tool."
REPRESENTATIVE WILSON characterized SB 282 as a good bill, and
said she wished she'd sponsored it. She opined that the word
"shall" should stay in the bill.
CHAIR SEATON agreed.
Number 1074
CHERYL SUTTON, Staff to the Joint Legislative Salmon Industry
Task Force, Alaska State Legislature, agreed, adding, "This is a
great bill." She relayed, however, that the Joint Legislative
Salmon Industry Task Force does not view the DEC's fiscal note
as warranted, and went on to say:
I go to restaurants, I always ask ... where this fish
comes from. I think it's incumbent on any
establishment to know where their seafood comes from -
who supplies it, and what species it is, whether it's
wild, whether its farmed - and it's part of their
marketing for their own establishment.
REPRESENTATIVE WILSON asked Ms. Ryan whether the DEC has
considered simply adding the proposed requirement to the list of
all the things it checks on during restaurant inspections.
MS. RYAN said that that has been considered. The problem,
however, is that due to significant budgetary cuts, the DEC no
longer has the staff to take on additional work without
hindering its ability to do what it is actually responsible for,
which is ensuring that food is safe to eat. The proposed change
is not one that involves a safety issue, and so the DEC doesn't
feel it's appropriate to take time out of its existing staff's
schedule to ensure compliance with the proposed labeling
requirement. That is why the DEC's fiscal note includes
additional staff and resources. She concluded: "If the fiscal
note is eliminated, I think I would be forced to use enforcement
discretion and not implement this legislation."
REPRESENTATIVE GUTTENBERG asked whether the DEC has considered
simply contracting out the enforcement aspect of the bill, for
example, to the United Fishermen's Association (UFA); then all
the DEC would need to do is establish a hotline and follow up
with inspections if complaints are received.
MS. RYAN said that regardless of whom the DEC contracts out the
enforcement work to, it will still require additional work and
funding from the DEC. In response to a question, she said that
if she chose to not implement the proposed change, even if the
DEC received a call that someone was not complying, she would
not enforce the change or follow up on the call. She pointed
out that she has the authority to use discretion regarding
enforcement, and so if she feels that there are more important
issues to investigate and enforce, she will have her staff
address those things instead.
Number 1305
CHAIR SEATON said he appreciates Ms. Ryan's points regarding
budgetary constraints and enforcement discretion, but suggested
that the bill puts the onus on restaurants to comply and will
encourage consumers to address labeling issues directly with
restaurant owners. He went on to say:
I think that we would fully like you to use your
discretion and not incur additional expenses, so I
think that we will look at that and your testimony
there that you would use your discretion and not go
into an enforcement mode on this if it was adopted.
And so we'll take that as being the opportunity to
consider a zero fiscal note based on your testimony of
your discretion not to enforce this. So thank you
very much.
MS. RYAN replied:
Unfortunately, even if it goes through with a zero
fiscal note, the public will feel that we have a
responsibility to enforce that legislation, and it's
very difficult to turn people away when they contact
us saying "You have the ability to do this, you have
the responsibility to do this, why don't you do it?"
And to say, "We just don't have the funding to do it,"
is a difficult situation to put is in.
CHAIR SEATON said he appreciates that point, but suggested that
she refer such people to the House Special Committee on
Fisheries as having told her to allocate her resources where she
deems most appropriate.
REPRESENTATIVE GARA suggested that all parties are "right" on
the fiscal note issue.
REPRESENTATIVE WILSON, mentioning that she has heard many things
about the safety of eating farmed fish, opined that requiring
labeling whether fish is wild or farmed is a public safety
issue.
CHAIR SEATON, after ascertaining that no one else wished to
testify, closed public testimony on SB 282.
Number 1620
REPRESENTATIVE SAMUELS made a motion to "zero" the [DEC's]
fiscal note. There being no objection, it was so ordered.
SENATOR ELTON relayed:
I do want to assure the committee and especially [Ms.
Ryan], whom I have been able to work with on this,
that ... I would hope she would keep track. ... My
best guess is that if restaurant owners are notified
that this is the law and it must occur, and yet fail
to follow the law, ... I would hope that [Ms. Ryan]
and [the] DEC would let me know, because I'm
committed, in the next budget cycle, if in fact we
find it necessary to do enforcement, ... to help them
get the money to do it.
SENATOR ELTON added that he would come to the House Special
Committee on Fisheries first to ask for help.
CHAIR SEATON remarked:
Well, I think the whole committee here is nodding
their heads in agreement that that's what we think.
And we think that whenever they're going for
inspections it ought to be a flyer or something that
they leave with ... each restaurant so that each
restaurant knows ... what they're required to do,
reminded what it is to do, without incurring a fiscal
note on that.
REPRESENTATIVE GUTTENBERG suggested that the DEC "build the
calculation of enforcement into ... the restaurant inspection
report card."
Number 1744
REPRESENTATIVE WILSON moved to report CSSB 282(RES) out of
committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying
zero fiscal notes. There being no objection, CSSB 282(RES) and
the accompanying zero fiscal notes were reported from the House
Special Committee on Fisheries.
ADJOURNMENT
Number 1756
There being no further business before the committee, the House
Special Committee on Fisheries meeting was adjourned at 9:31
a.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|