(a) The development of work plans for allocation of the funding appropriated in the Budget Act to the department for local assistance for agricultural plant and animal pest and disease prevention shall be the responsibility of the department. The department shall establish criteria for the development of the work plans and for allocating the appropriated funds.

(b) Of the amount appropriated in the Budget Act to the department for local assistance for agricultural plant and animal pest and disease prevention, five million five hundred thousand dollars ($5,500,000) shall be utilized solely for high-risk pest exclusion activities. The work plans for the exclusion of high-risk pests shall be developed by the department with the county agricultural commissioners and in consultation with affected industry representatives. In order to determine the effectiveness of high-risk pest exclusion programs in each county, the criteria established by the department for the work plan shall include, but need not be limited to, the following:

(1) The number of high-risk plant shipments entering each county.

(2) The number of high-risk entry points in each county.

(3) The number of state action quarantine pests intercepted or detected annually in each county.

(4) The work hours expended by each county in conducting exclusion of high-risk pests.

(5) The rate of interceptions and rejections per inspection activity.

(c) To remain eligible for funding under this section, a county shall maintain its support of ongoing operational costs of the county agricultural commissioner programs listed in subdivision (b) of Section 2282, at 1997–98 fiscal year levels.

(d) Funds allocated for high-risk pest exclusion activities pursuant to subdivision (b) may not be expended for any purpose other than the exclusion or detection of high-risk pests consistent with the work plans prescribed in subdivision (a) or scientific evaluation. Funds allocated by each county on or after September 28, 1998, shall not be allocated to other programs listed in subdivision (b) of Section 2282 until the county work plan is approved by the department consistent with the funding appropriated in the Budget Act to the department for local assistance for agricultural plant and animal pest and disease prevention for this purpose.

(Amended by Stats. 2000, Ch. 573, Sec. 3. Effective September 23, 2000.)