(a) Except as set forth in this section, this chapter shall not apply to 50 acres or less of rice of any type planted for research purposes. No one type may be planted on more than 50 acres in the state and be considered research within the meaning of this section. Any person conducting research on 50 acres or less shall notify the committee of the location of the acreage involved, and the proposed procedures for planting, producing, processing, or handling the rice. The committee shall review and approve, modify, or reject the proposed procedures to ensure that the research will not result in commercial impacts to other rice. The committee shall accept any procedures that have been previously approved or accepted by an agency of state or federal government unless the committee provides written justification for modifying or rejecting the procedures.

(b) In addition to the information required pursuant to subdivision (a), the committee may require any person proposing to conduct research using rice brought into the state from another state or country to provide the committee with proposed procedures to ensure that the introduced rice is free of diseases, weeds, or other pests. The committee shall review and approve, modify, or reject the proposed procedures. The committee shall accept any procedures that have been previously approved or accepted by an agency of state or federal government unless the committee provides written justification for modifying or rejecting the procedures.

(c) The notice required pursuant to this section shall not require specific information regarding the attributes of the rice that is the subject of the research.

(d) The notice required by this section shall be provided in the time and manner specified by the committee.

(e) This chapter shall not apply to research conducted by the University of California except for rice produced directly from the research that enters the channels of trade.

(Amended by Stats. 2008, Ch. 414, Sec. 22. Effective January 1, 2009.)