Senate Bill S7280A

                                 BILL NUMBER:  S7280

 TITLE OF BILL :  An act to amend the agriculture and markets law, in
relation to the misuse of federal food stamps; to amend the
agriculture and markets law, in relation to agricultural districts law
improvements; to repeal article 12 of the agriculture and markets law,
relating to the manufacture and sale of adulterated turpentine and
linseed oil; to repeal article 21-C of the agriculture and markets
law, relating to the northeast interstate dairy compact; to repeal
section 149 of the agriculture and markets law, relating to the
interstate pest control compact; and to repeal section 214-k of the
agriculture and markets law, relating to the sale and labeling of
charcoal

 PURPOSE OF THE BILL :

This bill would modify the Agriculture and Markets Law (AML) by
repealing outdated and unnecessary provisions and amending certain
provisions to clarify and enhance the agricultural assessment
provisions.

 SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS :

Section 1 of the bill would repeal AML article 12, which contains
obsolete restrictions on the production and distribution of
adulterated turpentine and adulterated linseed oil.
              

Section 2 of the bill would repeal AML article 21-C, which adopts the
now defunct Northeast Interstate Dairy Compact.

Section 3 of the bill would repeal AML § 149, which adopts the now
dissolved Interstate Pest Control Compact.

Section 4 of the bill would repeal AML § 214-k, which imposes labeling
requirements on charcoal that are duplicative of federal regulations.

Section 5 of the bill would amend AML § 45-b to replace out-of-date
references to the federal food stamp program with references to the
federal supplemental nutrition assistance program.

Section 6 of the bill would amend paragraph m of subdivision 4 of AML
§ 301 (qualification of "silvopasturing" for agricultural assessment)
to add a requirement that "land used in silvopasturing" be part of a
single operation that contains land qualified for an agricultural
assessment.

Section 7 of the bill would amend subdivision 4 of AML § 301
(definition of "land used in agricultural production" for agricultural
assessment) to add a new paragraph "n" to allow fallow land which is
added to existing farms that qualify for an agricultural assessment to
obtain an agricultural assessment for such land based upon use for the
production for sale of crops, livestock and livestock products during
the twelve months preceding the applicable taxable status date.

 JUSTIFICATION :

This bill would amend the AML by removing obsolete, duplicative and
unnecessary provisions and by updating statutes that contain
out-of-date language or unnecessary requirements.

AML article 12 imposes various labeling requirements on the
manufacturers and sellers of adulterated turpentine or adulterated
linseed oil. The article was enacted in 1922 and has not been updated
or amended since. The article has not been relied on for many years,
as the mislabeling of adulterated turpentine or linseed oil is no

longer a problem. Repealing this article would remove an unnecessary
and obsolete provision of law.

AML article 21-C codifies New York's version of the Northeast
Interstate Dairy Compact (NIDC). The NIDC operated under congressional
authority to regulate the price, supply and distribution of milk in
participating states. Congressional authorization for the NIDC expired
on September 30, 2001, pursuant to 7 USC § 7256 (3). Accordingly, AML
article 21-C is obsolete and unnecessary.

AML § 149 codifies New York's version of the Interstate Pest Control
Compact (IPCC). The IPCC was created to promote coordination between
states, as well as between the state and federal government, in the
control and eradication of plant pest infestations and outbreaks. The
IPCC ceased operating in February 2013 and is now dissolved.
Accordingly, AML § 149 is out-of-date and unnecessary.

AML § 214-k imposes sale and labeling requirements on charcoal.
However, similar requirements are already imposed by federal
regulations promulgated pursuant to the Federal Hazardous Substance
Act and codified at 16 CFR § 1500.14 (b)(6). Repealing AML § 214-k
will remove the superfluous and unnecessary labeling requirements.

AML § 45-b makes the unauthorized possession, sale or exchange of
federal food stamps a misdemeanor. However, the food stamp program was
renamed the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program under 7 U.S.C. §
2011, et seg. Additionally, benefits are no longer provided in the
form of stamps with set denominations. This bill would update the
language of AML § 45-b to address the current form of the federal
program.

The proposed amendments to the definition of "land used in
agricultural production" (AML § 301(4); §§ 6 and 7 of the bill) would
address land used for silvopasturing and fallow land that is added to
and used as part of a single operation that otherwise satisfies the
requirements for an agricultural assessment.

 LAND USED FOR SILVOPASTURING

Under AML § 301(4), a number of stand-alone activities are eligible
for an agricultural assessment, including silvopasturing (AML §
301(4)(m), added in 2014). Unlike most of the provisions for
qualifying for an agricultural assessment, however, the law did not
require any minimum gross sales of livestock to be produced on such
land or require that the silvopasture land be used in conjunction with
other land that qualifies for an agricultural assessment. Without such
requirements, any landowner who establishes silvopasture land can
qualify for an agricultural assessment; whether or not they have a
commercial farm that sells products. The proposed amendment
appropriately requires that silvopasturing land be part of a single
operation that contains land qualified for an agricultural assessment.

 TWO YEAR PRIOR USE REQUIREMENT TO QUALIFY FOR AGRICULTURAL
ASSESSMENT

The definition of "land used in agricultural production" (AML §
301(4)) was previously amended to allow start-up farms to receive an
agricultural assessment within their first or second year of
production as long as they meet the income requirement contained in
the law. Only start-up farms enjoy this benefit, however. Existing
farms that want to buy fallow land to add to their farms cannot
receive an agricultural assessment until the land is used for
production for two years; which discourages land being brought into
production.


Removing the two year prior use requirement will make marginal land,
or land not in production for various reasons, more attractive because
farmers will not have to wait two years for the land to qualify for an
agricultural assessment. This reduces the cost of oftentimes
significant investments needed to make the land productive again.
Existing farms should not have to put land into production and wait
until its third year in production for the land to be eligible for an
agricultural assessment.

 PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY :

None.

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS :

None.

 EFFECTIVE DATE :
The bill would take effect immediately and apply to assessment rolls
prepared on the basis of taxable status dates occurring on orr after
such effective date.