NOFA/Mass State Policy Priorities, Ag Day 2016
H ______(Originally filed as H 3242): An Act establishing the genetic engineering transparency food labeling act(Representative Story)
• Requires manufacturer to label any packaged food product containing GMOs over 0.9% of the product by weight with words: “Produced with Genetic Engineering”
• Exempts: animal feed, alcoholic beverages, medical food, food sold at farm stands or farmer’s markets, food prepared for immediate consumption or sold in a restaurant or food service establishment
• Requires unpackaged genetically engineered raw food to be labeled with those words on the shelf or bin
• Prohibits food produced with genetic engineering from being labeled as “natural,” “naturally grown,” “all natural,” “naturally made” or anything similar that would tend to mislead a consumer.
• Violation punishable by fine of $1000 per day per product
Status:
Passed favorably out of the Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources, and Agriculture (“ENRA”); referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means
Work needed:
The bill as originally drafted was designed to closely match existing GE labeling bills. The bill released from ENRA made substantial changes, some of which need review. Aside from issues of uniformity, we would like to see clarity restored to the bill’s enforcement language, and the removal of the “trigger” clause, which would have the effect of not allowing this Massachusetts law to go into effect until New York and one other New England state passed similar GE labeling laws first.
______(Originally filed as H 655: An Act protecting Massachusetts pollinators)(Representative Dykema)
• Requires that neonicotinoids be applied only by licensed or certified applicators
• Limits application during the blooming season to agricultural and horticultural uses only
• Requires applicators to give property owner notice of risks associated with neonicotinoids to pollinators, and alternative products which could be used
• Requires that seeds, plants, or other materials treated with neonicotinoids be labeled at point of sale
• Neonicotinoid training will be integrated into the existing pesticide applicator licensing process
• Establishes a special commission to investigate pollinator health, comprised of members representing just about every conceivable farm, bee, and environmental interest, appointed by a mix of the legislature, Governor, and Attorney General; and 2 beekeepers.
Status:
The bill was released favorably from ENRA and is headed for review in House Committee on Ways and Means
______(Originally filed as H 711: An Act to strengthen the Massachusetts agricultural infrastructure relative to meat and poultry production and processing) (Representative Kulik)
• There are only two USDA inspected red meat processing facilities in MA (both in north central MA). There are no USDA-inspected poultry processing facilities in MA.
• This bill would move slaughter and meat processing to from the Dept. of Public Health to DAR, which has the dual mandate of protecting health AND developing agriculture.
Status:
Passed favorably out of ENRA, pending assignment in the clerk’s office
S 2171, An Act to promote agriculture in the Commonwealth (the Ag Omnibus Bill, sponsored by ENRA)
Status: Released to Senate Committee on Ways and Means
Our priority bills within S 2171 include (but are not limited to):
An Act relative to the distribution of raw milk (Senator Gobi)
• MDAR currently prohibits raw (unpasteurized) milk from being sold anywhere other than on the farm at which it was produced, and to the final consumer. With a growing demand for raw milk, this requires a lot of long drives from the city and expensive gasoline. Still, many consumers are unable to purchase this product.
• This bill would allow farmers to deliver raw milk to contracted consumers.
An Act relative to tax credits for agricultural land (Representative Schmid)
• To receive the benefit of being taxed at the lower agricultural tax rate under MGL Ch. 61a, parcels must be a minimum of 5 acres in size.
• This bill would make small plot farming more financially viable, by allowing owners of non-contiguous parcels to pay the ag tax rate on land they farm, so long as in total the parcels add up to at least 5 acres, and no parcel used to meet the minimum is more than ½ mile from another parcel under the same use and ownership.
An Act to establish estate tax valuation for farms (Representative Hogan)
• Our current estate tax laws (levied on any inheritance valued at $1 million or more) often force farmland into development, because land is assessed at its “highest and best use”--usually the land’s development value, not its value as agricultural land. This leads to inheritors selling all or a portion of the land to pay the estate tax.
• This bill would have make the value of agricultural land for estate tax purposes equivalent to 61A valuation.
• There would be a ten (10) year window during which, if the land came out of agriculture, the landowner would pay a proportional back tax based on the highest and best use of the land.
An Act relative to updating the plumbing code in order to accommodate agricultural uses (Representative Mirra)
• The state plumbing code regulates ag buildings as either residential or commercial—standards which are sometimes a poor fit for agriculture.
• This bill calls for the creation of an advisory committee to review the plumbing code relative to agriculture and make recommendations.
Work needed:
The majority of the advisory committee would be plumbers, calling into question whether suggestions by members representing agriculture would receive sufficient consideration.
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