The Cannella Environmental Farming Act of 1995: Managed Honeybee Health Program.

Assembly Member Ransom's initiative to enhance California's managed honeybee populations proposes a new grant program under the Department of Food and Agriculture, recognizing these pollinators' essential role in sustaining the state's agricultural sector and ecosystem health. The Managed Honeybee Health Program would provide funding for direct health interventions and research projects aimed at supporting honeybee colonies used in pollination services across California's agricultural regions.

The Department of Food and Agriculture would oversee the program in consultation with a Scientific Advisory Panel comprising commercial beekeepers, agricultural officials, scientists, and other stakeholders. Eligible grant recipients include in-state commercial beekeepers, academic institutions, and nonprofit organizations pursuing projects that demonstrate potential for statewide replication or provide environmental benefits such as reduced hive loss and increased honeybee habitat. The department may prioritize projects benefiting disadvantaged communities and those led by members of socially disadvantaged groups.

To fund these initiatives, the bill establishes a dedicated subaccount within the Climate Smart Agriculture Account, authorized to receive federal, private, and other non-state funding sources. While the legislation creates this funding structure, the program's implementation remains contingent on specific appropriations through the state budget process or separate legislation. The bill maintains existing funding streams for other agricultural programs by explicitly prohibiting the use of certain existing fee revenues for this new initiative.