(a) The Legislature finds and declares that, acting under policy direction of the Secretary of Food and Agriculture, California’s unique system of county agricultural commissioners forms the front line of defense in protecting the state from the many exotic and invasive species threatening our people, commerce, and environment.

(b) It is the intent of the Legislature that agricultural commissioners take an increasingly assertive and proactive role in the exclusion and detection of exotic and invasive species in the urban environment, particularly those potentially spread by human activities, such as landscaping and yard maintenance.

(Added by Stats. 2008, Ch. 574, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 2009.)