AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 13, 2026

AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 18, 2026

AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 6, 2026

AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 16, 2026

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION

95

Introduced by Assembly Member Irwin

(Coauthors: Assembly Members Aguiar-Curry, Alanis, Ransom, Hart, and Macedo)

February 18, 2026

An act to add Article 1.9 4 (commencing with Section 7290) 6351) to Chapter 1 of Part 4 2 of Division 4 of the Food and Agricultural Code, relating to invasive species.

Vote: majority   Appropriation: no   Fiscal committee: yes   Local program: no

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

Existing law designates the Department of Food and Agriculture as the lead department in noxious weed management and requires the department, in cooperation with the Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency, to implement provisions relating to noxious weed management. Existing law prohibits a person from selling, distributing, or transporting into, or within, a weed-free area any seed of a noxious weed that the secretary has declared the area to be practically free from.

This bill would prohibit an online marketplace, as defined, from facilitating the sale or shipment of a noxious weed for delivery to an address located in the state. The bill would authorize the Secretary of Food and Agriculture, if an employee of the department acting within the course and scope of their regular duties and using existing resources the secretary or a county agricultural commissioner identifies a shipment of a noxious weed and the secretary determines that the shipment originated from or occurred through a transaction conducted through an online marketplace in violation of this prohibition, to provide written notice, including specified information, to the online marketplace that it may be subject to an administrative penalty for violating this prohibition. The bill would authorize the Secretary of Food and Agriculture secretary to levy a specified administrative penalty against an online marketplace for violating this prohibition if both the online marketplace received that written notice and, after any written notice, an employee of the department acting within the course and scope of their regular duties and using existing resources the secretary or a county agricultural commissioner identifies a shipment of a noxious weed and the secretary determines that the shipment originated from or occurred through a transaction conducted through an online marketplace in violation of this prohibition, unless the marketplace demonstrates to the department secretary that it has implemented and maintains reasonable controls, as defined. The bill would also authorize the Secretary of Food and Agriculture secretary to levy a separate administrative penalty against an online marketplace to recover all reasonable costs associated with remediating any damage caused by a violation of this prohibition in an amount equal to those reasonable costs. The bill would provide that review of the secretary’s decision to impose an administrative penalty pursuant to these provisions may be sought by the online marketplace within 30 days of the date of the decision, as specified. The bill would require all moneys collected pursuant to these provisions to be deposited into the Department of Food and Agriculture Fund to, upon appropriation by the Legislature, cover costs related to the enforcement of provisions relating to plant quarantine and pest control. The bill would prohibit an online marketplace subject to an administrative penalty pursuant to these provisions from being subject to other fines or penalties for a violation of this prohibition. The bill would make its provisions operative on April 1, 2027.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

Article 4 (commencing with Section 6351) is added to Chapter 1 of Part 2 of Division 4 of the Food and Agricultural Code, to read:

Article 4. Noxious Weeds Online Marketplaces

7290.6351.

For purposes of this article, all of the following definitions apply:

(a) “Online marketplace” means an electronically accessed platform that includes features that facilitate a third-party seller to engage in any part of a transaction, including the sale, purchase, payment, storage, shipping, or delivery of a product for delivery into this state.

(b) “Reasonable controls” means reasonable procedures, acts, or practices that are designed and implemented to do all of the following:

(1) Prevent the acceptance of payment for a noxious weed listed for delivery to an address in the state, including, but not limited to, a noxious weed listed for sale by its scientific name, common name, or a publicly known variation of either.

(2) Maintain a process to identify and address mislabeling or deceptive marketing of a plant for the purpose of avoiding detection of a noxious weed.

(3) Identify and restrict a third-party seller whose listings for noxious weeds are repeatedly successfully processed on the online marketplace despite the reasonable controls.

(c) “Third-party seller” means a person or entity, independent of an online marketplace, who sells, offers to sell, or contracts with an online marketplace to sell or ship a product for delivery into this state using an online marketplace.

7291.6352.

(a) An online marketplace shall not facilitate the sale or shipment of a noxious weed for delivery to an address located in the state.

(b) If an employee of the department acting within the course and scope of their regular duties and using existing resources the secretary or commissioner identifies a shipment of a noxious weed and the secretary determines that the shipment originated from, or occurred through a transaction conducted through, an online marketplace in violation of subdivision (a), the secretary may provide written notice to the online marketplace that it may be subject to an administrative penalty for that violation that includes, to the extent feasible, all of the following information:

(1) The identity of the third-party seller.

(2) The product listing.

(3) The noxious weed identified in the shipment.

(c) (1) The secretary may levy an administrative penalty against the online marketplace for a violation of subdivision (a), except as provided in subdivision (e), if both of the following occur:

(A) The online marketplace received written notice pursuant to subdivision (b).

(B) An employee of the department acting within the course and scope of their regular duties and using existing resources The secretary or commissioner identifies a shipment of a noxious weed and the secretary determines that the shipment originated from, or occurred through a transaction conducted through, an online marketplace in violation of subdivision (a) following the online marketplace receiving any written notice pursuant to subdivision (b).

(2) If the secretary levies an administrative penalty pursuant to paragraph (1), the administrative penalty shall be as follows:

(A) Twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) for the first violation after written notice pursuant to subdivision (b).

(B) Fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) for a second violation.

(C) Seventy-five thousand dollars ($75,000) for a third or subsequent violation.

(d) The secretary may levy a separate administrative penalty against the online marketplace, in addition to any other administrative penalty levied pursuant to subdivision (c), in an amount equal to the reasonable costs associated with remediating damage caused by a violation of subdivision (a).

(e) An online marketplace shall not be subject to an administrative penalty pursuant to subdivision (c) or (d) if the online marketplace demonstrates to the satisfaction of the department secretary that it has implemented, and maintains, reasonable controls.

(g) The revenues from an administrative penalty levied pursuant to this section shall be deposited into the Department of Food and Agriculture Fund to, upon appropriation by the Legislature, cover costs related to the enforcement of this division.

(h) Notwithstanding any other law, an online marketplace subject to an administrative penalty pursuant to this section shall only be subject to the administrative penalties described in this section.