republic-os/legislation/us/states/ca/20152016/ab-2511.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Fertilizing materials: auxiliary soil and plant substances: biochar."
description: "Existing law generally regulates fertilizer materials and provides for the licensure of individuals who manufacture or distribute fertilizing materials. Existing law defines various terms for the purpose of carrying out these provisions, including, but not limited to, auxiliary soil and plant substances. Existing law lists specific chemical or biological substances or mixtures of substances or devices included within the definition of auxiliary soil and plant substances and excludes commercial fertilizers, agricultural minerals, pesticides, soil amendments, and manures from the definition."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20152016"
identifier: "AB 2511"
citation: "California AB 2511 (20152016)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Fertilizing materials: auxiliary soil and plant substances: biochar."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Levine"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 22
vote_count: 7
first_action: "2016-02-19"
last_action: "2016-09-13"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/982047f1-64f1-4323-9558-488dd7cad024"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB2511"
source_hash: "e69d61ce38ba2dd75b22bd235b6123bfc6dfb53acfe7e9fee8abdbce2565c6c0"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ca"]
---

# California AB 2511 (20152016) — Fertilizing materials: auxiliary soil and plant substances: biochar.

Existing law generally regulates fertilizer materials and provides for the licensure of individuals who manufacture or distribute fertilizing materials. Existing law defines various terms for the purpose of carrying out these provisions, including, but not limited to, auxiliary soil and plant substances. Existing law lists specific chemical or biological substances or mixtures of substances or devices included within the definition of auxiliary soil and plant substances and excludes commercial fertilizers, agricultural minerals, pesticides, soil amendments, and manures from the definition.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **02/19/16 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB2511&version=20150AB251199INT)
2. **03/28/16 - Amended Assembly** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB2511&version=20150AB251198AMD)
3. **09/13/16 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB2511&version=20150AB251196CHP)
4. **AB2511** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB2511)
5. **08/22/16 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB2511&version=20150AB251197ENR)

## Votes

- Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] with the recommendation: To Consent Calendar — **5–0** (pass) · upper
- 3rd Reading AB2511 Levine By Cannella — **38–0** (pass) · upper
- Placed on suspense file — **7–0** (pass) · upper
- AB 2511 LEVINE Assembly Third Reading — **80–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass. — **20–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] with recommendation: To Consent Calendar — **9–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass — **7–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Levine — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2016-02-19** Introduced. To print. `introduction`
- **2016-02-21** From printer. May be heard in committee March 22.
- **2016-02-22** Read first time. `reading-1`
- **2016-03-08** Referred to Com. on AGRI. `referral-committee`
- **2016-03-28** From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on AGRI. Read second time and amended. `reading-2, amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, reading-1`
- **2016-03-29** Re-referred to Com. on AGRI. `referral-committee`
- **2016-03-31** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 9. Noes 0.) (March 30). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `referral-committee, committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2016-04-13** In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to suspense file. `referral-committee`
- **2016-05-27** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 20. Noes 0.) (May 27). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2016-05-27** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2016-05-31** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 80. Noes 0. Page 5037.) `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2016-06-01** In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. `reading-1`
- **2016-06-09** Referred to Com. on AGRI. `referral-committee`
- **2016-06-21** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 5. Noes 0.) (June 21). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `referral-committee, committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2016-08-01** In committee: Referred to APPR. suspense file. `referral-committee`
- **2016-08-11** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (August 11). `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2016-08-15** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2016-08-18** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 38. Noes 0. Page 5086.). `reading-3, passage, reading-1`
- **2016-08-19** In Assembly. Ordered to Engrossing and Enrolling. `committee-passage`
- **2016-08-25** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 5 p.m.
- **2016-09-13** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2016-09-13** Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 331, Statutes of 2016.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/982047f1-64f1-4323-9558-488dd7cad024`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).