CA AB54

Requires the Department of Food and Agriculture to fund research on measuring smoke compounds in winegrapes and wine, and methods to mitigate or prevent smoke damage upon appropriation in the Budget Act of 2023.

Establishes a nine-member advisory committee (4 winegrape growers, 4 vintners, 1 public university representative) to review research proposals and recommend funding to the secretary.

Secretary must accept advisory committee recommendations unless determining a proposal is not practicable or in the public interest, with reasons for rejection provided within 15 days.

Provisions become inoperative on January 1, 2029, or when all appropriated funds have been disbursed, whichever is later, with section repealed by January 1, 2030.

Legislature intends to appropriate $5,000,000 in the Budget Act of 2023 for smoke impact research on California's wine industry, which lost an estimated $3.7 billion in the 2020 wildfires.