The powers which are granted to a marketing program committee by a marketing program pursuant to this article may be exercised for the purpose of minimizing the effect of any surplus or other adverse market condition.

A marketing program may authorize the marketing program committee to establish and maintain stabilization and surplus pools. The marketing of green ripe olives is not, however, subject to the provisions of any marketing program which relates to the esablishment and operation of stabilization and surplus pools.

The program committee may receive from each producer for delivery into a stabilization or surplus pool the uncertificated portions of the commodity which is regulated by the marketing program and market it by any variety, grade, or size for the account of the producers if the uncertificated portion can be disposed of advantageously either in its original or a converted state. The marketing program committee shall designate the quantity or the percentage of the marketable supply of the commodity that shall be placed in the stabilization pool and the quantity or the percentage of the marketable supply of the commodity that shall be placed in the surplus pool. Any quantity or percentage which is so established is applicable to each producer.

In operating any stabilization or surplus pool, the marketing program committee may receive and account for the commodity on the basis of variety, grade, or size classifications, and may fix servicing charges to be assessed against the total quantity of any commodity which is received into the pools.

The marketing program committee has title to all of the commodity in each of the pools and shall handle all of the commodity received into each of the pools and account for it to each producer that is beneficially interested in such commodity upon a pooled basis.

The contents of a stabilization pool may be disposed of or may be marketed, from time to time, as the marketing program committee deems advisable, consistent with the maintenance of stabilized marketing conditions.

The contents of a surplus pool shall not be marketed in any form which would directly compete with that portion of the commodity which is regularly certificated or which is in a stabilization pool. Any part of any surplus pool may, however, be transferred by a marketing program committee on a gratuitous basis to any charitable organization, self-held cooperative, or similar agency under proper safeguards to prevent any part of the commodity so disposed of from directly competing with the part of the commodity which is marketed through the usual channels of trade.

A marketing program may authorize the marketing program committee to establish and maintain diversion or substandard pools. The program committee may receive from each producer for delivery into a diversion or a substandard pool such quantity of each producer’s production or deliveries as fails to qualify for marketing or sale in regular marketing channels, under grade, quality, or size regulations which are established in the marketing program or under standardization laws or other laws of this state or of the United States.

In operating any such diversion or substandard pool, the marketing program committee may fix servicing charges to be assessed against the commodity which is received into the pool and may receive and account for the commodity on a basis of variety, grade, and size classifications. The program committee has title to all of the commodity in either of the pools and shall handle all of the commodity which is received into either of the pools and account for it to each producer that is beneficially interested in such upon a pooled basis.

The contents of any diversion or substandard pool shall be disposed of for byproducts or for other purposes under proper safeguards to prevent that part of the commodity which is so disposed of from directly competing with the part of the commodity which is marketed in its usual form through the usual channels of trade.

A marketing program may authorize the marketing program committee to create, establish, or otherwise obtain and operate any facility for the storing, financing, grading, packing, servicing, processing, preparing for market, selling, or disposal of the contents of any pools which are provided for in this article. A marketing program committee shall not, however, engage in public warehousing.

The marketing program committee may pledge all of the commodity that is in any pool which is established pursuant to any provision of this article with a bank or other lending agency for the purpose of obtaining loans upon such commodity. The marketing program committee has title to all of the commodity which is in any such pools for the purpose of financing and handling.

A marketing program may authorize the marketing program committee to create, by a uniform assessment upon producers based upon the volume of the commodity which is marketed by each, or upon some other uniform and equitable basis, maintain, and disburse an equalization fund to be used for the removal of any inequalities between producers as to the total volume which is marketed through prorated channels that result from errors in estimating production or surplus, or for indemnifying producers whose production, in whole or in part, is diverted in green form or otherwise from normal marketing outlets, or diverted to relief, byproducts, or other noncompetitive purposes pursuant to a marketing program.

No part of any funds which are raised for equalization fund purposes, as specified in Section 59813, shall be applied to the cost of maintenance of the department.

A marketing program may authorize the marketing program committee to establish, adopt, and apply methods for correlating the marketable supply of any commodity to the reasonable market demands by means of volume limitation, time limitation, diversion, or by grade, quality, or size regulations which are applicable to the total production of any commodity, or to that portion of any commodity which qualified for marketing pursuant to standards which are authorized in the marketing program, standardization laws, or other laws of this state, or of the United States.

The marketing of green ripe olives is not, however, subject to the provisions of any marketing program which limits the total quantity of such commodity which may be marketed.

A marketing program may authorize the marketing program committee to broaden distribution and increase consuming outlets by appropriate educational and trade stimulation efforts of a general industry nature and not unfairly depreciative of the quality of any other food product.

Educational and trade stimulation efforts may include all of the following:

For the purpose of providing funds to defray the cost of formulating, administering, and enforcing educational and trade stimulation efforts, a fee or assessment shall be established and collected upon the volume of the commodity which is marketed or upon some other uniform and equitable basis.

The fee may be collected separately by the marketing program committee or may be combined with any fee which is collected for general administrative purposes, in which case the marketing program committee may recommend to the director, and the director may approve, the proportions of the combined fee which may be expended for each of such purposes.

Any portion of the funds which are collected during any marketing season to accomplish the purposes of Sections 59816, 59817, and 59818 may, subject to the approval of the director, be carried forward for expenditure during any season subsequent to the season during which the funds are collected.

Any educational and trade stimulation efforts which are authorized by any marketing program if approved by growers, either by written assent or by referendum ballots, for a specified period of time, but not exceeding four years, may be carried out for such period without the necessity of a biennial referendum as required in Section 59981.