BILL ANALYSIS S.B. 700 By: Sims Natural Resources 03-01-95 Committee Report (Unamended) BACKGROUND The Department of Agriculture registers more than 11,000 pesticide products each year. Eighty percent of these products are registered with no label changes from the previous year. This results in thousands of applications being mailed and processed each year. Most of the labels are received and reviewed during a very narrow time frame which causes work backlogs. PURPOSE As proposed, S.B. 700 requires the Department of Agriculture to create a system for pesticide registration and renewal of the registration, and amends the registration application fee. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the committee's opinion that rulemaking authority is granted to the Department of Agriculture under SECTION 1 (Section 76.043(a), Agriculture Code) of this bill. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Sections 76.043(a) and (c), Agriculture Code, as follows: (a) Provides that registration of a pesticide expires two years after the date of its approval or renewal except that the Department of Agriculture (department) shall, by rule, adopt a system under which the registrations expire on various dates during the year, rather than December 31. (c) Makes a conforming change. SECTION 2. Amends Section 76.044(a), Agriculture Code, to require a nonrefundable fee of $200, rather than $100, for the registration of each pesticide to be submitted with a registration or renewal application. SECTION 3. Provides that a registration in effect on the effective date of this Act remains in effect until the earlier of the date on which the registration expires or is revoked by the department. SECTION 4. Emergency clause. Effective date: upon passage.