By: Sims, Lucio S.B. No. 1196
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to the boll weevil eradication program.
1-2 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-3 SECTION 1. Subdivisions (5), (9), and (14), Section 74.102,
1-4 Agriculture Code, are amended to read as follows:
1-5 (5) "Cotton grower" means an individual who<:>
1-6 <(A)> grows cotton<;> and
1-7 <(B)> receives <direct> income on or after June
1-8 1, 1992, from the sale of cotton. The term includes an individual
1-9 who as owner, landlord, tenant, or sharecropper is entitled to
1-10 share in the cotton grown and available for marketing from a farm
1-11 or to share in the proceeds from the sale of the cotton from the
1-12 farm, under 7 C.F.R. Part 1413.
1-13 (9) "High Plains Boll Weevil Suppression Program Area"
1-14 includes Bailey, Borden, Briscoe, Castro, Cochran, Crosby, Dawson,
1-15 Deaf Smith, Dickens, Floyd, Gaines, Garza, Hale, Hockley, Howard,
1-16 Lamb, Lubbock, Lynn, Martin, Midland, Motley, Parmer, Swisher,
1-17 Terry, and Yoakum counties. The High Plains Boll Weevil
1-18 Suppression Program Area may also include other counties or parts
1-19 of counties if areas are added to the High Plains Boll Weevil
1-20 Suppression Area as provided under this subchapter.
1-21 (14) "St. Lawrence Cotton Growers Boll Weevil Control
1-22 Zone" may include, subject to change as provided under this
1-23 subchapter, all or part of <includes> Glasscock, Reagan, Upton,
2-1 <and> south Midland, or other counties.
2-2 SECTION 2. Subsection (a), Section 74.107, Agriculture Code,
2-3 is amended to read as follows:
2-4 (a) The High Plains Boll Weevil Suppression Program Area and
2-5 the St. Lawrence Cotton Growers Boll Weevil Control Zone are
2-6 separate zones for the purposes of boll weevil eradication;
2-7 however, an area in the St. Lawrence Cotton Growers Boll Weevil
2-8 Control Zone may be assigned to another zone as provided by <and
2-9 may not be combined with another area in an eradication zone under>
2-10 this subchapter.
2-11 SECTION 3. Section 74.108, Agriculture Code, is amended to
2-12 read as follows:
2-13 Sec. 74.108. Board Powers. (a) The board may:
2-14 (1) conduct board elections;
2-15 (2) conduct eradication zone referenda;
2-16 (3) conduct assessment referenda under Section 74.113
2-17 of this code;
2-18 (4) conduct programs consistent with the declaration
2-19 of policy stated in Section 74.101 of this code;
2-20 (5) accept, as necessary to implement this chapter,
2-21 gifts and grants;
2-22 (6) borrow money as necessary to execute this chapter;
2-23 (7) take other action and exercise other authority as
2-24 necessary to execute any act authorized by this subchapter or the
2-25 Texas Non-Profit Corporation Act (Article 1396-1.01 et seq.,
3-1 Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes); and
3-2 (8) <(5)> form an advisory committee composed of
3-3 individuals from this state, other states, or other countries and
3-4 change membership on the committee, as necessary. Any advisory
3-5 committee created under this subdivision for the purpose of
3-6 establishing treatment methods shall include among its members
3-7 persons with knowledge of the effects of different treatments on
3-8 the health of agricultural workers, the local population, and the
3-9 ecosystem, including but not limited to the effects of a particular
3-10 method of treatment on beneficial organisms and wildlife, the
3-11 potential for secondary infestations from nontarget pests, and the
3-12 potential for pest resistance to particular methods of treatment.
3-13 (b) The board may add an area to an eradication zone if:
3-14 (1) cotton production begins in the area;
3-15 (2) the area is adjacent to an eradication zone or is
3-16 in an area with biological characteristics similar to the
3-17 eradication zone; and
3-18 (3) the addition is approved in a referendum held in
3-19 the area.
3-20 (c) The board may initiate the boll weevil eradication
3-21 program in an area added to an eradication zone and may assess
3-22 cotton growers in the area added to the eradication zone to ensure
3-23 the integrity and success of the eradication program. The board
3-24 shall provide notice of intent to initiate eradication and collect
3-25 assessments through informational meetings in the affected area not
4-1 later than 60 days before the date recognized by the board as the
4-2 average planting date for the area.
4-3 (d) The board may not reduce the area of the High Plains
4-4 Boll Weevil Suppression Program Area.
4-5 SECTION 4. Section 74.109, Agriculture Code, is amended to
4-6 read as follows:
4-7 Sec. 74.109. Board Duties. (a) The board shall make
4-8 available for inspection at an annual independent audit all books,
4-9 records of account, and minutes of proceedings maintained by the
4-10 foundation.
4-11 (b) Not later than the 45th day after the last day of the
4-12 fiscal year, the board shall submit to the commissioner a report
4-13 itemizing all income and expenditures and describing all activities
4-14 of the foundation during the fiscal year.
4-15 (c) The foundation shall provide fidelity <surety> bonds in
4-16 amounts determined by the board <commissioner> for employees or
4-17 agents who handle funds for the foundation.
4-18 (d) <The foundation shall collect, receive, hold in trust,
4-19 and disburse all assessments and other funds collected under this
4-20 subchapter as trust funds of the foundation.> The foundation and
4-21 the board are <is a> state agencies <agency> for the following
4-22 purposes only:
4-23 (1) exemption from taxation including exemption from
4-24 sales and use taxes, vehicle registration fees, and taxes under
4-25 Chapter 152, Tax Code; and
5-1 (2) indemnification <only and for no other purpose>.
5-2 (e) Funds collected by the foundation are not state funds
5-3 and are not required to be deposited in the state treasury. The
5-4 foundation shall deposit all money collected under this subchapter
5-5 in a bank or other depository approved by the board.
5-6 (f) The foundation is a governmental unit under Section
5-7 101.001, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, and is entitled to
5-8 governmental immunity. A tort claim against the foundation must be
5-9 made under Chapter 101, Civil Practice and Remedies Code.
5-10 (g) <(e)> The board shall collect data on the type and
5-11 quantity of pesticides used in accordance with this subchapter.
5-12 (h) <(f)> All revenue collected under this subchapter shall
5-13 be used solely to finance programs approved by the commissioner as
5-14 consistent with this subchapter and applicable provisions of the
5-15 constitution.
5-16 SECTION 5. Subsection (a), Section 74.110, Agriculture Code,
5-17 is amended to read as follows:
5-18 (a) Except for instances of gross negligence, individual
5-19 criminal actions, or acts of dishonesty, the foundation, the
5-20 foundation's members, directors, officers, and employees are not
5-21 individually liable to a cotton grower or other person for:
5-22 (1) errors in judgment;
5-23 (2) mistakes; or
5-24 (3) other acts or omissions.
5-25 SECTION 6. Subsection (f), Section 74.113, Agriculture Code,
6-1 is amended to read as follows:
6-2 (f) An assessment levied on cotton growers in an eradication
6-3 zone may be applied only to:
6-4 (1) eradication in that zone;
6-5 (2) the foundation's operating costs, including
6-6 payments on debt incurred for a foundation activity, except that
6-7 the funds of one zone may not be used to pay another zone's bank
6-8 loans; and
6-9 (3) the conducting of other programs consistent with
6-10 the declaration of policy stated in Section 74.101 of this code.
6-11 SECTION 7. Section 74.114, Agriculture Code, is amended by
6-12 amending Subsections (f) and (i) and by adding Subsection (j) to
6-13 read as follows:
6-14 (f) Ballots in a referendum or board election shall <may> be
6-15 mailed directly to a central location, to be initially determined
6-16 by the commissioner and later determined by the board. A cotton
6-17 grower eligible to vote in a referendum or board election who has
6-18 not received a ballot from the foundation or another source shall
6-19 be offered the option of requesting a ballot by mail or obtaining a
6-20 ballot <voting in person> at the office of the county agent of the
6-21 Texas Agricultural Extension Service or a government office
6-22 distributing ballots in a <the> county in the proposed or
6-23 established zone in which the referendum or board election is
6-24 conducted <which the cotton grower resides. A county agent shall
6-25 hold ballots received under this section in trust and shall count
7-1 the ballots and report the results to the commissioner and the
7-2 foundation>.
7-3 (i) A public hearing regarding the proposed eradication
7-4 program <plan>, including information regarding regulations to be
7-5 promulgated by the foundation and the commissioner, shall be held
7-6 by the foundation in each of several locations within each boll
7-7 weevil eradication zone. The area posted for each hearing shall
7-8 include no more than six contiguous counties that have cotton
7-9 production at the time of the hearing.
7-10 (j) Individual voter information, including an individual's
7-11 vote in a referendum or board election conducted under this
7-12 section, is confidential and is not subject to disclosure under the
7-13 open records law, Chapter 552, Government Code.
7-14 SECTION 8. Subsections (b) and (c), Section 74.115,
7-15 Agriculture Code, are amended to read as follows:
7-16 (b) A cotton grower who fails to pay all assessments and
7-17 penalties before the 10th <31st> day after receiving notice of the
7-18 delinquency shall destroy any cotton growing on the grower's
7-19 acreage that is subject to the assessment. Cotton plants that are
7-20 not destroyed are a public nuisance, and, on recommendation of the
7-21 foundation, the department shall follow the procedures for
7-22 destruction of host plants provided by Subchapter A of this
7-23 chapter, including procedures for reimbursement by the grower of
7-24 costs required for destruction. The department may apply to a
7-25 district court with jurisdiction in the county in which the public
8-1 nuisance is located to have the nuisance condemned and destroyed.
8-2 Injunctive relief available to the department under this subchapter
8-3 is in addition to any other legal remedy available to the
8-4 department. The department is not required to file a bond in a
8-5 proceeding under this subsection.
8-6 (c) In addition to any other remedies for the collection of
8-7 assessments and penalties, the department may place and perfect a
8-8 lien on cotton produced and harvested that year <before the
8-9 destruction of other cotton grown> from the acreage that is subject
8-10 to the assessment that is due and unpaid. A buyer of cotton takes
8-11 free of the lien if the buyer has not received written or actual
8-12 notice of the lien from the department or if the buyer has paid for
8-13 the cotton by a check on which the department is named as a joint
8-14 payee. In an action to enforce the lien, the burden is on the
8-15 department to prove that the buyer of cotton received written or
8-16 actual notice of the lien. A buyer of cotton other than a person
8-17 buying cotton from the cotton grower takes free of the lien.
8-18 SECTION 9. Subsection (b), Section 74.116, Agriculture Code,
8-19 is amended to read as follows:
8-20 (b) A cotton grower may not qualify for an exemption under
8-21 this section for a year in which the amount computed by subtracting
8-22 the assessments and penalties due under this subchapter from the
8-23 cotton grower's net income subject to federal income taxation in
8-24 the previous year is greater than $15,000.
8-25 SECTION 10. Subsection (c), Section 74.120, Agriculture
9-1 Code, is amended to read as follows:
9-2 (c) The foundation and the department may adopt other
9-3 reasonable rules <it considers> necessary to carry out the purposes
9-4 of this subchapter and Subchapter A of this chapter. All rules
9-5 issued under this subchapter must be adopted and published in
9-6 accordance with state requirements. Rules adopted by the
9-7 foundation under this section shall be consistent with rules
9-8 adopted by the commissioner under this subchapter.
9-9 SECTION 11. Section 74.125, Agriculture Code, is amended to
9-10 read as follows:
9-11 Sec. 74.125. Organic Producers. (a) The board, in
9-12 cooperation with the commissioner, shall develop rules and
9-13 procedures to:
9-14 (1) protect the eligibility of organic producers to be
9-15 certified by the commissioner;
9-16 (2) ensure that organic and transitional certification
9-17 by the commissioner continue to meet national certification
9-18 standards in order for organic cotton to maintain international
9-19 marketability; and
9-20 (3) in all events maintain the effectiveness of the
9-21 boll weevil eradication program administered under this subchapter.
9-22 (b) The board may not treat or require treatment of organic
9-23 cotton fields with chemicals that are not approved for use on
9-24 certified organic cotton. Plow-up may be required as an
9-25 alternative to chemicals. In the rules adopted under Subsection
10-1 (a), the board may provide indemnity for the organic producers for
10-2 reasonable losses that result from a prohibition of production of
10-3 organic cotton or from any requirement of destruction of organic
10-4 cotton. If time is reasonably available for the production of an
10-5 economically feasible alternative crop, the board may require
10-6 mitigation of losses with the production of an alternative crop.
10-7 SECTION 12. Subsection (c), Section 74.126, Agriculture
10-8 Code, is amended to read as follows:
10-9 (c) If the commissioner or the foundation determines that a
10-10 violation of this subchapter or a rule adopted under this
10-11 subchapter has occurred, the commissioner or the foundation may
10-12 request that the attorney general or the county or district
10-13 attorney of the county in which the alleged violation occurred or
10-14 is occurring file suit for civil, injunctive, and/or other
10-15 appropriate relief.
10-16 SECTION 13. Section 74.127, Agriculture Code, is amended by
10-17 adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
10-18 (c) If the foundation is abolished or the program
10-19 discontinued for any reason, assessments approved, levied, or
10-20 otherwise collectible on the date of abolishment remain valid as
10-21 necessary to pay the financial obligations of the foundation.
10-22 SECTION 14. This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
10-23 SECTION 15. The importance of this legislation and the
10-24 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
10-25 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
11-1 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
11-2 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.