Amend the Hirschi amendment to CSSB 1 by striking the text of
the amendment and substituting the following:
(1) Insert the following appropriately numbered sections:
SECTION ____. Sections 76.001(13)-(23), Agriculture Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(13) "Integrated pest management" means the
coordinated use of pesticide and environmental information with
pest control methods to prevent unacceptable levels of pest damage
by the most economical means and to cause the least possible hazard
to persons, property, and the environment.
(14) "Label" means the written, printed, or graphic
matter on or attached to a pesticide or device or any of its
containers or wrappers.
(15) <(14)> "Labeling" means a label or any other
written, printed, or graphic matter prepared by a registrant:
(A) accompanying the pesticide or device at any
time; or
(B) to which reference is made on a label or in
literature accompanying or referring to a pesticide or device,
except accurate, nonmisleading references made to a current
official publication of a federal or state institution or agency
authorized by law to conduct research in the field of pesticides.
(16) <(15)> "Land" means any land or water area,
including airspace, and any plant, animal, structure, building,
contrivance, or machinery, whether fixed or mobile, appurtenant to
or situated on a land or water area or airspace, including any used
for transportation.
(17) <(16)> "License use category" means a
classification of pesticide use based on the subject, method, or
place of pesticide application.
(18) <(17)> "Nematode" means an invertebrate animal of
the phylum Nemathelminthes and class Nematoda (an unsegmented
roundworm with an elongated, fusiform, or sac-like body covered
with cuticle) inhabiting soil, water, plants, or plant parts.
(19) <(18)> "Pesticide" means a substance or mixture
of substances intended to prevent, destroy, repel, or mitigate any
pest, or any substance or mixture of substances intended for use as
a plant regulator, defoliant, or desiccant.
(20) <(19)> "Plant regulator" means a substance or
mixture of substances intended through physiological action to
accelerate or retard the rate of growth or rate of maturation, or
otherwise to alter the behavior of an ornamental or crop plant or
the product of an ornamental or crop plant, but does not include a
substance to the extent that it is intended as a plant nutrient,
trace element, nutritional chemical, plant inoculant, or soil
amendment.
(21) "Public body of surface water" means any body of
surface water that is not used exclusively for an agricultural
purpose. The term does not include impounded water on private
property.
(22) <(20)> "Regulatory agency" means a state agency
with responsibility for certifying applicators under Subchapter E
of this chapter.
(23) <(21)> "Restricted-use pesticide" means a
pesticide classified as a restricted-use pesticide by the
Environmental Protection Agency.
(24) <(22)> "Thallophyte" means a
non-chlorophyll-bearing plant of a lower order than mosses and
liverworts.
(25) <(23)> "Weed" means any plant that grows where
not wanted.
SECTION ____. Section 74.104, Agriculture Code, is amended
by adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
(d) The department shall adopt rules prohibiting the
application of any pesticide to control aquatic pests in any public
body of surface water by a person who does not have a permit to
apply pesticides for the control of aquatic pests from the
department and who does not apply the pesticide as provided by
Section 76.118.
SECTION ____. Subchapter E, Chapter 76, Agriculture Code, is
amended by adding Section 76.118 to read as follows:
Sec. 76.118. PERMIT AND NOTICE REQUIREMENTS FOR AQUATIC
PESTICIDE USE IN A PUBLIC BODY OF SURFACE WATER. (a) The
department by rule shall adopt procedures providing for the
coordination, oversight, and enforcement of all aquatic pesticide
use to prevent unreasonable risk from the use of any aquatic
pesticides.
(b) The department by rule shall provide procedures for a
person to obtain a permit before application of the pesticide.
(c) The department may request from the Parks and Wildlife
Department or local river authorities the following information:
(1) the depth, size, volume, flow, or other
characteristics of the body of water proposed for aquatic pesticide
treatment;
(2) plant and animal life in and downstream from a
proposed aquatic pesticide treatment area;
(3) practical, nonchemical pest control strategies;
and
(4) any other information required by the department
for the purposes of this section.
(d) The department may not issue a permit to an aquatic
pesticide applicator unless the Texas Natural Resource Conservation
Commission has ruled that the proposed application will not
contaminate drinking water sources.
(e) The department shall require that the principles of
integrated pest management be followed before approving a permit to
apply aquatic pesticides.
(f) The department shall require each applicator of an
aquatic pesticide in a public body of surface water to notify
owners of property adjacent to the public body of surface water of
the date of application at least five working days before the
application. The department also shall require notification by the
posting of one or more signs at the time of application and for at
least 30 days after the date of application. The department by
rule shall prescribe the form, content, and location of the sign.
(g) The department by rule may establish and provide for the
collection of a fee to cover costs associated with the review of an
application for a permit required by this section.
SECTION ____. The Department of Agriculture shall prescribe
permit procedures and rules as required by Sections 74.104(d) and
76.118, Agriculture Code, as added by this Act, not later than
December 1, 1997. Those sections apply only to a pesticide that is
applied to a public body of surface water on or after January 1,
1998.
(2) Renumber the sections of the bill as appropriate.