1-1 By: Armbrister S.B. No. 372
1-2 (In the Senate - Filed March 14, 1997; March 19, 1997, read
1-3 first time and referred to Committee on Natural Resources;
1-4 April 10, 1997, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
1-5 Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 10, Nays 0; April 10, 1997,
1-6 sent to printer.)
1-7 COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 372 By: Lucio
1-8 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-9 AN ACT
1-10 relating to certain regulatory functions of the Department of
1-11 Agriculture.
1-12 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-13 SECTION 1. Subdivision (1), Section 14.201, Agriculture
1-14 Code, is amended to read as follows:
1-15 (1) "Public warehouseman" means a person who stores
1-16 cotton, wheat, rye, oats, or rice, or any kind of produce[, wares,
1-17 merchandise, or personal property for hire].
1-18 SECTION 2. Subsection (a), Section 14.203, Agriculture Code,
1-19 is amended to read as follows:
1-20 (a) The department may [shall] appoint warehouse examiners
1-21 to examine warehouses[, including corporations chartered under
1-22 Subchapter B of this chapter. The department shall not appoint
1-23 more than one examiner for every 50 warehouses and corporations].
1-24 SECTION 3. Subsection (c), Section 18.003, Agriculture Code,
1-25 is amended to read as follows:
1-26 (c) An organic certification shall be for a period
1-27 prescribed by the department [expires on August 31 of each year].
1-28 A person who fails to submit a renewal fee on or before the
1-29 expiration date of the certification must pay, in addition to the
1-30 renewal fee, the late fee provided by Section 12.024 of this code.
1-31 SECTION 4. Subsection (d), Section 71.0091, Agriculture
1-32 Code, is amended to read as follows:
1-33 (d) If the owner of a citrus plant, citrus plant product, or
1-34 citrus substance seized by the department under this section fails
1-35 or refuses to treat or destroy the citrus plant, citrus plant
1-36 product, or citrus substance immediately after being instructed to
1-37 do so by the department, the department may abate the nuisance by
1-38 destroying the citrus plant, citrus plant product, or citrus
1-39 substance or may otherwise treat the citrus plant, citrus plant
1-40 product, or citrus substance so that it is no longer a nuisance.
1-41 In enforcing this subsection, the department may call on the
1-42 sheriff of the county in which the citrus plant, citrus plant
1-43 product, or citrus substance is located, and the sheriff shall
1-44 cooperate with the department and provide assistance necessary to
1-45 abate the nuisance.
1-46 SECTION 5. Subsection (a), Section 71.010, Agriculture Code,
1-47 is amended to read as follows:
1-48 (a) A person who is aggrieved and will be injured by a
1-49 quarantine or whose property is to be destroyed by order of the
1-50 department is entitled to appeal to the district court of any
1-51 county in which the quarantine or order is established or issued.
1-52 In order to appeal, the person must give written notice of appeal
1-53 to the department not later than the 10th day following the date of
1-54 the order or proclamation. The notice must name the district court
1-55 in which the application is filed.
1-56 SECTION 6. Subsection (a), Section 71.103, Agriculture Code,
1-57 is amended to read as follows:
1-58 (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of this section, if
1-59 the department determines following field inspection that the
1-60 vegetable plants inspected are apparently free of injurious pests
1-61 and of the diseases and insects listed in Sections 71.104-71.109 of
1-62 this code, as applicable, the department shall issue a certificate
1-63 tag or stamp for those plants. Plants certified under this section
1-64 shall be known as "state certified plants."
2-1 SECTION 7. Subsection (a), Section 71.110, Agriculture Code,
2-2 is amended to read as follows:
2-3 (a) If, at the time of field inspection, the department
2-4 finds an injurious pest or [a] disease or insect listed in Sections
2-5 71.104-71.109, as applicable, the grower of the plants shall
2-6 delimit the infection or infestation and clean the plants by use of
2-7 a disinfectant.
2-8 SECTION 8. Subsection (b), Section 71.114, Agriculture Code,
2-9 is amended to read as follows:
2-10 (b) The department shall charge an inspection fee, as
2-11 provided by rule of the department[, for each acre over five acres
2-12 to be inspected].
2-13 SECTION 9. Section 73.004, Agriculture Code, is amended to
2-14 read as follows:
2-15 Sec. 73.004. INJURIOUS [DANGEROUS] DISEASES AND PESTS.
2-16 [(a)] In accordance with Subchapter A, Chapter 71, of this code,
2-17 the department shall establish quarantines against [the following]
2-18 pests and [plant] diseases determined by department rule to be
2-19 injurious[, which are not widely distributed in this state and are
2-20 public nuisances:]
2-21 [(1) Black scale (Saissetia oleae);]
2-22 [(2) Branch and twig borer (Melalgus confertus);]
2-23 [(3) Long-tailed mealy bug (Pseudococcus adonidum);]
2-24 [(4) Orange-peel miner (Marmara species);]
2-25 [(5) Withertip of lime (Glocosporium limetticolm); and]
2-26 [(6) False spider mite (Brevipalus sp.).]
2-27 [(b) For purposes of the citrus zone, the following pests
2-28 and diseases are a public nuisance:]
2-29 [(1) False spider mite (Brevipalus sp.);]
2-30 [(2) Withertip of lime (Glocosporium limetticolm);]
2-31 [(3) Whitefly (Aleyrodes, nubifera);]
2-32 [(4) Woolly whitefly (Aleurothrixus howardi);]
2-33 [(5) Flocculent whitefly (Aleurothrixus floccosa);]
2-34 [(6) Guava whitefly (Trialeurodes floridensis);]
2-35 [(7) Bay whitefly (Paraleurodes perseae);]
2-36 [(8) Inconspicuous whitefly (Bemesia inconspicua);]
2-37 [(9) Florida spirea aphid (Aphis spirecola);]
2-38 [(10) Citrus root weevil (Pachnaeus litus Germar);]
2-39 [(11) Meleanose (Phomopsis citri);]
2-40 [(12) Rufous scale (Selenaspidus articulatus);]
2-41 [(13) Snow scale (Unaspis citri);]
2-42 [(14) Six-spotted mite (Tetranychus sexmaculatus);]
2-43 [(15) Purple mite (Panohychus citri);]
2-44 [(16) Orange sawyer (Elaphidion inerne);]
2-45 [(17) Spiny blackfly (Aleurocanthus woglumi);]
2-46 [(18) Citrus scab;]
2-47 [(19) Black scale (Saissetia oleae);]
2-48 [(20) Citrus mealy bug;]
2-49 [(21) Cottony cushion scale;]
2-50 [(22) Citrus thrips (scirtothrips citri, Moulton);]
2-51 [(23) Barnacle scale;]
2-52 [(24) California red scale;]
2-53 [(25) Oystershell scale;]
2-54 [(26) Citrus red spider; and]
2-55 [(27) Citrus fruit and storage rot].
2-56 SECTION 10. The heading of Subchapter A, Chapter 74,
2-57 Agriculture Code, is amended to read as follows:
2-58 SUBCHAPTER A. COTTON PEST [BOLL WEEVIL] CONTROL
2-59 SECTION 11. Section 121.004, Agriculture Code, is amended to
2-60 read as follows:
2-61 Sec. 121.004. Certificate of Authority. (a) The department
2-62 shall issue a numbered certificate of authority to each person who
2-63 determines or influences the grade of [grades, sells, or offers for
2-64 sale] rose plants.
2-65 (b) A certificate of authority expires on December 31 of the
2-66 year in which it is issued.
2-67 (c) Each person who determines or influences the grade of
2-68 rose plants [grower, dealer, wholesaler, and processor] shall pay
2-69 an annual fee for a certificate of authority based on the actual
3-1 amount of work done by or under the direction of the department in
3-2 administering this chapter. The department shall set [fix] a fee,
3-3 as provided by department rule, according to the number of rose
3-4 plants graded [handled, sold, or offered for sale during the
3-5 calendar year].
3-6 [(d) A person who purchases graded stock but does not
3-7 determine or influence the grade is exempt from payment of the fee
3-8 required for a certificate of authority.]
3-9 SECTION 12. Section 121.007, Agriculture Code, is amended to
3-10 read as follows:
3-11 Sec. 121.007. Rules. The [(a) Following notice and public
3-12 hearing, the] department may adopt rules necessary to carry out
3-13 this chapter. [Rules adopted under this chapter are effective only
3-14 if approved in writing by the attorney general.]
3-15 [(b) The department shall publish rules adopted under this
3-16 chapter in pamphlet form.]
3-17 SECTION 13. The following provisions of the Agriculture Code
3-18 are repealed:
3-19 (1) Section 12.005;
3-20 (2) Subsection (c), Section 14.107;
3-21 (3) Subsection (c), Section 14.118;
3-22 (4) Subsection (c), Section 16.002;
3-23 (5) Chapter 17;
3-24 (6) Chapter 19, Agriculture Code, as added by Section
3-25 2.01, Chapter 76, Acts of the 74th Legislature, 1995; and
3-26 (7) Section 74.090.
3-27 SECTION 14. The importance of this legislation and the
3-28 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-29 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-30 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-31 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
3-32 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
3-33 passage, and it is so enacted.
3-34 * * * * *