1-1 By: Brown S.B. No. 1124
1-2 (In the Senate - Filed March 11, 1997; March 13, 1997, read
1-3 first time and referred to Committee on Natural Resources;
1-4 April 4, 1997, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
1-5 Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 11, Nays 0; April 4, 1997,
1-6 sent to printer.)
1-7 COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1124 By: Brown
1-8 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-9 AN ACT
1-10 relating to the regulation of aquaculture.
1-11 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-12 SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 134, Agriculture Code, is
1-13 amended to read as follows:
1-14 SUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL PROVISIONS
1-15 Sec. 134.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
1-16 (1) "Cultured species" means aquatic [plants or]
1-17 animals raised under conditions where at least a portion of their
1-18 life cycle is controlled by an aquaculturist.
1-19 (2) "Exotic species" means a nonindigenous plant or
1-20 animal not normally found in the public waters of this state.
1-21 (3) "Aquaculturist" or "fish farmer" means any person
1-22 licensed under this chapter to engage in aquaculture or fish
1-23 farming.
1-24 (4) "Aquaculture" or "fish farming" means the business
1-25 of producing or [and] selling cultured species raised in private
1-26 facilities. Aquaculture or fish farming is an agricultural
1-27 activity.
1-28 (5) "Private facility" means a pond, tank, cage, or
1-29 other structure capable of holding cultured species in confinement
1-30 wholly within or on private land or water or within or on permitted
1-31 public land or water.
1-32 (6) "Owner" means an aquaculturist owning or operating
1-33 a facility licensed by the commission [department].
1-34 (7) "Commission" means the Texas Animal Health
1-35 Commission.
1-36 Sec. 134.002. AQUACULTURE PROGRAM. The department shall
1-37 [establish an aquaculture program that]:
1-38 (1) promote [develops and conducts a plan for
1-39 promoting] aquaculture products;
1-40 (2) provide [licenses and regulates aquaculture
1-41 operations;]
1-42 [(3) provides] technical assistance, including
1-43 demonstrations, to aquaculturists;
1-44 (3) provide [(4) provides] coordinated support
1-45 through colleges and universities and other governmental entities;
1-46 (4) solicit [(5) solicits] financial support from the
1-47 federal government for the aquaculture industry;
1-48 (5) develop [(6) develops] and expand [expands] the
1-49 aquaculture industry to:
1-50 (A) stimulate the state's economy; and
1-51 (B) offer alternative crop opportunities; and
1-52 (6) perform [(7) performs] other functions and
1-53 activities as required by law.
1-54 Sec. 134.0025. LICENSING. The commission shall establish an
1-55 application process for an aquaculture license and license
1-56 aquaculture facilities.
1-57 Sec. 134.003. PROGRAM ADMINISTRATOR; STAFF. (a) The
1-58 department shall designate a person to administer the department's
1-59 aquaculture program.
1-60 (b) The department or the department's program administrator
1-61 may employ the necessary staff to carry out the functions and
1-62 duties of the department under this chapter.
1-63 Sec. 134.0035. LICENSING ADMINISTRATOR; STAFF. (a) The
1-64 commission shall designate a person to administer the commission's
2-1 aquaculture licensing program.
2-2 (b) The commission or the commission's program administrator
2-3 may employ the necessary staff to carry out the functions and
2-4 duties of the commission under this chapter.
2-5 Sec. 134.004. CONTRACTS. The department and the commission
2-6 may contract with state, federal, or private entities for
2-7 assistance in carrying out the purposes of this chapter.
2-8 Sec. 134.005. RULES. (a) The department, the commission,
2-9 and the Parks and Wildlife Department may [shall] adopt rules to
2-10 carry out their respective duties under this chapter [the
2-11 aquaculture program].
2-12 (b) The commission may adopt rules to control a disease or
2-13 agent of disease transmission that affects, or has the potential to
2-14 affect, cultured species or other aquatic species.
2-15 (c) The commission by rule may establish recordkeeping
2-16 requirements for an aquaculture facility.
2-17 (d) The rules may not conflict with rules issued as
2-18 otherwise provided by [under Section 134.020 of] this code.
2-19 Sec. 134.006. AQUACULTURE FUND. (a) The aquaculture fund
2-20 is established in the state treasury.
2-21 (b) The commission [department] shall deposit to the credit
2-22 of the fund the fees received from licenses issued under this
2-23 chapter.
2-24 (c) The aquaculture fund may be used only to administer this
2-25 chapter.
2-26 SECTION 2. Sections 134.011, 134.012, 134.014, 134.015, and
2-27 134.016, Agriculture Code, are amended to read as follows:
2-28 Sec. 134.011. AQUACULTURE LICENSE REQUIRED. A person may
2-29 not operate an aquaculture facility without first having acquired
2-30 from the commission [department] an aquaculture license.
2-31 Sec. 134.012. FISH FARM VEHICLE LICENSE REQUIRED.
2-32 (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) [of this section], a
2-33 vehicle used to transport cultured species [fish] from a private
2-34 facility [fish farm] for sale [from the vehicle] is required to
2-35 have a fish farm vehicle license.
2-36 (b) A fish farm vehicle license is not required for a
2-37 vehicle owned and operated by the holder of an aquaculture license.
2-38 Sec. 134.014. LICENSE FEES. The commission [department]
2-39 shall issue an aquaculture license or a fish farm vehicle license
2-40 on the payment of a fee, as provided by commission [department]
2-41 rule.
2-42 Sec. 134.015. FORM, DURATION, AND RENEWAL OF LICENSE.
2-43 (a) An aquaculture license must be on a numbered form provided by
2-44 the commission [department].
2-45 (b) A license is valid for two years after the date of
2-46 issuance. The commission [department] shall renew a license on
2-47 submission by the licensee of a completed application and a renewal
2-48 fee, as provided by commission [department] rule, unless the
2-49 commission [department] determines that the licensee has violated
2-50 this chapter or a rule adopted under this chapter.
2-51 (c) The commission [department] may suspend an aquaculture
2-52 license if it is determined that the licensee has violated this
2-53 chapter or a rule adopted under this chapter.
2-54 Sec. 134.016. RECORDS. The holder of an aquaculture license
2-55 shall maintain a record of the shipment [sales] of aquatic
2-56 [cultured] species raised in an aquaculture facility as provided by
2-57 Chapters 47 and 66, Parks and Wildlife Code, and rules adopted by
2-58 the Parks and Wildlife Department[, regulated by a bag, possession,
2-59 or size limit for a period of time of not less than one year. The
2-60 record is open for inspection by designated employees of the
2-61 department during normal business hours].
2-62 SECTION 3. Subsection (b), Section 134.023, Agriculture
2-63 Code, is amended to read as follows:
2-64 (b) A person who violates Section [134.019 or] 134.020 [of
2-65 this code] commits an offense that is a Class B misdemeanor.
2-66 SECTION 4. Chapter 134, Agriculture Code, is amended by
2-67 adding Subchapter C to read as follows:
3-1 SUBCHAPTER C. INTERAGENCY COOPERATION
3-2 Sec. 134.031. MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT. (a) The Texas
3-3 Natural Resource Conservation Commission, the Parks and Wildlife
3-4 Department, and the commission shall enter into a memorandum of
3-5 agreement for the regulation of matters related to aquaculture.
3-6 (b) The memorandum of agreement must require that:
3-7 (1) the Texas Natural Resource Conservation
3-8 Commission, after receiving an application for a discharge permit
3-9 from an aquaculture facility, shall provide a copy of the
3-10 application to the Parks and Wildlife Department and the
3-11 commission;
3-12 (2) the Texas Natural Resource Conservation
3-13 Commission, the Parks and Wildlife Department, and the commission
3-14 shall each appoint one member of a three-member application review
3-15 committee to review the aquaculture discharge permit application to
3-16 ensure that the proposed discharge will not adversely affect a bay,
3-17 an estuary, or other waters of this state;
3-18 (3) the Texas Natural Resource Conservation
3-19 Commission, the Parks and Wildlife Department, and the commission
3-20 shall:
3-21 (A) expeditiously enforce all aquaculture
3-22 regulations under the authority of each; and
3-23 (B) coordinate their regulatory enforcement
3-24 efforts with regard to aquaculture-related activities;
3-25 (4) after discovering evidence of an occurrence of
3-26 disease in an aquaculture facility, the owner of the aquaculture
3-27 facility shall immediately notify the commission, and the
3-28 commission shall immediately:
3-29 (A) notify the Parks and Wildlife Department and
3-30 the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission; and
3-31 (B) advise the Parks and Wildlife Department and
3-32 the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission regarding the
3-33 appropriate action to be taken by each agency;
3-34 (5) after receiving a notice from the commission under
3-35 Subdivision (4), the executive director of the Texas Natural
3-36 Resource Conservation Commission shall immediately order a halt to
3-37 all wastewater discharges emanating from the reporting aquaculture
3-38 facility or require the Texas Natural Resource Conservation
3-39 Commission to take other appropriate action;
3-40 (6) the commission, after receiving an application for
3-41 an aquaculture license under Subchapter A, shall provide the Parks
3-42 and Wildlife Department a copy of the application for review by the
3-43 department regarding possible adverse environmental consequences
3-44 resulting from the approval of the application; and
3-45 (7) the Texas Natural Resource Conservation
3-46 Commission, the Parks and Wildlife Department, and the commission
3-47 shall conduct a study regarding wastewater discharges from
3-48 aquaculture facilities that:
3-49 (A) generates scientific information regarding
3-50 waste discharge permitting, with particular attention to the study
3-51 of the environmental impact of suspended solids;
3-52 (B) establishes standards for waste discharge
3-53 permitting;
3-54 (C) contains a plan for the aquaculture industry
3-55 to contribute financing, including grants, for conducting the study
3-56 and publishing the report required by this subdivision; and
3-57 (D) serves as the basis of a joint report to be
3-58 made available to the public.
3-59 (c) Representatives of the aquaculture industry, educational
3-60 institutions, and interested governmental agencies are entitled to
3-61 contribute to the study required by Subsection (b)(7).
3-62 (d) The report required by Subsection (b)(7) shall be made
3-63 available to the public before December 31, 1998. This subsection
3-64 expires December 31, 1998.
3-65 SECTION 5. Subsections (b) and (f), Section 66.020, Parks
3-66 and Wildlife Code, are amended to read as follows:
3-67 (b) This section applies to the possession, transportation,
3-68 sale, or purchase of any fish described by Subsection (a) of this
3-69 section without regard to where the fish was taken, caught, or
4-1 raised, but does not apply to:
4-2 (1) the transportation or possession of fish taken,
4-3 caught, or raised outside this state and transported by common
4-4 carrier without being unloaded from outside this state to a point
4-5 of delivery outside this state;
4-6 (2) fish raised by being continuously fed a prepared
4-7 feed and sold by a licensed Texas fish farmer [if marked and
4-8 identified as required under Chapter 134, Agriculture Code]; or
4-9 (3) the lawful importation by the holder of a Texas
4-10 finfish import license into this state from another state or
4-11 foreign country of farm-raised red drum, bass of the genus
4-12 Micropterus, crappie, flathead catfish, striped bass, white bass,
4-13 or a hybrid of any of those fish that have been continuously fed a
4-14 prepared feed as a primary food source or lawfully taken, caught,
4-15 or raised blue marlin, jewfish, longbill spearfish, muskellunge,
4-16 northern pike, sailfish, sauger, snook, spotted sea trout, tarpon,
4-17 walleye, white marlin, yellow bass, or a hybrid of any of those
4-18 fish, if the fish are transported or sold when not alive and are
4-19 tagged, invoiced, packaged, and labeled under regulations of the
4-20 commission and if the license holder complies with any requirements
4-21 the commission may establish by proclamation that the fish enter
4-22 the stream of commerce for sale in this state in a condition
4-23 allowing ready identification of the species, including a
4-24 requirement that the fish come into the state with the head and
4-25 tail intact and tagged and a requirement that an invoice accompany
4-26 all imported fish regulated by this section through each sales
4-27 transaction, including transactions at the place of the final sale
4-28 to the consumer.
4-29 (f) The commission by proclamation may require fish imported
4-30 under this section, fish raised and sold by a fish farmer licensed
4-31 by this state, or fish shipped by a fish farmer licensed by this
4-32 state to be tagged, packaged, and labeled and to be accompanied by
4-33 an invoice. The commission may provide a prenumbered invoice to a
4-34 person importing any of the fish described by Subsection (a) of
4-35 this section into this state from another state or foreign country
4-36 and may charge a fee for the invoice in an amount determined by the
4-37 commission that is reasonable to defray the administrative costs
4-38 incurred under this subsection. The invoice shall be used to
4-39 report shipments of any of the fish described by Subsection (a) of
4-40 this section. A person who receives invoices under this subsection
4-41 must account to the department for all invoices received as
4-42 required by rules adopted by the commission. A person commits an
4-43 offense if the person fails or refuses to account for an invoice as
4-44 required by commission rules.
4-45 SECTION 6. Sections 134.013 and 134.019, Agriculture Code,
4-46 are repealed.
4-47 SECTION 7. Effective September 1, 1998, Subchapter D,
4-48 Chapter 1, Parks and Wildlife Code, is repealed. The aquaculture
4-49 executive committee is abolished on that date.
4-50 SECTION 8. (a) The Texas Animal Health Commission, the
4-51 Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission, and the Parks and
4-52 Wildlife Department shall enter into a memorandum of agreement to
4-53 conduct a joint study.
4-54 (b) The memorandum of agreement must:
4-55 (1) require that the joint study be completed and a
4-56 report made public before August 31, 1999;
4-57 (2) require that the joint study focus on the
4-58 occurrence of disease in discarded seafood and seafood processing
4-59 plant waste and the possibility of transmission of disease to
4-60 aquaculture facilities or to cultured species or other aquatic
4-61 species as a result of direct or indirect exposure to infected
4-62 waste;
4-63 (3) provide a strategy for the Texas Animal Health
4-64 Commission to ensure that a seafood processing plant disposes of
4-65 its waste in a manner that will minimize the transmission of
4-66 disease from the seafood processing plant to an aquaculture
4-67 facility or to cultured species or other aquatic species;
4-68 (4) include a plan for the seafood processing industry
4-69 to contribute financing, including grants, for conducting the joint
5-1 study; and
5-2 (5) provide that representatives of the aquaculture
5-3 industry, representatives of the seafood processing industry,
5-4 educational institutions, and interested governmental agencies may
5-5 contribute to the joint study.
5-6 (c) The Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission, the
5-7 Parks and Wildlife Department, and the Texas Animal Health
5-8 Commission shall enter into the memorandum of agreement required by
5-9 this section as soon as practicable on or after the effective date
5-10 of this Act.
5-11 SECTION 9. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.
5-12 SECTION 10. (a) The Department of Agriculture, the Parks
5-13 and Wildlife Department, and the Texas Animal Health Commission
5-14 shall coordinate any necessary transfer of files, personnel,
5-15 equipment, or related materials as soon as practicable on or after
5-16 the effective date of this Act.
5-17 (b) A rule adopted by the Department of Agriculture with
5-18 regard to aquaculture licensing or regulation in effect immediately
5-19 before September 1, 1997, becomes a rule of the Texas Animal Health
5-20 Commission and the Parks and Wildlife Department and remains in
5-21 effect until amended or repealed by the commission or the
5-22 department, as applicable.
5-23 (c) The validity of any action taken before September 1,
5-24 1997, by the Department of Agriculture with regard to an
5-25 aquaculture license or fish farm vehicle license is not affected by
5-26 this Act. To the extent an action of the department continues to
5-27 have any effect on or after September 1, 1997, the action is
5-28 considered to be an action of the Texas Animal Health Commission.
5-29 (d) The Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission, the
5-30 Parks and Wildlife Department, and the Texas Animal Health
5-31 Commission shall, as soon as practicable on or after the effective
5-32 date of this Act, enter into the memorandum of agreement required
5-33 by Section 134.031, Agriculture Code, as added by this Act.
5-34 (e) The aquaculture executive committee and the application
5-35 review committee shall coordinate any necessary transfer of files,
5-36 personnel, equipment, or related material not later than August 31,
5-37 1998.
5-38 SECTION 11. The importance of this legislation and the
5-39 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-40 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-41 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-42 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
5-43 * * * * *