By Swinford H.B. No. 3673
Line and page numbers may not match official copy.
Bill not drafted by TLC or Senate E&E.
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the control of diseases of swine by the Texas Animal
1-3 Health Commission and the Texas Department of Agriculture.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Chapter 165.026, Agriculture Code, is amended to
1-6 read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 165.026. Feeding Garbage to Swine. (a) A person may
1-8 not feed garbage to swine unless[:]
1-9 [(1)] the person first registers with and secures a
1-10 permit from the commission [;and]
1-11 [(2) the garbage has been heated to a temperature of
1-12 212 degrees Fahrenheit for a period of 30 consecutive minutes
1-13 within 48 hours prior to feeding].
1-14 (b) The commission may adopt rules for registration under
1-15 this section, including rules providing for registration issuance
1-16 [and] renewal[,] and revocation, disease tests, inspections, [and]
1-17 bookkeeping and appropriate handling and treatment of the garbage,
1-18 including appropriate cooking requirements. The commission may
1-19 adopt rules to prohibit the feeding of garbage to swine in all or
1-20 in part of the state if the practice presents a danger to the
1-21 public health or livestock industry through insect infestation or
1-22 through a communicable or noncommunicable disease. Registration
1-23 with the commission shall be made on forms prescribed by the
2-1 commission, and the commission shall furnish those forms on
2-2 request. The commission may impose a registration fee not to
2-3 exceed $25 a year.
2-4 (c) This section does not apply to an individual who feeds
2-5 garbage from the individual's own household, farm, or ranch to
2-6 swine owned by the individual.
2-7 (d) In this section, "garbage" includes the animal or
2-8 vegetable refuse matter and the putrescible animal or vegetable
2-9 waste resulting from handling, preparing, cooking, or consuming
2-10 food containing all or part of an animal carcass, the animal or
2-11 commingled animal and vegetable waste material by-products of a
2-12 restaurant, kitchen, cookery, or slaughterhouse, and refuse
2-13 accumulations of animal or commingled animal and vegetable [or
2-14 vegetable] matter, liquid or otherwise.
2-15 (e) The commission or the executive director may issue an
2-16 emergency administrative order to suspend a registration and order
2-17 the immediate quarantine and/or closure of any garbage feeding
2-18 facility due to an immediate threat to the health and safety of the
2-19 public or livestock. An order is valid for a period not to exceed
2-20 two months after the effective date of the order.
2-21 SECTION 2. Chapter 165.041, Agriculture Code, is amended to
2-22 read as follows:
2-23 Sec. 165.041. General Penalty. (a) A person commits an
2-24 offense if the person violates a provision of Subchapter B of this
2-25 chapter or a rule adopted under that subchapter.
2-26 (b) A person commits an offense if a person provides or
3-1 allows garbage to be fed to swine of Subchapter B of this chapter
3-2 or a rule adopted under this chapter.
3-3 [(b)] (c) An offense under this section is a Class C
3-4 misdemeanor unless it is shown on the trial of the offense that the
3-5 defendant has been previously convicted under this section, in
3-6 which event the offense is a Class B misdemeanor.
3-7 [(c)] (d) A person commits a separate offense for each day
3-8 of violation.