Title HS, Health and Safety Code

Sec. 436.021. DEFINITION. In this subchapter, "detained or embargoed article" means molluscan shellfish or crabmeat that has been detained or embargoed under Section 436.028. Amended by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 336, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.

Sec. 436.022. INSPECTION. (a) The department or a health authority may, on presenting appropriate credentials to the owner, operator, or agent in charge: (1) enter at reasonable times, including when processing is conducted, an establishment or location in which molluscan shellfi…

Sec. 436.023. ACCESS TO RECORDS. A person who is required to maintain records under this chapter or a department rule or a person who is in charge or custody of those records on request shall permit the department or health authority at all reasonable times to have access to and …

Sec. 436.024. ACCESS TO RECORDS SHOWING MOVEMENT IN COMMERCE. (a) A commercial carrier or other person receiving or holding molluscan shellfish or crabmeat in commerce on request shall permit the department or health authority at all reasonable times to have access to and to copy…

Sec. 436.025. EMERGENCY ORDER. (a) The department may issue an emergency order that mandates or prohibits the taking, processing, or sale of molluscan shellfish or crabmeat in the department's jurisdiction if: (1) the processing or sale of the molluscan shellfish or crabmeat crea…

Sec. 436.026. VIOLATION; INJUNCTION. (a) The department or a health authority may petition the district court for a temporary restraining order to restrain a continuing violation or a threat of a continuing violation of Section 436.011 if the department or health authority believ…

Sec. 436.027. CIVIL PENALTY. (a) At the request of the department, the attorney general or a district, county, or municipal attorney shall institute an action in district or county court to collect a civil penalty from a person who has violated Section 436.011. (b) A person who v…

Sec. 436.028. DETAINED OR EMBARGOED ARTICLE. (a) The department may detain or embargo molluscan shellfish or crabmeat if the department believes or has probable cause to believe that the molluscan shellfish or crabmeat: (1) is adulterated; or (2) is misbranded so that the mollusc…

Sec. 436.029. REMOVAL ORDER FOR DETAINED OR EMBARGOED ARTICLE. (a) The department may order the claimant or the claimant's agent to move a detained or embargoed article to a secure place to prevent the unauthorized disposal or removal of the article. (b) If the claimant fails to …

Sec. 436.030. RECALL FROM COMMERCE. (a) The department may order a recall of molluscan shellfish or crabmeat with: (1) the detention or embargo of molluscan shellfish or crabmeat; (2) the issuance of an emergency order under Section 436.025; or (3) both. (b) The recall order may …

Sec. 436.031. CONDEMNATION. If molluscan shellfish or crabmeat is adulterated or misbranded, an action for the condemnation of the molluscan shellfish or crabmeat may be filed in a district court in whose jurisdiction the molluscan shellfish or crabmeat is located. Added by Acts …

Sec. 436.032. DESTRUCTION OF MOLLUSCAN SHELLFISH OR CRABMEAT. (a) The court may order the destruction of sampled, detained, or embargoed molluscan shellfish or crabmeat if the court finds that the article is adulterated or misbranded. (b) After entry of the court's order, the dep…

Sec. 436.033. CORRECTION BY PROPER LABELING. (a) A court may order the delivery of sampled, detained, or embargoed molluscan shellfish or crabmeat that is misbranded to the claimant for relabeling under the supervision of the department if: (1) the court costs and other expenses …

Sec. 436.034. ADMINISTRATIVE PENALTY. (a) The department may assess an administrative penalty against a person who violates Section 436.011 or an order issued under this chapter. (b) In determining the amount of the penalty, the department shall consider: (1) the person's previou…

Sec. 436.035. ADMINISTRATIVE PENALTY ASSESSMENT PROCEDURE. (a) The department may assess an administrative penalty only after a person charged with a violation is given an opportunity for a hearing. (b) If a hearing is to be held, the department shall refer the matter to the Stat…

Sec. 436.036. PAYMENT OF ADMINISTRATIVE PENALTY. (a) Not later than the 30th day after the date an order is issued under Section 436.035(d), the department shall notify the person against whom the penalty is assessed of the order and the amount of the penalty. (b) Not later than …

Sec. 436.037. REFUND OF ADMINISTRATIVE PENALTY. On the date the court's judgment that an administrative penalty against a person should be reduced or not assessed becomes final, the court shall order that: (1) the appropriate amount of any penalty payment plus accrued interest be…

Sec. 436.038. CRIMINAL PENALTY; DEFENSES. (a) A person commits an offense if the person intentionally, knowingly, recklessly, or with criminal negligence commits an unlawful act under Section 436.011. (b) A violation of Section 436.011(1), (2), or (3) is a Class B Parks and Wildl…

Sec. 436.039. INITIATION OF PROCEEDINGS. The attorney general or a district, county, or municipal attorney to whom the department or a health authority reports a violation of this chapter shall prosecute without delay. Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 336, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1,…

Sec. 436.040. MINOR VIOLATION. This chapter does not require the department or a health authority to report for prosecution a minor violation of this chapter if the department or health authority believes that the public interest is adequately served by a written warning. Added b…

Sec. 436.061. ADULTERATED AQUATIC LIFE. (a) A species of aquatic life is adulterated if it has been taken from an area declared prohibited for that species by the department. (b) Molluscan shellfish or crabmeat is adulterated if: (1) it bears or contains a poisonous or deleteriou…

Sec. 436.071. MISBRANDED MOLLUSCAN SHELLFISH AND CRABMEAT. Molluscan shellfish or crabmeat is misbranded if: (1) its labeling is false, misleading, or fails to conform with the requirements of Section 436.081; (2) it is offered for sale under the name of another food; (3) its con…

Sec. 436.081. FAIR PACKAGING AND LABELING. (a) A label on molluscan shellfish or crabmeat shall conform to the requirements for the declaration of net quantity of contents under Section 1453, Fair Packaging and Labeling Act (15 U.S.C. Section 1453), and the regulations adopted un…

Sec. 436.082. FALSE ADVERTISEMENT. An advertisement of molluscan shellfish or crabmeat is false if it is false or misleading in any manner. Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 336, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.

Sec. 436.083. LABELING OF SHRIMP. (a) For purposes of this section, a shrimp is considered to be imported if the shrimp does not satisfy the United States country of origin requirements for wild or farm-raised shellfish established by 7 C.F.R. Section 60.128, or successor regulat…

Sec. 436.091. DECLARATION OF PROHIBITED AREAS. (a) The department by order shall declare a body of public water to be a prohibited area if: (1) the department finds, according to a sanitary, chemical, or bacteriological survey, that the area contains aquatic life that is unfit fo…

Sec. 436.101. CLASSIFICATION OF GROWING AREAS. (a) The department by order shall designate an area that is coastal water according to the rules of the Parks and Wildlife Commission as an approved area, a conditionally approved area, a restricted area, a conditionally restricted a…

Sec. 436.102. DEPURATION. (a) The department may allow depuration by artificial means of molluscan shellfish taken from a restricted or conditionally restricted area, subject to department rules and under the supervision the department considers necessary to protect public health…

Sec. 436.103. FEE ON OYSTER SALES; PENALTIES. (a) The first certified shellfish dealer who harvests, purchases, handles, stores, packs, labels, unloads at dockside, or holds oysters taken from the water of this state shall pay the state a fee of $1 for each barrel of oysters harv…

Sec. 436.104. OYSTER PROGRAM. (a) The department shall conduct sanitary surveys, bay water and shellfish meat sampling, and any other activities that are necessary to classify the bays from which oysters are harvested from private leases or public reefs as authorized by Section 4…

Sec. 436.105. TEMPERATURE REQUIREMENTS. Following initial refrigeration after unloading from a harvest boat, molluscan shellfish shall be refrigerated in air temperatures at or below 45 degrees Fahrenheit at all times except during transfer from one storage area or transportation…

Sec. 436.106. TEMPERATURE ABUSE. If temperature abuse of oysters associated with possible Vibrio parahaemolyticus illnesses is identified at any point in the market chain from harvest to consumer, the department may not designate a harvest area as a closed area if the temperature…

Sec. 436.107. TEXAS OYSTER COUNCIL. (a) The Texas Oyster Council is created. (b) The council is composed of: (1) two members appointed by the executive commissioner as nominated by the Texas Oyster Growers and Dealers Association or a successor organization; (2) one member appoin…

Sec. 436.108. POWERS AND DUTIES OF TEXAS OYSTER COUNCIL. (a) The Texas Oyster Council shall: (1) advise the department on the criteria used by the department under Section 436.101 to designate growing areas as open or closed areas; (2) advise the department on the development of …

Sec. 436.111. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter: (1) "Certificate" means a shellfish certificate issued by the department. (2) "License" means a crabmeat processing license issued by the department. Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 336, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993.

Sec. 436.112. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY. The executive commissioner may adopt rules for the enforcement of this chapter. The executive commissioner shall adopt rules establishing specifications for molluscan shellfish processing and crabmeat processing, and the department shall furnis…

Sec. 436.113. CERTIFICATION AND LICENSING PROCEDURES. (a) A person may not operate as a molluscan shellfish or crabmeat processor unless the person submits an application for a certificate or a license to the department according to department rules and receives a certificate or …

Sec. 436.114. REFUSAL TO CERTIFY OR LICENSE; SUSPENSION OR REVOCATION OF CERTIFICATE OR LICENSE. (a) After notice to the applicant and opportunity for a hearing, the department may refuse an application for a certificate or a license or may suspend or revoke a certificate or lice…

Sec. 436.115. HEARINGS AND APPEALS. (a) A hearing under this chapter is governed by the procedures for a contested case hearing under Chapter 2001, Government Code, and the department's formal hearing rules. (b) An appeal from a final administrative decision under this chapter sh…