Title AG, Agriculture Code

Sec. 74.012. INSPECTORS. The department may employ and prescribe the qualifications and duties of inspectors and other employees necessary to the administration of this subchapter. Acts 1981, 67th Leg., p. 1176, ch. 388, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1981. Renumbered from Sec. 74.059 and…

Sec. 74.013. COOPERATION WITH FEDERAL PROGRAMS. The department shall cooperate with the United States Department of Agriculture in any measure authorized by, and undertaken in accordance with, federal law for preventing the introduction or establishment of cotton pests in this st…

Sec. 74.101. FINDINGS AND DECLARATION OF POLICY. (a) It is hereby found and declared that: (1) the insects Anthonomus grandis Boheman, known as the boll weevil, and Pectinophora gossypiella, known as the pink bollworm, are public nuisances and a menace to the cotton industry, and…

Sec. 74.1011. DESIGNATION OF ENTITY TO CARRY OUT BOLL WEEVIL ERADICATION. (a) The Texas Boll Weevil Eradication Foundation, Inc., a Texas nonprofit corporation chartered by the secretary of state on September 14, 1993, shall be recognized by the department as the entity to plan, …

Sec. 74.102. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter: (1) "Board" means the board of directors of the Texas Boll Weevil Eradication Foundation, Inc. (2) "Boll weevil" has the meaning assigned by Section 74.002. (3) "Commissioner" means commissioner of agriculture. (4) "Cotton" means: (A)…

Sec. 74.1021. STATUTORY ZONES. (a) The Northern High Plains Eradication Zone consists of Armstrong, Bailey, Briscoe, Castro, Deaf Smith, Floyd, Hale, Lamb, Parmer, Randall, and Swisher counties, and other areas as proposed by the commissioner by rule for inclusion in the zone and…

Sec. 74.1041. ADVISORY COMMITTEES. (a) The commissioner may appoint an advisory committee for an existing eradication zone or an area of the state that is to be considered by the commissioner for designation as or inclusion in an eradication zone. The committee shall gather advic…

Sec. 74.1042. CREATION OF NONSTATUTORY ERADICATION ZONES. (a) The commissioner may by rule designate an area of the state as a proposed eradication zone as long as the area is not within a statutory zone under Section 74.1021 that has approved an eradication program by referendum…

Sec. 74.105. ERADICATION ZONE REFERENDA. (a) The commissioner shall conduct a referendum in each proposed eradication zone to determine whether cotton growers desire to establish an eradication zone. (b) Eradication zone referenda shall be conducted under the procedures provided …

Sec. 74.106. BOARD ELECTIONS. (a) The initial election for board members from a proposed eradication zone shall be held concurrently with an eradication zone referendum held under Section 74.105. Each eradication zone shall be represented on the board and shall remain represented…

Sec. 74.107. COMPOSITION OF BOARD. (a) The board shall be composed of members elected from each statutory eradication zone established and validated by referendum, members elected from each nonstatutory eradication zone established by referendum, members appointed by the commissi…

Sec. 74.108. POWERS OF BOARD AND COMMISSIONER. (a) The board may: (1) conduct programs consistent with the declaration of policy stated in Section 74.101; (2) accept, as necessary to implement this chapter, gifts and grants; (3) borrow money, with the approval of the commissioner…

Sec. 74.109. BOARD DUTIES. (a) The board shall have an annual independent audit of the books, records of account, and minutes of proceedings maintained by the foundation prepared by an independent certified public accountant or a firm of independent certified public accountants. …

Sec. 74.1091. SEPARATION OF RESPONSIBILITIES. The board shall develop and implement policies that clearly separate the policy-making responsibilities of the board and the management responsibilities of the chief executive officer and staff of the foundation. Added by Acts 2021, 8…

Sec. 74.1095. ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW. (a) The commissioner by rule shall establish procedures for the informal review and resolution of a claim arising out of certain acts taken by the foundation under this subchapter. Rules established under this section shall include a designati…

Sec. 74.110. LIABILITY OF FOUNDATION MEMBERS, OFFICERS, AND EMPLOYEES. (a) Except for instances of gross negligence, individual criminal actions, or acts of dishonesty, the foundation's members, directors, officers, and employees are not individually liable to a cotton grower or …

Sec. 74.1101. LIABILITY OF APPLICATORS. (a) In this section, "applicator" means an individual or other person that is not a member, director, officer, or employee of the foundation and that contracts with the foundation to apply pesticides or other chemicals using aircraft or oth…

Sec. 74.1102. CONTRACTING. (a) For a purchase of goods and services under this chapter, the foundation may purchase goods and services that provide the best value for the foundation. (b) In determining the best value for the foundation, the purchase price and whether the goods or…

Sec. 74.111. BOARD MEMBER COMPENSATION. Board members serve without compensation but are entitled to reimbursement for reasonable and necessary expenses incurred in the discharge of their duties. Added by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 8, Sec. 1, eff. June 1, 1993. Amended by Acts 199…

Sec. 74.112. DISCONTINUATION OF PROGRAM AND FOUNDATION AND DISPOSITION OF FUNDS ON DISCONTINUANCE. (a) On the determination by the foundation that the boll weevil eradication program has been completed in all eradication zones established under this subchapter for boll weevil con…

Sec. 74.113. ASSESSMENT REFERENDA. (a) The commissioner shall propose the assessment needed in each eradication zone to ensure the stability of the cotton industry by eradicating the public nuisance caused by the boll weevil and the pink bollworm. (b) The commissioner shall propo…

Sec. 74.1135. ALTERNATIVE METHOD OF ASSESSMENTS. (a) The commissioner may adopt rules that provide for an alternative method, manner, and mechanism by which assessments are imposed and collected under this subchapter. The commissioner may adopt the rules only after receiving a re…

Sec. 74.114. CONDUCT OF BOARD ELECTIONS AND REFERENDA; BALLOTING. (a) The commissioner shall conduct a referendum or board election authorized under this subchapter. At the end of each four-year period in which an eradication program has been operational in a zone, the commission…

Sec. 74.115. PAYMENT OF ASSESSMENTS; ASSESSMENT LIENS. (a) A cotton grower who fails to pay an assessment levied under this subchapter when due may be subject, after reasonable notice and opportunity for hearing, to a penalty set by the commissioner. In determining the amount of …

Sec. 74.116. EXEMPTION FROM ASSESSMENT PENALTIES. (a) The commissioner by rule shall adopt criteria for exemption from payment of assessment penalties under Section 74.115 of this code a cotton grower for whom payment would impose an undue financial burden. (b) A cotton grower ma…

Sec. 74.117. ENTRY OF PREMISES; ERADICATION ACTIVITIES; INSPECTIONS. The department, the foundation, or a designated representative of either entity may enter cotton fields or other premises to carry out the purposes of this subchapter and Subchapters A and B of this chapter, whi…

Sec. 74.118. AUTHORITY TO PROHIBIT PLANTING OF COTTON AND REQUIRE PARTICIPATION IN ERADICATION PROGRAM. (a) The commissioner may adopt reasonable rules regarding areas where cotton may not be planted in an eradication zone if there is reason to believe planting will jeopardize th…

Sec. 74.119. AUTHORITY FOR DESTRUCTION OR TREATMENT OF COTTON IN ERADICATION ZONES; COMPENSATION PAYABLE. (a) The department shall destroy or treat hostable volunteer or other hostable noncommercial cotton and establish procedures for the purchase and destruction of commercial co…

Sec. 74.120. AUTHORITY TO ADOPT RULES. (a) The commissioner shall adopt rules to protect individuals, livestock, wildlife, and honeybee colonies on any premises in an eradication zone on which cotton plants are being grown that have been or are being treated to eradicate the boll…

Sec. 74.121. REPORTS. Each person in an active eradication zone growing cotton in this state shall furnish to the foundation on forms supplied by the foundation information that the foundation requires concerning the size and location of all commercial cotton fields and of noncom…

Sec. 74.122. QUARANTINE. (a) The department may adopt rules relating to quarantining areas of this state that are infested with the boll weevil or the pink bollworm. The rules must address the storage of regulated articles and the movement of regulated articles into and out of a …

Sec. 74.123. DOCUMENTING REGULATED ARTICLES. To implement this subchapter, the department may issue or authorize issuance of: (1) a certificate that indicates that a regulated article is not infested with the boll weevil or the pink bollworm; and (2) a permit that provides for th…

Sec. 74.124. COOPERATIVE PROGRAMS AUTHORIZED. (a) The foundation may carry out programs to destroy and eliminate the boll weevil and the pink bollworm in this state by cooperating through written agreements, as approved by the commissioner, with: (1) an agency of the federal gove…

Sec. 74.125. ORGANIC COTTON GROWERS. (a) The commissioner shall develop rules and procedures to: (1) protect the eligibility of organic cotton growers to be certified by the commissioner; (2) ensure that organic and transitional certification by the commissioner continue to meet …

Sec. 74.126. PENALTIES. (a) A person who violates this subchapter or a rule adopted under this subchapter or who alters, forges, counterfeits, or uses without authority a certificate, permit, or other document issued under this subchapter or under a rule adopted under this subcha…

Sec. 74.127. SUNSET PROVISION. (a) The board of directors of the official cotton growers' boll weevil eradication foundation is subject to Chapter 325, Government Code (Texas Sunset Act). Unless continued in existence as provided by that chapter, the board is abolished September …

Sec. 74.128. ANNUAL REPORT. The board shall issue to the commissioner and the appropriate oversight committee in the house of representatives an annual report detailing its efforts to carry out the purposes of this subchapter. Added by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 463, Sec. 1.25, ef…

Sec. 74.129. EXEMPTION FROM LAWSUITS, LIABILITY, TAXATION, AND LEGAL PROCESS. The legislature recognizes that the foundation, acting under the supervision and control of the commissioner, is carrying out an important governmental function and that therefore the foundation, as a q…

Sec. 74.130. USE OF BIO-INTENSIVE CONTROLS. (a) The commissioner shall develop and adopt rules to allow a cotton grower in an eradication program to use biological, botanical, or other non-synthetic pest control methods. In developing the rules, the commissioner shall consider: (…

Sec. 74.131. VENUE. (a) Venue for an action arising out of this subchapter in which the foundation is a party is in Travis County. (b) This section does not expand the liability of the foundation beyond the liability provided under Section 74.129. Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., c…

Sec. 74.132. COMPLAINTS. (a) The foundation shall maintain a system to promptly and efficiently act on complaints filed with the foundation. The foundation shall maintain information about parties to the complaint, the subject matter of the complaint, a summary of the results of …

Sec. 74.151. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter: (1) "Boll weevil" and "pink bollworm" have the meanings assigned by Section 74.002. (2) "Commissioner" has the meaning assigned by Section 74.102. Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 127, Sec. 1, eff. May 20, 1999.

Sec. 74.152. CREATION OF COST-SHARING PROGRAM. As part of the program to eradicate the boll weevil and the pink bollworm under this chapter, a cost-sharing program is created to be administered under this chapter and rules adopted by the commissioner. Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg…

Sec. 74.153. COST-SHARING PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS. (a) The commissioner may contract to obtain boll weevil eradication services for the state with the entity named under Section 74.1011. (b) The department may spend money under the cost-sharing program only in a zone in which: (1) a…

Sec. 74.201. DEFINITIONS. The definitions provided by Section 74.102 apply to this subchapter. Added by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch. 119 (S.B. 1428), Sec. 3, eff. September 1, 2005.

Sec. 74.202. MAINTENANCE AREAS. (a) On the request of the foundation and affected cotton grower steering committees, the commissioner by rule may designate boll weevil and pink bollworm eradication maintenance areas for the continued protection of the cotton industry. To the exte…