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  H.B. No. 1580
 
 
 
 
AN ACT
  relating to the continuation and functions of the board of
  directors of the official cotton growers' boll weevil eradication
  foundation and the management of certain cotton in pest management
  zones.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 74.001, Agriculture Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 74.001.  PUBLIC NUISANCE.  (a) The legislature finds
  that cotton pests are a menace to the cotton industry, and that
  control of those pests is a public necessity. Any portion of the
  state that is susceptible to infestation by cotton pests must be
  protected from this public nuisance and threat to the continued
  stability of the cotton industry.
         (b)  The legislature finds that volunteer and other
  noncommercial cotton is a public nuisance that threatens the cotton
  growers' boll weevil eradication program by serving as a host for
  cotton pests such as boll weevils and pink bollworms. To protect
  the cotton industry of this state, volunteer and other
  noncommercial cotton must be eliminated subject to the provisions
  of this chapter.
         SECTION 2.  Subchapter A, Chapter 74, Agriculture Code, is
  amended by adding Sections 74.0031 and 74.0032 to read as follows:
         Sec. 74.0031.  COTTON STALK DESTRUCTION. (a)  The
  department shall submit the recommendations of each administrative
  committee that governs a pest management zone under Section 74.003
  to the Texas Boll Weevil Eradication Foundation. On review of the
  administrative committee recommendations, the foundation shall
  submit to the department an estimate of the amount by which the
  implementation of each recommendation would increase the cost of
  administering the boll weevil eradication program.
         (b)  The Texas Boll Weevil Eradication Foundation shall:
               (1)  conduct a study of the effects of incomplete
  cotton stalk destruction and volunteer cotton control on boll
  weevil eradication activities; and
               (2)  submit annual recommendations to the department
  and the board of the foundation for a cotton stalk destruction
  deadline for each pest management zone.
         (c)  The Texas Boll Weevil Eradication Foundation may
  consult with its technical advisory committee in fulfilling its
  duties under Subsection (b).
         (d)  The department shall set a cotton stalk destruction
  deadline for each pest management zone, with consideration given to
  the recommendations of the foundation and the applicable
  administrative committee submitted under Subsection (b).
         Sec. 74.0032.  HOSTABLE COTTON FEE. (a)  The department
  shall establish and collect a hostable cotton fee for fields in
  which hostable cotton stalks, hostable volunteer cotton, or other
  hostable noncommercial cotton remains past the stalk destruction
  deadline set for the applicable pest management zone under Section
  74.0031. A fee under this section shall be expressed in terms of
  dollars per acre, per week in which the stalks, volunteer cotton, or
  other noncommercial cotton remains in the field.  The department
  shall establish a procedure to notify a cotton grower that a fee is
  due the department under this section.
         (b)  If adverse weather conditions or other good cause
  exists, the administrative committee that governs the applicable
  pest management zone may request that the department grant an
  extension of the cotton stalk destruction deadline for any
  specified part of the pest management zone or for the entire pest
  management zone. A request under this subsection must be made not
  later than 10 business days before the applicable cotton stalk
  destruction deadline. A field is not subject to a hostable cotton
  fee if the department grants an extension of the deadline. The
  Texas Boll Weevil Eradication Foundation shall submit to the
  department an estimate of the amount by which an extension under
  this subsection will increase the cost of administering the boll
  weevil eradication program.
         (c)  If the applicable administrative committee does not
  request an extension, or if the department denies a request for an
  extension of the cotton stalk destruction deadline for a specified
  part of a pest management zone, a cotton grower may apply for an
  individual extension of the deadline. A request under this
  subsection must be made not later than 10 business days before the
  applicable pest management zone's stalk destruction deadline.
         (d)  The Texas Boll Weevil Eradication Foundation shall
  submit to the department an estimate of the amount by which any
  extension of a stalk destruction deadline that is granted under
  Subsection (c) will increase the cost of administering the boll
  weevil eradication program.
         (e)  Any hostable cotton or hostable cotton stalks that
  remain in a field after the cotton stalk destruction deadline or any
  extension of the stalk destruction deadline has passed are subject
  to the hostable cotton fee established under Subsection (a). Any
  hostable cotton or hostable cotton stalks that remain in a field for
  more than 30 days after the stalk destruction deadline or any
  extension of the deadline are subject to 150 percent of the hostable
  cotton fee established under Subsection (a).
         (f)  A hostable cotton fee shall be sent to the comptroller
  and may be appropriated only for the purpose of treating hostable
  cotton or for other expenses related to boll weevil eradication.  
  The department may contract with the Texas Boll Weevil Eradication
  Foundation or its successor entity for the treatment, control, or
  monitoring activities funded from the account.
         (g)  Unless the fee is paid on or before the 45th day after
  the date the department gives notice to a cotton grower that a
  hostable cotton fee is due, the department may destroy any cotton or
  cotton stalks that remain in the field, as provided by Section
  74.004.
         (h)  The department shall adopt rules to administer this
  section.
         SECTION 3.  Section 74.102(5), Agriculture Code, is amended
  to read as follows:
               (5)  "Cotton grower" means a person who grows cotton
  intended to be commercial [and receives income from the sale of]
  cotton. The term includes an individual who as owner, landlord,
  tenant, or sharecropper is entitled to share in the cotton grown and
  available for marketing from a farm or to share in the proceeds from
  the sale of the cotton from the farm or from an indemnity or other
  payment received from or related to the planting, growing, or
  failure of the cotton.
         SECTION 4.  Section 74.113, Agriculture Code, is amended by
  amending Subsection (f) and adding Subsection (l) to read as
  follows:
         (f)  An assessment levied on cotton growers in an eradication
  zone may be applied only to:
               (1)  eradication [in that zone];
               (2)  the foundation's operating costs, including
  payments on debt incurred for a foundation activity[, except that
  the funds of one zone may not be used to pay another zone's bank
  loans or debts]; and
               (3)  the conducting of other programs consistent with
  the declaration of policy stated in Section 74.101.
         (l)  With the approval of the board and the commissioner, the
  foundation may transfer the proceeds from the collection of
  assessments in one eradication zone to another eradication zone.  
  The board shall consult with affected cotton grower steering
  committees before recommending that the commissioner approve the
  transfer of proceeds under this subsection.  The transferred
  proceeds may be applied only as provided by Subsection (f).
         SECTION 5.  Subchapter D, Chapter 74, Agriculture Code, is
  amended by adding Section 74.1135 to read as follows:
         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 recommendation from the board. The
  board shall consult with cotton grower steering committees and the
  technical advisory committee in formulating a recommendation to the
  commissioner under this subsection. The commissioner may accept,
  reject, or modify a board recommendation. The rules apply
  notwithstanding Section 74.113. The rules must require any person
  collecting an assessment to forward the assessment to the
  foundation.
         (b)  The maximum amount of an assessment under this section
  may not exceed the maximum amount of an assessment approved in an
  assessment referendum under this subchapter.
         SECTION 6.  Sections 74.118(a) and (b), Agriculture Code,
  are amended to read as follows:
         (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 the success of
  the program by making treatment impracticable or present a hazard
  to public health or safety.
         (b)  The commissioner may adopt rules relating to 
  [prohibiting the planting of] noncommercial cotton located in
  eradication zones and requiring that all growers of commercial
  cotton in an eradication zone participate in a boll weevil or pink
  bollworm eradication program that includes cost sharing as required
  by the rules.
         SECTION 7.  Section 74.119, Agriculture Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 74.119.  AUTHORITY FOR DESTRUCTION OR TREATMENT OF
  COTTON IN ERADICATION ZONES; COMPENSATION PAYABLE.  (a) The
  department shall [may] destroy or treat hostable volunteer or other
  hostable noncommercial cotton and establish procedures for the
  purchase and destruction of commercial cotton in eradication zones
  if the department determines the action is necessary to carry out
  the purposes of this subchapter. The department is not liable to
  the owner or lessee for the destruction of or injury to any cotton
  that was planted in an eradication zone after publication of notice
  as provided by this subchapter. The foundation is liable for the
  destruction of cotton if the cotton was planted in an eradication
  zone before publication of the notice.
         (b)  Not later than January 1, 2010, the department shall
  adopt rules providing for the regulation and control of volunteer
  and other noncommercial cotton in pest management zones. At a
  minimum, the rules must:
               (1)  provide a grower or landowner with a period of time
  in which the grower or owner is required to destroy hostable
  volunteer or other hostable noncommercial cotton on receipt of a
  notice from the department; and
               (2)  allow the department or a person designated by the
  department:
                     (A)  to monitor and treat hostable volunteer or
  other hostable noncommercial cotton that is located in a crop field
  for boll weevil infestation if the grower or landowner does not
  destroy the cotton in compliance with the notice from the
  department; and
                     (B)  to destroy hostable volunteer or other
  hostable noncommercial cotton that is not in a crop field, as
  provided by Section 74.004.
         (c)  If a grower or landowner does not destroy hostable
  volunteer or other hostable noncommercial cotton as required by
  Subsection (b)(1), the grower or owner shall pay to the department a
  volunteer cotton fee in an amount determined by the department. A
  fee under this subsection:
               (1)  may be assessed only on acreage where hostable
  volunteer or other hostable noncommercial cotton is located;
               (2)  may not be less than one-half the amount the grower
  or owner would owe if the entire acreage were planted with cotton;
  and
               (3)  shall be deposited to the credit of the hostable
  cotton fee account established by Section 74.0032.
         SECTION 8.  Section 74.127(a), Agriculture Code, is amended
  to read as follows:
         (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 and this
  subchapter expires September 1, 2021 [2009].
         SECTION 9.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
  a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
  provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this
  Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
  Act takes effect September 1, 2009.
 
 
  ______________________________ ______________________________
     President of the Senate Speaker of the House     
 
 
         I certify that H.B. No. 1580 was passed by the House on April
  7, 2009, by the following vote:  Yeas 144, Nays 0, 1 present, not
  voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
  No. 1580 on May 14, 2009, by the following vote:  Yeas 143, Nays 0,
  1 present, not voting.
 
  ______________________________
  Chief Clerk of the House   
 
         I certify that H.B. No. 1580 was passed by the Senate, with
  amendments, on May 7, 2009, by the following vote:  Yeas 31, Nays 0.
 
  ______________________________
  Secretary of the Senate   
  APPROVED: __________________
                  Date       
   
           __________________
                Governor