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