Texas Register.
The department is acting on behalf of cotton farmers in Zone 3 Area 2 which
includes Austin, Brazoria, and Fort Bend counties and that portion of Wharton
County east of the Colorado River.
The current cotton destruction deadline is December 20. The cotton destruction
deadline will be extended through January 5. The department believes that
changing the cotton destruction date is both necessary and appropriate. In
a previous emergency filing, the department extended the destruction deadline
for Zone 3, Area 2 from December 5 to December 20. That amendment and this
filing are effective only for the 1997 crop year.
Adverse weather conditions have created a situation compelling an immediate
extension of the cotton destruction dates for all counties in Pest Management
Zone 3, Area 2. The unusually wet weather prior to the cotton destruction
period has prevented many cotton producers from destroying cotton by the
December 20 deadline. A failure to act to extend the cotton destruction deadline
could create a significant economic loss to Texas cotton producers and the
state's economy.
The emergency amendment to §20.22(a) will extend the date for cotton
destruction through January 5, 1998 for Zone 3, Area 2 which consists of
Austin, Brazoria, and Fort Bend and that portion of Wharton County east of
the Colorado River.
The amendment is adopted on an emergency basis under Texas Agriculture
Code, §74.006, which provides the Texas Department of Agriculture with
the authority to adopt rules as necessary for the effective enforcement and
administration of Chapter 74, Subchapter A; and §74.004, which provides
the department with the authority to establish regulated areas, dates and
appropriate methods of destruction of stalks, other parts, and products of
host plants for cotton pests and provides the department with the authority
to consider a request for a cotton destruction extension due to adverse weather
conditions; and the Government Code, §2001.34, which provides for the
adoption of administrative rules on an emergency basis, without notice and
comment.
§20.22.Stalk Destruction Requirements.
(a)
Deadlines and methods. All cotton plants in a pest management
zone shall be destroyed, regardless of the method used, by the stalk destruction
dates indicated for the zone. Destruction shall be accomplished by the methods
described as follows:
Figure: 4 TAC §20.22(a)
(b)-(c)
(No Change.)
Issued in Austin, Texas, on December 22, 1997.
TRD-9717096
Dolores Alvarado Hibbs
Deputy General Counsel
Texas Department of Agriculture
Effective date: December 22, 1997
Expiration date: January 5, 1998
For further information, please call: (512) 463-7541