4 TAC §3.304, §3.305
The Texas Department of Agriculture (the department) proposes
new §§3.304 and 3.305, concerning modification of boll weevil eradication
zones. The new sections are proposed to transfer areas from one boll weevil
eradication zone to another zone created under Chapter 74, Subchapter D. New §3.304,
upon the request of cotton producers in Motley, Dickens, Kent, Garza, Floyd,
and Crosby Counties, and upon recommendation of the Texas Boll Weevil Eradication
Foundation's Board of Director's and technical advisory committee, proposes
the transfer all of Kent County and portions of Motley, Dickens, Garza, Floyd,
and Crosby Counties from the Northern High Plains Boll Weevil Eradication
Zone and the Southern High Plains/Caprock Boll Weevil Eradication Zone to
the Northern Rolling Plains Boll Weevil Eradication Zone. New §3.305,
upon the request of cotton producers in Motley and Briscoe Counties, and upon
recommendation of the Texas Boll Weevil Eradication Foundation's Board of
Director's and technical advisory committee, proposes the transfer of portions
of Motley and Briscoe Counties from the Northern High Plains Boll Weevil Eradication
Zone and Southern High Plains/Caprock Boll Weevil Eradication Zone to the
Northern Rolling Plains Boll Weevil Eradication Zone. The transfers are proposed
in accordance with the Texas Agriculture Code, §74.108(b), in order to
ensure that contiguous cotton-growing areas with similar biological characteristics
are treated within one zone.
Matt Brockman, special assistant for producer relations, has determined
that for the first five-year period the section is in effect there will be
no fiscal implications for state or local government as a result of enforcing
or administering the section.
Mr. Brockman also has determined that for each year of the first five years
the section is in effect the public benefit anticipated as a result of enforcing
the sections will be the ability to address cotton growers' desires to have
efficient, responsive eradication zones to facilitate boll weevil eradication
in Texas. There will be no effect on micro-businesses or small businesses.
The anticipated economic cost to persons who will be required to comply with
the new sections, as proposed, is not determinable at this time. If the proposed
transfer is adopted, cotton growers in those portions of Motley, Dickens,
Kent, Garza, Crosby, Briscoe, and Floyd Counties proposed to be transferred
to another eradication zone will be assessed annually to cover costs of an
eradication program in the transferred area. The costs to individual growers
will depend on voter approval of the proposed transfer and assessment and
the amount of the assessment established for the zone into which the area
is being transferred.
Comments on the proposal may be submitted to Matt Brockman, Special Assistant
for Producer Relations, P. O. Box 12847, Austin, Texas 78711, and must be
received no later than 30 days from the date of the publication of this proposal
in the
Texas Register
.
The new sections are proposed under the Texas Agriculture Code, §74.108(b),
which provides the commissioner of agriculture with the authority, by rule,
to add an area to an eradication zone or transfer an area or county from one
statutory zone to another.
The codes affected by the proposal are the Texas Agriculture Code, Chapter
74.
§3.304.Kent County and Portions of Motley, Dickens, Garza, Floyd, and Crosby Counties.
(a)
All of the following area located in Kent, Motley, Dickens,
Garza, Floyd, and Crosby Counties shall be transferred from the statutorily
designated Northern High Plains and Southern High Plains/Caprock Boll Weevil
Eradication Zones described at the Texas Agriculture Code, §74.1021(a)
to the Northern Rolling Plains Boll Weevil Eradication Zone designated at §3.112
of this title (relating to Northern Rolling Plains Boll Weevil Eradication
Zone): all of Kent County, that part of Garza County that lies below of the
Caprock escarpment, that part of Crosby County that lies below the Caprock
escarpment, that part of Dickens County that lies below the Caprock escarpment,
that part of Floyd County that lies north and east of a line running along
FM 97 beginning at the Motley County line; continuing west to the Caprock
escarpment; and continuing north along the Caprock escarpment to the Briscoe
County line; and that part of Motley County that lies south of a line running
along the North Pease River beginning at the intersection of the North Pease
River and the Hall County line; continuing southwest to Quitaque Creek; and
continuing northwest along Quitaque Creek to the Floyd County line.
(b)
The transfer of the area described in subsection (a) of
this section from the Northern High Plains and Southern High Plains/Caprock
Zones to the Northwest Plains Zone shall be effective upon the passage of
a grower referendum in that area approving the transfer.
§3.305.Portions of Motley and Briscoe Counties.
(a)
All of the following area located in Motley and Briscoe
Counties shall be transferred from the statutorily designated Northern High
Plains and Southern High Plains/Caprock Boll Weevil Eradication Zones described
at the Texas Agriculture Code, §74.1021(a) to the Northern Rolling Plains
Boll Weevil Eradication Zone designated at §3.112 of this title (relating
to Northern Rolling Plains Boll Weevil Eradication Zone): that part of Motley
County that lies north of a line running along the North Pease River beginning
at the intersection of the North Pease River and the Hall County line; continuing
southwest to Quitaque Creek; and continuing northwest along Quitaque Creek
to the Floyd County line and that part of Briscoe County that lies east of
a line running along Hackberry Creek from its intersection with the Armstrong
County line to its intersection with the Prairie Dog Town Fork of the Red
River; continuing south along Cherokee Creek from its intersection with the
Prairie Dog Town Fork of the Red River to County Road 27; continuing south
along County Road 27 to Hwy 256; continuing west along Hwy 256 to the Caprock
escarpment; and continuing south along the Caprock escarpment to the Floyd
County line.
(b)
The transfer of the area described in subsection (a) of
this section from the Northern High Plains and Southern High Plains/Caprock
Zones to the Northwest Plains Zone shall be effective upon the passage of
a grower referendum in that area approving the transfer.
This agency hereby certifies that the proposal has been reviewed
by legal counsel and found to be within the agency's legal authority to adopt.
Filed with the Office of
the Secretary of State, on February 28, 2000.
TRD-200001499
Dolores Alvarado Hibbs
Deputy General Counsel
Texas Department of Agriculture
Earliest possible date of adoption: April 9, 2000
For further information, please call: (512) 463-4075