4 TAC §20.12
The Texas Department of Agriculture (the department) proposes
an amendment to §20.12, concerning a suppressed area under the department's
cotton pest control program. The amendment is proposed to add the Panhandle
Boll Weevil Eradication Zone (the Panhandle Zone) to the list of suppressed
areas in §20.12.
The boll weevil eradication program in Texas was initiated in 1994 in an
effort to rid the state of the boll weevil. Once a zone has achieved suppressed
status, the zone can become re-infested with boll weevil from outside areas.
Elimination of boll weevil re-infestations can be expensive. In areas of the
southeastern United States, the control to stop re-infestations ranged from
$20,000 to over one million dollars, with an average cost of $125,000 per
outbreak. The designation of a zone as suppressed invokes quarantine restrictions
on the movement of regulated articles from a quarantined area into a restricted
area; this helps protect the zone from boll weevil re-infestation.
In accordance with §20.12, the Texas Boll Weevil Eradication Foundation
(the foundation) recommended that the department declare the Panhandle Zone
as suppressed. The foundation provided scientific documentation acceptable
to the department, which indicates that movement of regulated articles into
this zone presents a threat to the success of boll weevil eradication. The
data provided indicates that boll weevil numbers for the 2004 cotton crop
year were below the requirement of an average of 0.025 boll weevils per trap
per week. Consequently, the Commissioner of Agriculture declared the Panhandle
Zone to be suppressed on June 14, 2005.
Dr. Robert Crocker, Coordinator for Pest Management Programs, has determined
that for the first five-year period the proposed amendment is in effect, there
is no anticipated fiscal impact on state or local governments as a result
of administration and enforcement of the amended section.
Dr. Crocker also has determined that for each year of the first five years
the proposed amendment is in effect, the public benefit anticipated as a result
of administering and enforcing the proposed amendment is that the risk of
artificial re-infestation of a restricted area by boll weevils will be minimized,
thereby protecting the investment that cotton producers and the State of Texas
have made to eradicate the pest. Once the boll weevil is reduced to low levels
or eradicated from cotton producing areas of the state, fewer insecticide
applications should be necessary to produce high quality cotton. In other
eradicated areas of the United States, it is estimated that growers are saving
an average of $36 per acre in reduced pesticide applications and earning an
additional $42 per acre from increased cotton yield. Preventing re-infestation
by boll weevils in restricted areas may enable Texas cotton producers to achieve
similar results.
There will be a cost to some individuals, micro-businesses and small businesses
including cotton producers, transporters, ginners and others directly involved
in cotton production. There will be a cost incurred for cleaning and/or treating
equipment, such as cotton pickers, cotton strippers, boll buggies, and module
trucks, used for harvesting or transporting cotton when moved into or through
restricted areas. There also will be a cost incurred for cleaning and/or treating
equipment used in stalk destruction, such as tractors, shredders, plows, and
disks, when moved into or through restricted areas. Cleaning involves the
physical removal of hostable material through methods such as removal by hand,
high-pressure air cleaning, or high-pressure washing. Treatment of equipment
may involve fumigation of regulated articles as prescribed by the department.
Costs associated with cleaning or treating equipment will vary depending upon
the cleaning or treatment method used, the cleanliness of the equipment, the
capabilities of the grower, and the type of equipment being cleaned or treated.
Because of the wide range of variables involved in cleaning and treating equipment,
a cost to affected persons cannot be determined at this time. There also may
be costs associated with implementing a protection plan, if mitigating measures
are required to safeguard a restricted area from re-infestation by boll weevil.
A protection plan is defined as a plan developed for the purpose of mitigating,
with the goal of preventing, boll weevil infestation and establishment in
an area. Mitigating measures will vary depending upon factors such as the
location selected, the type of equipment being used, and the associated quarantined
article. Measures may include, but are not limited to, the following: approved
insecticide field treatment of cotton and cotton products prior to delivery
to an area or a gin; requirements for moving, handling, storage and treatment
or use of approved insecticide applications to regulated articles; or the
monitoring of boll weevils at a given site. Costs associated with implementing
a protection plan will vary due to the wide range of mitigating measures possible.
In some circumstances, the use of current practices or equipment by a producer,
transporter, ginner, or other responsible parties may be approved in the protection
plan, thereby minimizing costs to those affected by the proposed amendment.
Because each plan may be unique and situation specific, costs associated with
implementing a protection plan cannot be determined at this time.
Comments on the proposal may be submitted in writing to Dr. Robert Crocker,
Coordinator for Pest Management and Citrus Programs, Texas Department of Agriculture,
P.O. Box 12847, Austin, Texas 78711. Comments must be received no later than
30 days from the date of the publication of the proposal in the
Texas Register
.
The amendment to §20.12 is proposed in accordance with the
Texas Agriculture Code (the Code), §74.006, which provides the department
with the authority to adopt rules as necessary for the effective enforcement
and administration of Chapter 74, Subchapter A; §74.004 which provides
the department with the authority to establish regulated areas, dates and
appropriate methods of destruction of stalks, other cotton parts and products
of host plants for cotton pests; and §74.122, which provides the department
with the authority to adopt rules relating to quarantining areas of Texas
that are infested with the boll weevil, including rules addressing the storage
and movement of regulated articles into and out of a quarantined area.
The code that is affected by the proposal is Texas Agriculture Code, Chapter
74, Subchapters A and D.
§20.12.Suppressed Areas.
(a)
(No change.)
(b)
The Northwest Plains (NWP), Northern High Plains (NHP),
Northern Rolling Plains (NRP), Southern High Plains/Caprock (SHP/C), Western
High Plains (WHP), Permian Basin (PB), [
and
] El Paso/Trans Pecos
(EP/TP)
, and the Panhandle
Boll Weevil Eradication Zones, as defined
in the Texas Agriculture Code, §74.1021 and Texas Administrative Code §§3.110,
3.111, 3.112
,
[
and
] 3.115
and 3.118
have
been declared as suppressed by the commissioner.
(c) - (d)
(No change.)
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 June 30, 2005.
TRD-200502701
Dolores Alvarado Hibbs
Deputy General Counsel
Texas Department of Agriculture
Earliest possible date of adoption: August 14, 2005
For further information, please call: (512) 463-4075