EMERGENCY RULESAn agency may adopt a new or amended section or repeal an existing section on an emergency basis if it determines that such action is necessary for the public health, safety, or welfare of this state. The section may become effective immediately upon filing with the Texas Register, or on a stated date less than 20 days after filing and remaining in effect no more than 120 days. The emergency action is renewable once for no more than 60 additional days. Symbology in amended emergency sections. New language added to an existing section is indicated by the code. [Brackets] indicate deletion of existing material within a section. TITLE 4. AGRICULTURE PART I. Texas Department of Agriculture CHAPTER 20.Cotton Pest Control SUBCHAPTER C.Stalk Destruction Program 4 TAC sec.20.22 The Department of Agriculture (the department) adopts on an emergency basis, an amendment to sec.20.22, concerning the authorized cotton destruction date for Pest Management Zone 3, Area 2. The department is amending a prior emergency amendment to 20.22 which was filed on November 17, 1997 and published in the November 28, 1997, issue of the Texas Register (22 TexReg 11615). 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 5. The cotton destruction deadline will be extended through December 20. 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 November 15 to December 5. 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 5 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 sec.20.22(a) will extend the date for cotton destruction through December 20 of this year 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, sec.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 sec.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, sec.2001.34, which provides for the adoption of administrative rules on an emergency basis, without notice and comment. sec.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 sec.20.22(a) (b)-(c) (No change.) Issued in Austin, Texas, on December 8, 1997. TRD-9716513 Dolores Alvarado Hibbs Deputy General Counsel Texas Department of Agriculture Effective date: December 8, 1997 Expiration date: December 22, 1997 For further information, please call: (512) 463-7541