Sec. 71.008. CONTROL OR ERADICATION ZONE. (a) On request of the commissioners court of any county, the department shall investigate whether a certain insect pest or plant disease exists in the county. Based on that investigation, the department shall make a written report to the commissioners court stating:
(1) the nature of the infestation, if any;
(2) the best known method of controlling or eradicating the pest or disease;
(3) the treatment or method necessary to be applied in each case; and
(4) a detailed description of the method of making, procuring, and applying the recommended preparation or treatment and the time and duration of the treatment.
(b) After receiving the report of the department, the commissioners court may conduct a public hearing on the report. The commissioners court may publish the text of the report and notice of the hearing for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in each area under consideration. The commissioners court shall hold the hearing not less than 15 days after the first day of published notice. Any interested person is entitled to be heard at the hearing.
(c) After the hearing, the commissioners court shall make a written report of its conclusions to the department. If the commissioners court approves the recommendations of the department and determines that the recommended measures should be applied in the area under consideration, the commissioners court by order entered in its minutes shall request that the department establish a control zone or an eradication zone in each applicable area.
(d) If requested to establish a control or eradication zone under Subsection (c) of this section, the department shall issue a proclamation designating the appropriate area a control zone or an eradication zone, as applicable, and shall adopt rules governing the control or eradication of the pest or disease within the zone. No person may commit an act prohibited by the rules or refuse to perform an act as required by the rules.
(e) A commissioners court may appropriate funds from the general revenue of the county and employ aid as necessary to carry out this section.
(f) This section does not restrict the department's authority to establish on its own initiative an eradication program within a quarantined area to protect the state's agricultural resources.
Acts 1981, 67th Leg., p. 1153, ch. 388, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1981. Amended by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 369, Sec. 7, eff. Sept. 1, 2003; Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 1107, Sec. 2, eff. June 20, 2003.
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