Texas Agriculture Code - Section 71.009. Seizure, Treatment, And Destruction Of Plants, Plant Products, And Other Substances
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§ 71.009. SEIZURE, TREATMENT, AND DESTRUCTION OF PLANTS,
PLANT PRODUCTS, AND OTHER SUBSTANCES. (a) The department shall
seize any plant, plant product, or substance that it determines:
(1) is transported or carried from a quarantined area
in violation of a quarantine order; or
(2) is moved into or within this state and is infested
with an insect pest or infected with a disease dangerous to any
agricultural or horticultural product, whether or not the plant,
product, or substance comes from an area known to be infested.
(b) If a plant, plant product, or substance is seized under
Subsection (a)(1) of this section, the department shall immediately
notify the owner that the plant, product, or substance is a public
menace and that it must be destroyed, treated, or, if feasible,
returned to the point of origin. If a plant, product, or substance
is seized under Subsection (a)(2) of this section, the department
shall immediately notify the owner that the plant, product, or
substance is a public menace and that it must be destroyed or
treated.
(c) If the owner of a plant, plant product, or substance
seized under Subsection (a) of this section is unknown to the
department, the department shall publish notice that, after a date
not less than 10 days after the first day of publication, the
department will destroy the plant, product, or substance. The
department shall publish the notice for two consecutive weeks in a
newspaper of general circulation in the county where the plant,
product, or substance is found. The notice must describe the
article seized. If the owner claims the article before the date for
destruction set by the notice, the department shall deliver the
article to the owner at the owner's expense. If the owner does not
claim the article within the allotted time, the department may
destroy the article or have it destroyed.
(d) If the owner of a fruit tree or fruit condemned by the
department under this subchapter fails or refuses to destroy the
tree or fruit immediately after being instructed to do so by the
department, the department shall abate the nuisance and immediately
destroy the tree or fruit or otherwise render the tree or fruit not
a nuisance. In enforcing this subsection, the department shall
call on the sheriff of the county in which the tree or fruit is
located, and the sheriff shall cooperate with the department and
render all assistance considered necessary by the person seeking to
destroy the tree or fruit.
(e) The owner of a plant, plant product, or substance
treated or destroyed by the department under this section is liable
to the department for the costs of treatment or destruction, and the
department may sue to collect those costs.
(f) This section does not apply to a citrus plant, citrus
plant product, or other citrus substance.
Acts 1981, 67th Leg., p. 1153, ch. 388, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1981.
Amended by Acts 1981, 67th Leg., 1st C.S., p. 242, ch. 22, art. II,
§ 3, eff. Sept. 1, 1981; Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 230, § 2,
eff. May 20, 1993.
Section: 71.004 71.005 71.006 71.007 71.008 71.0081 71.0082 71.009 71.0091 71.0092 71.010 71.0101 71.011 71.012 71.013
Last modified: August 10, 2007
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