The Florida Senate

“Department” means the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

“Commercial cotton grower” means a person who is engaged in and has an economic risk in the business of producing, or causing to be produced, cotton for market.

“Eradication zone” means a geographical area designated by the department as an eradication zone.

“Noncommercial or volunteer cotton” means cotton intended for purposes other than processing.

“Regulated article” means an article carrying or capable of carrying the boll weevil.

Administer and enforce the provisions of ss. 593.101-593.117.

Adopt rules pursuant to ss. 120.536(1) and 120.54 to implement the provisions of ss. 593.101-593.117.

Enter upon any grounds, premises, or means of conveyance in this state for the purpose of inspection, quarantine, or eradication in reference to the boll weevil.

Require each person growing cotton in this state to furnish, on forms supplied by the department, such information as the department may require relating to the acreage and locations of all commercial cotton, noncommercial cotton, and volunteer cotton being grown by that person in this state.

Declare a quarantine against any area, place, or political unit within this state, another state, a territory, or a foreign country, or any portion thereof, in order to prevent or reduce the spread of the boll weevil in an eradication zone.

Enter into a cooperative arrangement with any person, municipality, county, or other department of this state; any agency, officer, or authority of another state or of the United States Government; any other person engaged in the growing, processing, marketing, or handling of cotton; or any other person or group, for the purpose of cost sharing or assignment of duties and responsibilities in destroying and eliminating the boll weevil in this state.

Govern the movement of regulated articles into, out of, or within an eradication zone.

Establish eradication zones within the state where eradication efforts will be undertaken.

Restrict or prohibit the planting of cotton in an eradication zone if the department determines that the planting of cotton in the zone will jeopardize the success of the eradication effort in the zone.

Require that all growers of cotton in designated eradication zones participate in the eradication program, including cost sharing, through assessment.

Restrict the movement of livestock, humans, and honeybee colonies in any eradication zone that has been or is to be treated with pesticides for eradication of the boll weevil.

Enter upon any premise, property, or field within an eradication zone to treat it with pesticides or destroy any volunteer or noncommercial cotton when the department determines the action is necessary.

Destroy or require the destruction of commercial cotton in an eradication zone when it is not being grown in compliance with ss. 593.101-593.117.

The department may declare a quarantine against any place or political unit within this state, another state, a territory, a foreign country, or any portion thereof, in order to prevent or reduce the spread of the boll weevil in an eradication zone. It is unlawful thereafter, until such quarantine is removed, for any person to introduce into the eradication zone, or to move or dispose of within the eradication zone, any regulated article, except under rules prescribed by the department.

Any regulated article that is moved into or within an eradication zone in violation of ss. 593.101-593.117 is deemed contraband and shall be confiscated by the department without payment of compensation.

The department shall designate by rule one or more areas of this state as “eradication zones” where boll weevil eradication programs will be undertaken. The department shall promulgate rules regarding areas where cotton may not be planted within an eradication zone if the department has reason to believe the planting of cotton in those areas will jeopardize the success of the program. The department may promulgate rules prohibiting the planting of noncommercial cotton in eradication zones. The department may promulgate rules requiring all growers of commercial cotton in an eradication zone to participate in a program of boll weevil eradication, including participation in cost sharing.

The department is authorized to set by rule a schedule of penalty fees to be assessed when growers in designated eradication zones do not meet the requirements of the rules issued by the department with respect to reporting of acreage and participation in cost sharing as prescribed by rule. The penalty fees may not exceed a charge of $25 per acre. When a grower fails to meet the requirements of the rules adopted by the department, the department may destroy any of the grower’s cotton in the eradication zone that is not in compliance with prescribed rules.

To be eligible for certification by the department as the cotton growers’ association, the cotton growers’ organization must:

The books, records of account, and minutes of proceedings of the board shall be available for inspection or audit by the department upon request at any reasonable time. The board shall provide the department with an annual audit of its accounts performed by a certified public accountant.

Any employee or agent of the board who handles its funds must be adequately bonded.

All affected commercial cotton growers must be entitled to vote, and any question of eligibility must be determined by the department.

At least 51 percent of the commercial cotton growers in the eradication zone must be required to vote, and passage of the referendum must require a two-thirds majority of those growers voting.

Assessments shall be collected by the department or its agent and deposited in the State Treasury to the credit of the Plant Industry Trust Fund. Except as otherwise provided herein, upon appropriation by the Legislature, all moneys received under the provisions of this section shall be remitted to the certified growers’ organization subject to such terms and conditions as the department, after consultation with the board of directors of the cotton growers’ organization, prescribes to ensure that the assessments are used in a sound program of boll weevil suppression and eradication.

If any assessment made under this chapter to defray the whole or any part of the expense of any eradication or suppression program is either in whole or in part annulled, vacated, or set aside by the judgment of any court, or if the department is satisfied that any such assessment is so irregular or defective that the same cannot be enforced or collected, or if the department fails to make such assessment when it might have done so, the department shall take all necessary steps to cause a new assessment to be made for the whole or any part of the cost of any eradication or suppression program, following as nearly as possible the provisions of this chapter, and, in case such second assessment is annulled, the department may obtain and make other assessments until a valid assessment is made.

A commercial cotton grower who fails to pay any assessment levied under this chapter by the applicable due date shall be subject to interest on the unpaid assessment at the rate set forth in chapter 55. Such interest shall accrue from the date the assessment was due until payment.

The department is authorized to assign any judgments and liens for assessments, penalties, interest, and costs in its favor to a certified cotton growers’ organization.

Any person who, except in compliance with ss. 593.101-593.117 or rules of the department, moves any regulated article within the state or into this state from any other state against which the department has declared a quarantine pursuant to ss. 593.101-593.117 is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083, or, upon a second or subsequent conviction thereof, is guilty of a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.

A commercial cotton grower who fails to pay any assessment levied under ss. 593.101-593.117 or fails to destroy cotton stalks by February 1 of each year in which the boll weevil eradication program is in effect is subject to a penalty of not more than $25 per acre, such amount to be established by the department upon the recommendation of the board of directors of the cotton growers’ organization.

Any commercial cotton grower who fails to pay all assessments, including penalties, within 30 days after the date of the notice is required to destroy all cotton plants growing on his or her property subject to assessment. Any cotton plant not destroyed is deemed a public nuisance. The department may apply to any court of competent jurisdiction, and the court is authorized, in its discretion, to issue judgment and order condemnation and destruction of the nuisance. The grower is liable for all court costs, fees, and other expenses incurred in such action.

Use a pesticide previously approved by the United States Environmental Protection Agency for that eradication purpose.

Provide a system for dissemination of information to the public about infestations of pests that are the subject of such eradication programs. The system shall disseminate information relating to the pest; the pesticide selected to eradicate that pest; the generally accepted effects, if any, of the pesticide on the human population and the environment in the area in which an aerial eradication program will be conducted; recommended safety precautions; and the alternative methods of responding to the pest infestation, if any.