Proposed Text
2VAC5-440-10. Definitions.
The following words and terms when used in this chapter shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Authorized inspector" means any person employed by a state or federal regulatory plant pest agency and trained to inspect for and identify boll weevil in any living stage.
"Board" means the Board of the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
"Boll weevil" means the live insect, "Anthonomus grandis grandis" Boheman, in any stage of development.
"Boll Weevil Eradication and Exclusion Program" or "program" means the program conducted by the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the Southeastern Boll Weevil Eradication Foundation, Inc., to eradicate the boll weevil and subsequently prevent its reintroduction into areas where it has been eradicated.
"Certificate" means a document issued or authorized by an inspector to be issued under this chapter to allow the movement of regulated articles to any destination.
"Commissioner" means the Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services or his designee.
"Compliance agreement" means a written agreement between a grower, dealer, or mover of regulated articles, and the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, United States Department of Agriculture, or both, wherein the former agrees to comply with the requirements of the compliance agreement.
"Cotton" means parts and products of plants of the genus "Gossypium," before processing.
"Cottonseed" means cottonseed from which the lint has been removed.
"Department" means the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
"FSA" means the United States Department of Agriculture, Farm Service Agency.
"Gin trash" means all of the material produced during the cleaning and ginning of seed cotton, bollies, or snapped cotton, except for the lint, cottonseed, and gin waste.
"Grower" means a farm operator or producer, whether the owner of the land or not.
"Infestation" means the presence of the boll weevil, or the existence of circumstances that make it reasonable to believe that boll weevil is present.
"Inspector" means any employee of the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, or other person authorized by the commissioner to enforce the provisions of the quarantine and regulations.
"Limited permit" means a document issued by an inspector to allow the movement of noncertifiable regulated articles to a specified destination for limited handling, use, processing, or treatment.
"Lint" means all forms of raw ginned cotton, either baled or unbaled, except linters and waste.
"Moved (movement, move)" "Move,"
"moved," or "movement" means shipped; offered for
shipment to a common carrier; received for transportation or transported by a
common carrier; or carried, transported, moved, or allowed to be moved by any
means.
"NASS" means the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service.
"Person" means any individual, corporation, company, society, or association or other organized group.
"Regulated area" means any state or country in which the boll weevil is known to exist or areas where circumstances make it reasonable to believe that the boll weevil is present.
"Scientific permit" means a document issued by the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to authorize movement of regulated articles to a specified destination for scientific purposes.
"Seed cotton" means cotton as it comes from the field prior to ginning.
"Used cotton harvesting equipment" means equipment previously used to harvest, strip, transport or destroy cotton.
"Waybill" means a document containing the details of a shipment of goods.
2VAC5-440-40. Requirements for program participation.
A. All cotton farm operators in Virginia are hereby required
to participate in the eradication/exclusion program Boll Weevil
Eradication and Exclusion Program. Participation shall include timely
reporting of acreage and field locations, compliance with regulations, and
payment of fees. Farm operators within the Commonwealth shall be notified
through either the extension offices, the department, FSA, or newspapers of
their program costs on a per acre basis on or before April 1 of each year. The
department shall notify farm operators of their program costs on a per acre
basis. The following procedures are required for participation in the
program:
1. Completing a Cotton Acreage Reporting Form at Report
cotton acreage and cotton field location or locations to the FSA office by
July 1 of the current growing season for which participation is required. At
this time the farm operator shall pay a nonrefundable fee in an amount
sufficient to cover estimated program costs as determined by the commissioner.
The commissioner shall set this fee following consultation with state, federal,
and private organizations responsible for implementation and funding of boll
weevil eradication/exclusion programs conducted in the Commonwealth. Such fee
shall be based upon prior year's expenses and projected cotton acreage for the
current growing season. Those farm operators not reporting their acreage by
July 1 will not be considered as program participants and will be subject to a
penalty. Any farm operator who does not report his cotton acreage and
cotton field location or locations by July 1 will not be considered a program
participant and may be subject to a penalty of 10% of the fee due for his
unreported cotton acreage.
2. All fees shall be paid by the farm operator. A
farm operator shall pay a nonrefundable fee in an amount sufficient to cover
estimated program costs as determined by the commissioner. Fees shall be
made payable to Treasurer of Virginia and collected by FSA and must
be paid within 30 days of the invoice date. The commissioner shall set this fee
following consultation with state, federal, and private organizations
responsible for the implementation and funding of the Boll Weevil Eradication
and Exclusion Program conducted in the Commonwealth.
3. Noncommercial cotton Cotton grown for
noncommercial purposes shall not be planted in Virginia unless the grower
applies for and receives an exemption to grow cotton from the commissioner.
Applications, in writing, shall be made in writing to the Program
Manager, Office of Plant and Pest Services, 1100 Bank Street, Room 703,
Richmond, VA 23219 commissioner, stating the conditions under which
the grower requests such exemption. The decision whether all or part of these
requirements shall be exempted shall be based on the following:
a. Location of growing area;
b. Size of growing area;
c. Pest conditions in the growing area;
d. Accessibility of growing area;
e. Any stipulations set forth in a compliance agreement
between the individual and the Department of Agriculture and Consumer
Services department that are necessary for the effectuation of the
program.
B. Farm operators A farm operator whose FSA
measured acreage, as determined by FSA, exceeds the grower
reported acreage that was reported by the farm operator by more than
10%, shall be assessed an additional $5.00 per acre a penalty of 10%
of the fee due on that acreage in excess of the reported acreage.
C. A farm operator may apply for a waiver requesting delayed
payment under conditions of financial hardship. Any farm operator applying for
a waiver shall make application in writing to the Program Manager, Office of
Plant and Pest Services, 1100 Bank Street, Richmond, VA 23219 commissioner
stating the reason a waiver is necessary. This request must be
accompanied by a financial statement from a state or federally chartered bank
or lending agency supporting such request. The decision of whether to waive all
or part of these additional assessments or payment dates shall be made by the
program manager and notification given to the farm operator within two weeks
after receipt of such application. The commissioner's decision whether
to delay payment shall be based on, but not limited to, the
following: (i) meteorological conditions, (ii) economic conditions, and (iii)
any other uncontrollable destructive forces. If a waiver is granted, payment
shall be due at the time the cotton is sold, or by December 1 within
30 days of the invoice date, whichever is sooner later.
D. Failure to pay all fees on or before July 1 within
30 days of the invoice date will result in a penalty of $5.00 per acre
10% of the total fee due. Failure by a farm operator to pay all program
costs by August 1 within 30 days of the invoice date shall be a
violation of The Virginia Cotton Boll Weevil Quarantine this chapter.
If such farm operator fails to comply with these regulations this
chapter, the Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services
commissioner, through his duly authorized agents, may proceed to trap all
cotton acreage found in violation and initiate actions to recover all trapping
program costs through established policies and procedures identified in the
Virginia Debt Collection Act (§ 2.2-4800 et seq. of the Code of Virginia).
E. Acreage subject to emergency or hardship conditions
after all the growers' share of the program have been paid and prior to the
initiation of field operations may be considered for a refund. The refund
amount will be determined by the actual program cost per acre up to the time of
emergency or hardship.
F. E. The commissioner may purchase growing
cotton when he deems it in the best interest of the program, provided that
the funding necessary to purchase the cotton is available. Purchase price
shall be based on the FSA farm established yield for the current year an
average of the previous five years of cotton yield figures, as determined by
NASS, for the locality in which the growing cotton that may be purchased by the
commissioner is located.
G. F. If necessary to prevent boll weevil
reinfestation of the Commonwealth, the farm operator, upon notification by the
commissioner, shall completely destroy all cotton determined to threaten
that the commissioner deems to pose a threat to the safety of Virginia's
cotton industry. If such farm operator fails to comply with these
regulations this chapter, the Commissioner of Agriculture and
Consumer Services commissioner, through his duly authorized agents,
shall proceed to destroy such cotton and shall compute the actual costs of
labor and materials used, and the farm operator shall pay to the commissioner
such assessed costs. No damage damages shall be awarded the
grower of such cotton for entering thereon his cotton field and destroying
any cotton when done by the order of the commissioner.
2VAC5-440-50. Conditions governing the issuance of certificates and permits to allow the movement of regulated articles.
A. Certificates shall be issued by an authorized inspector for movement of the regulated articles designated in 2VAC5-440-30 under any of the following conditions when:
1. In the judgment of the authorized inspector, they have not been exposed to boll weevil in any living stage.
2. They have been examined by the authorized inspector and found to be free of boll weevil in any living stage.
3. They have been treated to destroy boll weevil, under the observation of the authorized inspector, according to methods selected by him from procedures known to be effective under the conditions in which applied.
4. Grown, produced, stored, or handled in such manner that, in the judgment of the authorized inspector, no boll weevil would be transmitted.
B. Limited permit. Limited permits may be issued by an authorized inspector for the movement of noncertified regulated articles specified under 2VAC5-440-30 to specified destinations for limited handling, use, processing, or treatment, when he determines that no hazard of spread of the boll weevil exists.
C. Special permits. Special permits may be issued by the Virginia
Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services department to allow
the movement of boll weevil in any living stage and any other regulated
articles for scientific purposes, under conditions prescribed in each specific
case.
D. Compliance agreement. Compliance agreements for the
movement of regulated articles may be issued by an authorized inspector. As
a condition of receiving a certificate or limited permit for the movement of
regulated articles, A compliance agreement may be issued to any
person engaged in purchasing, assembling, exchanging, handling, processing,
utilizing, treating, or moving such a regulated article may be
required to sign a compliance agreement. The A compliance
agreement shall stipulate that include the required safeguards
against the establishment and spread of infestation will be maintained
and will comply with the conditions governing the maintenance of
identity, the handling, and the subsequent movement of such
regulated articles, and the cleaning and treatment of means of
conveyance and containers.
E. Use of certificates or permits with shipments. If a
certificate or permit is required for the movement of regulated articles, the
regulated articles are required to have a certificate or permit attached when
offered for movement. If a certificate or permit is attached to the invoice or way-bill
waybill, and the articles are adequately described on the certificate,
the attachment of a certificate or limited permit to the regulated article will
not be required. Certificates or permits attached to the invoice, way-bill
waybill, or other shipping document, shall be given by the
carrier to the consignee at the destination of the shipment, or to an
inspector when requested.
F. Assembly of articles for inspection. Persons intending to move any regulated articles shall apply for inspection as far in advance as possible. They shall safeguard the articles from infestation. The articles shall be assembled at a place and in a manner designated by the inspector to facilitate inspection.
G. Disposition of certificates and permits. In all cases, certificates and permits shall be furnished by the carrier to the consignee at the destination of the shipment.
2VAC5-440-110. Determination of reasonableness of costs for services, products, or articles.
The commissioner, pursuant to § 3.2-711 of the Code of
Virginia, may determine that costs for services, products, or articles that
shall be paid by the persons affected when the commissioner determines that
those services, products, or articles are beyond the reasonable scope of administering
the law Virginia Tree and Crop Pests Law (§ 3.2-700 et seq. of the
Code of Virginia).
FORMS (2VAC5-440)
Cotton Acreage Reporting Form (rev. 3/99).