(a) The foundation shall establish procedures for determining when boll weevil population levels have reached economic significance. The foundation will estimate boll weevil populations using generally accepted entomological methods, including, but not limited to, pheromone traps and, when necessary, estimate weevil damage by examining the fruiting forms of cotton; and establish thresholds to determine when treatments are necessary. This will be done for each eradication zone and will encompass both the eradication phase as well as post-eradication. The foundation shall establish criteria to declare when eradication is complete.     
      (b) The foundation shall establish a treatment regimen that seeks to provide the least possible risk to human health and the environment. The treatment regimen must consider all cultural controls; and, when the treatment regime must consider the use of pesticides, such pesticides must be considered on the basis of low toxicity and the least potential for environmental hazards. To achieve these objectives, the treatment regimen shall require, include, or incorporate the following:      
        (1) provisions mandating maximum compliance with stalk destruction requirements, and considering other appropriate cultural controls;       
        (2) development of emergency response plans to minimize the health and environmental threat posed by accidental pesticide contamination;       
        (3) selection of pesticides and other cultural controls or other methods based on the severity of boll weevil infestation, location of eradication zones, climatic conditions, and other factors that may contribute to the efficacy of the treatment;       
        (4) specification of the duration, application rate and frequency, type of application, and total amount of the active ingredient used, taking into consideration cost per acre;       
        (5) evaluation and selection of pesticides considering their acute and chronic toxicity, reproductive and developmental effects, acute and delayed neurotoxicological potential, and carcinogenic and other possible toxicological endpoints;       
        (6) consideration of possible risks to workers, mixers, loaders, and applicators to ensure that occupational exposure to the pesticides does not cause adverse health effects;       
        (7) assurance that adequate safety and protection are provided to workers consistent with state and federal worker protection standards by adhering to the precautionary statements and the reentry intervals, personal protective equipment, and other requirements of law, and where state and federal standards differ, by adhering to the more stringent requirement;       
        (8) methods for informing the public of possible health risks that could result from exposure to the pesticides used;       
        (9) working in cooperation with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and the department, consideration of the impact of pesticides' use on endangered, threatened, and nontarget organisms (plants, aquatic, and wildlife) and their habitats and assurance that precautionary and remedial measures are considered to mitigate the exposure; and       
        (10) cooperation with all agencies concerned including the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, the Texas Department of Agriculture, and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, to furnish collected data and assist in further study of the fate, mobility, and persistence of pesticides and their metabolites in soil, water, and air, and assistance in establishing the strategies for their safe use and disposal.       
      (c) The foundation shall develop a long-term control plan that will describe the methods to be used in each eradication zone for the purpose of eradicating the cotton boll weevil. The plan must specify the procedures that will be used to minimize the effect of the use of pesticides. In developing the procedures to be used for minimizing the effects of the use of pesticides, the plan must consider the potential impact of each pesticide used in the boll weevil eradication program on the following parameters:      
        (1) human health and safety;       
        (2) soils;       
        (3) vegetation;       
        (4) water quality of both surface and groundwater;       
        (5) air quality;       
        (6) nontarget wildlife, domestic animals, and aquatic and insect species; and       
        (7) other methods of control to be employed or considered for employment.       
      (d) The foundation shall consider the acute and chronic toxicity of the particular pesticides used in the eradication program. In addition to the guidelines set forth in subsection (b)(5) of this section, the following parameters shall be considered by the foundation:      
        (1) human exposure and risk analysis to:                  (A) the public; and                   (B) workers;         
        (2) nontarget species analysis of:                  (A) terrestrial species; and                   (B) aquatic species; and         
        (3) environmental fate.       
      (e) In consideration of the analysis required by subsection (d) of this section, and notification requirements provided for in §3.23 of this chapter (relating to Protection of Individuals, Livestock, Wildlife, and Honeybee Colonies), the foundation shall consider additional methods of notification, as appropriate for specific eradication zones.     
      (f) Subject to procedures established by subsection (a) of this section, the foundation shall only treat or cause to be treated cotton fields which meet or exceed the approved treatment thresholds, and shall only treat with the appropriate amounts of approved pesticides.     
      (g) The foundation shall establish trapping strategies for monitoring boll weevils, and will specify the type of trap(s) to be used, trapping density, concentration of the trap attractant, trap inspection interval, and trapping duration. In addition, the foundation will list the secondary pests that occur in each eradication zone and will establish procedures to monitor them. In establishing such procedures, the foundation may utilize information from persons and/or organizations using existing, established procedures to monitor secondary pests.     
      (h) The foundation shall establish methods for verifying pesticide use reduction resulting from the boll weevil eradication program as conducted by the foundation. The foundation shall maintain an annual record of the total amount of each pesticide used in the eradication program in each eradication zone; conduct an evaluation of pesticide use in the boll weevil eradication program at the end of each year, and maintain the most recent date of use, when available. For other insecticides used, the foundation shall develop methods to assess insecticide use for other cotton pests.     
     Source Note:        The provisions of this §3.24 adopted to be effective October 15, 1993, 18 TexReg 6735; amended to be effective June 26, 2023, 48 TexReg 3405