(a) Upon notice by the foundation that a grower has failed to comply with a notice of prohibition provided in accordance with §3.53 of this chapter (relating to Notice of Prohibition), or has failed to obtain a permit for planting of noncommercial cotton in an eradication zone as required by §3.52 of this chapter (relating to Prohibition of Planting of Commercial and Noncommercial Cotton) the department shall take the following actions:
  (1) Immediately upon identification of a field that is out of compliance, the department shall give written notice to the farm owner, to the grower, and, if known, to any lender having an interest in the field or the cotton, that the field and any cotton growing in the field are in violation of these rules.
  (2) The notice shall further instruct the owner and grower to destroy any cotton located in the field within seven days after the date the written notice is received. Destruction shall be performed in a manner to prohibit the presence of live cotton plants.
  (3) If the owner or grower cannot be located after reasonably diligent effort has been made by the department to locate such persons, the department shall publish the notice in a newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the land is located and post for a period of three consecutive days a copy of the notice on or in the immediate vicinity of the field in violation.
  (4) If no response is received by the department from either the owner or grower within four days after the date of posting of the notice at the field, or if the department considers the response inadequate, the department shall have the cotton destroyed.
(b) The department may take any other action necessary to complete destruction of cotton in order to prevent the spread of boll weevils from the infested area.
(c) All costs incurred by the department in the destruction of cotton in accordance with subsection (a) of this section shall be reimbursed by the grower.

Source Note: The provisions of this §3.54 adopted to be effective May 19, 1998, 23 TexReg 4901; amended to be effective June 26, 2023, 48 TexReg 3405