(a) Certified organic and/or transitional cotton growers in active eradication zones may negotiate and enter into voluntary indemnification agreements with the foundation provided that those agreements are negotiated and made in good faith by both parties and are approved by the commissioner.
(b) Until each respective zone is declared eradicated by the commissioner, certified organic and/or transitional cotton growers in eradication zones that are active at the time this rule becomes effective will be eligible for compensation under the following conditions.
  (1) The grower must have planted certified organic or transitional cotton during or prior to the 1999 crop year.
  (2) The grower's base acreage will be based on the grower's choice of one of the following:
    (A) row acres planted to certified organic and transitional cotton in 1999; or
    (B) an average of row acres planted to certified organic and transitional cotton in the 1997, 1998, and 1999 crop years.
  (3) Until each respective zone is declared eradicated by the commissioner, certified organic and/or transitional cotton growers in the Southern Rolling Plains, South Texas/Winter Garden, and Rolling Plains Central Boll Weevil Eradication Zones will be assigned a base acreage by the commissioner based upon historical production of organic and/or transitional cotton by that grower.
(c) Certified organic and/or transitional cotton growers in boll weevil eradication zones which become active after the effective date of this subchapter will be eligible for compensation under the following conditions.
  (1) The grower must have an application for transitional or organic cotton approved by the department's Organic Certification Program at least one year before the date a referendum is held establishing a boll weevil eradication program and assessment and approving a budget for that zone.
  (2) The grower's base acreage will be based on the grower's choice of one of the following:
    (A) the grower's row acreage planted to certified organic and/or transitional cotton in the year preceding the crop year on which the referendum is based; or
    (B) an average of the grower's row acreage planted to certified organic and/or transitional cotton in the year preceding the crop year on which the referendum is based and the two previous years.
(d) Any grower eligible for indemnification under subsections (b) or (c) of this section may, upon approval of the commissioner, transfer eligible base acreage to another grower and thereby transfer to the new grower eligibility for indemnification for cotton grown on that acreage for the purposes of this chapter, provided that organic certification requirements found at Chapter 18 of this title (relating to Organic Standards and Certification) are met by the new grower.

Source Note: The provisions of this §3.607 adopted to be effective June 14, 2000, 25 TexReg 5621; amended to be effective May 1, 2001, 26 TexReg 3209; amended to be effective July 6, 2003, 28 TexReg 5134; amended to be effective June 26, 2023, 48 TexReg 3405