(a) A maximum per-bale maintenance fee shall be assessed on all cotton grown in the West Texas Maintenance Area. The fee shall be set by the Commissioner on an annual basis and shall be in an amount up to a maximum of $1.50 per bale.
(b) The Board shall submit an annual recommendation to the Commissioner by March 15 regarding the maintenance fee to be used each crop year. Each year, prior to submitting its recommendation to the Commissioner, the Board shall consult with the cotton grower steering committees within the West Texas Maintenance Area to develop a maintenance fee recommendation to submit to the Commissioner.
(c) The Board shall consider the following factors, as applied to the West Texas Maintenance Area, when determining the annual maintenance fee recommendation:
  (1) number of cotton acres;
  (2) potential for reinfestation;
  (3) the length of the growing season;
  (4) epidemiology;
  (5) historical weather conditions;
  (6) expected costs of maintenance program; and
  (7) need for an adequate reserve to respond to potential re-infestations in a rapid, effective manner.
(d) The Commissioner shall consider the Board's recommendation, and may accept, reject or modify the Board's recommendation.
(e) The Commissioner shall set the annual per-bale maintenance fee by April 1 each year.
(f) The Board shall provide the information regarding the current crop year's fee to the central collection points described in §3.704 of this subchapter (relating to West Texas Maintenance Area - Collection of Maintenance Fees) by certified mail including the duty to collect the maintenance fee, the amount of the annual fee, and instructions regarding the remittance of the fee to the Foundation.

Source Note: The provisions of this §3.703 adopted to be effective January 20, 2015, 40 TexReg 326