(a) Deadline and methods. From the destruction deadline until the end date for destruction requirements, all cotton plants in a Pest Management Zone shall be non-hostable. Enforcement of destruction requirements begins on the day immediately following the destruction deadline date. Additional requirements for stalk destruction are as follows:

(1) Zone 8--All cotton plants shall be shredded.

(2) Zone 9--All cotton plants shall be shredded; also, the field shall be: (A) Plowed, with soil being tilled to a depth of six or more inches; or (B) Flood irrigated, following shredding of the plants, with sufficient irrigation applied to wet all soil. When flood irrigation is elected: (i) In advance of the irrigation date, the department shall be notified in writing of intent to flood irrigate (specifying the field's location, FSA Farm Number, FSA Tract Number, FSA Field Number, a contact person and a contact phone number). (ii) A copy of irrigation records shall be presented for inspection during normal working hours, within 5 working days, if so requested in writing by the department.

(3) The destruction deadlines and end date for destruction requirements for cotton plants in each Pest Management Zone are prescribed as follows:

Attached Graphic

(b) Deadline extensions.

(1) The department may, on written request by a farm owner and/or operator, grant an extension of the cotton destruction deadline in any pest management zone. Requests for extensions in any zone may be granted for the reasons listed in subparagraphs (A) - (E) of this paragraph: (A) research conducted inside a sealed greenhouse or lab; (B) weather factors; (C) illness; (D) mechanical failure; or (E) other good cause.

(2) The department may grant a blanket extension of the destruction deadline covering an entire cotton stalk destruction zone or a portion of an entire zone in any one of the following circumstances: (A) in response to a written request by the cotton producer advisory committee, in a given zone authorized and signed by a majority of the committee members; (B) in response to a written request by the chairman of the cotton producer advisory committee, or his designee, on behalf of the committee; or (C) in response to a significant number of individual written requests for individual extensions from cotton producers in a given zone as the result of an extreme weather event such as prolonged periods of heavy rain, prolonged periods of drought, a tropical storm, a hurricane, or other such extreme weather event.

(3) A blanket extension may be implemented at the department's own initiative if a zone or other area experiences a serious unforeseen condition that prevents the department from surveying fields for compliance or which clearly makes compliance by a substantial majority of producers impossible.

(4) Request forms may be obtained from any of the following locations within a cotton pest management zone: (A) County Extension office; (B) Farm Service Agency office; or (C) Texas Department of Agriculture.

(5) Failure to complete the form entirely may result in denial of the request.

(6) Submission of extension requests: (A) All requests for blanket or individual extensions must be hand-delivered to the department or submitted by mail, email, or fax, and be postmarked or electronically date-stamped by the department no later than the end of the date of the deadline. (B) Late submission of an extension request may result in its denial.

(c) Enforcement suspensions.

(1) The department may temporarily suspend cotton stalk destruction deadline enforcement activities in a zone or portion thereof, due to conditions that temporarily prevent enforcement activities.

(2) During an enforcement suspension, for the zone or portion thereof under suspension, no new violations of the cotton stalk destruction deadline will be documented; compliance deadlines for previously recorded violations of the deadline will not advance; and penalty periods related to the deadline will not accrue.

(3) At the end of the enforcement suspension, all suspended activities and processes will resume, at the point where they had left off.

(d) Cotton in a zone must be in compliance with the respective stalk destruction requirements and may not be planted after the stalk destruction deadline until the earliest planting date listed in the table in subsection (a) of this section.

(e) At the end date of destruction requirements listed in the table in subsection (a) of this section, the requirement to destroy original growth, regrowth, or volunteer cotton from the previous crop year shall end for original growth, regrowth, or volunteer cotton that occurs in a commercial cotton field. Violations arising in a zone prior to the end date for destruction requirements will be pursued, but penalties shall cease to accrue on the end date for destruction requirements.

(f) Cotton covered by a noncommercial cotton permit issued by the department shall be exempt from the requirements of this section.

Source Note: The provisions of this §20.22 adopted to be effective September 2, 1996, 21 TexReg 7969; amended to be effective March 27, 1997, 22 TexReg 2869; amended to be effective August 11, 1998, 23 TexReg 8037; amended to be effective January 26, 2000, 25 TexReg 378; amended to be effective August 27, 2000, 25 TexReg 8024; amended to be effective June 13, 2001, 26 TexReg 4081; amended to be effective April 4, 2002, 27 TexReg 2433; amended to be effective August 25, 2002, 27 TexReg 7511; amended to be effective January 12, 2004, 29 TexReg 358; amended to be effective August 1, 2004, 29 TexReg 7089; amended to be effective October 7, 2004, 29 TexReg 9353; amendedto be effective March 26, 2006, 31 TexReg 2143; amended to be effective July 9, 2006, 31 TexReg 5279; amended to be effective July 19, 2007, 32 TexReg 4383; amended to be effective September 14, 2008, 33 TexReg 7513; amended to be effective January 25, 2009, 34 TexReg 413; amended to be effective September 1, 2009, 34 TexReg 5897; amended to be effective September 1, 2011, 36 TexReg 5200; amended to be effective April 8, 2015, 40 TexReg 1967; amended to be effective September 13, 2018, 43 TexReg 5773; amended to be effective October 17, 2022, 47 TexReg 6825