Arkansas Administrative Code › Agency 209 - Arkansas Agriculture Department › Division 02 - State Plant Board › Rule 209.02.03-005 - Rules for the Northeast Delta Zone of Arkansas for Boll Weevil Eradication

Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 6, June, 2024
Background
Efforts to pass a referendum in Eastern Craighead County and
				Mississippi County have included extensive research from the University of
				Arkansas Boll Weevil Eradication Technical Advisory Committee, initiative by
				leadership in this area, and the offer of an unprecedented grant from adjoining
				states. Unfortunately, a 2/3 majority approval of a referendum cannot be
				achieved in Eastern Craighead County and Mississippi County within time periods
				critical to the Arkansas Boll Weevil Eradication Program. All cotton producing
				areas surrounding this area are conducting active boll weevil eradication
				programs. Because of reinfestation patterns of the boll weevil, the lack of an
				active eradication program in this area causes all adjoining cotton producing
				areas to be reinfested by the boll weevil. This reinfestation has cost the
				Arkansas Boll Weevil Eradication Program approximately $2 million in 2002. The
				costs to treat reinfestation from this area are projected to be higher in the
				coming years. These additional costs for an indefinite period will cause an
				extreme financial hardship for producers in the remainder of the state. Such a
				financial hardship will jeopardize the Arkansas Boll Weevil Eradication
				Foundation's ability to maintain eradication success already achieved and
				complete the Arkansas eradication program.
Section
			 I
Purpose.
Pursuant to Ark. Code Ann. §§
								2-16-601, et seq. and Ark.
			 Code Ann. §§
								2-16-605,
			 et. seq., the purpose of these rules is to develop and establish procedures for
			 the eradication of Boll Weevil within Eastern Craighead County and Mississippi
			 County to establish assessments to offset program costs and to provide
			 procedures for the collection of such assessments, and to provide penalties for
			 violations of these rules.
Section
			 II
Declaration of Boll Weevil as a Plant Pest.
Pursuant to Ark. Code Ann. §
								2-16-602(a),
			 the Boll Weevil (Anthonomus grandis Boheman) is declared to be a plant pest and
			 a nuisance, as is any plant or other regulated article infested therewith or
			 that has been exposed to infestation and is likely to lead to additional
			 infestation. The Arkansas State Plant Board, pursuant to Ark. Code Ann. §
								2-16-207,
			 declares the Boll Weevil (Anthonomus grandis Boheman) to be a public
			 nuisance.
Section III
Definitions.
For the purpose of these rules, the following definitions
			 shall apply:
1. "APHIS" means United States
			 Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection
			 Service.
2. "Arkansas Cotton
			 Grower's Organization, Incorporated, d/b/a Arkansas Boll Weevil Eradication
			 Foundation" means the nonprofit organization comprised of Arkansas Cotton
			 Growers to provide guidance and assist in policy decisions during the
			 eradication program, and certified by the Plant Board pursuant to Ark. Code
			 Ann. §
									2-16-612.
3. "Assessment" means the amount charged to
			 each Cotton Grower or landowner to finance, in whole or part, a program to
			 eradicate the Boll Weevil in the regulated area.
4. "Boll Weevil" means Anthonomus grandis
			 Boheman in any stage of development.
5. "Boll Weevil Eradication Program" means
			 the program initiated under Ark. Code Ann. §
									2-16-601 et seq.
6. "Grower's Compliance Certificate" means a
			 document issued or authorized by the Plant Board indicating that a Cotton
			 Grower has complied with the requirements of these rules and the Cotton
			 Grower's cotton may be ginned in Arkansas.
7. "Compliance Agreement" means a written
			 agreement required between the Plant Board and any person engaged in growing
			 cotton, dealing in, or moving regulated articles wherein the latter agrees to
			 comply with specified provisions to prevent dissemination of the Boll
			 Weevil.
8. "Cotton" means any
			 cotton plant or cotton plant product upon which the Boll Weevil is dependent
			 for completion of any portion of its life cycle.
9. "Cotton Grower" means any person, who is
			 engaged in and has an economic risk in the business of producing, or causing to
			 be produced, for market, cotton.
10. "Eradication Zone" means a geographical
			 area designated by the Plant Board in which the Boll Weevil Eradication
			 Programs will be undertaken and managed pursuant to Ark. Code Ann. §
									2-16-610.
11. "Exposed" means any area or location
			 subjected to Boll Weevil infestation.
12. "Gin Trash" means all waste material
			 produced during the cleaning and ginning of seed cotton. It does not include
			 the lint, cottonseed, or gin waste.
13. "Gin Waste" means all forms of
			 unmanufactured cotton fiber (including gin motes) produced at cotton gins,
			 other than baled cotton lint.
14.
			 "Infested" means actually infested with a Boll Weevil or so exposed to
			 infestation that it would be reasonable to believe that an infestation
			 exists.
15. "Inspector" means any
			 employee of the Plant Board or any other person authorized by the Plant Board
			 to enforce the provision of these rules.
16. "Non-Commercial Cotton" means cotton
			 intended for any purposes other than sale or scientific purposes under Section
			 XII of these rules.
17. "Permit"
			 means a document issued or authorized by the Plant Board to provide for the
			 movement of regulated articles to restricted designation for limited handling,
			 utilization, or processing.
18.
			 "Person" means any individual, partnership, corporation, company, society, or
			 association, or other business entity.
19. "Plant Board" means the Arkansas State
			 Plant Board, which is the agricultural plant regulatory agency of the State of
			 Arkansas.
20. "Quarantine Area"
			 means any portion of the State of Arkansas designated as such pursuant to Ark.
			 Code Ann. §
									2-16-609.
21. "Regulated Area" means any portion of an
			 eradication zone designated for any purpose necessary to the execution of the
			 Boll Weevil Eradication Program.
22. "Regulated Article" means any article of
			 any character carrying or capable of carrying the Boll Weevil, including, but
			 not limited to, cotton plants, seed cotton, cottonseed, other hosts, gin trash,
			 gin equipment, mechanical cotton pickers, and other equipment associated with
			 cotton production, harvesting, or processing.
23. "Seed Cotton" means cotton as it comes
			 from the field prior to ginning.
24. "Shipment or Shipments" means the items
			 to be transferred or moved, or the act or process of transferring or moving
			 items from one point to another.
25. "USDA" means the United States Department
			 of Agriculture.
26. "Used Cotton
			 Equipment" means any equipment used previously to harvest, strip, transport or
			 process cotton.
27. "Waiver" means
			 a written authorization which exempts a Person or any organization from
			 compliance with one or more requirements of these rules.