Texas Administrative Code › Title 4 - AGRICULTURE › Part 1 - TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE › Chapter 27 - TEXAS CITRUS PEST AND DISEASE MANAGEMENT CORPORATION › Subchapter E - ESTABLISHMENT OF RULES, PROCEDURES, AND METHODS OF TREATMENT › Section 27.502 - Guidelines for Establishment of Corporation Rules, Procedures and Methods of Treatment

Current through Reg. 49, No. 28; July 12,
				  2024
(a) The Corporation
				  shall establish procedures for determining when pest population levels have
				  reached economic significance. The Corporation will estimate pest populations
				  using generally accepted entomological methods, including, but not limited to,
				  pheromone traps, visual inspection and, when necessary, estimate nymph and egg
				  distribution by examining the citrus flush; and establish thresholds to
				  determine when treatments are necessary. This will be done for each pest
				  management zone and will encompass both the initial infestation phase as well
				  as post-treatment. The Corporation shall establish criteria to declare when
				  suppression is maximized.
(b) The
				  Corporation shall establish a treatment regimen that seeks to provide the least
				  possible risk to human health and the environment. The treatment regimen must
				  consider all cultural controls; and, when the treatment regime must consider
				  the use of pesticides, such pesticides must be considered on the basis of low
				  toxicity and the least potential for environmental hazards. To achieve these
				  objectives, the treatment regimen shall require, include, or incorporate the
				  following:
(1) Provisions mandating maximum
				  compliance with pest control requirements, and considering other appropriate
				  cultural controls;
(2) Development
				  of emergency response plans to minimize the health and environmental threat
				  posed by accidental pesticide contamination;
(3) Selection of pesticides and other
				  cultural controls or other methods based on the severity of pest infestation,
				  location of pest management zones, climatic conditions, and other factors that
				  may contribute to the efficacy of the treatment;
(4) Specification of the duration,
				  application rate and frequency, type of application, and total amount of the
				  active ingredient used, taking into consideration cost per acre;
(5) Evaluation and selection of pesticides
				  considering their acute and chronic toxicity, reproductive and developmental
				  effects, acute and delayed neurotoxicological potential, and carcinogenic and
				  other possible toxicological endpoints;
(6) Consideration of possible risks to
				  workers, mixers, loaders, and applicators to ensure that occupational exposure
				  (via all routes) to the pesticides does not cause adverse health
				  effects;
(7) Assurance that
				  adequate safety and protection are provided to workers consistent with state
				  and federal worker protection standards by adhering to the precautionary
				  statements and the reentry intervals, personal protective equipment, and other
				  requirements of law, and where state and federal standards differ, by adhering
				  to the more stringent requirement;
(8) Methods for informing the public of
				  possible health risks that could result from exposure to the pesticides
				  used;
(9) Working in cooperation
				  with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the Texas Parks and Wildlife
				  Department, and the Department, and providing consideration of the impact of
				  pesticide use on endangered, threatened, and non-target organisms (plants,
				  aquatic, and wildlife) and their habitats and assurance that precautionary and
				  remedial measures are considered to mitigate the exposure; and
(10) Cooperation with all agencies concerned
				  including the USDA, United States Environmental Protection Agency, the Texas
				  Parks and Wildlife Department, the Department, and the Texas Natural Resources
				  Conservation Commission, to furnish collected data and assist in further study
				  of the fate, mobility, and persistence of pesticides and their metabolites in
				  soil, water, and air, and assistance in establishing the strategies for their
				  safe use and disposal.