| (a) The foundation shall establish procedures for determining
when boll weevil population levels have reached economic significance.
The foundation will estimate boll weevil populations using generally
accepted entomological methods, including, but not limited to, pheromone
traps and, when necessary, estimate weevil damage by examining the
fruiting forms of cotton; and establish thresholds to determine when
treatments are necessary. This will be done for each eradication zone
and will encompass both the eradication phase as well as post-eradication.
The foundation shall establish criteria to declare when eradication
is complete.
(b) The foundation 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 stalk
destruction 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 boll weevil infestation,
location of eradication 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 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, consideration of the impact of pesticides' use on
endangered, threatened, and nontarget 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 United States Environmental Protection Agency, the Texas Parks
and Wildlife Department, the Texas Department of Agriculture, and
the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, 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.
(c) The foundation shall develop a long-term control
plan that will describe the methods to be used in each eradication
zone for the purpose of eradicating the cotton boll weevil. The plan
must specify the procedures that will be used to minimize the effect
of the use of pesticides. In developing the procedures to be used
for minimizing the effects of the use of pesticides, the plan must
consider the potential impact of each pesticide used in the boll weevil
eradication program on the following parameters:
(1) human health and safety;
(2) soils;
(3) vegetation;
(4) water quality of both surface and groundwater;
(5) air quality;
(6) nontarget wildlife, domestic animals, and aquatic
and insect species; and
(7) other methods of control to be employed or considered
for employment.
(d) The foundation shall consider the acute and chronic
toxicity of the particular pesticides used in the eradication program.
In addition to the guidelines set forth in subsection (b)(5) of this
section, the following parameters shall be considered by the foundation:
(1) human exposure and risk analysis to:
(A) the public; and
(B) workers;
(2) nontarget species analysis of:
(A) terrestrial species; and
(B) aquatic species; and
(3) environmental fate.
(e) In consideration of the analysis required by subsection
(d) of this section, and notification requirements provided for in §3.23
of this chapter (relating to Protection of Individuals, Livestock,
Wildlife, and Honeybee Colonies), the foundation shall consider additional
methods of notification, as appropriate for specific eradication zones.
(f) Subject to procedures established by subsection
(a) of this section, the foundation shall only treat or cause to be
treated cotton fields which meet or exceed the approved treatment
thresholds, and shall only treat with the appropriate amounts of approved
pesticides.
(g) The foundation shall establish trapping strategies
for monitoring boll weevils, and will specify the type of trap(s)
to be used, trapping density, concentration of the trap attractant,
trap inspection interval, and trapping duration. In addition, the
foundation will list the secondary pests that occur in each eradication
zone and will establish procedures to monitor them. In establishing
such procedures, the foundation may utilize information from persons
and/or organizations using existing, established procedures to monitor
secondary pests.
(h) The foundation shall establish methods for verifying
pesticide use reduction resulting from the boll weevil eradication
program as conducted by the foundation. The foundation shall maintain
an annual record of the total amount of each pesticide used in the
eradication program in each eradication zone; conduct an evaluation
of pesticide use in the boll weevil eradication program at the end
of each year, and maintain the most recent date of use, when available.
For other insecticides used, the foundation shall develop methods
to assess insecticide use for other cotton pests.
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