| (a) Parties wishing to petition for a discontinuation
referendum in an existing pest management zone shall notify the Commissioner
of their intent in writing.
(b) The Department shall provide a petition form for
request for discontinuation. The completed form must include:
(1) certification by the person signing the petition
that he or she is an eligible citrus producer in the zone by having
citrus production or sharing in the proceeds of citrus production
in the current crop year;
(2) the complete name and address of the eligible citrus
producer or entity;
(3) a legible signature of the person with authority
to sign for the person or entity; and
(4) the date signed.
(c) Only one signature or petition form per producer
may be gathered.
(d) The Commissioner shall conduct the referendum before
the 90th day after the date the petition was filed, except that a
referendum may not be held before the second anniversary of any other
referendum in the pest management zone pertaining to establishing
or discontinuing the pest management zone. If the two-year prohibition
period applies, a petition drive conducted under this section may
begin no sooner than nine months before the expiration of the two-year
period. Signatures that are dated before the date the petition process
starts or the date allowed for the petitioning process to begin are
invalid.
(e) Producer eligibility to sign a petition shall be
determined as follows.
(1) If the petitioning process commences prior to or
after traditional citrus production in the zone, the immediately preceding
citrus crop year information as maintained determines eligibility
for having a producer's name on the petition.
(2) If a petition drive crosses crop years, the Commissioner
shall use the most current eligible list of producers as maintained,
and shall notify the petitioning party of the appropriate date when
the eligibility list changes. If a person farmed in a year other than
the year determined to be the eligible year, that signature or petition
form will not be valid.
(f) Upon receipt of the notice of intent to petition,
the Department shall notify the petitioning party of the eligible
voter list that will be used to determine if the total number of producer
signatures on the petition forms meets or exceeds 30% of producers
in the pest management zone, as required by the §80.014 of the
Code.
(g) Completed petitions must be filed with the Department
by sending them to the Department's headquarters in Austin via postal
mail or by hand-delivery. The filing date of the petition shall be
the date the petition is actually received by the Department. Signatures
may not be added to or withdrawn from a petition, once filed with
the Department.
(h) The petitioning party must certify that the documents
submitted to the Department for review have been screened to eliminate
possible duplicates. In addition, the petitioning party must attest
in an affidavit that all signatures are valid according to the agreed
upon eligibility list. If, upon review, greater than 10% of the signatures
or petition forms are not in compliance with this section, the petition
will be deemed null and void and will be rejected.
(i) Once a petition is received, the Department shall
review the petition for compliance with the 30% requirement. The Commissioner,
at his discretion, may appoint a committee to review the petition.
(j) Within 30 days of receipt of the petition, the
Department shall notify the petitioning party of a decision, and set
a referendum date within 90 days of receipt, if the petition meets
all requirements.
(k) If a referendum of producers is held, the Department
shall conduct the referendum in the same manner as other referenda
conducted under Chapter 80 of the Code and this subchapter.
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