(a)General. Except as otherwise provided in this division,
a [TC 1 or TC 2] breeding facility may transfer breeder
deer under a transfer permit that has been activated and approved
by the department to:
(1)another breeding facility;
(2)an approved release site as provided in subsection
(b)[paragraph (3) of this subsection];
(3)a DMP facility (however, deer transferred
to DMP facilities cannot be recaptured and must be released as provided
in the deer management plan); or
(4)a registered nursing facility,
provided:
(A)the deer are less than 120 days of age;
(B)the facility from which the deer are transferred
is MQ at the time of transfer; and
(C)no deer from any other breeding facility are or
have been present in the nursing facility during the reporting year
in which the transfer occurs.
(D)A registered nursing facility is prohibited from
accepting deer from more than one breeding facility in one reporting
year.
(E)No person may possess deer older than 120 days
of age in a nursing facility.
[(4)to another person for nursing
purposes.]
[(b)Breeder Facilities.]
[(1)TC 1. Except as may be otherwise provided in this
division, a breeding facility that is in compliance with the requirements
in 65.94(a) of this title(relating to Breeding Facility Minimum Movement
Qualification) is a TC 1 facility if:]
[(A)the breeding facility has "fifth-year" or "certified"
status in the TAHC CWD Herd Certification Program; or]
[(B)the breeding facility has submitted one of the
following:]
[(i)"not detected" post-mortem test results for at
least 80 percent of the total number of eligible mortalities that
occurred in the breeding facility over the previous five consecutive
reporting years, so long as the total number of "not detected" post-mortem
test results submitted during the previous five consecutive reporting
years is equal to or greater than the following number: the sum of
the eligible-aged population in the breeding facility at the end of
each of the previous five consecutive reporting years, plus the sum
of the eligible mortalities that occurred within the breeding facility
for each of the previous five consecutive reporting years, multiplied
by 3.6 percent; or]
[(ii)"not detected" ante-mortem test results for at
least 50 percent of eligible-aged deer in the facility's inventory
as of the date the facility initiates the ante-mortem testing process.
For the report year beginning April 1, 2016, a breeding facility will
be construed to have temporarily complied with this item upon submission
of "not detected" ante-mortem test results for at least 25 percent
of eligible-aged deer in the facility as of the date the facility
initiates the ante-mortem testing process; however, the breeding facility
must submit the remaining ante-mortem tests results to achieve 50%
testing by May 15, 2017.]
[(2)TC 2.]
[(A)A breeding facility is a TC 2 facility if:]
[(i)it is not a TC 1 facility; and]
[(ii)it is not a TC 3 facility.]
[(B)The testing requirements for a TC 2 facility are
the minimum testing requirements established for MQ designation in §65.94(a)(1)
of this title (relating to Breeding Facility Minimum Movement Qualification).]
[(3)TC 3.]
[(A)A TC 3 facility is any breeding facility registered
in TWIMS that is under a TAHC hold order, quarantine, and/or herd
plan and meets any of the following criteria:]
[(i)received an exposed deer within the previous five
years;]
[(ii)transferred deer to a CWD-positive facility within
the five-year period preceding the confirmation of CWD in the CWD-positive
facility; or]
[(iii)possessed a deer that was in a CWD-positive
facility within the previous five years.]
[(B)No deer from a TC 3 facility may be transferred
or liberated unless expressly authorized in a TAHC herd plan and then
only in accordance with the provisions of this division and the TAHC
herd plan.]
[(C)A TC 3 breeding facility remains a TC 3 breeding
facility until the TAHC hold order or quarantine in effect at the
breeding facility has been lifted.]
[(D)A TC 3 breeding facility may not transfer a breeder
deer for any purpose unless the deer has been tagged in one ear with
a NUES tag or button-type RFID tag approved by the department.]
(b)[(c)] Release Sites;
Release of Breeder Deer.
(1)[General.]
[(A)]An approved release site consists
solely of the specific tract of land to which deer are released and
the acreage is designated as a release site in TWIMS. A
release site owner may modify the acreage registered as the release
site to recognize changes in acreage (such as the removal of cross-fencing
or the purchase of adjoining land), so long as the release site owner
notifies the department of such modifications prior to the acreage
modification. The release site requirements set forth in this division
apply to the entire acreage modified under the provisions of this
subparagraph.
(2)[(B)] Liberated breeder deer
must have complete, unrestricted access to the entirety of the release
site; provided, however, deer may be excluded from areas for safety
reasons (such as airstrips) or for the purpose of protecting areas
such as crops, orchards, ornamental plants, and lawns from depredation.
(3)[(C)] All release sites onto
which breeder deer are liberated must be surrounded by a fence of
at least seven feet in height that is capable of retaining deer at
all times under reasonable and ordinary circumstances. The owner of
the release site is responsible for ensuring that the fence and associated
infrastructure retain deer under reasonable and ordinary circumstances.
[(D)The testing requirements of this
subsection continue in effect until "not detected" test results have
been submitted as required by this subsection. A release site that
is not in compliance with the requirements of this subsection is ineligible
to receive deer and must continue to submit test results until the
testing requirements of this subsection are satisfied.]
(4)[(E)] No person may intentionally
cause or allow any live deer to leave or escape from a release site
onto which breeder deer have been liberated.
(5)[(F)] The owner of a [Class
II or Class III] release site where deer from a facility
subject to the provisions of §65.99 of this title (relating to
Breeding Facilities Epidemiologically Connected to Deer Infected with
CWD) or positive deer have been released shall maintain a harvest
log at the release site that complies with §65.93 of this title
(relating to Harvest Log).
(6)No person may transfer a breeder
deer to a release facility or cause or allow a breeder deer to be
transferred to a release facility unless:
(A)an ante-mortem test on rectal or tonsil tissue
collected from the deer within the eight months immediately preceding
the release has been returned with test results of "not detected"
and
(B)the deer is at least six months of age at the time
the test sample required by this subparagraph is collected.
(C)An ante-mortem test result of "not detected" submitted
to satisfy the requirements of §65.92(d) of this title may be
utilized a second time to satisfy the requirements of this paragraph.
(D)A facility from which deer are transferred in violation
of this subparagraph becomes automatically NMQ and any further transfers
are prohibited until the permittee has complied with the testing requirements
of the department, based on an epidemiological assessment as specified
in writing.
[(2)Class I Release Site. Except
as provided in §65.98, a release site is a Class I release site
and is not required to perform CWD testing if the release site:]
[(A)is not a Class II or Class III release site; and]
[(B)after August 15, 2016, the release site has received
deer only from TC 1 facilities.]
[(3)Class II Release Site.]
[(A)A release site that is not a Class III release
site and receives deer from a TC 2 breeding facility is a Class II
release site.]
[(B)Beginning the first hunting year following the
release of deer from any TC 2 breeding facility and continuing for
each hunting year thereafter, the owner of a Class II release site
must submit "not detected" post-mortem test results for the first
deer harvested and each deer harvested thereafter at the release site;
however, no release site owner is required to submit more than 15
"not detected" post-mortem test results in any hunting year.]
[(C)The requirements of subparagraph
(B) cease as follows:]
[(i)for release sites that have submitted all test
results required by this division, the requirements of subparagraph
(B) cease on March 1, 2019;]
[(ii)for release sites that have not submitted all
the test results required by this division, the requirements of subparagraph
(B) shall cease upon submission of all required test results.]
(c)[(4)] Trace-out [
Class III] Release Site.
(1)[(A)] A release site is a trace-out
release site if it has: [Class III release site if:]
(A)received deer directly or indirectly
from a positive breeding facility; and
[(i)it has:]
[(I)received deer from an originating facility that
is a TC 3 facility; or]
[(II)received an exposed deer within the previous
five years or has transferred deer to a CWD-positive facility within
the five-year period preceding the confirmation of CWD in the CWD-positive
facility; and]
(B)[(ii)] it has not been released
from a [TAHC] hold order or quarantine related to activity
described in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph [clause
(i) of this subparagraph].
(2)[(B)] The landowner of a trace-out
release site [Class III release site] must submit
post-mortem CWD test results for one of the following values, whichever
represents the greatest number of deer tested:
(A)[(i)] 100 percent of all
hunter-harvested deer; or
(B)[(ii)] one hunter-harvested
deer per liberated deer released on the release site between the last
day of lawful hunting on the release site in the previous hunting
year and the last day of lawful hunting on the release site during
the current hunting year; provided, however, this minimum harvest
and testing provision may only be substituted as prescribed in a [TAHC
] herd plan.
(3)[(C)] No breeder deer may
be transferred to a trace-out release site [Class
III release site] unless the deer has been tagged in one ear
with a [NUES tag or] button-type RFID tag approved by the
department.
The agency certifies that legal counsel has reviewed
the proposal and found it to be within the state agency's legal authority
to adopt.
Filed
with the Office of the Secretary of State on September 20, 2021
TRD-202103711 James Murphy
General Counsel
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
Earliest possible date of adoption: October 31,
2021
For further information, please call: (512) 389-4775
|
