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(a)General. Except as otherwise provided in this division,
a 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) of this section;
(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.
(b)Release Sites; Release of Breeder Deer.
(1)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 paragraph.
(2)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)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.
(4)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)The owner of a 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 deer from a CWD-positive facility 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 paragraph 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,
provided the test sample was collected as provided in subparagraph
(A) of this paragraph.
(D)A facility from which deer are transferred in violation
of this paragraph becomes automatically NMQ and any further transfers
are prohibited until the permittee and the owner of the release site
have complied with the testing requirements of the department, based
on an epidemiological assessment as specified in writing.
(E)The provisions of this paragraph cease effect three
years from the effective date of this section.
(c)Trace-out Release Site.
(1)A release site is a trace-out release site if it
has:
(A)received deer directly or indirectly from a positive
breeding facility; and
(B)it has not been released from a hold order or quarantine
related to activity described in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph.
(2)The landowner of a trace-out release site must
submit post-mortem CWD test results for one of the following values,
whichever represents the greatest number of deer tested:
(A)100 percent of all hunter-harvested deer; or
(B)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 herd plan.
(3)No breeder deer may be transferred to a trace-out
release site unless the deer has been tagged in one ear with a button-type
RFID tag approved by the department.
The agency certifies that legal counsel has reviewed
the adoption and found it to be a valid exercise of the agency's legal
authority.
Filed
with the Office of the Secretary of State on November 29, 2021
TRD-202104745 James Murphy
General Counsel
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
Effective date: December 19,
2021
Proposal publication date: October 1, 2021
For further information, please call: (512) 389-4775
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