Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 9, September 27, 2024
A. All cotton
producers in the State are required to participate in the
eradication/containment program. Participation shall include timely reporting
of acreage and field locations, maintenance of access to the fields for program
employees, compliance with regulations and payment of required fees. The
Director shall publish the program costs per acre on or before March 15 of each
growing year, as set by the State Crop Pest Commission in consultation with the
South Carolina Boll Weevil Eradication Foundation, Inc. (SCBWEF). The following
procedures are mandatory:
1. Each producer
must file the preliminary and final Cotton Acreage Reporting Forms at the FSA
office which serves the county in which the cotton is to be grown;
2. Each producer must pay the determined fee,
not to exceed ten dollars ($10.00) per acre for commercial cotton, on or before
July 15 of the then current growing season. Final payment must be based on FSA
certified or measured acreage of reported fields;
3. All fees and penalties will be paid by the
producer, or someone on the producer's behalf. Fees and penalties will be
collected by the appropriate FSA office and timely transmitted to the Director.
Checks, money orders, and other negotiable instruments will be made payable to
the SCBWEF;
4. The Director must
assess a penalty, not to exceed five dollars ($5.00) per acre, for failure to
make full and/or timely payment. All payments must be made on or before July
15, except when July 15 falls on a state or federal holiday or on a weekend, in
which case payment is due no later than the close of business on the next
federal work day. The Director, in determining the appropriate penalty, shall
consider the length of the delay, the efforts and costs expended in the
collection process, and any information provided by the producer. Dishonored
checks, if not made good on or before the July 15 deadline, will be considered
as failure to make timely payment and may be assessed the full penalty, in
addition to any other penalties or charges authorized by law;
5. Non-commercial/ornamental cotton shall be
assessed at $40.00 per acre or any fractional part thereof.
B. The Director will pursue all
deficiencies/failures to pay in accordance with Chapter 13 of Title 46, this
regulation, and any other available provisions of law including, but not
limited to, participation in the set-off debt collection program of the S. C.
Department of Revenue and Taxation. In each case, after informal means of
collecting past due debts have failed, the Director is authorized to file a
Notice of Assessment, and if the debt remains unpaid for thirty days
thereafter, the Director is authorized to file a Warrant for Distraint in the
county in which the cotton was to be produced.
D. Acreage subject to hardship conditions
which result in the effective destruction of the crop may be considered for a
refund. The refund amount will be determined by the Director, after
consultation with the Board of Directors, SCBWEF. In determining any refund
amount, the per acre fee shall be divided into two components: administration
and field inspection. The administrative portion shall be refunded only for
cotton acreage certified to the Department by July 1 as having been destroyed
before July 1. The field inspection portion shall be prorated according to the
number of trapping cycles performed before the cotton was certified as
destroyed compared to the number of trapping cycles scheduled. Cotton acreage
will be considered destroyed as of the date the acreage is certified as
destroyed by the Department, FSA or other agency or individual authorized by
the Director. To be considered destroyed, the crop must be plowed
under.
E.
1. Inasmuch as cotton stalks provide refuge
for overwintering boll weevils, the Director may require the destruction of
cotton stalks in any area in which reinfestation has occurred. Reinfestation is
considered to have occurred when two or more adult boll weevils are captured in
or adjacent to any trapped field between September 15 and December 15 of a
calendar year. After written notice by the Director to the affected producers,
the producers must destroy cotton stalks within 45 days after notice by the
Director. Notice shall be considered given when the notice letter from the
Director is placed in the U. S. mail, with adequate postage affixed.
2. Destruction is accomplished by shredding
and/or discing any standing cotton stalks. All rows and stalks must be
effectively destroyed. Any affected producer who cannot destroy cotton stalks
within the required period due to emergency or hardship may apply for a waiver.
The application must be made within 30 days after notice by the Director and
must state the conditions which may justify the waiver. The Director shall
notify the producer of his decision within two weeks after receipt of the
waiver request. Waivers shall be approved only if justified by emergency or
hardship due to meteorological conditions, serious illness as stated in a
doctor's certification, or other causes beyond the control of the
producer.
3. Any field containing
undestroyed stalks 45 days after notice is given will be treated as containing
regulated articles and quarantined until such stalks are destroyed, or the
Director may cause the stalks to be destroyed. Should the Director cause the
stalks to be destroyed, any costs associated with such destruction, other than
the salaries of agents and/or employees of the Commission, shall constitute a
lien on the property on which the stalks were located. Additionally, any
producer who fails to comply with the Director's notice, absent such a waiver
as provided for above, shall be assessed a penalty fee of $10.00 per
acre.
