SECTIONS 5781-5786 - California Statutes

FOOD AND AGRICULTURAL CODE

SECTION 5781-5786

5781. If the director determines that a particular pest, either
within the state or from any area which is adjacent to the state,
cannot be eradicated or effectively controlled by recognized ordinary
means, or that it is impracticable to eradicate or control the pest
without the destruction, in whole or in part, of uninfected or
uninfested host plants, the director may adopt regulations which do
all of the following:
(a) Declares a host-free period or a host-free district, or both.
(b) Describes any host and the district in which the planting,
growing, cultivating, or maintenance in any manner of any plant which
is capable of continuing the particular pest is prohibited during a
specified period of time and until the menace from it no longer
exists.

5782. During the existence of a host-free period or host-free
district which is established by regulations of the director, any
host which is planted, growing, or being cultivated or maintained
within the host-free period or district is a public nuisance and is
subject to all the laws which relate to the abatement of the
nuisance.

5783. It is unlawful for any person to plant, grow, cultivate, or
maintain any host which is described in any regulation of the
director that establishes a host-free period or host-free district,
within the host-free period or host-free district after notice of the
host-free period or host-free district.

5784. (a) The regulations adopted by the director upon the
establishment of a cotton host-free period or district for a
particular pest shall, insofar as practical, be uniform and shall be
uniformly enforced in all cotton host-free periods or districts
established for that pest. Any exemptions or variances thereafter
shall be extended to all other districts or periods unless the
director finds that it will be detrimental to the eradication or
effective control of the particular pest to do so.
(b) The remedies provided in this article for any violation of
this article are in addition to any other remedy provided by law.
(c) Any person producing cotton in violation of cotton plowdown
requirements adopted pursuant to this article is subject to a civil
penalty of five hundred dollars ($500) for the first violation and
one thousand dollars ($1,000) for each subsequent violation. Each
acre not in compliance is a separate additional violation subject to
a civil penalty of five dollars ($5) per acre of land not in
compliance for the first violation and ten dollars ($10) per acre of
land not in compliance for each subsequent violation.
(d) Any person producing cotton in violation of cotton planting
dates adopted pursuant to this article is subject to a civil penalty
of five hundred dollars ($500) for the first violation and one
thousand dollars ($1,000) for each subsequent violation. Each acre
not in compliance is a separate additional violation subject to a
civil fine of fifty dollars ($50) per acre of land not in compliance
for the first violation and one hundred dollars ($100) per acre of
land not in compliance for each subsequent violation.
(e) The Attorney General, upon the request of the director, or the
district attorney or county counsel, upon the request of the
commissioner, may request a court to issue an injunction or take
other appropriate action to restrain violations of this article
relating to cotton pests.

5785. (a) Celery which is being produced in violation of a
host-free period or district adopted pursuant to this article is a
nuisance.
(b) The commissioner shall take abatement action against any
celery plants or parts thereof, other than seed, including any
variety or subspecies of Apium graveolens found in violation of
celery host-free period or district regulations. The person
producing, who has produced, or who owns the celery shall be given
not more than 48 hours to commence abatement of the nuisance and
shall be given not more than five days to complete abatement.
(c) If the person who is producing, has produced, or owns celery
fails to commence and complete abatement within the time specified by
the commissioner pursuant to subdivision (b), the commissioner shall
abate the nuisance by appropriate means. The person who produced the
celery plants shall pay 150 percent of all costs associated with the
commissioner's abatement of the nuisance.
(d) The commissioner, with the approval of the director, may
approve or deny a request for a hardship variance for celery plowdown
due to adverse weather conditions.
(e) It is unlawful to harvest for sale or to sell any celery grown
during a host-free period. Any person, firm, or corporation
harvesting celery (Apium graveolens) in violation of a host-free
period regulation shall forfeit the total sale price received for the
celery to the county in which the violations occurred. An action to
recover the sale price shall be brought in the name of the county on
order of the board of supervisors by the county counsel of the
county. This remedy shall be in addition to any other remedy provided
for by law.
(f) The commissioner may request that the district attorney or
county counsel assist him or her in expediting abatements and other
actions necessary pursuant to this section.

5786. (a) The Legislature finds that any cotton plants and parts
thereof not in compliance with any cotton plowdown dates adopted
pursuant to this article constitutes a public nuisance which
immediately threatens the health and safety of the public.
(b) In addition to any other remedies provided by law, any cotton
plant or part thereof not in compliance with any cotton plowdown
order may be abated at the direction of the commissioner in the
county where the cotton plant or parts exist. The notice of the
cotton plowdown date shall serve as notice to the owner of the plant
or parts thereof that the plant or parts constitute a public nuisance
if not brought into compliance with the orders by that date.
Thereafter, the commissioner may take any abatement action as is
reasonably necessary to bring the plant and parts thereof into
compliance.
(c) The person who produced the cotton plant and parts thereof
shall pay 150 percent of all costs associated with the commissioner's
abatement of the nuisance. The producers may, when making the
payment of the amount, submit a written appeal of the payment to the
director.
(d) Any moneys collected pursuant to Section 5784 or this section
for violation of cotton pest provisions shall be allocated to the
commissioner in the county where the action is brought.