NATURAL RESOURCES CODE
CHAPTER 152. FOREST PEST CONTROL
SUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL PROVISIONS
§ 152.001. POLICY. It is the public policy of the State
of Texas to control forest pests in or threatening forests in this
state in order to protect forest resources, enhance the growth and
maintenance of forests, promote stability of forest-using
industries, protect recreational wildlife uses, and conserve other
values of the forest.
Acts 1977, 65th Leg., p. 2647, ch. 871, art. I, § 1, eff. Sept. 1,
1977.
§ 152.002. PUBLIC NUISANCE. Forest pests are declared
to be a public nuisance.
Acts 1977, 65th Leg., p. 2647, ch. 871, art. I, § 1, eff. Sept. 1,
1977.
§ 152.003. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Service" means the Texas Forest Service.
(2) "Forest pests" means insects and diseases that are
harmful, injurious, or destructive to forests and whose damage, if
uncontrolled, is of considerable economic importance, and
includes:
(A) pine bark beetles of the genera Dendroctonus,
Ips, Pissodes, and Hylobius;
(B) sawflies of the genus Neodiprion;
(C) defoliators in the genera Datana,
Malacosoma, Hyphantria, Diapheromera, and Galerucella;
(D) pine shoot moth of the genus Rhyacionia;
(E) wilt of the genus Chalora; and
(F) rots of the genera Fomes and Polyporus.
(3) "Forest land" means land on which the trees are
potentially valuable for timber products, protection of
watersheds, wildlife habitat, recreational uses, or for other
purposes, but does not include land within the incorporated limits
of a village, town, or city.
(4) "Forest" means the standing trees on forest land.
(5) "Control" means prevent, retard, suppress,
eradicate, or destroy.
(6) "Infestation" means actual infestation or
infection at conditions beyond normal proportion causing abnormal
epidemic loss to present or future commercial timber supply or
both.
(7) "Landowner" and "owner" mean a person who owns
forest land or has forest land under his direction irrespective of
ownership.
(8) "Forest owner" means a person who owns the
standing trees on forest land, either by a present right or by a
future right under the terms of a valid existing contract.
(9) "Tract" means all contiguous land in common
ownership.
Acts 1977, 65th Leg., p. 2647, ch. 871, art. I, § 1, eff. Sept. 1,
1977.
SUBCHAPTER B. POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE TEXAS FOREST SERVICE
§ 152.011. IN GENERAL. The Texas Forest Service shall
administer the provisions of this chapter and make all relevant
determinations.
Acts 1977, 65th Leg., p. 2648, ch. 871, art. I, § 1, eff. Sept. 1,
1977.
§ 152.012. SURVEYS AND INVESTIGATIONS. (a) The
service shall make surveys and investigations to determine the
existence of infestations of forest pests and means practical for
their control by landowners.
(b) Duly delegated representatives of the service may enter
private land and public land, including that held by the United
States if permission is obtained, for the purpose of conducting
surveys and investigations.
(c) All the service's information shall be available to all
interested landowners.
Acts 1977, 65th Leg., p. 2648, ch. 871, art. I, § 1, eff. Sept. 1,
1977.
§ 152.013. DETERMINATION OF AREA CONTROL MEASURES. If
the service finds an infestation existent or threatened in the
state, it shall determine:
(1) when control measures are needed;
(2) the nature of the control measures;
(3) availability of control measures; and
(4) the techniques by which the control measures shall
be applied.
Acts 1977, 65th Leg., p. 2648, ch. 871, art. I, § 1, eff. Sept. 1,
1977.
§ 152.014. NOTICE OF FINDING OF INFESTATION. After
determining that an infestation exists, the service shall give
notice of the fact by:
(1) placing a notice in a newspaper or newspapers in
the county or counties in which any infested land is located, or, if
there is no newspaper in the county, placing a notice in a newspaper
or newspapers with general circulation in the county or counties in
which any infested land is located, stating its findings and
setting a time and place for a hearing on the need for the control of
the pest, to be held not less than 10 days from the date of the
notice;
(2) mailing copies of the notice to owners of forest
land known to the service to have holdings in the affected area;
and
(3) arranging for publicity on the subject by all news
media serving the affected area.
Acts 1977, 65th Leg., p. 2648, ch. 871, art. I, § 1, eff. Sept. 1,
1977.
§ 152.015. HEARING. At the hearing, the agent of the
service who presides shall:
(1) describe the conditions that have been found;
(2) explain the measures needed to control the pest
infestation;
(3) hear all suggestions and protests; and
(4) record the proceedings.
Acts 1977, 65th Leg., p. 2648, ch. 871, art. I, § 1, eff. Sept. 1,
1977.
§ 152.016. PROCEDURES FOR CONTROL. (a) As soon as
practicable after the hearing, the service shall promulgate
procedures to be followed for the control of the infestation and
shall:
(1) mail a copy to all appearing at the hearing and to
all to whom notices were originally sent; and
(2) publish a copy in a newspaper circulated in the
affected area in the same manner as publication of preliminary
notice.
(b) Publication as provided in Subsection (a) of this
section is notice to each landowner and each tract of land in the
affected area on the date of publication.
Acts 1977, 65th Leg., p. 2649, ch. 871, art. I, § 1, eff. Sept. 1,
1977.
§ 152.017. SPECIFIC CONTROL MEASURES. If the
provisions of Sections 152.013 through 152.016 of this code have
not been applied and control measures are needed to check the spread
of the forest pests on forest land owned or controlled by any
person, written notice, signed by a duly authorized representative
of the service whose mailing address is shown on the notice, shall
be given to the person owning or controlling the forest land.
Acts 1977, 65th Leg., p. 2649, ch. 871, art. I, § 1, eff. Sept. 1,
1977.
§ 152.018. NOTICE TO SPECIFIC LANDOWNER. (a) The
notice required by Section 152.017 of this code shall inform the
landowner of:
(1) the facts found to exist;
(2) his responsibilities for the control measures;
(3) the control technique recommended;
(4) the law under which control must be accomplished;
and
(5) the authority of the service in the event the
landowner takes no action toward controlling the pest.
(b) The notice may be given by:
(1) personal service on the landowner or on the person
having control of the forest land;
(2) registered or certified mail directed to the
landowner or person having control of the forest land at his last
known address; or
(3) if the person or his address is unknown,
publication in one issue of a newspaper of general circulation in
the county in which the land is located.
(c) A published notice under Subsection (b) of this section
shall include the information specified in Subsection (a) of this
section, state the name of the owner, if known, and briefly describe
the land to which the notice applies.
(d) No other notice is necessary under the provisions of
this chapter.
Acts 1977, 65th Leg., p. 2649, ch. 871, art. I, § 1, eff. Sept. 1,
1977.
§ 152.019. NOTICE TO FOREST OWNER. If the landowner has
given notice to the service of an interest in the forest on his land
owned by another, as provided for in Section 152.064 of this code,
the service shall furnish the same information to the forest owner
that it is required by the provisions of this chapter to give to the
landowner.
Acts 1977, 65th Leg., p. 2649, ch. 871, art. I, § 1, eff. Sept. 1,
1977.
§ 152.020. SUPERVISION. (a) The service shall keep
informed of what is done by the landowner to take measures to
control the infestation and the result of it.
(b) The service may change its prescribed procedures as
conditions or new information may require.
(c) On request, the service shall certify when all
reasonably practicable measures to be done by the landowner,
pursuant to its prescribed procedures, have been completed.
Acts 1977, 65th Leg., p. 2649, ch. 871, art. I, § 1, eff. Sept. 1,
1977.
§ 152.021. CONTROL MEASURES APPLIED BY FOREST
SERVICE. If pest control measures prescribed by the service are
not applied by the landowner or any other person within 10 days from
the time notice is given as provided in this chapter, exclusive of
the date the notice is given, representatives of the service shall
enter the land and have the forest pests controlled or destroyed.
Acts 1977, 65th Leg., p. 2650, ch. 871, art. I, § 1, eff. Sept. 1,
1977.
§ 152.022. EXPENSE OF CONTROL MEASURES TAKEN BY
SERVICE. (a) Except as provided in Subsection (b) of this
section, all charges and expenses of destruction or control
measures taken by the service shall be paid by the owner of the land
on which the infestation occurred.
(b) If the tract with respect to which the service conducted
control measures contains 50 acres of forest land or less and the
landowner in whose name the record title to the land stands owns no
more than 50 acres of forest land in the county in which the
infestation occurred, the cost of control shall be borne by the
service.
Acts 1977, 65th Leg., p. 2650, ch. 871, art. I, § 1, eff. Sept. 1,
1977.
§ 152.023. CLAIM AGAINST LANDOWNER. If control is
undertaken by the service, the cost, not to exceed $10 for each
infested acre or part of an acre on which control measures have been
employed, constitutes a legal claim against the landowner, but does
not constitute a lien on any land owned by the landowner.
Acts 1977, 65th Leg., p. 2650, ch. 871, art. I, § 1, eff. Sept. 1,
1977.
§ 152.024. SUIT. The attorney general may bring suit on
behalf of the service in the county in which the infestation
occurred to recover the claim against the landowner, together with
all costs incurred in the suit.
Acts 1977, 65th Leg., p. 2650, ch. 871, art. I, § 1, eff. Sept. 1,
1977.
§ 152.025. LANDOWNER REIMBURSEMENT. If the landowner
has given the service notice of an interest owned by another in the
forest on his land and the landowner has made expenditures for pest
control purposes as provided in Section 152.062 of this code, or has
paid a legal claim against him under the provisions of Sections
152.022 through 152.024 of this code, the landowner is entitled to a
reasonable reimbursement for the expenses from the forest owner.
The reimbursement shall be proportional to the interest owned in
the forest by the forest owner.
Acts 1977, 65th Leg., p. 2650, ch. 871, art. I, § 1, eff. Sept. 1,
1977.
§ 152.026. COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS. The service may
enter into cooperative agreements with private landowners or forest
owners, the federal government, or other public or private agencies
to accomplish the control of forest pests.
Acts 1977, 65th Leg., p. 2650, ch. 871, art. I, § 1, eff. Sept. 1,
1977.
SUBCHAPTER C. POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE LANDOWNER
§ 152.061. GENERAL DUTY OF LANDOWNER. Each owner of
forest land shall control the forest pests on land owned by him or
under his direction as provided in this chapter.
Acts 1977, 65th Leg., p. 2650, ch. 871, art. I, § 1, eff. Sept. 1,
1977.
§ 152.062. DUTY TO APPLY CONTROL MEASURES. Within 10
days after notice is given as provided in Section 152.014 or 152.018
of this code, exclusive of the date the notice is given, each
affected landowner shall commence diligently to take measures to
control the infestation as prescribed and continue this activity
with all practical expedition and efficiency under the direction of
the service.
Acts 1977, 65th Leg., p. 2650, ch. 871, art. I, § 1, eff. Sept. 1,
1977.
§ 152.063. REPORTS AND CONSULTATION WITH
SERVICE. (a) The landowner shall notify the service of his
actions and the result of his actions.
(b) The landowner may report to and consult with a
representative of the service as often as necessary.
Acts 1977, 65th Leg., p. 2651, ch. 871, art. I, § 1, eff. Sept. 1,
1977.
§ 152.064. NOTIFYING SERVICE OF FOREST OWNER. If all or
part of the standing trees are owned by someone other than the
landowner, either by a present right or by a future right under the
terms of a valid existing contract, the landowner shall notify the
service of that fact and furnish the names and addresses of the
forest owner within 10 days after receiving the notice from the
service as provided for in Section 152.014 or 152.018 of this code.
Acts 1977, 65th Leg., p. 2651, ch. 871, art. I, § 1, eff. Sept. 1,
1977.
SUBCHAPTER D. JUDICIAL REVIEW
§ 152.101. JUDICIAL REVIEW OF SERVICE NOTICE. A
landowner or person having control of forest land who is aggrieved
by the notice given by the service is entitled to seek relief but
only if the proceedings to obtain the relief are initiated within 10
days from the time notice is given, exclusive of the date the notice
is given.
Acts 1977, 65th Leg., p. 2651, ch. 871, art. I, § 1, eff. Sept. 1,
1977.
§ 152.102. VENUE. The proceeding to obtain relief shall
be in the district court of the county in which the land is located.
Acts 1977, 65th Leg., p. 2651, ch. 871, art. I, § 1, eff. Sept. 1,
1977.
§ 152.103. CONTROL MEASURES PENDING LITIGATION. The
service shall not proceed with any control measures while the
litigation is pending unless permission to do so is given by the
court on a showing of probable harm due to a delay in using the
control measures.
Acts 1977, 65th Leg., p. 2651, ch. 871, art. I, § 1, eff. Sept. 1,
1977.
§ 152.105. INJUNCTIVE RELIEF FOR LANDOWNER. If the
final judgment in an action seeking relief from a notice is in favor
of the landowner, the landowner may be entitled to injunctive
relief against the use of any control measures on his forest land by
the service until such time as the court may determine.
Acts 1977, 65th Leg., p. 2651, ch. 871, art. I, § 1, eff. Sept. 1,
1977.
§ 152.106. NOTICE FINAL. If the final judgment is
against the landowner, or if the landowner fails to seek relief in
the district court of the county in which the land is located, the
notice from the service is final, and the service shall summarily
take the measures necessary to control the infestation.
Acts 1977, 65th Leg., p. 2651, ch. 871, art. I, § 1, eff. Sept. 1,
1977.
