eLaws of Florida

  SECTION 581.031. Department; powers and duties.  


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  • 1The department has the following powers and duties:
    9(1) 10To make all rules governing nurseries and the movement of nursery stock as may be necessary for the eradication, control, or prevention of the dissemination of plant pests or noxious weeds.
    41(2) 42To make and publish standard grades for nursery stock.
    51(3) 52To make rules governing the grading, marking, sale, and distribution of nursery stock by nurserymen, stock dealers, agents, and plant brokers.
    73(4) 74To make rules under which plants and plant products, including nursery stock, may be brought into this state from other states, territories, and foreign countries.
    99(5) 100To make such rules with reference to plants and plant products in transit through this state as necessary to prevent the introduction into and dissemination within this state of plant pests and noxious weeds.
    134(6) 135To declare a plant pest, noxious weed, or arthropod a nuisance as well as any plant or other thing infested or infected therewith or that has been exposed to infestation or infection and is therefore likely to contaminate other plants or things.
    177(7) 178To declare a quarantine against all or part of any area, place, nursery, grove, orchard, county, or counties within this state, or against all or part of other states, territories, or foreign countries, because of plant pests or noxious weeds or genetically engineered plant or plant pests, or arthropods, which are determined after due investigation to pose a potential threat to the agricultural, horticultural, or public interest of this state, and to prohibit their movement into or within this state. The quarantine may be made absolute or rules may be adopted prescribing the method and manner under which the prohibited articles may be moved into or within, sold, or otherwise disposed of in this state.
    293(8) 294To make and publish reasonable rules governing the application for, and issuance, suspension, and revocation of, certificates of registration and of inspection.
    316(9) 317To enter into cooperative arrangements with any person, municipality, county, and other department of this state and with boards, officers, and authorities of other states and the United States, including the United States Department of Agriculture, for the inspection of plants, plant parts, and plant products and the control or eradication of plant pests or noxious weeds and to contribute a just proportionate share of the expenses incurred under these arrangements.
    388(10) 389To publish at regular intervals an official organ of the department and other publications.
    403(11) 404To suspend or revoke certificates of inspection and of registration of nurserymen, stock dealers, agents, and plant brokers in the state.
    425(12) 426To purchase all necessary materials, supplies, office and field equipment, and other things and make other expenditures as necessary to carry out the provisions of this chapter within the limits of the funds appropriated by law.
    462(13) 463To enforce the provisions of this chapter by writ of injunction in the proper court as well as by criminal proceedings.
    484(14)(a) 485To test nursery stock or any other articles to determine freedom from specific plant pests and to certify or register the stock or such articles.
    510(b) 511To propagate and distribute to qualified persons for further propagation, if approved by the owner, nursery stock that is free of the plant pest for which it was tested.
    540(c) 541To prescribe standards and procedures for the propagation and distribution of such stock and of new or superior strains of plants when not provided for by other agencies and upon recommendation of the industry concerned.
    576(d) 577To prescribe a fee for these services, provided the fee does not exceed the cost of the services rendered. Annual citrus source tree registration fees shall not exceed $5 per tree. If the fee has not been paid within 30 days of billing, a penalty of $10 or 20 percent of the unpaid balance, whichever is greater, shall be assessed.
    637(e) 638To sell at a reasonable price any plant or plant part resulting from the propagation of tested plants as sources of propagating material for distribution to the industry, and to sell in the best interest of the state any fruit produced incidental to such propagation.
    683(15)(a) 684To inspect plants, plant products, or other things and substances that may be capable of disseminating or carrying plant pests, noxious weeds, or arthropods, and for this purpose shall have power to enter into or upon any place and to open any bundle, package, or other container containing, or thought to contain, such material, and to take possession of such material if determined by the department to pose a threat to the agricultural or public interests of this state.
    763(b) 764To obtain, through a subpoena duces tecum, if necessary, and examine any records pertaining to these or other plant materials to facilitate determination of the origin of plant pests, noxious weeds, or arthropods.
    797(16) 798To investigate methods of control, eradication, and prevention of dissemination of plant pests, noxious weeds, or arthropods.
    815(17) 816To supervise, or cause to be supervised, the treatment, cutting, and destruction of plants, plant parts, fruit, soil, containers, equipment, and other articles capable of harboring plant pests, noxious weeds, or arthropods, if they are infested or located in an area which may be suspected of being infested or infected due to its proximity to a known infestation, or if they were reasonably exposed to infestation, to prevent or control the dissemination of or to eradicate plant pests, noxious weeds, or arthropods, and to make rules governing these procedures.
    905(18) 906To inspect, or cause to be inspected, all nurseries and nursery stock in the state as necessary and to keep a complete, accurate, and current list of all certified nurseries, which includes:
    938(a) 939The name of the nursery and its owner.
    947(b) 948The mailing address of the nursery.
    954(c) 955The location of the nursery.
    960(d) 961The type of crop grown.
    966(e) 967The acreage of the nursery.
    972(f) 973The type of stock dealer or plant broker.
    981(19) 982To demand of any person full information as to the origin and source of plants or plant products or other things likely to carry plant pests, noxious weeds, or arthropods, which the person has in her or his possession or under her or his control.
    1027(20) 1028To intercept and hold for inspection, or cause to be inspected while in transit or after arrival at their destination, all plants, plant products, or other things likely to carry plant pests, noxious weeds, or arthropods being moved into this state from another state, a territory, or a foreign country; and, if, upon inspection, such material is found to be infested or infected with a plant pest, noxious weed, or arthropod or if the material is believed to be likely to transmit the pest, weed, or arthropod or is being or has been transported in violation of any of the rules of the department, the plants, plant products, or other things may be treated when necessary and released, returned to the sender, or destroyed.
    1152(21) 1153To make and issue certificates of registration and of inspection to nurserymen, stock dealers, agents, and plant brokers, after proper certification of their nursery stock, authorizing them to do business as nurserymen, stock dealers, agents, or plant brokers within the state.
    1194(22) 1195To collect or accept from other agencies or individuals specimens of arthropods, nematodes, fungi, bacteria, parasitic plants, or other organisms for positive identification and to provide suitable space for their storage and maintenance.
    1228(23)(a) 1229To provide, when requested by farmers, growers, or other interested parties, special inspections, identifications, diagnostic services, treatments, publications, certifications, investigations, and special regulatory activities not otherwise specifically provided for in these statutes.
    1261(b) 1262To prescribe a fee for such services. However, the fee may not exceed the cost, including the salaries and expenses of the personnel involved, of the service rendered. If the fee has not been paid within 30 days of billing, a penalty of $10 or 20 percent of the unpaid balance, whichever is greater, shall be assessed.
    1319(c) 1320To waive such fees by rule of the department for governmental agencies, based upon the amount of service requested and the department’s ability to handle the request.
    1347(24) 1348To prescribe the duties of assistants, authorized representatives, inspectors, and other employees as may be required and delegate to them and other employees the powers and authority deemed proper within the limits of the powers and authority conferred upon the director by this chapter.
    1392(25) 1393To enter into cooperative arrangements with any person, firm, agency, company, or other entity for the production and distribution of organisms, pesticides, chemical compounds, or other methods of control investigated, discovered, or developed by, or with the assistance of, the department through the Division of Plant Industry and to accept a royalty or other remuneration for its services or contributions, any proceeds from which shall be deposited in the Plant Industry Trust Fund.
    1466(26) 1467To enter into compliance agreements with any person engaged in growing, handling, or moving articles, plants, or plant products regulated under this chapter.
    1490(27) 1491To make rules governing the importation, transportation, cultivation, collection, and possession of aquatic plants necessary for the eradication, control, or prevention of the dissemination of noxious aquatic plants from nurseries or nursery stock dealer establishments.
    1526(28) 1527To declare a quarantine against aquatic plants, including the vats, pools, or other containers or bodies of water in which such plants are growing in a nursery or nursery stock dealer establishment, to prevent the dissemination of any noxious aquatic plant.
    1568(29) 1569To enter upon and inspect any aquatic plant nursery or other facility or place where aquatic plants are cultivated, held, packaged, shipped, stored, or sold, or any vehicle of conveyance of aquatic plants, to determine whether the provisions of this section and department rules are being complied with, and to seize and destroy, without compensation, any aquatic plants imported, transported, cultivated, collected, or otherwise possessed in violation of this section or department rules.
    1642(30) 1643To issue and enforce a stop-sale notice or hold order to the owner or custodian of any plants, plant products, arthropods, or other regulated articles that the department finds or has good reason to believe are in violation of any provision of this chapter or any rule promulgated under this chapter, which notice or order shall prohibit further sale, barter, exchange, or distribution of such plants, plant products, arthropods, or other regulated articles until the department is satisfied that the law has been complied with and has issued a written release or notice to the owner or custodian of the plants or plant products.
    1747(31) 1748To conduct, assist, or cooperate with others in conducting a commercial citrus inventory and to expend funds therefor as may be deposited in the Plant Industry Trust Fund for such purposes.
    1779(32) 1780To conduct or cause to be conducted research projects, including, but not limited to, citrus canker and citrus greening, which are recommended by the Citrus Research and Development Foundation, Inc., within the limits of appropriations made specifically for such purpose.
History.-s. 3, ch. 59-261; s. 1, ch. 61-409; ss. 1, 2, ch. 65-202; ss. 14, 35, ch. 69-106; s. 1, ch. 70-38; s. 1, ch. 70-49; s. 1, ch. 70-439; s. 598, ch. 71-136; s. 1, ch. 75-165; s. 1, ch. 76-95; s. 1, ch. 77-174; s. 3, ch. 77-386; s. 6, ch. 78-95; s. 2, ch. 79-158; s. 2, ch. 80-41; s. 1, ch. 84-60; s. 2, ch. 84-355; s. 2, ch. 85-283; s. 2, ch. 87-32; s. 2, ch. 88-31; s. 2, ch. 90-155; s. 3, ch. 92-147; s. 45, ch. 93-169; s. 6, ch. 95-317; s. 916, ch. 97-103; s. 9, ch. 98-396; s. 14, ch. 2007-67; ss. 24, 54, ch. 2007-73; ss. 8, 11, ch. 2010-277; HJR 5-A, 2010 Special Session A.

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