581.031 Department; powers
and duties.--The department has the following powers and
duties:
(1) To 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.
(2) To make and publish standard grades for
nursery stock.
(3) To make rules governing the grading,
marking, sale, and distribution of nursery stock by
nurserymen, stock dealers, agents, and plant brokers.
(4) To make rules under which plants and plant
products, including nursery stock, may be brought into this
state from other states, territories, and foreign countries.
(5) To 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.
(6) To 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.
(7) To 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.
(8) To make and publish reasonable rules
governing the application for, and issuance, suspension, and
revocation of, certificates of registration and of inspection.
(9) To 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.
(10) To publish at regular intervals an official
organ of the department and other publications.
(11) To suspend or revoke certificates of
inspection and of registration of nurserymen, stock dealers,
agents, and plant brokers in the state.
(12) To 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.
(13) To enforce the provisions of this chapter
by writ of injunction in the proper court as well as by
criminal proceedings.
(14)(a) To test nursery stock or any other
articles to determine freedom from specific plant pests and to
certify or register the stock or such articles.
(b) To 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.
(c) To 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.
(d) To 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.
(e) To 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.
(15)(a) To 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.
(b) To 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.
(16) To investigate methods of control,
eradication, and prevention of dissemination of plant pests,
noxious weeds, or arthropods.
(17) To 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.
(18) To 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:
(a) The name of the nursery and its owner.
(b) The mailing address of the nursery.
(c) The location of the nursery.
(d) The type of crop grown.
(e) The acreage of the nursery.
(f) The type of stock dealer or plant broker.
(19) To 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.
(20) To 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.
(21) To 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.
(22) To 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.
(23)(a) To 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.
(b) To 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.
(c) To 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.
(24) To 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.
(25) To 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.
(26) To enter into compliance agreements with
any person engaged in growing, handling, or moving articles,
plants, or plant products regulated under this chapter.
(27) To 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.
(28) To 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.
(29) To 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.
(30) To 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.
(31) To 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.
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.