5701-5705
FOOD AND AGRICULTURAL CODE
SECTION 5701-5705
5701. (a) If any pest exists on any premises, the director or the commissioner may hold any plant or other host or possible carrier which is, or may be, capable of disseminating or carrying the pest. The director or the commissioner also may hold the plants, other hosts, or other possible carriers on any premises within five miles of the premises on which the pest was found to exist. The director or commissioner shall notify the owner of the plant or other host or possible carrier, or his or her agent, of this action, and the issuance of any shipping permit or nursery stock certificate with respect to the plant or other host or possible carrier shall be refused and any such permit or certificate which has been previously issued shall be revoked. (b) The distance from the premises at which a pest is found that the director or commissioner may hold plants, other hosts, or other possible carriers shall be the maximum distance that the director or commissioner determines the pest is likely to travel, but not to exceed five miles. 5702. If, in the opinion of the director or commissioner, the plant or other host or possible carrier is not infested or infected with the pest, or has been disinfected or cleaned so as to eradicate or control the pest, the director or commissioner shall in writing release it or issue the shipping permit or nursery stock certificate as the case may be. 5703. This article does not affect any other authority which is granted to a commissioner by Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 6501), Part 2 of this division. 5704. It is unlawful for any person to move any plant or other host or possible carrier from the premises on which a hold notice has been issued, except under the written permission of the director or commissioner and in accordance with the conditions which are stated in the written permission. 5705. (a) The director or commissioner may enter into compliance agreements with any person which provide for the movement of hosts or other possible carriers of any pest from one area of the state to another. These agreements shall establish the treatment, harvesting, packing, and handling requirements that may be necessary to assure that the hosts or carriers are not infested. (b) Violation of the treatment, harvesting, packing, or handling terms of a compliance agreement is unlawful. (c) Any person who violates treatment, harvesting, packing, or handling terms in an agreement is also liable civilly in an amount not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000). This remedy is in addition to, and does not supersede or limit, any and all other remedies, civil or criminal, that otherwise are available to the state. (d) Any funds recovered by the department pursuant to this section shall be deposited in the Department of Food and Agriculture Fund for use, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to cover costs related to the enforcement of this division.