Substitute House Bill No. 5310
AN ACT CONCERNING THE DUTIES AND AUTHORITY OF THE CONNECTICUT AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subsection (c) of section 22-81 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):
(c) [The] Within available resources, the board shall cause the station to (1) make scientific inquiries and perform experiments including, but not limited to, inquiries and experiments regarding plants, insects and the pests of plants, soil and water, which inquiries and experiments shall include, but not be limited to, consideration of the effects of any climate change which may result from increased levels of carbon dioxide or other "greenhouse" gases in the atmosphere and what effects such change may have on agriculture in this state; (2) make scientific inquiries for the General Assembly and conduct such analyses as required by any state agency including, but not limited to, the Departments of Administrative Services, Agriculture, Consumer Protection and Energy and Environmental Protection; and (3) distribute reports of any analyses, investigations or experiments by correspondence, lectures or published matter. The board may cause the station to charge a fee for any testing services which it may provide to the public. The station shall not conduct any testing of ticks for Lyme disease except at the request of a state or municipal health official or for scientific research purposes.
Sec. 2. Subsection (a) of section 22-84 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):
(a) The director of the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station shall have charge of all matters pertaining to official control, suppression or extermination of insects or diseases which are, or threaten to become, serious pests of plants of economic importance. [He] The director shall receive no additional compensation for such work, and may designate members of the station staff to carry out certain lines thereof and may employ such other assistance as may be required. Said director may: (1) Cooperate with the agents of the United States Department of Agriculture in the control of plant pests; (2) make regulations and orders regarding the destruction or treatment of infested plants; (3) seize, treat, disinfect or destroy any plants or plant material moved in violation of any quarantine or regulation established under the provisions of this section or suspected of being infested by any dangerous insect pest or plant disease; (4) prohibit or regulate the transportation of plants and plant materials, brick, stone and quarry products or any other objects or materials liable to carry dangerous pests and may designate certain areas or districts wherein all such plants may be destroyed; (5) adopt, and enforce by appropriate regulations, a quarantine prohibiting or restricting the transportation of any class of nursery stock, plant, fruit, seed or other article capable of carrying any dangerous plant disease or insect infestation, with reference to which the Secretary of Agriculture of the United States has not determined that a quarantine is necessary and established such quarantine, into or through this state or any portion thereof from any other state, the District of Columbia or any part of such state or said district in which said director finds such plant disease or insect infestation to exist; (6) adopt regulations for the seizure, inspection, disinfection, destruction or other disposition of any nursery stock, plant, fruit, seed or other article capable of carrying any dangerous plant disease or insect infestation, a quarantine with respect to which has been established by the Secretary of Agriculture of the United States, and which have been transported to, into or through this state in violation of such quarantine; (7) inspect nurseries and nursery stock, as defined in section 22-97, for any violation of the provisions of section 22a-381d; and (8) establish and maintain a quarantine against any premises, district, town or group of towns in this state, provided, before any quarantine is established within the state, a public hearing shall be held, of which five days' notice shall be given to the parties affected, either by mail or by publishing such notice in two newspapers having a circulation in the part of the state affected by such quarantine. In carrying out the duties and authority described in this subsection, the director may issue permits to any party or enter into compliance agreements with any party.
Sec. 3. Subsection (c) of section 22-84 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):
(c) Any person interfering with the director or the director's designee in the performance of said director's duty under the provisions of this section or violating any quarantine or any regulation established under the provisions of this section shall be fined not less than five hundred dollars or more than [one] two thousand five hundred dollars.