MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2014 Regular Session
To: Forestry; Agriculture
By: Representatives Currie, Evans (43rd)
AN ACT TO ABOLISH THE STATE FORESTRY COMMISSION AND TRANSFER THE ADMINISTRATION OF ITS POWERS AND DUTIES TO THE MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND COMMERCE; TO ESTABLISH THE DIVISION OF FORESTRY SERVICES WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT; TO REPEAL SECTION 49-19-1, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH ESTABLISHES THE STATE FORESTRY COMMISSION AND PROVIDES FOR THE COMPOSITION OF ITS MEMBERSHIP; TO AMEND SECTIONS 49-19-3 THROUGH 49-19-15, 49-19-19, 49-19-21, 49-19-25, 49-19-27, 49-19-31, 49-19-65, 49-19-67, 49-19-71, 49-19-73, 49-19-111 THROUGH 49-19-117, 49-19-205 THROUGH 49-19-227, 49-19-305, 49-19-307, 49-19-351, 49-19-403, 49-19-407, 51-11-5, 51-11-9, 51-13-105, 51-13-107, 53-7-11, 53-7-29, 53-9-11, 55-3-1, 55-3-11, 55-3-21, 55-3-23, 29-3-27, 29-3-45, 29-3-47, 29-3-49, 29-3-54, 29-3-87, 49-7-203 AND 69-1-61, IN CONFORMITY TO THE PRECEDING PROVISIONS TO REFLECT THE CHANGE IN THE ADMINISTRATIVE RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND COMMERCE AND THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE AND COMMERCE UPON THE STATE FORESTRY COMMISSION BEING ABOLISHED; TO BRING FORWARD SECTIONS 49-19-17, 49-19-23, 49-19-141 THROUGH 49-19-149, 49-19-171 THROUGH 49-19-177, 49-19-201, 49-19-203, 49-19-405, 55-3-19, 29-3-85, 69-3-1, 69-29-1, 25-1-13, 49-37-7, 69-27-9, 69-27-203, 73-36-9, 49-37-7, 55-3-53 AND 73-36-9, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH ARE PROVISIONS RELATING TO THE POWERS, DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE STATE FORESTRY COMMISSION, FOR PURPOSES OF POSSIBLE AMENDMENTS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. (1) The State Forestry Commission is hereby abolished and all powers, duties, employees, equipment, buildings, facilities, inventory, funds and resources thereof shall be transferred to the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce under the administration of the Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce, which shall, hereafter be known as the Division of Forestry Services.
(2) (a) Members serving on the commission on July 1, 2014, shall continue to serve in an advisory capacity only to advise the Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce on matters within their jurisdiction until such time that all duties and functions of the commission are successfully transferred to the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce, or until such time as the commissioner deems necessary for a proper transition of powers and duties.
(b) Until such time that members of the commission shall be discharged of their advisory duties, members shall receive a per diem plus expenses and mileage as authorized by law for each day devoted to the discharge of official duties. However, no member shall receive total per diem in excess of twenty-four (24) days' compensation per annum.
(3) Wherever the terms "State Forestry Commission" or "commission" appear in any law pertaining to the duties and functions of such commission, the same shall be construed to mean the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce.
(4) For purposes of this act, the following terms shall have the meanings ascribed in this section, unless context clearly indicates otherwise:
(a) "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce.
(b) "Department" means the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce.
(c) "Division" means the Division of Forestry Services within the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce.
SECTION 2. Section 49-19-1, Mississippi Code of 1972, which establishes the State Forestry Commission and provides for the selection of members, is repealed.
SECTION 3. Section 49-19-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
49-19-3. The duties and
powers of the * * * Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce, in assuming the
administrative authority of the former State Forestry Commission shall be:
(a) To appoint or
employ a State Forester, who shall serve at the will and pleasure of the * * * commissioner and who is
qualified to perform the duties as set forth herein; and to pay him such salary
as is provided by the Legislature, and allow him such office expenses
incidental to the performance of his official duties as the * * *
commissioner
may deem necessary; and to charge him with the immediate direction and control,
subject to the supervision and approval of the * * * commissioner, of all matters
relating to forestry as authorized herein. Any person appointed or employed
by the * * *
commissioner as State Forester shall have received a bachelor's degree
in forestry from an accredited school or college of forestry and shall be
licensed and registered under the provisions of the Mississippi Foresters
Registration Law (Section 73-36-1 et seq.) and in addition shall have had at
least five (5) years' administrative experience in a forestry-related field.
(b) To take such action and provide and maintain such organized means as may seem necessary and expedient to prevent, control and extinguish forest fires, including the enforcement of any and all laws pertaining to the protection of forests and woodland.
(c) To encourage forest and tree planting for the production of a wood crop, for the protection of water supply, for windbreak and shade, or for any other beneficial purposes contributing to the general welfare, public hygiene and comfort of the people.
(d) To cause to be made such technical investigations and studies concerning forest conditions, the propagation, care and protection of forest and shade trees, the care and management of forests, their growth, yield and the products and by-products thereof, and any other competent subject, including forest taxation, bearing on the timber supply and needs of the state, which the commission, in its discretion, may deem proper.
(e) To assist and cooperate
with any federal or state department or institution, county, town, corporation
or individual, under such terms as in the judgment of the * * * commissioner will best serve
the public interest, in the preparation and execution of plans for the
protection, management, replacement, or extension of the forest, woodland and
roadside or other ornamental tree growth in the state.
(f) To encourage
public interest in forestry by means of correspondence, the public press,
periodicals, the publication of bulletins and leaflets for general
distribution, the delivery of lectures in the schools and other suitable means,
and to cooperate to the fullest extent with the extension department services
of the state colleges in promoting reforestation. It shall be the duty of the
State Forester, as directed by the commissioner, to cooperate with
private timber owners in laying plans for the protection, management and
replacement of forests and in aiding them to form protection associations. It
shall be his duty to examine all timbered lands belonging to the state and its
institutions and report to the * * * commissioner upon their
timber conditions and actual value, and also whether some of these lands may
not be held as state forests. * * * The State Forester shall be
responsible for the protection and management of lands donated, purchased or
belonging to the state or state institutions, and all other lands reserved by
the state as state forests.
(g) To control the
expenditure of any and all funds appropriated or otherwise made available for
the several purposes set forth herein under suitable regulations and
restrictions by the * * *
Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce and to specifically
authorize any officer or employee of the * * * department to incur necessary
and stipulated expenses in connection with the work in which such person may be
engaged.
(h) To submit annually to the Legislature a report of the expenditures, proceedings and results achieved, together with such other matters including recommendations concerning legislation as are germane to the aims and purposes of this chapter.
(i) To create,
establish and organize the State of Mississippi into forestry districts for the
most effective and efficient administration of the * * * department.
(j) To appoint or
employ, upon the State Forester's recommendation, * * * individuals who shall be designated * * *
forestry enforcement officers who shall be vested with authority to bear
arms, investigate and make arrests; however, the * * * enforcement duties and authority of the
officers shall be limited to woods arson. The officers shall comply with
applicable minimum educational and training standards for law enforcement
officers. These officers may issue citations for any violation of those laws
for recklessly or with gross negligence causing fire to burn the lands of
another. A citation issued by a * * * forestry
enforcement officer shall be issued on a uniform citation form consisting of an
original and at least two (2) copies. * * * The citation shall show, among
other necessary information, the name of the issuing officer, the name of the court
in which the cause is to be heard and the date and time the person charged with
a violation is to appear to answer the charge. The uniform citation form shall
make a provision on it for information that will constitute a complaint
charging the offense for which the citation was issued and, when duly sworn to
and filed with a court of competent jurisdiction, prosecution may proceed under
that complaint. For the purposes of this paragraph, the fact that any person
is found to have a brush or debris pile or other material which is or was being
burned and reasonable and prudent efforts were not taken to prevent the spread
of the fire onto the lands of another shall be evidence that such person
recklessly or with gross negligence caused the land to burn.
* * *
(k) To discharge such duties, responsibilities and powers necessary to accomplish and implement the Forestry Inventory and Strategic Planning Act under Section 49-19-401 et seq.
SECTION 4. Section 49-19-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended forward as follows:
49-19-5. The * * * Division of Forestry * * * Services with the Mississippi
Department of Agriculture and Commerce is hereby authorized and empowered
to acquire and dispose of property of all kinds in accordance with the
provisions of Section 29-1-1, in order to discharge the duties as set forth in
Section 49-19-3, and subsequent germane general laws of the State of
Mississippi. It is further authorized to sell, rent, lease, and dispose of any
property acquired by the * * *commission division upon approval by the commissioner, and
in consultation with the Department of Finance and Administration Bureau of
Building, Grounds and Real Property, all property to be sold or disposed of
shall be sold or disposed of in the manner provided by law for the sale or
disposition of surplus property by other state agencies. Any funds received
from the sale, rental or lease of any property herein authorized, to be
acquired, shall be paid into the State Treasury to the credit of a special
account, and the * * *
department is hereby authorized to use this fund for the replacement,
repairs, and upkeep of any property authorized to be acquired and owned under
this section.
SECTION 5. Section 49-19-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
49-19-7. (1) The * * * Division of Forestry * * * Services shall keep itself and
the Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce informed as to the known
varieties of pine beetles and other timber insect pests and diseases, the
origin, locality, nature and appearance thereof, the manner in which they are
disseminated, and approved methods of treatment, control and eradication. The * * *
commissioner shall
from time to time make rules and regulations for carrying out the provisions
and requirements of this section, including rules and regulations under which
its employees shall ( * * *i)
inspect places, timber, and timber products, and other things and substances
used or connected therewith, ( * * *ii) investigate, control, eradicate and
prevent the dissemination of pine beetles and other timber insect pests and
diseases, and ( * * *iii)
supervise or cause the treatment, cutting and destruction of timber or timber
products and other things infested or infected therewith. The * * *
division's
employees shall have authority to carry out and execute the regulations and
orders of the * * * commissioner
and shall have authority, under direction of the * * * commissioner, to carry out
provisions of this section.
(2) The Mississippi * * *
Department
of Agriculture and Commerce and its employees shall have the authority to
enter upon any and all timberlands for the purpose of carrying out the
provisions of this section.
(3) All known varieties of
pine beetles and other insect pests and diseases infesting or infecting or
likely to infest or infect timber or timber products in this state shall be
listed by the * * * department, and every such variety of pine
beetle and every such insect pest or disease listed and all timber and timber
products infested or infected therewith are hereby declared to be a public
nuisance.
(4) Before entering upon
any lands for the purpose of removing any infested or infected timber having a
value in excess of One Hundred Dollars ($100.00), where the owner of such land
will not cause the removal of such infested or infected timber, the * * *
department
shall first secure an order of the chancery court in termtime or in vacation
authorizing the * * * department to effect such removal. Process on any resident
owner in any such proceeding shall be served as other process, and process on
any nonresident owner shall be had by mailing such process by registered mail,
return receipt requested, to the last-known address of such nonresident
or by publication in three (3) weekly issues of a newspaper published in
the county where such timberland is located if no mailing address is known.
Any hearing under provisions of this section may be set at any time five (5)
days after date of service of process, or in case of publication five (5)
days after completion of such publication.
(5) It is the purpose of
this section to authorize and empower the * * * Mississippi
Department of Agriculture and Commerce to control disease or insect
infections or infestations in timber and timber products within this state. It
is not the purpose of this section to transfer any powers from the * * * Bureau of Plant Industry
to the * * * Division
of Forestry * * * Services.
Use of the word "timber" shall be deemed to refer to such trees as
are normally used in the manufacture of lumber and the term "timber
products" shall be deemed to refer to products manufactured from such
trees normally used in the manufacture of lumber.
SECTION 6. Section 49-19-9, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
49-19-9. (1) The * * *
Mississippi
Department of Agriculture and Commerce through the Division of Forestry
Services is hereby authorized to extend fire protection services to the
Choctaw Indian lands located in Attala, Kemper, Leake, Neshoba, Newton, Jones
and Scott Counties, Mississippi.
(2) The * * *
department
is authorized to accept from the Choctaw Agency adequate compensation for fire
detection and suppression, which sum may be used by the * * *
department
in its fire protection work.
SECTION 7. Section 49-19-11, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
49-19-11. The * * *
Mississippi
Department of Agriculture and Commerce is hereby authorized to protect
intermingled or adjacent state owned lands in the same manner and form as other
lands within the state and the expenses thereof may be paid out of any
appropriation made to the * * * department;
provided such expenditures are not greater per acre in any year than the
expenditures by the commission on account of the protection of any other lands
than that owned by the State of Mississippi.
The provisions of this
section shall not be applicable to the protection of established state parks,
state forests or other state owned lands when increased expenditure may be
necessary for the protection thereof in the opinion of the * * * Commissioner of
Agriculture and Commerce.
It is hereby made the duty of
all agents and employees of the * * * Mississippi
Department of Agriculture and Commerce Division of Forestry Services to
report to the * * *
commissioner any timber or other trespass discovered by such agent or
employees on state owned lands giving detailed information thereof in such
report.
SECTION 8. Section 49-19-13, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
49-19-13. The boards of
supervisors of the several counties are hereby authorized, in their discretion,
to appropriate and pay to the * * * Mississippi
Department of Agriculture and Commerce from the general fund of the county
each year a sum of money not exceeding twenty-five percent (25%) of the forest
severance tax received by the county the preceding year. Such money so
appropriated shall be used by the * * * Division of
Forestry Services for forestry work and protection in such county.
SECTION 9. Section 49-19-15, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
49-19-15. The State
Forestry Fund, when made available by proper appropriation by the
Legislature, shall be expended by the * * * department in carrying out
and enforcing all laws pertaining to the protection of forests as the * * * commissioner may
direct, the vouchers to be drawn and paid as by other departments of the state.
SECTION 10. Section 49-19-17, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
49-19-17. The state and county boards of public education are directed to provide for proper courses of instruction by textbooks, or lectures on the general subject of forestry in all the public schools and colleges of this state; and they are further directed to provide for the celebration of arbor day by all public schools, on which day ornamental and shade trees, flowers, etc., are to be placed, where practicable, on the grounds surrounding all public schoolhouses.
SECTION 11. Section 49-19-19, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
49-19-19. (1) To encourage
better land use, to assist in controlling headwaters, to prevent soil erosion,
to help increase community and individual farm incomes, and to assist schools
in forest education and timber management, the Mississippi * * *
Department
of Agriculture and Commerce is hereby authorized to produce and make
available to farm owners and to schools of this state, having lands contiguous
to the school site suitable for reforestation, free commercial tree seedlings
not to exceed five thousand (5,000) trees per farm owner per year, and not to
exceed five thousand (5,000) trees per school, providing the farm owner or
owners and school trustees desiring such seedlings enter into a cooperative
agreement with the * * * Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce
assuring the * * * commissioner
of the proper planting, care, and protection of all seedlings thus furnished
from fire and wasteful cutting. The minimum number of seedlings furnished any
consignee under this section shall not be less than one thousand (1,000).
(2) In its cooperative
agreement, the Mississippi * * * Department of Agriculture
and Commerce may provide for the payment to it of a penalty of not
exceeding Ten Dollars ($10.00) per thousand trees for each thousand or part
thereof planted in violation of the purposes and intent of this section.
(3) The * * *
department
is hereby authorized to use such funds as it may have available in carrying out
the intent and purposes of this section.
SECTION 12. Section 49-19-21, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
49-19-21. All monies
received from the United States government for protection of forest lands, for
reforestation of denuded areas, for extension of national forests, and to
promote the continuous production of timber shall be credited to said State
Forestry Fund, and expended by the * * * department as is directed by
the federal government.
SECTION 13. Section 49-19-23, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
49-19-23. All monies paid to the State of Mississippi by the United States, on account of national forest lands in Mississippi, established under the provisions of the Weeks Law, so-called, being an act of Congress, approved March 1, 1911, and amendments thereto, shall be apportioned by the State Treasurer to the several counties in which such national forest lands are or may be, in proportion to the area of such national forest lands in each, as determined by the Forest Service of the United States Department of Agriculture.
The several sums so apportioned to each county shall be paid over by the State Treasurer to the county depository within sixty (60) days after receipt thereof, and fifty percent (50%) of such funds received by the county shall be expended for the benefit of the public schools, and the remaining fifty percent (50%) of such funds shall, in the discretion of the board of supervisors, be expended for the benefit of the public roads or of the public schools of the school districts within which national forest lands may be located.
In any area affected not having a school located therein, all of such funds may be expended on roads.
In counties containing one hundred sixty thousand, two hundred fifty-three (160,253) acres of national forest lands located solely within three (3) supervisors districts, if the board of supervisors elects to apportion fifty percent (50%) of the funds so received to public roads, the funds shall be expended upon the public roads within the supervisors district or districts within which the national forest lands are located.
In counties containing one hundred sixty thousand, two hundred fifty-three (160,253) acres of national forest lands located solely within three (3) supervisors districts, that portion of the funds allocated to public schools may, within the discretion of the county school board, be expended for the public schools within the county wherein the national forest lands are located.
In any county wherein there is located a national forest traversed by the Chickasawhay River and in which U. S. Highways 84 and 45 intersect, all such funds so received shall be expended in such manner as the board of supervisors shall determine in the public interest for the maintenance of public roads and support of the public schools.
SECTION 14. Section 49-19-25, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
49-19-25. ( * * *1) Any fire on any forested, cutover,
brushlands or grasslands burning uncontrolled is hereby declared a public
nuisance by reason of its menace to life and property. Any person, firm or
corporation negligently or * * * willfully and maliciously
responsible for the starting or the existence of such fire on land other than
his own is hereby required to control or extinguish it immediately, and if said
person, firm or corporation shall * * * willfully refuse, neglect or
fail to do so, any organized fire suppression agency recognized by the
Mississippi * * * Department of Agriculture and Commerce, may
summarily abate the nuisance thus constituted by controlling or extinguishing
the fire. The cost of abating such nuisance, with all costs and reasonable
attorney's fees to be allowed by the court, may be recovered from the person,
firm or corporation responsible for such nuisance by civil action in the proper
court, action for said recovery to be filed by the agency abating the
nuisance. This section shall not impair any remedy now allowed by law.
( * * *2) Any open cistern or well, which has
been abandoned or is no longer used for the purpose of a cistern or well is
hereby declared to be a public nuisance by reason of its menace to life and
property, and the Mississippi * * * Department of Agriculture
and Commerce is hereby authorized to seal such cistern or well upon request
of the landowner. A reasonable fee shall be charged for this purpose and all
fees collected shall be handled in the same manner as other service charges
collected by the commissioner.
SECTION 15. Section 49-19-27, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
49-19-27. (1) There is
created in the State Treasury a fund designated as the Tree Seedling Revolving
Fund. The * * * Mississippi Department of Agriculture and
Commerce shall use the fund to contract for the production or purchase of
tree seedlings, for resale to Mississippi landowners for reforestation.
(2) The Tree Seedling
Revolving Fund shall be funded by monies received from the sale of contract
seedlings to Mississippi landowners. Monies collected from the sales shall be
deposited into the Tree Seedling Revolving Fund. The State Treasurer shall
make disbursements for payment of production or purchase of seedlings upon
requisition by the * * * Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce and upon
the issuance of warrants by the Department of Finance and
Administration.
(3) The Tree Seedling
Revolving Fund is created to supplement the * * * Mississippi
Department of Agriculture and Commerce's seedling production capacity and
not for its replacement.
SECTION 16. Section 49-19-31, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
49-19-31. (1) There is
hereby created a Joint Study Committee on Forestry in Mississippi. The
committee shall study and make recommendations, including recommended
legislation regarding the * * *Forestry Commission administration of forestry-related
duties of the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce,
coordination of forestry policy, the coordination of overlapping conservation
practices by state agencies, the seedling shortage and other matters related to
the forestry industry.
(2) The committee shall be composed of the following members:
(a) The Chairman of the Senate Forestry Committee, Chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, and two (2) members of the Forestry Committee appointed by the Lieutenant Governor.
(b) The Chairman of
the House Forestry Committee, Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee
and * * * two
(2) members of the * * * agriculture Forestry Committee appointed by the Speaker
of the House of Representatives.
(c) The Chairman of
the Senate Forestry Committee and the Chairman of the House * * * Forestry Committee shall
serve as cochairs of the committee.
(3) The members of the joint committee shall be paid from the contingent expense funds of their respective houses in the same manner as provided for committee meetings when the Legislature is not in session and shall obtain the approval of their respective management committees for per diem and travel expense expenditures of the committee.
(4) The committee shall utilize clerical and legal staff employed by the Legislature and may utilize any assistance made available to it by any state agency.
(5) Upon presentation of its final report the committee shall be dissolved.
SECTION 17. Section 49-19-65, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
49-19-65. It shall be the
duty of the * * * Mississippi Department of Agriculture and
Commerce to give general publicity throughout the state to Sections 49-19-51
through 49-19-75 and post notices covering such sections in at least three (3)
public places in each county, one (1) of which shall be posted on the bulletin
board at the front door of the courthouse in each of the counties.
SECTION 18. Section 49-19-67, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
49-19-67. Sections 49-19-51
through 49-19-75 shall not apply to nor shall it prohibit the clearing of land
for bona fide use in crop production, nor the clearing of land for pasture
purposes where such pasture is enclosed with a standard wire fence of two (2)
or more strands, nor to the clearing for building sites, right-of-ways for
roads, power or communication lines or similar uses; nor shall such sections
apply to individuals cutting timber from their own lands for their own personal
use where there is no sale, commercial gain or profit involved, nor those
special cases where permission is obtained in writing from the * * *
Mississippi
Department of Agriculture for the emergency removal of storm or disease
damaged timber.
SECTION 19. Section 49-19-71, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
49-19-71. It shall be the
duty of the Mississippi * * * Forestry CommissionDepartment of Agriculture and Commerce
and its employees to enforce the terms and provisions of Sections 49-19-51
through 49-19-75 and to that end * * * the department or its
employees are hereby authorized to enter upon any and all forestry lands to
make such inspection and investigation as may be necessary for the proper
enforcement of said sections and, in addition to the other remedies, conferred
by such sections or other laws of the state, the * * * Commissioner of
Agriculture and Commerce is hereby authorized to enter suit on behalf of
the state to enjoin any person, partnership, firm, association or corporation
from violating any of the terms and provisions of such sections and in such
suits the * * * department shall not be required to give bond, and the * * *
department
is also authorized to employ inspectors within the Division of Forestry
Services and such other help as may be necessary for the effective carrying
out of the intent and purposes of such sections.
SECTION 20. Section 49-19-73, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
49-19-73. In order to more
adequately enforce the provisions of Sections 49-19-51 through 49-19-75, it is
hereby made the duty of each sheriff, constable, conservation officer, district
attorney and county prosecuting attorney to make, from time to time, inquiry as
to any violation of Sections 49-19-51 through 49-19-75 and to promptly report
any violation to the * * * Mississippi Department of Agriculture and
Commerce and further to assist the * * * department, its officers and
employees in enforcing any of the provisions of the aforesaid sections and in
prosecuting any violations thereof. It shall be the duty of the various
circuit judges at each convening of the grand jury to call the grand jurors'
attention to such sections and to charge them to fully investigate any
violations thereof.
SECTION 21. Section 49-19-111, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
49-19-111. For the purpose
of providing assistance to all farm woodland and timber landowners in the
state, including private ownership, and to promote the growing, managing and
harvesting of timber thereon, and to provide organized forest fire protection
in all counties, and to encourage the production and growth of timber on all
lands suitable therefor, and for the better management thereof, and to
encourage greater private ownership and promote forest education and timber
management and forest fire control, the * * * Mississippi
Department of Agriculture and Commerce is hereby authorized to carry out
the provisions of Sections 49-19-111 through 49-19-117.
SECTION 22. Section 49-19-113, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
49-19-113. In order to
carry out further the program herein authorized, the * * * Mississippi
Department of Agriculture and Commerce is hereby authorized to organize,
divide or set up forest districts and areas throughout the state, which
districts and areas shall be so organized, divided or set up in accordance with
the distribution of forestland and the location of political boundaries as to
best serve the interest of the state as a whole. The * * * Commissioner of Agriculture and
Commerce shall appoint a district forester and assistant district forester
for each district and shall appoint an area forester for each forest area, all
of whom shall be charged with the duty of directing forestry education, timber
management, forest fire control and other necessary forestry conservation
activities and practices as the * * * commissioner shall deem
necessary.
SECTION 23. Section 49-19-115, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
49-19-115. (1) The board
of supervisors of all counties are hereby directed to levy a special tax to be
known as "the forest acreage tax." Such tax shall be Two Cents (2˘)
per acre on all timbered and uncultivatable lands in the county in order to
receive the financial and supervisory cooperation of the * * *
Mississippi
Department of Agriculture and Commerce in carrying out organized forest
fire control and other provisions of Sections 49-19-111 through 49-19-117.
(2) In addition to the tax levied under subsection (1) of this section, the board of supervisors of all counties are hereby directed to levy an additional forest acreage tax on all timbered and uncultivatable lands in the county beginning October 1, 1989, and continuing for three (3) succeeding years in the following amounts:
Total Acreage
Increase Tax
Fiscal year ending
September 30, 1990 3˘ per acre 5˘ per acre
Fiscal year ending
September 30, 1991 2˘ per acre 7˘ per acre
Fiscal year ending
September 30, 1992 2˘ per acre 9˘ per acre
Upon completion of the third year, the total acreage tax shall remain at the Nine Cents (9˘) per acre per year.
(3) Uncultivatable lands shall not include bogs, unreclaimed strip mine areas, coastal beach sands, tidal and freshwater marshes, beaver ponds and flood or flowage easements.
(4) Those homeowners described in Section 27-33-67(2), who qualify for the exemptions allowed in Article 1, Chapter 33, Title 27, Mississippi Code of 1972, shall be exempt from any forest acreage tax levied pursuant to this section.
(5) The provisions of this section and the tax levy required herein shall not be applicable to any counties which were not levying such forest acreage tax on January 1, 1989.
(6) This section shall be repealed on June 30, 2016.
SECTION 24. Section 49-19-117, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
49-19-117. (1) All forest
acreage taxes assessed and collected by such levy as provided for in Section 49-19-115
shall be remitted to the forest acreage account in the State Treasury and shall
be expended by the * * * department as the * * * commissioner may deem
necessary in carrying out the purpose and intent of Sections 49-19-111 through
49-19-117.
(2) The * * *
Mississippi
Department of Agriculture and Commerce is hereby authorized to use state
funds appropriated for the purpose of Sections 49-19-111 through 49-19-117 in
addition to any funds made available from county forest acreage taxes, federal
funds and other sources.
(3) The * * *
department
is hereby authorized to expend the funds herein provided in such manner as to
most effectively carry out the provisions of Sections 49-19-111 through 49-19-117.
The forest acreage tax levied at the rate of Two Cents (2˘) per acre under
Section 49-19-115(1) shall be utilized on an economical and practical basis in
order to foster, encourage, promote and bring about forestry education, timber
management and organized forest fire control throughout the State of
Mississippi. The additional forest acreage tax levied under Section 49-19-115(2)
shall be utilized by the * * * State Forestry Commissiondepartment to purchase fire
support equipment, including transport trucks, tractors and other related fire
support equipment. The additional forest acreage tax levied under Section 49-19-115(2)
shall be appropriated under the appropriation process.
SECTION 25. Section 49-19-141, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
49-19-141. The Governor on behalf of this state is hereby authorized to execute a compact, in substantially the following form, with any one or more of the states of Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas, and the Legislature hereby signifies in advance its approval and ratification of such compact:
SOUTH CENTRAL INTERSTATE FOREST FIRE PROTECTION COMPACT
Article I.
The purpose of this compact is to promote effective prevention and control of forest fires in the South Central Region of the United States by the development of integrated forest fire plans, by the maintenance of adequate forest fire fighting services by the member states, by providing for mutual aid in fighting forest fires among the compacting states of the region and with states which are party to other regional forest fire protection compacts or agreements, and for more adequate forest development.
Article II.
This compact shall become operative immediately as to those states ratifying it whenever any two (2) or more of the states of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Texas which are contiguous have ratified it and Congress has given consent thereto. Any state not mentioned in this article which is contiguous with any member state may become a party to this compact, subject to approval by the Legislature of each of the member states.
Article III.
In each state, the State Forester or officer holding the equivalent position who is responsible for forest fire control shall act as compact administrator for that state and shall consult with like officials of the other member states and shall implement cooperation between such states in forest fire prevention and control.
The compact administrators of the member states shall organize to coordinate the services of the member states and provide administrative integration in carrying out the purposes of this compact.
There shall be established an advisory committee of legislators, forestry commission representatives, and forestry or forest products industries representatives which shall meet from time to time with the compact administrators. Each member state shall name one member of the Senate and one member of the House of Representatives, and the Governor of each member state shall appoint one representative who shall be the chairman of the State Forestry Commission or comparable official and one representative who shall be associated with forestry or forest products industries to comprise the membership of the advisory committee. Action shall be taken by a majority of the compacting states, and each state shall be entitled to one vote.
The compact administrators shall formulate and, in accordance with need, from time to time, revise a regional forest fire plan for the member states.
It shall be the duty of each member state to formulate and put in effect a forest fire plan for that state and take such measures as may be necessary to integrate such forest fire plan with the regional forest fire plan formulated by the compact administrators.
Article IV.
Whenever the state forest fire control agency of a member state requests aid from the state forest fire control agency of any other member state in combating, controlling or preventing forest fires, it shall be the duty of the state forest fire control agency of that state to render all possible aid to the requesting agency which is consonant with the maintenance of protection at home.
Article V.
Whenever the forces of any member state are rendering outside aid pursuant to the request of another member state under this compact, the employees of such state shall, under the direction of the officers of the state to which they are rendering aid, have the same powers (except the power of arrest), duties, rights, privileges and immunities as comparable employees of the state to which they are rendering aid.
No member state or its officers or employees rendering outside aid pursuant to this compact shall be liable on account of any act or omission on the part of such forces while so engaged, or on account of the maintenance or use of any equipment or supplies in connection therewith: Provided, that nothing herein shall be construed as relieving any person from liability for his own negligent act or omission, or as imposing liability for such negligent act or omission upon any state.
All liability, except as otherwise provided hereinafter, that may arise either under the laws of the requesting state or under the laws of the aiding state or under the laws of a third state on account of or in connection with a request for aid, shall be assumed and borne by the requesting state.
Any member state rendering outside aid pursuant to this compact shall be reimbursed by the member state receiving such aid for any loss or damage to, or expense incurred in the operation of any equipment answering a request for aid, and for the cost of all materials, transportation, wages, salaries, and maintenance of employees and equipment incurred in connection with such request: Provided, that nothing herein contained shall prevent any assisting member state from assuming such loss, damage, expense or other cost or from loaning such equipment or from donating such service to the receiving member state without charge or cost.
Each member state shall provide for the payment of compensation and death benefits to injured employees and the representatives of deceased employees in case employees sustain injuries or are killed while rendering outside aid pursuant to this compact, in the same manner and on the same terms as if the injury or death were sustained within such state.
For the purposes of this compact the term employee shall include any volunteer or auxiliary legally included within the forest fighting forces of the aiding state under the laws thereof.
The compact administrators shall formulate procedures for claims and reimbursement under the provisions of this article, in accordance with the laws of the member states.
Article VI.
Ratification of this compact shall not be construed to affect any existing statute so as to authorize or permit curtailment or diminution of the forest fighting forces, equipment, services or facilities of any member state.
Nothing in this compact shall be construed to limit or restrict the powers of any state ratifying the same to provide for the prevention, control and extinguishment of forest fires, or to prohibit the enactment or enforcement of state laws, rules or regulations intended to aid in such prevention, control and extinguishment in such state.
Nothing in this compact shall be construed to affect any existing or future cooperative relationship or arrangement between the United States Forest Service and a member state or states.
Article VII.
The compact administrators may request the United States Forest Service to act as the primary research and coordinating agency of the South Central Interstate Forest Fire Protection Compact in cooperation with the appropriate agencies in each state, and the United States Forest Service may accept the initial responsibility in preparing and presenting to the compact administrators its recommendations with respect to the regional fire plan. Representatives of the United States Forest Service may attend meetings of the compact administrators.
Article VIII.
The provisions of Articles IV and V of this compact which relate to mutual aid in combating, controlling or preventing forest fires shall be operative as between any state party to this compact and any other state which is party to a regional forest fire protection compact in another region: Provided, that the Legislature of such other state shall have given its assent to such mutual aid provisions of this compact.
Article IX.
This compact shall continue in force and remain binding on each state ratifying it until the Legislature or the Governor of such state takes action to withdraw therefrom. Such action shall not be effective until six (6) months after notice thereof has been sent by the chief executive of the state desiring to withdraw to the chief executives of all states then parties to the compact.
SECTION 26. Section 49-19-143, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
49-19-143. When the Governor shall have executed said compact on behalf of this state and shall have caused a verified copy thereof to be filed with the state secretary, and when the compact shall have been ratified by one or more of the states named in Section 49-19-141, then the compact shall become operative and effective as between this state and such other state or states. The Governor is hereby authorized and directed to take such action as may be necessary to complete the exchange of official documents as between this state and any other state ratifying the compact.
SECTION 27. Section 49-19-145, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
49-19-145. The State Forester of Mississippi shall act as "compact administrator" for the State of Mississippi and represent Mississippi in the South Central Interstate Forest Fire Protection Compact. The "advisory committee" shall be composed of four (4) members as follows: (1) One member of the Senate, (2) one member of the House of Representatives, each of whom shall be appointed by the Mississippi Commission on Interstate Cooperation, (3) the State Forester or his successor, or a comparable official, in the event of amendment to the present law, who shall be appointed by the Governor and shall serve as chairman of the advisory committee, and (4) one member who shall be associated with forestry or forest products industries, to be appointed by the Governor; each member shall serve for a term of four (4) years and be eligible to immediately succeed himself.
SECTION 28. Section 49-19-147, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
49-19-147. The compact administrator, with the assistance of the advisory committee, shall be authorized to do any and all things necessary in order to effectuate the terms and provisions of the compact contained herein, and Sections 49-19-141 through 49-19-149 shall be entitled to a liberal interpretation in order to carry out the spirit and intent of interstate cooperation in fire control for the mutual benefit of the states participating therein. Among the powers conferred upon the compact administrator, but not limiting his powers thereto, shall be that of formulating and, in accordance with need, from time to time, revising a regional forest fire plan for the member states. It shall be the duty of the compact administrator of Mississippi in cooperation with those compact administrators in the member states to formulate and put in effect a forest fire plan for Mississippi and take such measures as may be necessary to integrate such forest fire plan with the forest fire plan formulated by the compact administrators.
SECTION 29. Section 49-19-149, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
49-19-149. Among the other rights and powers conferred by Sections 49-19-141 to 49-19-149, but not limiting the same, is the right and power of this state to go to the assistance of a member state and to accept aid and assistance from a member state, paying therefore under the terms and provisions of Articles IV and V of the compact contained herein; and the State of Mississippi pledges hereby that it will pay any sums due under this compact for the employment of personnel or otherwise where assistance is rendered to Mississippi by a member state. Articles IV and V are hereby ratified, confirmed and approved.
SECTION 30. Section 49-19-171, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
49-19-171. The Governor on behalf of this state is hereby authorized to execute a compact, in substantially the following form, with any one or more of the States of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia, and the Legislature hereby signifies in advance its approval and ratification of such compact:
SOUTHEASTERN INTERSTATE FOREST FIRE PROTECTION COMPACT
Article I.
The purpose of this compact is to promote effective prevention and control of forest fires in the Southeastern Region of the United States by the development of integrated forest fire plans, by the maintenance of adequate forest fire fighting services by the member states, by providing for mutual aid in fighting forest fires among the compacting states of the region and with states which are party to other regional forest fire protection compacts or agreements, and for more adequate forest protection.
Article II.
This compact shall become operative immediately as to those states ratifying it whenever any two (2) or more of the States of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia, which are contiguous have ratified it and Congress has given consent thereto. Any state not mentioned in this article which is contiguous with any member state may become a party to this compact, subject to approval by the Legislature of each of the member states.
Article III.
In each state, the State Forester or officer holding the equivalent position who is responsible for forest fire control shall act as compact administrator for that state and shall consult with like officials of the other member states and shall implement cooperation between such states in forest fire prevention and control.
The compact administrator of the member states shall coordinate the services of the member states and provide administrative integration in carrying out the purposes of this compact.
There shall be established an advisory committee of legislators, forestry commission representatives, and forestry or forest products industries representatives which shall meet from time to time with the compact administrators. Each member state shall name one member of the Senate and one member of the House of Representatives who shall be designated by that state's Commission on Interstate Cooperation, or if said commission cannot constitutionally designate the said members, they shall be designated in accordance with laws of that state; and the Governor of each member state shall appoint two (2) representatives, one of whom shall be associated with forestry or forest products industries to comprise the membership of the advisory committee. Action shall be taken by a majority of the compacting states, and each state shall be entitled to one vote.
The compact administrators shall formulate and, in accordance with need, from time to time, revise a regional forest fire plan for the member states.
It shall be the duty of each member state to formulate and put in effect a forest fire plan for that state and take such measures as may be necessary to integrate such forest fire plan with the regional forest fire plan formulated by the compact administrators.
Article IV.
Whenever the state forest fire control agency of a member state requests aid from the state forest fire control agency of any other member state in combating, controlling or preventing forest fires, it shall be the duty of the state forest fire control agency of that state to render all possible aid to the requesting agency which is consonant with the maintenance of protection at home.
Article V.
Whenever the forces of any member state are rendering outside aid pursuant to the request of another member state under this compact, the employees of such state shall, under the direction of the officers of the state to which they are rendering aid, have the same powers (except the power of arrest), duties, rights, privileges, and immunities as comparable employees of the state to which they are rendering aid.
No member state or its officers or employees rendering outside aid pursuant to this compact shall be liable on account of any act or omission on the part of such forces while so engaged, or on account of the maintenance, or use of any equipment or supplies in connection therewith: Provided, that nothing herein shall be construed as relieving any person from liability for his own negligent act or omission, or as imposing liability for such negligent act or omission upon any state.
All liability, except as otherwise provided hereinafter, that may arise either under the laws of the requesting state or under the laws of the aiding state or under the laws of a third state on account of or in connection with a request for aid, shall be assumed and borne by the requesting state.
Any member state rendering outside aid pursuant to this compact shall be reimbursed by the member state receiving such aid for any loss or damage to, or expense incurred in the operation of any equipment answering a request for aid, and for the cost of all materials, transportation, wages, salaries, and subsistence of employees and maintenance of equipment incurred in connection with such request: Provided, that nothing herein contained shall prevent any assisting member state from assuming such loss, damage, expense or other cost or from loaning such equipment or from donating such service to the receiving member state without charge or cost.
Each member state shall provide for the payment of compensation and death benefits to injured employees and the representatives of deceased employees in case employees sustain injuries or are killed while rendering outside aid pursuant to this compact, in the same manner and on the same terms as if the injury or death were sustained within such state.
For the purpose of this compact the term employee shall include any volunteer or auxiliary legally included within the forest fighting forces of the aiding state under the laws thereof.
The compact administrators shall formulate procedures for claims and reimbursement under the provisions of this article, in accordance with the laws of the member states.
Article VI.
Ratification of this compact shall not be construed to affect any existing statute so as to authorize or permit curtailment or diminution of the forest fighting forces, equipment, services or facilities of any member state.
Nothing in this compact shall be construed to limit or restrict the powers of any state ratifying the same to provide for the prevention, control and extinguishment of forest fires, or to prohibit the enactment or enforcement of state laws, rules or regulations intended to aid in such prevention, control and extinguishment in such state.
Nothing in this compact shall be construed to affect any existing or future cooperative relationship or arrangement between any federal agency and a member state or states.
Article VII.
The compact administrators may request the United States Forest Service to act as a research and coordinating agency of the Southeastern Interstate Forest Fire Protection Compact in cooperation with the appropriate agencies in each state, and the United States Forest Service may accept responsibility for preparing and presenting to the compact administrators its recommendations with respect to the regional fire plan. Representatives of any federal agency engaged in forest fire prevention and control may attend meetings of the compact administrators.
Article VIII.
The provisions of Articles IV and V of this compact which relate to mutual aid in combating, controlling or preventing forest fires shall be operative as between any state party to this compact and any other state which is party to a regional forest fire protection compact in another region: Provided, that the Legislature of such other state shall have given its assent to such mutual aid provisions of this compact.
Article IX.
This compact shall continue in force and remain binding on each state ratifying it until the Legislature or the Governor of such state, as the laws of such state provide, takes action to withdraw therefrom. Such action shall not be effective until six (6) months after notice thereof has been sent by the chief executive of the state desiring to withdraw to the chief executives of all states then parties to the compact.
SECTION 31. Section 49-19-173, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
49-19-173. When the Governor shall have executed said compact on behalf of this state and shall have caused a verified copy thereof to be filed with the state secretary, and when the compact shall have been ratified by one or more of the states named in Section 49-19-171, then the compact shall become operative and effective as between this state and such other state or states. The Governor is hereby authorized and directed to take such action as may be necessary to complete the exchange of official documents as between this state and any other state ratifying the compact.
SECTION 32. Section 49-19-175, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
49-19-175. The State Forester of Mississippi shall act as "compact administrator" for the State of Mississippi and represent Mississippi in the Southeastern Interstate Forest Fire Protection Compact. The "advisory committee" shall be composed of four (4) members as follows: (1) One member of the Senate, (2) one member of the House of Representatives, each of whom shall be appointed by the Mississippi Commission on Interstate Cooperation, (3) the State Forester or his successor, or a comparable official, in the event of amendment to the present law, who shall be appointed by the Governor and shall serve as chairman of the advisory committee, and (4) one member shall be associated with forestry or forest products industries, to be appointed by the Governor; each member shall serve for a term of four (4) years and be eligible to immediately succeed himself. Advisory committee members shall be reimbursed for all necessary travel expenses incurred while attending compact meetings provided the total expenditure of the four members does not exceed One Thousand Two Hundred Dollars ($1,200.00) per year.
SECTION 33. Section 49-19-177, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
49-19-177. The compact administrator, with the assistance of the advisory committee, shall be authorized to do any and all things necessary in order to effectuate the terms and provisions of the compact contained herein and Sections 49-19-171 through 49-19-179 shall be entitled to a liberal interpretation in order to carry out the spirit and intent of interstate cooperation in fire control for the mutual benefit of the states participating therein. Among the powers conferred upon the compact administrator, but not limiting his powers thereto, shall be that of formulating and, in accordance with need, from time to time, revising a regional forest fire plan for the member states. It shall be the duty of the compact administrator of Mississippi in cooperation with those compact administrators in the member states to formulate and put in effect a forest fire plan for Mississippi and take such measures as may be necessary to integrate such forest fire plan with the forest fire plan formulated by the compact administrators.
SECTION 34. Section 49-19-201, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
49-19-201. Sections 49-19-201 through 49-19-227 shall be cited as the "Forest Resource Development Law of 1974."
SECTION 35. Section 49-19-203, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
49-19-203. The Legislature of the State of Mississippi recognizes that the growing demands on forests and related land resources cannot be met by intensive management of public lands and industrial forests alone, and declares that the development of forest resources on poorly stocked, idle and poorly managed lands in Mississippi is needed to insure that Mississippi shall continue to develop its forest economy.
The Legislature declares the development of forest resources on suitable lands to be a public policy of the State of Mississippi. The Legislature is mindful, in stating this policy, that continuous timber growth of commercially valuable species for needed forest products is in the public interest, and that such growth can be attained, to a considerable degree, by making financial assistance available to private nonindustrial landowners for developing forest resources on desirable and suitable sites.
SECTION 36. Section 49-19-205, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
49-19-205. For purposes of Sections 49-19-201 through 49-19-227, the following words shall have the meaning ascribed herein unless the context requires otherwise:
(a) " * * *
Commissioner" * * * means the * * * Commissioner of
Agriculture and Commerce.
(b) "State
Forester" * * *
means the forester appointed or employed by the * * * commissioner under the authority
of Section 49-19-3.
(c) "Eligible owner" shall mean either (i) a private individual, group or association, or (ii) an agency of state, local or municipal government, but the term shall not mean or include private corporations manufacturing products or providing public utility services of any type or any subsidiary of such corporations; provided, however, only one (1) owner of land owned in joint tenancy or tenancy in common and only one (1) member or officer of any group or association shall be eligible to apply for or receive cost-share assistance to be expended for development of any or all lands owned by such owners or group or association.
(d) "Eligible lands" shall mean (i) nonindustrial private lands owned by a private individual, group or association, and (ii) lands owned by the State of Mississippi or any political subdivision thereof, but shall not include lands owned by private corporations which manufacture products or provide public utility services of any type or any subsidiary of such corporations.
(e) "Cost-share
assistance" shall mean the partial financial assistance in such amounts as
the * * * department,
in its discretion, shall determine, subject to the limitations of Sections 49-19-201
through 49-19-227.
(f) "Approved
practice" shall mean and include planting, seeding, timber stand
improvement, prescribed burning, site preparation, systematic planting of
hardwood trees for game preservation and development, or such other forest
resource development practice as the * * * commissioner shall approve or
determine proper generally or with regard to any particular applicant.
(g) "Forest development fund" shall mean the special fund established in the State Treasury, designated as the Forest Resource Development Fund, created by Section 49-19-227.
(h) "Department" means the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce.
(i) "Division" means the Division of Forestry Services within the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce.
SECTION 37. Section 49-19-207, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
49-19-207. The * * *
Mississippi
Department of Agriculture and Commerce shall serve as administrator of the
provisions of Sections 49-19-201 through 49-19-227, and shall serve as the
disbursing agency for funds to be expended from and deposited to the credit of
the forest development fund.
SECTION 38. Section 49-19-209, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
49-19-209. The * * *
Commissioner of
Agriculture and Commerce is authorized to employ such professional and
clerical assistance as is needed to implement the provisions of Sections 49-19-201
through 49-19-227, and to compensate such individuals from funds appropriated
for such purpose.
The * * * department is authorized
to purchase equipment, supplies and materials and to maintain and transport
equipment as is needed to implement the provisions of Sections 49-19-201
through 49-19-227, and to defray the expenses of such purchase and
transportation from any funds appropriated for such purpose.
SECTION 39. Section 49-19-211, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
49-19-211. The * * * Commissioner shall * * * promulgate such rules and regulations
as are necessary for the implementation of Sections 49-19-201 through 49-19-227.
The * * * department
is authorized to conduct public hearings or otherwise seek the advice, counsel
and recommendations of interested owners, associations, industrialists or other
persons or groups. Adequate notice of any public hearing must be provided
within the general area of the site of the hearing.
The * * * department shall publish such
rules and regulations and shall make the same available upon request.
SECTION 40. Section 49-19-213, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
49-19-213. The * * *
department is
authorized to use the money in the forest development fund to assist in
implementing approved practices, on a cost-sharing basis as provided in
Sections 49-19-201 through 49-19-227, on eligible lands in the State of
Mississippi. However, no cost-share assistance shall be provided an eligible
owner to implement any approved practice on any land or lands if the owner
receives federal funds for such practice and is using such federal funds for
any forest resource development practice on said land or lands. Eligible
owners may use federal funds on other lands.
SECTION 41. Section 49-19-215, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
49-19-215. (1) The * * * department shall actively and
diligently encourage all eligible owners to use their own resources or to
employ the resources of private vendors to implement approved practices.
(2) The * * * department shall not enter
into active competition with eligible owners or private vendors for the on-the-ground
job of implementing any approved practice as it is the intent of the
Legislature to encourage private business, forest industries and the forestry
community to participate in the economic development which will be provided by
Sections 49-19-201 through 49-19-227.
SECTION 42. Section 49-19-217, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
49-19-217. If an eligible
owner cannot provide his own resources or procure a private vendor to implement
any approved practice, the * * * Division of Forestry Services,
in * * * the
discretion of the commissioner, may act as vendor by utilizing
employees, equipment, materials and supplies of the * * * department. In such event,
the * * *
division shall charge the eligible owner a sum equal to the established
rate of the * * *
division for providing such service. Payments for such charge shall be
collected, received, and recorded in the same manner as other sales and
services funds received by the * * * department.
SECTION 43. Section 49-19-219, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
49-19-219. The * * * Division of Forestry Services
shall have the following powers and duties to implement the provisions of
Sections 49-19-201 through 49-19-227:
(a) To determine which approved practices shall be eligible for cost-share assistance;
(b) To establish maximum sums, subject to the provisions of Section 49-19-221, which any one (1) eligible owner may receive for implementation of an approved practice;
(c) To review
periodically the costs of forest development practices and to make such
adjustment as, in the discretion of the * * * commissioner, is necessary in
the Thirty-seven Dollars and Fifty Cents ($37.50) per acre assistance allowed
in Section 49-19-221;
(d) Upon request of
the * * * commissioner, the Attorney General of the State of
Mississippi shall institute proper legal proceedings to recover any or all of
the cost-share assistance provided an eligible owner if the * * * division shall determine that
the owner failed to implement any portion of or all of the practice approved by
the * * *
division for such owner and if the * * * division determines that
legal proceedings are necessary and proper.
(e) To determine,
before approving any cost-share assistance for any eligible owner that such
approved practice is reasonable and is comparable to the actual cost of
implementing such practice in the general area in which the land is located.
Should the * * *
commissioner determine that the submitted cost of implementing the
approved practice is not reasonable, the * * * commissioner shall approve
cost-share assistance in an amount which is determined by the * * * commissioner to be
reasonable for the implementation of the approved practice in the general area
in which the land is located.
SECTION 44. Section 49-19-221, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
49-19-221. (1) An eligible
owner shall receive cost-share assistance as the * * * Division of Forestry Services,
in its discretion, shall determine and approve, but the * * * division shall not
approve * * * any
assistance in an amount which exceeds either: (a) a sum equal to
seventy-five percent (75%) of the owner's actual cost incurred in implementing
the approved practice approved by the * * * division for that owner on a
particular tract of land or lands, except that with respect to sixteenth
section school trust lands the * * * division may approve up to
one hundred percent (100%) cost-share for any school district that has less has
than Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00) in its Forestry Escrow Fund * * *; or (b) a sum equal to Thirty-seven
Dollars and Fifty Cents ($37.50) per acre of land on which the approved
practice is implemented by the owner; provided, however, that no eligible
owner, in any one (1) fiscal year, shall receive a sum total for all approved
practices implemented by the owner of more than Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00);
except that with respect to sixteenth section trust lands the * * *
division, at its
discretion, may exceed * * *
the monetary limit in order to provide a total forest improvement
program within any county.
(2) The limitation of
Thirty-seven Dollars and Fifty Cents ($37.50) per acre, as set forth in * * * paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of
this section, may be changed by the * * * division under
the authorization of * * *
paragraph (c) of Section 49-19-219.
(3) During the reforestation of sixteenth section school trust lands classified as forestlands, no more than an average of twenty-five percent (25%) of Forest Resource Development Program funds will be spent on the reforestation of these school trust lands.
* * *
SECTION 45. Section 49-19-223, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
49-19-223. (1) Any
eligible owner who wishes to receive cost-share assistance shall file an
application with the * * *
Division of Forestry Services stating the practice to be implemented,
the approximate cost of such practice and a description of the land or lands
upon which the practice is to be implemented. The application shall be
accompanied by a statement of intent stating:
(a) That the owner
intends to utilize the cost-share assistance for long-range timber growing and
improvement * * *;
(b) That the owner is
not receiving or using federal funds for implementation of any approved
practice on the same acre of land or lands described in the application * * *; and
(c) That the owner, if an owner in joint tenancy or tenancy in common or if a member of a group or association owning the lands, has no knowledge of any application which has been filed for cost-share assistance to be used on the lands described in the application.
(2) The * * *
division, upon
completion of the approved practice, shall tender all approved sums of the cost-share
assistance to the owner.
SECTION 46. Section 49-19-225, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
49-19-225. Any agency,
department, board, commission or other subdivision of government of the State
of Mississippi or any political subdivision thereof is authorized to implement
an approved practice on any lands suitable for forestry purposes owned by such
political entity or owned by the State of Mississippi and supervised or managed
by such entity. The governing authorities of such entity shall engage the
assistance of the county forester of the county in which the land is located in
the preparation of an application for submission to the * * *
Division of Forestry
Services. The * * * division shall treat any such political entity as an
individual owner for purposes of considering applications, granting cost-share
assistance and approving the practice implemented.
SECTION 47. Section 49-19-227, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
49-19-227. There is hereby
created in the State Treasury a special fund to be designated the Forest
Resource Development Fund, fiscal management and responsibility for which is
hereby vested in the * * * Mississippi Department of Agriculture and
Commerce and which shall consist of that portion of the privilege tax on
timber and timber products as authorized by Section 27-25-11, Mississippi Code
of 1972, and any funds appropriated specifically therefor by the Legislature.
The Legislature shall appropriate such sums as it may deem necessary including
any proceeds of general obligation bonds which may be authorized by the
Legislature for the support of the Forest Resources Development Program provided
for under Sections 49-19-201 through 49-19-227. Those funds appropriated by
the Legislature remaining in the special fund at the end of any fiscal year
shall lapse into the General Fund, but other funds shall remain in the special
fund.
SECTION 48. Section 49-19-305, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
49-19-305. As used in Sections 49-19-301 through 49-19-307 unless the context requires otherwise:
(a) "Prescribed burning" means the controlled application of fire to naturally occurring vegetative fuels for ecological, silvicultural and wildlife management purposes under specified environmental conditions and the following of appropriate precautionary measures which cause the fire to be confined to a predetermined area and accomplishes the planned land management objectives.
(b) "Certified
prescribed burn manager" means an individual or county forester who
successfully completes the certification program approved by the Mississippi * * *
Department
of Agriculture and Commerce.
(c) "Prescription" means a written plan for starting and controlling a prescribed burn to accomplish the ecological, silvicultural and wildlife management objectives.
SECTION 49. Section 49-19-307, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
49-19-307. (1) No property owner or his agent, conducting a prescribed burn pursuant to the requirements of this section, shall be liable for damage or injury caused by fire or resulting smoke unless negligence is proven.
(2) Prescribed burning conducted under the provisions of this section shall:
(a) Be accomplished only when at least one (1) certified prescribed burn manager is supervising the burn or burns that are being conducted;
(b) Require that a written prescription be prepared and notarized prior to prescribed burning;
(c) Require that a
burning permit be obtained from the Mississippi * * * Department of Agriculture
and Commerce; and
(d) Be considered in the public interest and shall not constitute a public or private nuisance when conducted pursuant to state air pollution statutes and rules applicable to prescribed burning.
(3) The * * *
department
shall have the authority to promulgate rules for the certification of prescribed
burn managers and guidelines for a prescribed burn prescription.
(4) Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the civil or criminal liability as provided in Section 97-17-13 and Section 95-5-25, Mississippi Code of 1972.
SECTION 50. Section 49-19-351, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
49-19-351. (1) In this
section, "drought or wildfire conditions" means the existence of a
deficit of moisture creating severe conditions with increased wildfire
occurrences as determined by the * * * Division of
Forestry Services through use of drought indices or models or the existence
of extreme wildfire conditions.
(2) If the * * *
division
determines that drought or wildfire conditions exist in a county, the * * *
Commissioner of
Agriculture and Commerce shall notify the board of supervisors of that
county. The * * *
commissioner may recommend that a temporary outdoor burning ban or other
restrictions be adopted by the board of supervisors.
(3) The board of
supervisors may, by order, prohibit or restrict outdoor burning in all or part
of the unincorporated parts of the county if drought or wildfire conditions
have been determined to exist by the * * * division. An
order must specify the period during which burning is restricted. The * * *
commissioner
shall notify the board of supervisors when the drought or wildfire conditions
no longer exist. Any order issued under this section shall expire upon the
determination that the drought or wildfire conditions no longer exist.
(4) Any person who knowingly and willfully violates an order under this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and may be fined not less than One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) nor more than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00).
(5) The sheriff of the county shall enforce the order and may cite persons for violations of an order under this section.
SECTION 51. Section 49-19-403, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
49-19-403. (1) There is
hereby created the Mississippi Institute for Forest Inventory. The institute
shall be under the jurisdiction of the * * * Mississippi
Department of Agriculture and Commerce. The budget of the institute shall
be funded through a separate line item within the general appropriation bill
for the support and maintenance of the * * * department.
(2) The institute shall be
headed by a director who shall be appointed by the * * * Commissioner of Agriculture
and Commerce. The advisory board shall submit three (3) qualified nominees
to the * * * commissioner
for the position of director. The * * * commissioner shall appoint
the director from the list of nominees submitted. The director shall serve at
the will and pleasure of the * * * commissioner.
(3) (a) There is hereby created an advisory board to the Mississippi Institute for Forest Inventory. The advisory board shall consist of eleven (11) members. The Director of the Mississippi Automated Resource Information System; the Executive Director of the Mississippi Development Authority, or his designee; the Director of the Forest and Wildlife Research Center at Mississippi State University, or his designee; and the State Forester, or his designee; shall be ex officio members with full voting power.
(b) The Governor shall appoint four (4) members from the state at large with the advice and consent of the Senate. The Governor shall appoint one (1) member from each of the following categories: a private nonindustrial forest landowner, a Mississippi registered forester, a certified wildlife or fisheries biologist, and a representative of an environmental organization. Appointments made after January 1, 2005, shall be for initial terms as follows: a private nonindustrial forest landowner, four (4) years; a Mississippi registered forester, three (3) years; a certified wildlife or fisheries biologist, two (2) years; and a representative of an environmental organization one (1) year. After the expiration of the initial terms, the terms shall be for four (4) years.
(c) The Lieutenant Governor shall appoint three (3) members from the state at large with the advice and consent of the Senate. The Lieutenant Governor shall appoint one (1) member from each of the following categories: the timber harvesting industry, the forest products industry, and a citizen with forestry related interests. Appointments made after January 1, 2005, shall be for initial terms as follows: timber harvesting industry, four (4) years; forest products industry, three (3) years; and a citizen with forestry related interests, two (2) years. After the expiration of the initial terms, the terms shall be for four (4) years.
(d) The advisory board shall elect a chairman from its membership.
(e) The advisory board shall advise, assist and recommend policies that aid the institute in the development and implementation of a statewide forest inventory.
(f) Members of the advisory board may be reimbursed for mileage and actual and necessary expenses as provided under Section 25-3-41.
(g) The Chairman of the Senate Forestry Committee and the Chairman of the House Forestry Committee shall serve as members of the Joint Institute for Forest Inventory Oversight Committee. For attending meetings, the legislators shall receive per diem and expenses from their respective contingent expense funds at the rate authorized for committee meetings when the Legislature is not in session. No per diem and expenses will be paid for attending meetings when the Legislature is in session.
(4) The * * *
Mississippi
Department of Agriculture and Commerce shall have the following powers:
(a) To apply for, accept and expend any funds, grants or gifts from any public or private sources in furtherance of the institute's duties;
(b) To expend funds by appropriation or directly from any federal, local or private sources;
(c) Enter into contracts and execute all instruments to carry out the duties of the institute; and
(d) To do all acts necessary to carry out the duties of the institute.
(5) All funds received by the institute shall be deposited in the State Treasury for the use of the institute.
SECTION 52. Section 49-19-405, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
49-19-405. (1) The duties and responsibilities of the Mississippi Institute for Forest Inventory shall include, but are not limited to, the following:
(a) To facilitate the development and implementation of a statewide forest resource inventory necessary for a sustainable forest-based economy on or before July 1, 2004, and thereafter on a continuing basis with updated published data;
(b) Analyze and publish a detailed report of Mississippi's forest resource inventory by January 1, 2005;
(c) Conduct and publish data for subsequent and supporting inventories of forest resources in the years following the initial full inventory;
(d) Develop policies to aid in the implementation of the inventory information and reports;
(e) Submit an annual report to the Legislature on the institute's funding, expenditures, accomplishments and recommendations; and
(f) Analyze and publish data on the volume, quality, size and ownership of forest resources to provide support for new and existing forest industries.
(2) (a) In accomplishing its duties and formulating the recommendations required of it, the institute may elicit the support of and participation by any commercial, industrial, governmental, environmental, minority and public interest organizations or associations, or individual members thereof, and any federal, state and local agencies and political subdivisions as may be necessary or appropriate in the furtherance of the activities of the institute.
(b) The institute may utilize the services, facilities and personnel of all departments, agencies, offices and institutions of the state and all such entities are authorized to assist the institute and to provide such support.
SECTION 53. Section 49-19-407, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
49-19-407. The Executive
Directors of the Mississippi Institute for Forest Inventory, the Mississippi * * *
Department
of Agriculture and Commerce, the Mississippi Development Authority, the MSU
Forest and Wildlife Research Center, and the Cooperative Extension Service
shall establish a procedure and guidelines for the coordination of outreach and
education programs. It shall be the duty of each agency to cooperate and to
promote a coordinated outreach and education program to increase the
utilization of private nonindustrial forest landowner forest resources and
increase profitability for such resources.
SECTION 54. Section 51-11-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
51-11-5. (1) All powers of the Pearl River Basin Development District, hereinafter referred to in this chapter as the district, shall be exercised by a board of directors to be selected and composed as follows:
(a) The Mississippi
Commission on Environmental Quality, the Mississippi Commission on Wildlife,
Fisheries and Parks, the * * * Forestry CommissionMississippi Department of Agriculture
and Commerce, and the State Board of Health of the State of Mississippi
shall each appoint one (1) director to serve on the board of directors of the
district, each such director to serve at the pleasure of the respective state
agency appointing him but not to exceed a six-year term.
(b) The board of supervisors of each county which elects to become a member of the district shall appoint two (2) directors from that county, each of whom shall serve for a term of six (6) years or until his successor is appointed by the board of supervisors of that county and qualified. In making its initial appointment of directors, the board of supervisors of each member county shall appoint one (1) of its two (2) directors to serve for a term of three (3) years or until his successor is appointed and qualified.
(c) In addition to the two (2) directors in paragraph (b), each county shall be entitled to additional representation on the board based on its annual contribution for the support of the district required under Section 51-11-31. If the annual contribution of a county as certified under Section 51-11-31 is more than One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000.00), the county may appoint one (1) additional director for each increment of One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000.00), to be contributed. Each additional director shall serve a term of six (6) years. If, in subsequent years, a county's contribution is reduced below One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000.00), or a multiple thereof, a county's additional representation shall be reduced correspondingly. If a county's contribution representation is reduced, the board of supervisors of the county shall designate the director to be removed. No member county shall be entitled to more than three (3) additional directors under this paragraph.
(d) The Governor of the State of Mississippi shall appoint one (1) director residing within the district, who shall serve for a term of six (6) years or until his successor is appointed by the Governor and qualified.
(2) Each director shall take and subscribe to the general oath of office required by Section 268 of the Constitution of the State of Mississippi before a chancery clerk, that he will faithfully discharge the duties of the office, which oath shall be filed with the said clerk and by him preserved.
(3) Each director shall receive a per diem in the amount as provided in Section 25-3-69 for attending each day's meeting of the board of directors and for each day spent in attending to the necessary business of the district and, in addition, he shall receive reimbursement for actual expenses, including travel expenses, as provided in Section 25-3-41.
(4) The board of directors shall annually elect from its number a president and vice president of the district and such other officers as, in the judgment of the board of directors, are necessary. The president shall be the chief executive officer of the district and the presiding officer of the board of directors, and shall have the same right to vote as any other director. The vice president shall perform all duties and exercise all powers conferred by this chapter upon the president when the president is absent or fails or declines to act, except the president's right to vote. The board of directors shall also appoint a secretary and a treasurer who shall be members of the board of directors, and it may combine those officers. The treasurer shall give bond in the sum of not less than Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000.00) as set by the board of directors, and each director may be required to give bond in the sum of not less than Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00), with sureties qualified to do business in this state, and the premiums on said bonds shall be an expense of the district. Each such bond shall be payable to the State of Mississippi; the condition of each such bond shall be that the treasurer or director will faithfully perform all duties of his office and account for all money or other assets which shall come into his custody as treasurer or director of the district.
(5) A majority of the total membership of the board of directors shall constitute a quorum at a regular meeting, or at any special meeting duly called and held for a specific purpose. All business of the district shall be transacted by the affirmative vote of a majority of the total membership of the board of directors.
(6) The State Auditor of Public Accounts shall annually audit the books and records of the district and make a report thereof to the Governor and the Legislature.
SECTION 55. Section 51-11-9, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
51-11-9. (1) Within twenty
(20) days after the passage of this chapter, the Mississippi Commission on
Environmental Quality, the Mississippi Commission on Wildlife, Fisheries and
Parks, the * * * Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce,
and the State Board of Health of the State of Mississippi shall appoint their
respective members to the proposed district board of directors as provided in
Section 51-11-5. These four (4) appointive members, upon taking the oath as
provided, shall meet in the Office of the Mississippi Department of
Environmental Quality in Jackson, Mississippi, within ten (10) days, and adopt
by a majority vote a resolution setting forth their intentions of creating the
district and shall forthwith send a certified copy of said resolution to:
(a) The Governor;
(b) Executive officers
of the Mississippi Commission on Environmental Quality, Mississippi Commission
on Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, * * * Mississippi Department
of Agriculture and Commerce, and State Board of Health; and
(c) The president of the board of supervisors and the chancery clerk of each county which is part of the Pearl River Basin. After receipt of said resolution, each of the four (4) state agencies hereinabove named may adopt its own resolution favorable or unfavorable to the creation of said district; and the respective boards of supervisors may, at their next regular meeting or at any subsequent meeting, likewise adopt a resolution favorable or unfavorable to creating said district. All said resolutions adopted shall be certified by adopting body's secretary, clerk, or executive officer, and certified copies shall be filed with each state agency and political subdivision named in this section.
(2) The board of supervisors of any county which is part of the Pearl River Basin and which desires to become a member of the district shall, upon receipt of the certified resolution to be adopted by the four (4) initial directors, declare said board's intentions by adopting a resolution expressing its desire to have said district created and stating that its county desires to be a member thereof and that said board desires and intends to levy a special ad valorem tax not to exceed one-half (1/2) mill on all taxable property within said county for the use and benefit of the Pearl River Basin Development District, if and in the event that other funds of that county are not available and appropriated to pay for that county's required contribution to said district. The said resolution shall be published once each week for three (3) consecutive weeks in some newspaper published in the county and having a general circulation therein. If within twenty-one (21) days after the date of the first publication of said resolution no petition signed by twenty percent (20%) of the qualified electors of the county is filed with the board of supervisors requesting the calling of an election on the question of the county's participation in the district and the levying of the special ad valorem tax not to exceed one-half (1/2) mill as aforesaid, then the board of supervisors may proceed to have the county made a member of said district and to levy the special ad valorem tax not to exceed one-half (1/2) mill if and when required; but if within twenty-one (21) days after the date of the first publication of said resolution a petition is filed, signed by at least twenty percent (20%) of the qualified electors of said county, requesting an election on the proposition of said county's becoming a member of the proposed district and the levying of the special ad valorem tax not to exceed one-half (1/2) mill as herein provided, then said election shall be held and conducted as now provided by law for such election. If such an election is held and a majority of those voting therein vote for the proposition, the board shall, by appropriate resolution, bring the county into the district and levy the special ad valorem tax not to exceed one-half (1/2) mill as provided by this chapter, if required. If the majority of those voting in such election shall vote against the proposition, then the county shall not become a member of the district nor levy the one-half (1/2) mill tax, and no further election shall be so conducted until the lapse of two (2) years after the last election.
(3) Whenever an aggregate of six (6) counties shall have become members of the Pearl River Basin Development District in the manner provided in this section, the said district shall be created as an agency of the state and a body politic and corporate with all the powers granted to it by statute; at which time the Governor shall appoint the four (4) directors to be appointed by him.
(4) Any eligible county may become a member of the district subsequent to its creation, in the manner that the original counties became members. New member counties shall have the same power and authority and be entitled to equal consideration of the district's board of directors, not inconsistent with the purpose of this chapter.
SECTION 56. Section 51-13-105, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
51-13-105. All powers of the district shall be exercised by a board of directors, to be composed of the following:
(a) Each member of the Tombigbee Valley Authority as created by virtue of Sections 51-13-1 through 51-13-9, whose county becomes a part of the Tombigbee River Valley Water Management District shall be a member of the Board of Directors of the Tombigbee River Valley Water Management District, and each state-at-large member of the Tombigbee Valley Authority shall become a member of the Board of Directors of the Tombigbee River Valley Water Management District when one or more entire counties become members of the Tombigbee River Valley Water Management District. Such directors shall serve on this board during their term of office on the Tombigbee Valley Authority. In addition, the board of supervisors of each county within the Tombigbee River Basin which elects to become a member of the district shall appoint one (1) board member to serve for a term of four (4) years or until his successor is named. The Governor shall appoint one (1) member from each county added to the Tombigbee River Valley Water Management District which county is not now a member of the Tombigbee Valley Authority, and such member shall serve for a four-year term or until his successor is appointed.
(b) The Department of
Environmental Quality, the Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, the * * *
Mississippi
Department of Agriculture and Commerce, and the State Board of Health of
the State of Mississippi shall each appoint one (1) director from that
department to serve on the Board of Directors of the Tombigbee River Valley
Water Management District, to serve at the pleasure of the entity appointing
him but not to exceed four-year terms.
(c) Each director shall take and subscribe to the general oath of office required by Section 268 of the Constitution of the State of Mississippi before a chancery clerk that he will faithfully discharge the duties of the office, which oath shall be filed with the said clerk and by him preserved.
(d) Each director shall receive compensation at a per diem rate as provided in Section 25-3-69 for each day or fraction thereof spent in actual discharge of his official duties and shall be reimbursed for mileage and actual expenses incurred in the performance of his official duties in accordance with the requirements of Section 25-3-41.
(e) The board of directors shall annually elect from its number a president and a vice president of the district and such other officers as in the judgment of the board are necessary. The president shall be the chief executive officer of the district and the presiding officer of the board, and shall have the same right to vote as any other director. The vice president shall perform all duties and exercise all powers conferred by this article upon the president when the president is absent or fails or declines to act, except the president's right to vote. The board shall also appoint a secretary and a treasurer who may or may not be members of the board, and it may combine those offices. The treasurer shall give bond in the sum of not less than Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000.00) as set by the board of directors, and each director shall give bond in the sum of not less than Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00) with sureties qualified to do business in this state, and the premiums on said bonds shall be an expense of the district. The condition of each such bond shall be that the treasurer or director will faithfully perform all duties of his office and account for all money or other assets which shall come into his custody as treasurer or director of the district.
SECTION 57. Section 51-13-107, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
51-13-107. (1) Within
twenty (20) days after the passage of this article, the Mississippi Commission
on Environmental Quality, State Board of Health, Mississippi Commission on
Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, and the * * * Mississippi
Department of Agriculture and Commerce shall appoint their respective
members to the proposed district board of directors as provided in Section 51-13-105.
The four (4) appointive members, upon taking the oath as provided, shall meet
in the Office of the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality in
Jackson, Mississippi, within ten (10) days and adopt by a majority vote a
resolution setting forth their intentions of creating the district and shall
forthwith send a certified copy of said resolution to: ( * * *a) each member of the Tombigbee Valley
Authority as now constituted, ( * * *b) the Governor, ( * * *c) executive officers of the
Mississippi Commission on Environmental Quality, Board of Health, Mississippi
Commission on Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, and * * * Mississippi Department of
Agriculture and Commerce, and ( * * *d) the president of the board of
supervisors and chancery clerk of each county through which any part of the
Tombigbee River or any of its tributaries lie. The four (4) state agencies
herein named and the Tombigbee Valley Authority may, within ten (10) days from
receipt of said resolution, adopt its own resolution favorable or unfavorable
to the creation of said district; and the respective boards of supervisors may
at their next regular meeting likewise adopt a resolution favorable or
unfavorable to creating said district. All of said resolutions adopted shall
be certified by its secretary, clerk, or executive officer and shall be filed
with each state agency, political subdivision, or other agency named in Section
55-13-105.
(2) Every board of supervisors of those counties desiring to become members of the district, through which the Tombigbee River or any of its tributaries lie, shall, upon receipt of the certified resolutions mentioned in this section, declare said board's intentions by adopting a resolution expressing its desire to have said district created and to levy an ad valorem tax not to exceed one-half (1/2) mill on all the taxable property within the Tombigbee Watershed area of said county for the use and benefit of the Tombigbee River Valley Water Management District. The said resolution shall be published once each week for three (3) consecutive weeks in some newspaper published in the county and having a general circulation therein, and if no petition signed by twenty percent (20%) of the qualified electors of the county is filed with the board requesting the calling of an election on the question of the county's participation in the district and the levying of the one-half (1/2) mill tax levy aforesaid, the board may proceed to have the county become a member of said district and to levy the one-half (1/2) mill tax levy but if, within twenty-one (21) days after the date of the first publication of said resolution, a petition signed by at least twenty percent (20%) of the qualified electors of said county, requesting an election on the proposition of said county becoming a member of the proposed district and the levying of the one-half (1/2) mill tax as herein provided, is filed, said election shall be held and conducted as now provided by law for such elections. If such an election is held and a majority of those voting therein vote for the proposition, the board shall, by appropriate resolution, bring the county into the district and levy the one-half (1/2) mill tax as otherwise provided by law. If the majority of those voting in such election shall vote against the proposition, then the county shall not become a member of the district nor levy the one-half (1/2) mill tax; and no further election shall be so conducted until the lapse of two (2) years after the last election.
(3) Whenever an aggregate of six (6) counties have become members of the Tombigbee River Valley Water Management District in the manner provided in this section, the said district shall be created as an agency of the state and a body politic and corporate with all of the powers granted it by statute.
SECTION 58. Section 53-7-11, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
53-7-11. (1) The commission may adopt, modify, repeal, after due notice and hearing, and where not otherwise prohibited by federal or state law, make exceptions to and grant exemptions and variances from and may enforce rules and regulations pertaining to surface mining and reclamation operations to implement the provisions of this chapter.
(2) Adopting rules and regulations, the commission shall comply with the Mississippi Administrative Procedures Law, and in addition, may hold a public hearing. Notice of the date, time, place and purpose of the hearing shall be given thirty (30) days before the scheduled date of the hearing as follows:
(a) By mail to:
(i) All operators known by the commission to be actively engaged in surface mining in the state;
(ii) Persons who request notification of proposed actions regarding rules and regulations and any other person the commission deems appropriate; and
(iii) The
Mississippi Soil and Water Conservation Commission, the Mississippi
Department of Environmental Quality, Mississippi Department of Wildlife,
Fisheries and Parks, * * * Mississippi Department of Archives and History,
Mississippi Department of Transportation and the Mississippi Department
of Agriculture and Commerce.
(b) By publication once weekly for three (3) consecutive weeks in a newspaper having general circulation in the State of Mississippi.
(3) Any person may submit written comments or appear and offer oral comments at the public hearing. The commission shall consider all comments and relevant data presented at the hearing before final adoption of rules and regulations under this chapter. The failure of any person to submit comments within a time period as established by the commission shall not preclude action by the commission.
SECTION 59. Section 53-7-29, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
53-7-29. (1) The department shall file a copy of each permit application for public inspection with the chancery clerk of the county where any portion of the operation is proposed to occur after deleting the confidential information according to Section 53-7-75.
(2) The department shall
submit copies, excluding all confidential information, of the permit
application as soon as possible to: (a) the Mississippi Soil and
Water Conservation Commission, Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries
and Parks, * * * Mississippi Department of Environmental
Quality, Mississippi Department of Archives and History, Mississippi Department
of Transportation, Mississippi State Oil and Gas Board and Mississippi
Department of Agriculture and Commerce; (b) any other state agency whose
jurisdiction the department believes the particular mining operation may
affect; and (c) any person who requests in writing a copy of the application;
and (d) the owner of the land. The department shall require payment of a
reasonable fee established by the commission for reimbursement of the costs of
reproducing and providing the copy.
(3) Each agency shall review the permit application and submit, within fifteen (15) days of receipt of the application, any comments, recommendations and evaluations as the agency deems necessary and proper based only upon the effect of the proposed operation on matters within the agency's jurisdiction. The comments shall include a listing of permits or licenses required under the agency's jurisdiction. Comments and recommendations shall be made a part of the record and one (1) copy shall be furnished to the applicant. All comments and recommendations shall be considered by, but shall not be binding upon, the Permit Board. The failure of any agency to submit comments shall not preclude action by the Permit Board.
SECTION 60. Section 53-9-11, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
53-9-11. (1) The commission may adopt, modify, repeal and promulgate, after due notice and hearing and in accordance with the Mississippi Administrative Procedures Law, and where not otherwise prohibited by federal or state law, may make exceptions to and grant exemptions and variances from and may enforce rules and regulations necessary or appropriate to carry out this chapter. Those rules and regulations shall be consistent with rules and regulations promulgated by the United States Secretary of the Interior under the federal act. No exceptions, exemptions or variances shall be less stringent than rules and regulations promulgated under the federal act. Any rules and regulations adopted by the commission may be more stringent than those promulgated by the United States Secretary of the Interior as long as they are not otherwise inconsistent with this chapter. A rule or regulation adopted by the commission may differ in its terms and provisions regarding particular conditions, particular mining techniques, particular areas of the state, or any other conditions that appear relevant and necessary as long as the action taken is consistent with this chapter. Before adopting any rules and regulations under this chapter, the commission shall hold a public hearing. Notice of the date, time, place and purpose of the hearing shall be given thirty (30) days before the scheduled date of the hearing as follows:
(a) By mail:
(i) To all operators known by the commission to be actively engaged in surface coal mining operations in the state;
(ii) To persons who make written request for notification of the proposed regulations;
(iii) To the Mississippi Soil and Water Conservation Commission, and to each local soil and water conservation district;
(iv) To the
Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, * * * the
Mississippi Department of Archives and History, the Mississippi Department of
Transportation, the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce, the
Mississippi State Oil and Gas Board, the Mississippi Department of Marine
Resources, and the Mississippi State Department of Health; and
(v) To any other state agency whose jurisdiction the commission feels the surface coal mining operations may affect;
(b) To other interested parties by publication of the notice once a week for three (3) consecutive weeks in one (1) newspaper having general circulation in the state.
(2) Any person may submit written comments or appear and offer oral comments at the public hearing. The commission shall consider all comments and relevant data presented at the public hearing before final adoption of rules and regulations under this chapter. The failure of any person to submit comments within a time period as established by the commission shall not preclude action by the commission.
SECTION 61. Section 55-3-1, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
55-3-1. The Governor of the
state is authorized to accept gifts of land to the state, not to exceed ten
percent (10%) of the area of any county, to be held, protected, and
administered by the * * * Mississippi Department of Agriculture and
Commerce as state forests and parks and to be used to demonstrate their
practical utility for reforestation and as breeding places for wild game, and
he is authorized to accept gifts of land to be used and administered by the commission
as state parks. Such gifts must be absolute, except for the reservation of any
or all mineral rights, and in no case shall exceed ten percent (10%) of the
area of any county wherein such lands may be situated. The Attorney General is
directed to see that all deeds to the state are properly executed and that the
titles thereto are free and clear of all encumbrances before the gift is
accepted. When any donation exceeding six hundred (600) acres is made, the
name of the donor or any name he may suggest, on the approval of the commission
shall be given such donation as the designation of such forest or park.
SECTION 62. Section 55-3-11, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
55-3-11. The * * *
Mississippi
Department of Agriculture and Commerce shall have the control and
management of any and all forests or public parks set aside and dedicated as
provided for in Section 55-3-7, and shall have authority to issue grazing or
farming permits or leases on said parks, and to make sales of timber and other
forest products of the soil from same. The Mississippi Commission on Wildlife,
Fisheries and Parks shall have the control and management of any and all lands
set aside and dedicated for a fish and game refuge and/or preserve. The * * *
Mississippi
Department of Agriculture and Commerce and the Mississippi Commission on
Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks shall cooperate in the utilization of any lands
so dedicated both for forestry and game and fish conservation purposes.
In the case of state forests
and/or state parks the * * * State Forestry CommissionMississippi Department of
Agriculture and Commerce, and, in the case of fish and game preserves, the
Mississippi Commission on Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, is hereby vested with
authority to institute proceedings against trespassers and others in the name
of the State of Mississippi, and to do all things necessary and proper to
obtain the most complete and advantageous developments of state forests, parks,
and fish and game preserves.
SECTION 63. Section 55-3-19, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
55-3-19. Where the federal government and the state government or any subdivision thereof are cooperating in the establishment of a major park and forest and game reserve, and where the property owners in the territory therein involved have agreed to convey as much as fifty percent (50%) of the area required for said purposes, the State Forestry Commission, together with the Mississippi Commission on Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks or any subdivision of the state, are hereby empowered to exercise the right of eminent domain in the manner now provided by law to obtain the necessary lands needed.
SECTION 64. Section 55-3-21, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
55-3-21. There is hereby
established in the State Treasury a revolving fund to be used by the * * *
Mississippi
Department of Agriculture and Commerce to carry out the provisions of the
will of William W. Kurtz, dated July 12, 1940, which donated one thousand seven
hundred sixty (1,760) acres of forestland in Greene County to the State of
Mississippi to be held, protected, administered and improved by the * * *
Mississippi
Department of Agriculture and Commerce as a state forest. The fund shall
be called the Kurtz State Forest Revolving Fund, and money for the fund shall
accrue from any revenues derived from the Kurtz State Forest including, but not
limited to, timber sales, hunting leases, permit fees, and stump and naval
stores operations. The * * * State Forestry CommissionMississippi Department of
Agriculture and Commerce is authorized to expend a portion of the monies in
the fund to purchase in the name of the State of Mississippi other lands, not
to exceed five hundred (500) acres, which are contiguous to or located near the
lands donated by the Kurtz will, for the purpose of expanding the Kurtz State
Forest. The * * * Mississippi Department of Agriculture and
Commerce also may expend monies in the fund for the purposes described in
Section 55-3-23. The State Treasurer shall invest all monies in the fund, and
interest earned on the investments shall be paid back into the fund and not
into the General Fund. The fund shall be audited annually by the State
Auditor.
SECTION 65. Section 55-3-23, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
55-3-23. The Mississippi * * * Department of
Agriculture and Commerce is authorized, annually, to pay to the State Line
Cemetery Association, out of the proceeds and receipts derived from timber
sales in the Kurtz State Forest, an amount not to exceed Two Hundred Dollars
($200.00) for the upkeep of the cemetery in which W.W. Kurtz and wife, the
donors of Kurtz State Forest, are buried.
SECTION 66. Section 29-3-27, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
29-3-27. No sixteenth section lands or lands granted in lieu thereof, in whole or in part, situated within the school district holding or owning the same shall ever be sold, except that the board of education may, under the procedures hereinafter provided, sell such lands for industrial development thereon, therein, or thereunder to any persons, firms, or corporations in fee simple, or any lesser estate therein, for a purchase price not less than the fair market value thereof; and when any such sale is made, the deed shall be executed in the name of the State of Mississippi by the superintendent of the said board of education.
As used in this section and in Sections 29-3-29 and 29-3-61, the term "industrial development" shall include restoration as a tourist attraction the place where an organization was founded, which said organization has since been expanded to be national or international in its membership, scope, and influence.
The proceeds of the sale in
fee simple of any sixteenth section, or lands granted in lieu thereof, in whole
or in part, or such part of said proceeds as may be required to purchase acreage
of equivalent fair market value, shall be used by the board of education, to
purchase other land in the county, which land shall be held and reserved by the
State of Mississippi for the support of the township schools in lieu of the
land thus sold, as other sixteenth section lieu land is held, and shall be
subject to all laws applicable thereto. Every such sale and every such
purchase of land in lieu thereof shall be reported by the secretary of the
board of education to the State Land Commissioner and to the * * *
Mississippi
Department of Agriculture and Commerce within ninety (90) days after the
consummation of each such sale and purchase. Any funds from a sale in fee
simple of any sixteenth section land, or land granted in lieu thereof, in
excess of any amount used to purchase said land in lieu thereof, shall be
treated as corpus and shall be invested by the board of education as provided
by law. Only the income from such investment shall be expended for current
operating expenses of the schools.
SECTION 67. Section 29-3-45, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
29-3-45. (1) (a) The
board of education shall, by order placed upon its minutes, enter into an
agreement with the * * * Mississippi Department of Agriculture and
Commerce for the general supervision and management of all lands classified
as forest lands and of all timber or other forest products under the control of
the board on sixteenth section lands, and lieu lands which have not been so
classified. However, any school board may contract with private persons or
businesses for the reforestation of sixteenth section lands and may contract
with a registered forester to be paid from the 16th Section Interest Fund for a
review of any forestry management decision or forestry practice including the
sale of timber for sixteenth section forest land provided that any
implementation of a forestry management decision or forestry practice to be
taken as a result of the review described in this subsection shall be subject
to the approval of both the commission and the Secretary of State. When such
agreement has been entered into, no timber or other forest products shall be
sold from any of the sixteenth section lands or lieu lands except such as have
been marked or approved for cutting by the * * * Mississippi
Department of Agriculture and Commerce's employees. The * * *
department,
or its designated employee, shall fix the minimum total cash price or minimum
price per unit, one thousand (1,000) feet or other measure, at which the marked
timber or other forest products shall be sold. The sales may be made for a
lump sum or upon a unit price as in the opinion of the board may be calculated
to bring the greatest return. Sales shall be made upon such other terms and
conditions as to manner of cutting, damages for cutting of unmarked trees,
damages to trees not cut and other pertinent matters as the board of education
shall approve.
(b) The * * *
Mississippi
Department of Agriculture and Commerce shall have the sole authority and
control in scheduling of all cutting and harvesting of timber or other forest
products when such timber stands or other forest products are determined by the * * *
department
to be economically ready for cutting and harvesting.
(c) Should a school
board disagree with the * * * Forestry CommissionMississippi Department of Agriculture
and Commerce concerning the time of cutting and harvesting, the board may
make an appeal to the * * * department.
If the school board is not satisfied after the appeal to the * * *
department, the
board may then appeal to the Secretary of State who will make the final
decision as to the time for cutting and harvesting. In the event that the
local school board is divested of its management authority under subsection (3)
hereof, the Secretary of State after due consultation with the * * *
Mississippi
Department of Agriculture and Commerce shall retain the right to make final
decisions concerning the management and sale of timber and other forest
products.
(d) It is hereby made
the duty of the * * * Mississippi Department of Agriculture and
Commerce, from time to time, to mark timber which should be cut from the
lands, to determine what planting, deadening or other forestry improvements
should be made, giving due consideration to food and habitat for wildlife, and
to report to the appropriate board of education. The * * * Mississippi
Department of Agriculture and Commerce and the board of education shall
supervise the cutting of any timber or harvesting of other forest products sold
from the lands herein designated and shall have authority to require any timber-cutting
operations on the lands to cease until proper adjustment is made, whenever it
shall appear that timber is being cut in violation of the terms of the sale.
In the event that it is desired to lease any of such lands or standing timber
for turpentine purposes, such lease shall only cover such trees as the * * *
Division
of Forestry Services shall designate, and the commission through its
employees shall approve the number of faces, method of chipping and boxing of
such timber, and shall fix a minimum total cash price or minimum price per
unit.
(e) No sale of any timber, turpentine or other forest products lease shall be made until notice of same shall have been published once a week for three (3) consecutive weeks in at least one (1) newspaper published in such county. The first publication of such notice shall be made not less than twenty-one (21) days prior to the date fixed for the sale, and the last publication shall be made not more than seven (7) days prior to such date. If no newspaper is published in such county, then such notice shall be given by publishing the same for the required time in some newspaper having a general circulation in such county and, in addition thereto, by posting a copy of such notice for at least twenty-one (21) days next preceding such sale at three (3) public places in such county.
(f) Notwithstanding
the above provision pertaining to the sale of any timber, turpentine or other
forest products, in the event that timber must be cleared from an existing road
or existing utility right-of-way, the public notice requirement may be waived.
Prior to waiver of the public notice requirement, the * * * Mississippi
Department of Agriculture and Commerce must make a finding that, due to the
small area of timber to be cleared, a public notice sale would not be in the
best interest of the local board of education. If the * * * department
makes such a finding, then it shall set the value of the timber to be paid to
the local board of education by the party requesting the timber be removed.
(g) Provided, however,
in the case of damage by fire, windstorm or other natural causes which would
require immediate sale of the timber, because the time involved for
advertisement as prescribed herein would allow decay, rot or destruction
substantially decreasing the purchase price to be received had not such delay
occurred, the advertisement provisions of this section shall not apply. The
local board of education, with a written recommendation from a designated
employee of the * * * Mississippi Department of Agriculture and
Commerce filed in the minutes of the local board of education, shall
determine when immediate sale of the timber is required. When the board of
education shall find an immediate sale necessary for the causes stated herein,
it shall, in its discretion, set the time for receipt of bids on the purchase
of the timber, but shall show due diligence in notifying competitive bidders so
that a true competitive bid shall be received.
(2) (a) A local board of
education having control of the sixteenth section lands in the Hurricane
Katrina Disaster of 2005 shall be granted emergency powers to take any and all
actions of a reasonably prudent trustee acting under emergency conditions to
recover damaged timber, prevent further loss or damage to timber, and to minimize
economic loss. All such actions shall be taken in consultation with and shall
be subject to the prior approval from the Secretary of State and the * * *
Mississippi
Department of Agriculture and Commerce. The emergency powers shall be as
follows:
(i) Contract with any individual or entity for management advice, sale of timber, clearing of damage to timber producing lands, transporting of timber, repairing access roads to timber lands, conducting aerial spraying, or taking any other type of action to prevent further loss of timber or diminution in value of existing timber as the result of the incident which necessitated the declaration of a natural disaster. In contracting with any individual or entity, the local board of education shall use its best efforts to ensure that all costs incurred are reasonable and that a fair price is received for all sales.
(ii) Enter into agreements with any individual, private company, or other governmental entities for the pooling of resources, or the sharing of costs so as to maximize the mitigation of loss and minimize the expense of mitigating the loss of timber.
(iii) Apply for any state, federal, or private party grant or nonrepayable funds to cover costs associated with emergency management contracts, sale timber, including loss for diminution of value, transporting of timber, replanting of timber, repairing access roads to timber, conducting aerial spraying, or reimbursement for any other action taken to prevent further timber damage, as well as mitigating the loss of funds due to damage.
(b) The emergency powers granted herein shall be for a period of one (1) year from the date of designation as a disaster area due to Hurricane Katrina. The emergency powers may be extended for one (1) additional one-year period upon prior written approval from the Secretary of State.
(c) The emergency powers shall also apply to the management of timber by the Secretary of State pursuant to subsection (3) of this section.
(d) In the event a
local board of education is unable to acquire the services of the * * *
Mississippi
Department of Agriculture and Commerce or the Secretary of State to meet an
immediate need to salvage, remove or take other appropriate action on damaged
timber, the local board of education shall unilaterally be granted the
authority to take such actions as necessary regarding the management or sale of
timber or other forest products.
(e) In exercising emergency powers, a local board of education or the Secretary of State shall exercise the general powers of a trustee with the same general restrictions and general liabilities of a trustee and shall exercise the care and skill of an ordinary prudent person to protect the beneficiaries of the trust under such emergency circumstances.
(f) Any contractor with a local board of education or the Secretary of State shall be entitled to rely on representations by such board of education or the Secretary of State as to who has authority to enter contracts for the management or sale of timber or other forest products, and reliance on such representations shall not be grounds for voiding any contract.
(3) (a) In the event that any member of a local board of education may have a personal interest, either direct or indirect, in the decisions regarding the management or sale of timber or other forest products or in a contract for the sale of timber or other forest products from sixteenth section school lands under the jurisdiction and control of the board, then the board of education shall automatically be divested of all authority and power to manage and sell timber or other forest products on sixteenth section lands under its control and jurisdiction. The divestiture shall extend for the period of service, and for one (1) year thereafter, of the board member having a direct or indirect personal interest in the sale or decision to sell timber or other forest products.
(b) During the time in which any local board of education may be divested of authority and power to manage and sell timber and other forest products, such authority and power shall be vested in the Secretary of State, as supervisory trustee of sixteenth section lands. Upon the appointment or election of a member of a local board of education who may have such an appointment or election of a member of a local board of education who may have such an interest in decisions and contracts regarding the management and sale of timber or other forest products, the board of education shall immediately notify the Secretary of State in writing. Likewise, the board shall give written notification to the Secretary of State within thirty (30) days prior to the expiration of any such divestiture period. Any contractor with a local board of education or the Secretary of State shall be entitled to rely on representations by such board or the Secretary of State as to who has authority to enter contracts for the management or sale of timber or other forest products, and reliance on such representations shall not be grounds for voiding any contract.
(c) The laws providing
for the management and sale of timber and other forest products by local boards
of education shall apply to the management and sale of timber and other forest
products by the Secretary of State. The Mississippi * * * Department of Agriculture
and Commerce shall provide the Secretary of State with advice and services
in the same manner as provided to local boards of education.
(d) The Secretary of State shall be paid all monies derived from the sale of timber or other forest products and shall promptly forward the same to the superintendent of education for such school district with instructions for the proper settlement, deposit and investment of the monies. Such local school board shall reimburse the Secretary of State for all direct costs relating to the management and sale of timber or other forest products, and in the case of a sale of timber or other forest products, the Secretary of State may deduct such direct cost from the proceeds of sale. The Secretary of State shall furnish an itemized listing of all direct cost charged to the local school district.
SECTION 68. Section 29-3-47, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
29-3-47. For its services the * * *
Mississippi
Department of Agriculture and Commerce shall be entitled to receive its
actual expenses incurred in the discharge of the duties herein imposed. In
order to provide funds with which to pay for the general supervision and sale
of forest products, fifteen percent (15%) of all receipts from the sales of
forest products shall be placed by the board in a Forestry Escrow Fund and
reserved to pay for work performed by the * * * department.
Such payments shall be equal to the actual expenses incurred by the commission
as substantiated by itemized bills presented to the board.
Money in the Forestry Escrow Fund may be used to pay for any forestry work authorized during the period of the agreement and shall not be subject to lapse by reason of county budget limitations.
In each school district
having need of tree planting and timber stand improvement, the board of
education is authorized to place additional amounts in the Forestry Escrow Fund
to reimburse the * * * Mississippi Department of Agriculture and
Commerce for actual expenses incurred in performing this work, or to pay
for any work done under private contract under the supervision of said
commission. Such additional amounts may be made available from forest products
sales receipts, funds borrowed from the sixteenth section principal fund as is
provided for in Section 29-3-113, or any other funds available to the board of
education excluding minimum foundation program funds. Expenditures from the
Forestry Escrow Fund for tree planting, timber stand improvement, and other
forestry work will be limited to payment for work recommended by the * * *
department
and agreed to by the board of education.
When it becomes evident that
the amount of money in the Forestry Escrow Fund is in excess of the amount
necessary to accomplish the work needed to achieve the goals set by the board
of education and the * * * Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce,
the * * * department shall advise said board to release any
part of such funds as will not be needed, which may then be spent for any
purpose authorized by law.
SECTION 69. Section 29-3-49, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
29-3-49. It shall be the
duty of the * * * Mississippi Department of Agriculture and
Commerce, in the manner provided in Section 29-3-45, to enter into
agreements for timber improvement purposes with the board of education upon the
request of the board. The contract shall provide for the carrying out of a
long-term program of timber improvement, including any or all of the
following: The deadening of undesirable hardwoods, the planting of trees, the
cutting and maintaining of fire lanes, and the establishment of marked
boundaries on all lands classified as forest lands in the agreements, which
provide for the reimbursement of all current costs incurred by the * * *
department
and the carrying out of the duties required by such agreements. In the
alternative, the * * * department,
in its discretion, may have the option to contract with a private contractor,
subject to the approval of the board, to perform this work under the
supervision of the commission. Payment of the reimbursements as hereinabove
set forth to the * * * department, or of compensation due under any such
contract with private contractors shall be made upon presentation of itemized
bills by the commission or the private contractors, as the case may be, and may
be made out of any sixteenth section funds to the credit of, or accruing to,
any school district in which such work shall be done, or out of any other funds
available to such district, excluding minimum foundation program funds.
SECTION 70. Section 29-3-54, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
29-3-54. Any leaseholder of
sixteenth section land, or land granted in lieu thereof, shall be authorized to
post such land against trespassers; provided that such posting shall not
prohibit the inspection of said lands by individuals responsible for the
management or supervision thereof acting in their official capacity. In the
event hunting or fishing rights have been leased on lands classified as forest
land, the holder of such rights and the * * * Mississippi
Department of Agriculture and Commerce shall be authorized to post such
land against trespassers.
SECTION 71. Section 29-3-85, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
29-3-85. In all surface leases of sixteenth section land made by the board of education, whether such leases be original leases or extensions of existing leases, title to all timber, minerals, oil, and gas on such lands shall be reserved, together with the right of ingress and egress to remove same, whether such provisions be included in the terms of any such lease or not; and no timber shall be cut and used by the lessees except for fuel and necessary repairs and improvements on the leased premises. The board of education, notwithstanding the fact that such land may have been leased for other purposes, shall have the right, from time to time, to sell all merchantable timber on such lands in the manner hereinabove provided. In all cases where surface leases were outstanding on June 28, 1958, and have at least five (5) years remaining of the term thereof wherein the right to sell timber has not been reserved, either expressly or by operation of law, the board may, by agreement with the lessee, sell such timber under the procedure herein set out. In all such cases the forestry commission shall only cause to be marked for cutting such timber as, in its judgment, should be harvested in the best interest of the reversionary estate, and the board may agree to pay to the lessee a portion of the proceeds of such sales from time to time, not to exceed fifty percent (50%) thereof after the deduction of the fifteen percent (15%) escrow money, hereinbefore mentioned, and all other costs of the sale. In any surface lease, the board of education shall reserve the right to grant or sell rights-of-way across any of said land for a road, highway, railroad, or any public utility line, provided only that the leaseholder be paid a reasonable rental for the unexpired term of his lease by the grantee of such right-of-way. If any surface lessee of any such sixteenth section land shall commit, cause to be committed, or permit the commission of any act of waste on any sixteenth section lands under lease to such lessee, then such lease shall thereupon, as to such lessee, cease and terminate and shall thenceforth be null and void; and the board of education shall have the right to institute an action in any court of competent jurisdiction to secure the cancellation of same of record, to recover damages for such waste, and to maintain an action in ejectment to recover possession of the same. To this end, the board of education is hereby authorized and empowered to employ competent counsel to institute and maintain any such action or actions on behalf of the board.
SECTION 72. Section 29-3-87, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
29-3-87. Notwithstanding the provisions of this or any other statute, the several boards of education are hereby authorized and empowered, in their discretion and by resolution spread upon the minutes, to set aside, reserve, and dedicate any available sixteenth section lands or lands in lieu thereof for use by such school district as a site for school buildings, which such dedication and reservation shall be for such length of time, not exceeding fifty (50) years, and upon such terms and conditions as the board of education, in its discretion, shall deem proper. Any such reservation or dedication of sixteenth section lands shall automatically cease and terminate if, at any time, the land involved shall cease to be used for the purpose for which the dedication or reservation is made. The reservation or dedication shall cover the surface of said lands only and shall not prevent the board of education from leasing said lands for oil, gas, and mineral exploration and development in a manner otherwise provided by law.
In the same manner and
subject to the same provisions hereinabove set forth the board of education
having a timber management and marketing agreement with the * * *
Mississippi
Department of Agriculture and Commerce or National Forest Service, may set
aside, reserve and dedicate any available sixteenth section lands or lands
granted in lieu thereof, which has been classified as forest land under the
provisions of Section 29-3-31 et seq., Mississippi Code of 1972, to be utilized
for public parks and recreation areas. The board of supervisors or the
governing authorities of any municipality wherein such lands or any portion
thereof lie may expend any funds otherwise available for park or recreational
areas in the construction and maintenance of improvements to be located
thereon.
The setting aside, reservation and dedication of any such sixteenth section lands, or lands granted in lieu thereof by a board of education to the State Park Commission for the purpose of locating a state park thereon may be for a length of time not exceeding ninety-nine (99) years.
No sixteenth section or lieu land which is subject to an existing lease shall be set aside, dedicated, and reserved as a school building site or for public park or recreational purposes under the provisions of this section unless the school district involved shall acquire the unexpired leasehold interest from the leaseholder, or unless such lease and leasehold interest shall be surrendered and relinquished by the leaseholder.
SECTION 73. Section 49-7-203, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
49-7-203. (1) There is
created the Beaver and Wild Hog Control Advisory Board which shall be composed
of the administrative heads of the Mississippi Department of Wildlife,
Fisheries and Parks, * * * Department of Agriculture and Commerce,
Mississippi Department of Transportation and Mississippi State Cooperative
Extension Services, the Executive Director of the Mississippi Association of
Supervisors, the Executive Vice President of Delta Council and the President of
the Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation. In addition, the board shall include,
as advisory, and nonvoting members:
(a) The Chairmen of the House and Senate Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks Committees;
(b) The Chairmen of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees; and
(c) One (1) at-large member of the House and Senate appointed by the Lieutenant Governor and Speaker of the House.
(2) The board shall elect a chairman from among its members, who shall preside over meetings.
(3) The members of the board shall serve without compensation but all members of the board shall be entitled to reimbursement for all actual and necessary expenses incurred in the discharge of their duties, including mileage as authorized by law.
(4) The board shall have the following duties and responsibilities:
(a) To adopt rules and regulations governing times and places for meetings and governing the manner of conducting its business;
(b) To develop a beaver and wild hog control program to be administered by the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce or by any agency or agencies under an agreement with the board for that purpose;
(c) To designate the areas of the state having the greatest need for beaver and wild hog control or eradication and establish a list of priority areas on an annual basis;
(d) To establish, assess and collect any fees charged to participating landowners; and
(e) To function in an advisory capacity to the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce or any agency or agencies administering the beaver and wild hog control program.
(5) The board shall have the authority to develop any programs and implement any regulations and policies. The board may develop what it deems necessary to address beaver and wild hog control within the state.
SECTION 74. Section 69-3-1, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
69-3-1. Wherever the following terms or similar terms are used in this article, they shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
(a) "Advertisement" means all representations made by the labeler, other than those on the label, disseminated in any manner or by any means, relating to seed within the scope of this article.
(b) "Agricultural seeds" means the seed of grass, forage, cereal and fiber crops, lawn seed, and any other kinds of seed, including transgenic seeds, recognized within this state as agricultural or field seeds, and mixtures of such seeds.
(c) "Bulk" or "in bulk" means seed when loose either in vehicles of transportation, bins, cribs or tanks, and not seed in bags, boxes, cartons, bulk/super bags or other containers.
(d) "Certified seed," "registered seed" and "foundation seed" mean seed that has been produced and labeled in accordance with the procedures and in compliance with the rules and regulations of an official certifying agency authorized by the laws of this state or the laws of another state or country.
(e) "Commercial grower" means a person, firm or corporation engaged primarily in the production of seed for planting purposes for sale or trade.
(f) "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce of the State of Mississippi.
(g) "Commission merchant" or "agent" means a person, firm or corporation engaged in the selling of packet seed of less than four (4) ounces to consumers.
(h) "Consumer" means any person who purchases or otherwise obtains seed for sowing but not for resale.
(i) "Council" means the seed arbitration council created under Section 63-3-20.
(j) "Date of test" means the month and year the percentage of germination appearing on the label was obtained by laboratory test.
(k) "Department" means the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce.
(l) "Federal Seed Act" means the laws codified at 7 USCS 1551 et seq., and all regulations promulgated thereunder.
(m) "Firm ungerminated seed" means live seed, other than hard seed, which neither germinate nor decay during the period and under the conditions prescribed for germination of such seed by the rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to provisions of this article.
(n) "Flower seed" means the seeds of herbaceous plants grown for their blooms, ornamental foliage or other ornamental parts, including transgenic seeds, and commonly known and sold under the name of flower seeds in this state.
(o) "Hybrid" means the first generation seed of a cross produced by controlling the pollination and combining: (i) two (2) or more inbred lines; or (ii) one (1) inbred line or a single cross with an open-pollinated variety; or (iii) two (2) varieties or species, except open-pollinated varieties of corn. The second generation and subsequent generations of such crosses shall not be regarded as hybrids.
(p) "Kind" means one or more related species or subspecies which singly or collectively is known by one (1) common name; for example: soybeans, crimson clover, striate lespedeza, tall fescue.
(q) "Label" means the display or displays of written, printed or graphic matter upon or attached to the container of seed pertaining to the contents of the container.
(r) "Labeler" means the person, firm, corporation or the registered code number whose name appears on the label or container of seed.
(s) "Labeling" includes all labels and other written, printed or graphic representations made by the labeler accompanying and pertaining to the seed product whether in bulk or in containers, and any product use guides for the technology of the seed, that may be distributed in any manner including representations on invoices except for current official publications of the United States Department of Agriculture, state extension services, state experiment stations, state agricultural colleges and other similar federal or state institutions or agencies authorized by law to conduct research.
(t) "Lot of seed" means a definite quantity of seed identified by a lot number or other identification mark, every portion or bag of which is uniform for the factors which appear on the label, within permitted tolerances.
(u) "Mixed" or "mixture" means seeds consisting of more than one (1) kind, or kind and variety, or strain, each present in excess of five percent (5%) of the whole.
(v) "Official certifying agency" means an agency authorized or recognized and designated as a certifying agency by the laws of a state, the United States, a province of Canada, or the government of a foreign country.
(w) "Origin" means the state, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, or possessions of the United States, or the foreign country where the seeds were grown.
(x) "Processing" means cleaning, scarifying, blending or treating to obtain uniform quality and other operations which would change the purity or germination of the seed and therefore require retesting to determine the quality of the seed.
(y) "Product use guide" means any written information prepared by the labeler and distributed to the consumer, containing specific information concerning a seed product or a technology.
(z) "Prohibited noxious weed seed" means the seeds of weeds that reproduce by seed, and/or spread by underground roots or stems, and which, when established, are highly destructive and difficult to control in this state by ordinary good cultural practice, or constitute a peculiar hazard to the agriculture of this state.
(aa) "Pure seed," "germination," "other crop seed," "inert matter" and other seed labeling and testing terms in common usage not defined herein are defined as in the Federal Seed Act and the rules and regulations promulgated under that act.
(bb) "Recognized professional" means a person who is a licensed consultant, a certified crop advisor or any other person recognized by the arbitration council to be qualified to provide expert advise and opinion on seed performances.
(cc) "Restricted noxious weed seed" means the seeds of weeds that are particularly objectionable in fields, lawns or gardens of this state, but which can ordinarily be controlled by good cultural practice.
(dd) "Seed record" means information which relates to the origin, treatment, germination and purity of each lot of agricultural seed sold, offered or exposed for sale in this state, or which relates to the treatment, germination and variety of each lot of vegetable, flower, or tree and shrub seed sold, offered or exposed for sale in this state. Such information includes seed samples and records of declarations, labels, purchases, sales, cleaning, bulking, handling, storage, analyses, tests and examinations.
(ee) "Seedsman" means a person, firm or corporation engaged in the buying, selling or exchanging, offering or exposing for sale agricultural seeds or mixtures thereof, vegetable, flower, tree and shrub seeds as defined in this article.
(ff) "Stop sale order" means any written or printed notice or order given or issued by the commissioner or his authorized agents to the owner or custodian of any lot of agricultural, vegetable, flower, or tree and shrub seeds in this state, directing such owner or custodian not to sell, offer or expose such seeds for sale for planting purposes within this state until requirements of this article shall have been complied with and a written release has been issued.
(gg) "Strain" means the subdivision of a variety; for example: Clemson nonshattering soybeans, Strain 4.
(hh) "Treated" means that the seed has been given an application of a substance or subjected to a process designed to control or repel certain disease organisms, insects or other pests attacking such seeds or seedlings grown therefrom to improve its planting value or to serve any other purpose.
(ii) "Tree and shrub seeds" means the seeds of woody plants, including transgenic seeds, commonly known and sold as tree and shrub seeds in this state.
(jj) "Tolerance" means the allowance for sampling variation specified under rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to the provisions of this article.
(kk) "Transgenic seed" means seed from a plant whose genetic composition has been altered by methods other than those used in conventional plant breeding to produce seed that contains selected genes from other plants or species that will produce results such as herbicide tolerance, or resistance, insect tolerance, or resistance, or other traits derived from biotechnology.
(ll) "Variety" means a subdivision of a kind which is characterized by growth, plant, fruit, seed or other characteristics by which it can be differentiated in successive generations from other sorts of the same kind; for example: Lee soybeans, Frontier crimson clover, Kobe striate lespedeza, Kentucky 31 tall fescue.
(mm) "Vegetable seeds" means the seeds of those crops which are grown in gardens or on truck farms, including transgenic seeds, and are generally known and sold under the name of vegetable seeds in this state.
(nn) "Weed seed" means the seeds, bulblets or tubers of all plants generally recognized as weeds within the state and includes noxious weed seeds.
(oo) "Wholesale distributor" means a person, firm or corporation engaged in the selling of seed to a seedsman holding a permit as required by subsection (1)(c) of Section 69-3-3.
SECTION 75. Section 69-29-1, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
69-29-1. (1) (a) There is established the Mississippi Agricultural and Livestock Theft Bureau.
(b) The Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce shall appoint a director of the Mississippi Agricultural and Livestock Theft Bureau. Such director shall have at least five (5) years of law enforcement experience. Such director shall be responsible solely to the supervision of the Commissioner of Agriculture and to no other person or entity. Such director may be discharged only for just cause shown.
(c) The director may employ nine (9) agricultural and livestock theft investigators, one (1) from each highway patrol district, and each investigator is required to reside within the highway patrol district from which he or she is selected. Each investigator shall be certified as a law enforcement officer, successfully completing at least a nine-week training course, in accordance with Section 45-6-11. The curriculum for the training of constables shall not be sufficient for meeting the certification requirements of this paragraph. In the selection of investigators under this section, preference shall be given to persons who have previous law enforcement experience.
(d) The director appointed under this section, under the direction, control and supervision of the commissioner, and the investigators employed under this section shall perform only the duties described in subsection (2) of this section and shall not be assigned any other duties.
(2) The director appointed under this section and the investigators employed under this section shall have the following powers, duties and authority:
(a) To enforce all of the provisions of Sections 69-29-9 and 69-29-11, and particularly those portions requiring persons transporting livestock to have a bill of sale in their possession; to make investigations of violations of such sections and to arrest persons violating same;
(b) To enforce all of the laws of this state enacted for the purpose of preventing the theft of livestock, poultry, timber and agricultural, aquacultural and timber products and implements; to make investigations of violations thereof and to arrest persons violating same;
(c) To cooperate with all regularly constituted law enforcement officers relative to the matters herein set forth;
(d) To serve warrants and other process emanating from any court of lawful jurisdiction, including search warrants, in all matters herein set forth;
(e) To carry proper credentials evidencing their authority, which shall be exhibited to any person making demand therefor;
(f) To make arrests without warrant in all matters herein set forth in cases where same is authorized under the constitutional and general laws of this state;
(g) To handle the registration of brands of cattle and livestock;
(h) To investigate, prevent, apprehend and arrest those persons anywhere in the state who are violating any of the laws administered by the Department of Agriculture and Commerce, including, but not limited to, all agriculture-related crimes.
(i) To access and examine records of any person, business or entity that harvests, loads, carries, receives or manufactures timber products as defined in this section. Each such person or entity shall permit the director or any investigator of the Mississippi Agricultural and Livestock Theft Bureau to examine records of the sale, transfer or purchase of timber or timber products, including, but not limited to, contracts, load tickets, settlement sheets, drivers' logs, invoices, checks and any other records or documents related to an ongoing investigation of the Mississippi Agricultural and Livestock Theft Bureau.
(3) The Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce shall furnish such investigators with such vehicles, equipment and supplies as may be necessary. All expenses of same, and all other expenses incurred in the administration of this section, shall be paid from such appropriation as may be made by the Legislature.
(4) The State Tax Commission and its agents and employees shall cooperate with such investigators by furnishing to them information as to any possible or suspected violations of any of the laws mentioned herein, including specifically Section 69-29-27, and in any other lawful manner.
(5) The conservation officers of the Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks are authorized to cooperate with and assist the agricultural and livestock theft investigators in the enforcement and apprehension of violators of laws regarding agricultural and livestock theft.
(6) The * * *
Division of
Forestry * * * Services
employees are excluded from any timber and timber products theft investigative responsibilities
except when technical expertise is needed and requested through the State
Forester or his designee.
(7) For the purposes of this section, "timber product" means timber of all kinds, species or sizes, including, but not limited to, logs, lumber, poles, pilings, posts, blocks, bolts, cordwood and pulpwood, pine stumpwood, pine knots or other distillate wood, crossties, turpentine (crude gum), pine straw, firewood and all other products derived from timber or trees that have a sale or commercial value.
SECTION 76. Section 25-1-13, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
25-1-13. The state officials hereinafter named shall give bond in the penalty specified for each, with surety by one or more guaranty or surety companies authorized to do business in the state. Said bonds shall be approved by the Governor and Commissioner of Insurance and, when so approved, shall be filed and recorded in the Office of the Secretary of State.
The bond of the Auditor of Public Accounts shall be for Thirty Thousand Dollars ($30,000.00); the State Treasurer, One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000.00); the Land Commissioner, Fifteen Thousand Dollars ($15,000.00); each of the public service commissioners, Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00); director of the feed and fertilizer division, Department of Agriculture and Commerce, Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00); assistant Secretary of State, Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00); State Forester, Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00); sergeant of the guard of the Penitentiary, One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00); dispatch sergeant of the State Penitentiary, One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00).
The official bonds of all other state officers shall continue and remain as to amounts thereof as now fixed elsewhere by law, but said bonds shall be subject to the provisions stated herein for sureties, approval, filing, and premium payment unless otherwise specifically provided.
Premiums paid on all bonds under the provisions of this section shall be paid out of the State Treasury upon warrant of the Auditor, which shall be issued upon the approval of the bonds as herein provided; provided, however, that the said premiums shall be at the lowest rate obtainable. If from any cause such guaranty or surety bond or bonds cannot be obtained, in whole or in part, because of refusal of said guaranty or surety companies, at a reasonable rate in the judgment of the Insurance Commissioner or for other cause, to make such bond or bonds, upon certificate of the Commissioner of Insurance to that effect, the officer or officers having thus been unable to make a bond or bonds may make such bond with personal or individual surety in the required penalty, to be approved by the Governor and filed and recorded as directed herein, together with the certificate of the Commissioner of Insurance attached to the bond.
SECTION 77. Section 49-37-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
49-37-7. (1) There is created the Mississippi Statewide Scientific Information Management System Coordinating Council, hereinafter referred to as "coordinating council," for the purpose of developing a strategic plan for a statewide scientific information management system and serving as a coordinating entity for all aspects of scientific information management.
(2) (a) The council shall consist of the following voting members: the Executive Director of the Department of Environmental Quality; the Executive Director of the Department of Economic and Community Development; the Executive Director of the Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks; the Executive Director of the Department of Marine Resources; the State Health Officer; the State Forester; the Executive Director of the Department of Transportation; the Chairman of the Mississippi Water Resources Advisory Council; the Vice-President for Research and Sponsored Programs at each university on the Mississippi Research Consortium; the Vice-President for Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine at Mississippi State University; the State Director of Technology Transfer; the Center Director of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Stennis Space Center; the District Chief, Mississippi District, United States Geological Survey; the Executive Director of the Mississippi Automated Resource Information System; the Executive Director of the Department of Information Technology Services; the President of the Institute of Technology Development; and two (2) representatives of the private sector user community appointed by the Governor.
Members of the coordinating council not appointed by the Governor shall serve a term concurrent with their term of office in their respective position. Nonappointed members may designate an alternate to serve in their stead and the alternate shall have the authority to act for the designating member.
Members of the council appointed by the Governor shall serve four-year terms.
(b) In addition to the members of the coordinating council specified in paragraph (a) of this subsection, the coordinating council may invite, as participating members, representatives of any other state and federal organizations, or individuals possessing appropriate expertise or who have a viable interest in the development and implementation of the statewide scientific information management system.
(c) The Chairman of the Senate Environmental Protection, Conservation and Water Resources Committee and one (1) member of that committee appointed by the chairman may attend meetings of the coordinating council. The Speaker of the House of Representatives may designate the Chairman of the House Conservation and Water Resources Committee and one (1) member of that committee to attend any meeting of the coordinating council. The appointing authorities may designate alternate members from their respective houses to serve when the regular designees are unable to attend such meetings of the coordinating council. The legislative designees shall have no jurisdiction or vote on any matter within the jurisdiction of the coordinating council. For attending meetings of the coordinating council, the legislators shall receive per diem and expenses which shall be paid from the contingent expense funds of their respective houses in the same amounts as provided for committee meetings when the Legislature is not in session; however, no per diem and expenses for attending meetings of the coordinating council will be paid while the Legislature is in session. No per diem and expenses will be paid except for attending meetings of the coordinating council without prior approval of the proper committee in their respective houses.
(d) Original appointments to the coordinating council shall be made no later than October 1, 1999. The Governor shall require adequate disclosure of potential conflicts of interest by appointed members of the coordinating council. Vacancies on the coordinating council shall be filled by appointment in the same manner as the original appointments.
(e) The coordinating council shall elect from its membership a chairperson to preside over meetings and vice-chairperson to preside in the absence of the chairperson or when the chairperson shall be excused. The coordinating council shall adopt procedures governing the manner of conducting its business. A majority of the members shall constitute a quorum to do business.
(f) Members of the coordinating council shall serve without compensation, except as otherwise provided in paragraph (c) of this subsection. At the direction of the chairman of the coordinating council and contingent upon the availability of sufficient funds, each member may receive reimbursement for reasonable expenses, including travel expenses in accordance with rates established pursuant to Section 25-3-41, Mississippi Code of 1972, incurred in attending meetings of the coordinating council.
(3) The coordinating council shall convene before November 15, 1999.
(4) The coordinating council shall not employ any permanent staff, rent or occupy independent office space or otherwise establish a full-time office.
(5) In conducting its activities under this chapter, the coordinating council may elicit the support of and participation by any state or local governmental agency as may be necessary or appropriate. All state and local governmental agencies shall provide support or participation as requested.
(6) The coordinating council may exercise those duties and powers necessary to carry out the purposes of this chapter, including, but not limited to, the following functions:
(a) Conduct, or cause to be conducted any studies, analyses or evaluations related to the development and implementation of a scientific information management system;
(b) Apply and contract for and accept any grants, public or private funds, gifts or proceeds in furtherance of the activities of the coordinating council;
(c) Authorize the Executive Director of the Department of Environmental Quality to enter into all contracts or execute all instruments, on behalf of the coordinating council, and do all acts necessary, desirable or convenient to carry out any power expressly granted to the council in this chapter; and
(d) Expend or distribute any funds or assets in its custody or under its control appropriate in carrying out the purposes of this chapter.
SECTION 78. Section 69-1-61, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
69-1-61. There is hereby
created a Council of State Agencies on Agriculture for the primary purpose of
coordinating all information, programs, activities and services in the broad
field of agriculture and forestry which are authorized by state law and
supported by public appropriations therefor. The council shall consist of the
Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce, State Chemist, Secretary of the Mississippi
Commission on * * * Environmental Quality, Directors of Mississippi
State University's Extension Service and Agricultural Experiment Stations,
Secretary of the Marketing Council of the * * * Mississippi
Development Authority, the State Forester, Dean of Mississippi State
University College of Agriculture, Dean of Mississippi State University School
of Forestry, and Commissioner of Higher Education. The chairman shall be
elected annually from the membership of the council. The commission shall meet
not less than one (1) time each quarter and the members' actual and necessary
expenses incurred, if any, shall be paid from their respective agency or
department funds. The council will endeavor to combine and coordinate their
individual and collective talents and experiences and of their respective
agencies in order to promulgate plans for more orderly growth and development
of all state agricultural and forestry enterprises to diminish unnecessary
overlapping or duplication of programs among the ten (10) departments
represented on the council. The Legislature hereby declares that there has
been found to be a need for this council as an advisory group for and on behalf
of the state government, and that it is charged with a broad responsibility in
improving efficiency, effectiveness and success in both the production and
marketing of agricultural and forestry products and thereby enhance the
economic growth of this state and its citizens. The chairman is charged with
the duty and responsibility of maintaining and disseminating all necessary and
requisite minutes, proceedings, records and recommendations, as in the judgment
of the committee are required under this section, and make a report to the
Governor and the Legislature not later than December 1 of each year.
SECTION 79. Section 69-27-9, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
69-27-9. (1) The State Soil and Water Conservation Commission shall be constituted as follows:
(a) Eleven (11) voting members:
(i) The Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce;
(ii) The State Forester;
(iii) The President of the Mississippi Association of Soil and Water Conservation District Commissioners;
(iv) The first vice president of the association;
(v) The second vice president of the association;
(vi) The immediate or most recent ex-president of the association willing and able to serve; and
(vii) Five (5) members to be elected from the membership of the soil and water conservation district commissioners at the annual meeting of the association, one (1) from each United States congressional district by a caucus of the association members from each congressional district as constituted at the time of the caucus, to be elected as follows: First District, one (1) member elected for a one-year term, beginning January 1, 1968, and ending January 1, 1969, his successor to be similarly elected at the 1968 annual meeting of the association for a three-year term ending January 1, 1972, and each successor elected in the succeeding third annual meeting for a three-year term; Second District, one (1) member elected for a two-year term beginning January 1, 1968, and ending January 1, 1970, his successor to be similarly elected at the 1969 annual meeting of the association for a three-year term ending January 1, 1973, and each successor elected in the succeeding third annual meeting for a three-year term; Third District, election to be similar to the Second District; Fourth District, one (1) member elected for a three-year term beginning January 1, 1968, and ending January 1, 1971, each successor to be similarly elected at the succeeding third annual meeting for a three-year term; Fifth District, election to be similar to Fourth District.
(viii) The elected members of the board as constituted on January 15, 2003, shall continue to serve until the expiration of their respective terms. As the terms of the five (5) members expire, the members shall be elected as follows: one (1) member from each congressional district by caucus of the association members from each congressional district as constituted at the time of the caucus and the remainder to be elected from the state at large by the membership of the association. The position and term of the member elected from the Third District whose term expires January 1, 2004, shall be the term and position of the at-large member.
(b) The purpose of the above procedure is to provide that when put into effect, elected members will serve three-year staggered terms. The State Soil and Water Conservation Commission is empowered to adopt and carry out procedures for filling unexpired terms of its elected members. The incumbent will continue to serve until his successor is duly qualified and enters into the duties of his office.
(c) Two (2) members shall serve ex officio and without voting power, but with all privileges of discussion and debate as follows:
(i) The Director of the State Extension Service; and
(ii) The Director of the State Agricultural and Forestry Experimental Station.
(d) Such nonvoting ex officio member who, due to the pressure of his other required official duties, believes that he will be unable to regularly attend meetings of the commission shall designate a substitute to attend in his stead with the same rights and privileges that he would have had.
(2) The commission shall designate its chairman and vice chairman and may, from time to time, change such designation. A majority of the voting members of the commission shall constitute a quorum, and the concurrence of a majority in any matter within their duties shall be required for its determination. The voting members of the commission shall receive a per diem at the uniform rate established in Section 25-3-69, Mississippi Code of 1972, for their services on the commission for not more than thirty-six (36) days in any one calendar year. In addition, and in the discretion of the commission, all members may be entitled to expenses, including traveling expenses, necessarily incurred in the discharge of their duties on the commission, not to exceed the rate established in Section 25-3-41, Mississippi Code of 1972, for state officers and employees. The commission may provide for the execution of surety bonds for all employees and officers who shall be entrusted with funds or property, shall provide for the keeping of a full and accurate record of all proceedings and of all resolutions, regulations and orders issued or adopted, and shall provide for an annual audit of the accounts of receipts and disbursements by the State Auditor.
(3) The commission shall keep a record of its official actions, shall adopt a seal, which seal shall be judicially noticed, and may perform such acts, hold such public hearings, and promulgate such rules and regulations as may be necessary for the execution of its functions under this article.
SECTION 80. Section 69-27-203, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
69-27-203. The Director of the State Extension Service, the Director of the State Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, and the State Forester of the State of Mississippi shall, on written application of any five or more landowners of said county, owning an aggregate of not less than seventy-five hundred acres of land therein, appoint a soil erosion committee for said county, to consist of three members, each to be over twenty-five years of age and the record owner of not less than one hundred and sixty acres of land within the county. The term of each member of said committee shall be five years from the date of his appointment, but any member may be removed from office as other public officers and the term of any member of said committee shall cease, if he fails to maintain his ownership of the requisite one hundred and sixty acres of land in the county. Vacancies on said committee shall be filled for a term of five years by appointment in the same manner as the original members were appointed. The members of said committee shall receive no pay for the services to be performed hereunder, but one member of said committee shall be designated by it as secretary of the committee, who shall be paid his reasonable expense out of the soil erosion funds herein provided for, by order of the board of supervisors, upon certificate of the committee.
SECTION 81. Section 73-36-9, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
73-36-9. There is hereby created the State Board of Registration for Foresters of the State of Mississippi for the purposes of safeguarding forests by regulating the practice of forestry and requiring that persons practicing or offering to practice forestry to be registered. The board shall be composed of seven (7) members appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate. One (1) member shall be appointed from each of the six (6) forestry commission districts as constituted on January 1, 1999, and one (1) member shall be appointed at large. The State Forester of Mississippi shall serve as an ex officio member of the board. Each of the members shall be a forester within the meaning of this chapter with at least three (3) years' experience in such field, and a resident and citizen of the State of Mississippi at the time of his appointment. Within thirty (30) days after the passage of this chapter, the Governor shall appoint the members, designating a term of office of one (1), two (2), three (3), four (4) or five (5) years for each of the members as appointed; provided, however, two (2) members shall serve a term of one (1) year and two (2) shall serve a term of four (4) years. As the terms of office of the members so appointed expire, successors shall be appointed for terms of five (5) years. Any vacancy occurring in the membership of the board shall be filled by the Governor for the unexpired term. The Governor shall have the right, upon the approval of a majority of the board, to remove any members of the board for inefficiency, neglect of duty or dishonorable conduct.
SECTION 82. Section 49-37-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
49-37-7. (1) There is created the Mississippi Statewide Scientific Information Management System Coordinating Council, hereinafter referred to as "coordinating council," for the purpose of developing a strategic plan for a statewide scientific information management system and serving as a coordinating entity for all aspects of scientific information management.
(2) (a) The council shall consist of the following voting members: the Executive Director of the Department of Environmental Quality; the Executive Director of the Department of Economic and Community Development; the Executive Director of the Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks; the Executive Director of the Department of Marine Resources; the State Health Officer; the State Forester; the Executive Director of the Department of Transportation; the Chairman of the Mississippi Water Resources Advisory Council; the Vice-President for Research and Sponsored Programs at each university on the Mississippi Research Consortium; the Vice-President for Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine at Mississippi State University; the State Director of Technology Transfer; the Center Director of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Stennis Space Center; the District Chief, Mississippi District, United States Geological Survey; the Executive Director of the Mississippi Automated Resource Information System; the Executive Director of the Department of Information Technology Services; the President of the Institute of Technology Development; and two (2) representatives of the private sector user community appointed by the Governor.
Members of the coordinating council not appointed by the Governor shall serve a term concurrent with their term of office in their respective position. Nonappointed members may designate an alternate to serve in their stead and the alternate shall have the authority to act for the designating member.
Members of the council appointed by the Governor shall serve four-year terms.
(b) In addition to the members of the coordinating council specified in paragraph (a) of this subsection, the coordinating council may invite, as participating members, representatives of any other state and federal organizations, or individuals possessing appropriate expertise or who have a viable interest in the development and implementation of the statewide scientific information management system.
(c) The Chairman of the Senate Environmental Protection, Conservation and Water Resources Committee and one (1) member of that committee appointed by the chairman may attend meetings of the coordinating council. The Speaker of the House of Representatives may designate the Chairman of the House Conservation and Water Resources Committee and one (1) member of that committee to attend any meeting of the coordinating council. The appointing authorities may designate alternate members from their respective houses to serve when the regular designees are unable to attend such meetings of the coordinating council. The legislative designees shall have no jurisdiction or vote on any matter within the jurisdiction of the coordinating council. For attending meetings of the coordinating council, the legislators shall receive per diem and expenses which shall be paid from the contingent expense funds of their respective houses in the same amounts as provided for committee meetings when the Legislature is not in session; however, no per diem and expenses for attending meetings of the coordinating council will be paid while the Legislature is in session. No per diem and expenses will be paid except for attending meetings of the coordinating council without prior approval of the proper committee in their respective houses.
(d) Original appointments to the coordinating council shall be made no later than October 1, 1999. The Governor shall require adequate disclosure of potential conflicts of interest by appointed members of the coordinating council. Vacancies on the coordinating council shall be filled by appointment in the same manner as the original appointments.
(e) The coordinating council shall elect from its membership a chairperson to preside over meetings and vice-chairperson to preside in the absence of the chairperson or when the chairperson shall be excused. The coordinating council shall adopt procedures governing the manner of conducting its business. A majority of the members shall constitute a quorum to do business.
(f) Members of the coordinating council shall serve without compensation, except as otherwise provided in paragraph (c) of this subsection. At the direction of the chairman of the coordinating council and contingent upon the availability of sufficient funds, each member may receive reimbursement for reasonable expenses, including travel expenses in accordance with rates established pursuant to Section 25-3-41, Mississippi Code of 1972, incurred in attending meetings of the coordinating council.
(3) The coordinating council shall convene before November 15, 1999.
(4) The coordinating council shall not employ any permanent staff, rent or occupy independent office space or otherwise establish a full-time office.
(5) In conducting its activities under this chapter, the coordinating council may elicit the support of and participation by any state or local governmental agency as may be necessary or appropriate. All state and local governmental agencies shall provide support or participation as requested.
(6) The coordinating council may exercise those duties and powers necessary to carry out the purposes of this chapter, including, but not limited to, the following functions:
(a) Conduct, or cause to be conducted any studies, analyses or evaluations related to the development and implementation of a scientific information management system;
(b) Apply and contract for and accept any grants, public or private funds, gifts or proceeds in furtherance of the activities of the coordinating council;
(c) Authorize the Executive Director of the Department of Environmental Quality to enter into all contracts or execute all instruments, on behalf of the coordinating council, and do all acts necessary, desirable or convenient to carry out any power expressly granted to the council in this chapter; and
(d) Expend or distribute any funds or assets in its custody or under its control appropriate in carrying out the purposes of this chapter.
SECTION 83. Section 55-3-53, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
55-3-53. (1) The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks is hereby authorized and empowered to sell and dispose of timber, trees, deadwood and stumps standing, growing and being upon the lands of state parks. Such timber shall be sold and disposed of under the direction and specifications of the Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks in accordance with sound and efficient principles of selective cutting, forestry management and conservation.
Before any such timber, trees, deadwood and stumps shall be sold, the Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks shall select and mark the trees to be cut and disposed of. No trees or timber shall be marked for cutting when the cutting thereof would destroy or mar the scenic views from the tourist observation points in said park. The purchaser shall pay double price on sale basis for all trees, timber or stumps cut that had not been marked for removing by the Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks.
Before any such timber, trees, deadwood or stumps standing, growing or being upon such land shall be sold, the department shall advertise its intention so to do by publication in a newspaper published or having general circulation in the county or counties where parks are located, such notice to be published at least once a week for three (3) consecutive weeks preceding the sale and by posting one (1) notice in the courthouse in such county. The notice shall specify that such bids shall be filed with the superintendent of the state park involved, who shall transmit same to the Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks for rejection or approval. Said department shall accept the bid of the highest and best bidder for cash, but shall have the right to reject any and all of such bids.
Provided, however, in the case of damage by fire, windstorm, insects or other natural causes which would require immediate sale of the timber, because the time involved for advertisement as prescribed herein would allow decay, rot or destruction substantially decreasing the purchase price to be received had not such delay occurred, the advertisement provisions of this section shall not apply. The State Park Director, upon a written recommendation from the county forester of the county wherein said state park is located, shall determine when immediate sale of the timber is required. When the State Park Director shall find an immediate sale necessary for the causes stated herein, he shall, in his discretion, set the time for receipt of bids on the purchase of said timber, but shall show due diligence in notifying competitive bidders so that a true competitive bid shall be received.
Whenever any timber, trees, deadwood or stumps are sold under the provisions of this section, the purchaser thereof shall have all necessary rights of ingress and egress to enter upon said land and cut and remove such timber, trees, deadwood or stumps.
The proceeds derived or received from all sales under the provisions of this section shall be placed in the State Parks Timber Management Endowment Fund created under Section 55-3-54.
(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (1) of this section, the Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks may cut and sell trees damaged by fire, windstorm or insects and deadwood and stumps located upon the lands of state parks for firewood. Such firewood shall be sold only to overnight guests at state parks for use at state parks. The Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks shall select and mark all trees to be cut for firewood.
SECTION 84. Section 73-36-9, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
73-36-9. There is hereby created the State Board of Registration for Foresters of the State of Mississippi for the purposes of safeguarding forests by regulating the practice of forestry and requiring that persons practicing or offering to practice forestry to be registered. The board shall be composed of seven (7) members appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate. One (1) member shall be appointed from each of the six (6) forestry commission districts as constituted on January 1, 1999, and one (1) member shall be appointed at large. The State Forester of Mississippi shall serve as an ex officio member of the board. Each of the members shall be a forester within the meaning of this chapter with at least three (3) years' experience in such field, and a resident and citizen of the State of Mississippi at the time of his appointment. Within thirty (30) days after the passage of this chapter, the Governor shall appoint the members, designating a term of office of one (1), two (2), three (3), four (4) or five (5) years for each of the members as appointed; provided, however, two (2) members shall serve a term of one (1) year and two (2) shall serve a term of four (4) years. As the terms of office of the members so appointed expire, successors shall be appointed for terms of five (5) years. Any vacancy occurring in the membership of the board shall be filled by the Governor for the unexpired term. The Governor shall have the right, upon the approval of a majority of the board, to remove any members of the board for inefficiency, neglect of duty or dishonorable conduct.
SECTION 85. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2014.