                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

PREVENTION AND CONTROL MEASURES; PENALTY (§ 3.2-6023)

A. The Commissioner may adopt regulations to prevent and control avian influenza
in the live-bird marketing system and is authorized to participate in the
federal Live Bird Marketing Program of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, as it
may be amended from time to time. In adopting such regulations, the Commissioner
shall be exempt from the Administrative Process Act (&#xA7; 2.2-4000 et seq.)
and from public participation guidelines adopted pursuant thereto. The State
Veterinarian and his representatives are authorized and empowered to enter the
premises of any entity within the live-bird marketing system to carry out the
provisions of any regulations adopted pursuant to this section. Any regulations
adopted pursuant to this section shall, unless a later effective date is
specified, take effect upon filing with the Registrar of Regulations, who shall
publish the regulations as final regulations in the Virginia Register of
Regulations, except that no requirement authorized by subsection B that a person
be registered or licensed may take effect any sooner than 90 days after the
promulgation date of the regulations containing such requirement, the
promulgation date being the date of publication in the Virginia Register of
Regulations of the final regulations containing such requirement. The
regulations shall contain a preamble stating that the Board will receive,
consider, and respond to petitions by any interested person at any time with
respect to reconsideration or revision of such regulations.

B. The Commissioner shall establish by regulation a registration or licensing
system to regulate the live-bird marketing system in Virginia. As a part of such
registration or licensing system, the Commissioner shall register or license all
persons who participate in any component of the live-bird marketing system. Such
registration or licensing system may include the granting, denial, suspension,
or revocation of any registration or license, including governing: (i) the
grounds for granting such registration or license; and (ii) the grounds for the
denial, suspension, or revocation of such registration or license.

C. Any person violating any regulation adopted pursuant to this section may be
assessed a civil penalty by the Commissioner in an amount not to exceed $2,500
per day per violation. In determining the amount of any civil penalty, the
Commissioner shall give due consideration to: (i) the history of the
person&#8217;s previous violations; (ii) the seriousness of the violation; and
(iii) the demonstrated good faith of the person charged in attempting to achieve
compliance with the regulation after notification of the violation. Civil
penalties assessed under this section shall be paid into the Livestock and
Poultry Disease Fund established in &#xA7; 3.2-6045. The Commissioner shall
prescribe procedures for payment of uncontested penalties. The procedure shall
include provisions for a person to consent to abatement of the alleged violation
and pay a penalty or negotiated sum in lieu of such penalty without admission of
civil liability arising from such alleged violation. Final orders may be
recorded, enforced, and satisfied as orders or decrees of a circuit court upon
certification of such orders by the Commissioner. Such orders may be appealed in
accordance with the provisions of the Administrative Process Act (&#xA7;
2.2-4000 et seq.).

D. For the purposes of this section: (i) &#8220;live-bird marketing
system&#8221; includes live-bird markets and the production and distribution
units that supply live-bird markets with birds; (ii) &#8220;live-bird
markets&#8221; includes any facility that receives live poultry to be resold or
slaughtered and sold onsite, not including any producer or grower that prior to
the sale of his own birds slaughters or processes them onsite or at an approved
slaughter facility or any producer or grower that sells live birds grown
exclusively on his premises and is not a &#8220;production unit&#8221; or
&#8220;distribution unit&#8221; as defined herein; (iii) &#8220;production
unit&#8221; includes a production facility or farm that is the origin of or
participates in the production of poultry offered for sale in a live-bird
market; and (iv) &#8220;distribution unit&#8221; includes a person or business
such as a wholesaler, dealer, hauler, and auction market engaged in the
transportation or sale of poultry within the live-bird market system.

HISTORY: 2006, c. 442, § 3.1-741.6; 2008, c. 860; 2016, c. 563.