Prior to issuing an order to abate to a commercial organic grower, the Director shall provide the grower an opportunity to take effective action voluntarily. The procedures set out below apply.
(a) If the Director receives a substantial number of eye gnat complaints from a community near the farm, the Director shall investigate. The Director shall endeavor to complete this investigation within 30 days. If completion of the investigation is interrupted by seasonal or other factors, the investigation may resume when feasible without requiring new community complaints. The Director shall proceed with the process set out in this section if the investigation:
i. Verifies through eye gnat source identification testing that the farm supports the development, attraction or harborage of eye gnats; and
ii. Verifies through observations by County staff or through evidence provided by community members that nuisance conditions exist in the community; and
iii. Determines through surveillance, eye gnat source identification testing or other testing whether other abatable sources of eye gnats in the area may also be, alone or in combination, a predominant cause of the development, attraction or harborage of eye gnats.
(b) If the conditions in subsection (a) are satisfied, the Director shall promptly contact the farmer, state that action to abate eye gnats is required under state law, and offer assistance to the farmer to undertake such action voluntarily.
(c) The assistance offered shall include consultation with an Eye Gnat Advisor, as detailed in section 64.412 (Eye Gnat Advisor), to assess the eye gnat problem on the farm and to identify eye gnat abatement measures that are likely to be effective and to be practicable for that farm. The Director shall inform the farmer that, if the offer of assistance is accepted, the conclusions and recommendation of the Eye Gnat Advisor will be shared with the Director. The farmer may retain independent scientific experts to consult on preparation of a voluntary plan.
(d) If the farmer agrees to accept assistance from the Eye Gnat Advisor, the farmer shall have such time as specified by the Director, but not fewer than 60 days, to submit a voluntary plan for eye gnat abatement to the Director. The Director may extend the period for submission of this plan if an extension is requested by the Eye Gnat Advisor.
(e) During development of the voluntary plan the grower and Eye Gnat Advisor shall consider and discuss at least the following strategies: the management of weeds and crop residues, the selection of fertilizers, watering practices, soil covers, flight barriers, barrier crops, trapping strategies, fallow periods or non-irrigated periods. The voluntary plan shall address both the prevention of eye gnat breeding and the interception of eye gnats on the farm, and shall include both appropriate cultural control measures and other appropriate control measures.
(f) The voluntary plan must include a combination of validated measures applicable to and practicable for that farm that the Farm and Home Advisor, after consultation with any experts hired by the farmer, determines are likely to significantly reduce eye gnat development and migration from the farm. The plan may include additional eye gnat abatement measures that have not yet been validated. The plan shall include provisions for monitoring the effectiveness of control measures on the farm and in the community. Plans typically should cover a one year period, however, a two-year plan can be submitted to and approved by the Director if the Eye Gnat Advisor advises the Director that the most significant eye gnat abatement measures in that plan will take two or more years to achieve the effects intended.
(g) The Director shall approve the plan as submitted if the Director determines that it is likely to be sufficient to alleviate nuisance conditions in the affected community, or if the Director determines that the plan includes all validated, applicable and practicable measures for that farm. If the Director does not respond to or approve a plan within 45 days of receipt of the plan, the plan shall be deemed to have been approved.
(h) The Director may approve any plan that the Director determines constitutes an appropriate effort for that farm that year.
(i) In the event the Director determines that the voluntary plan submitted will not adequately abate eye gnats, the Director after review with the commercial organic farmer may request modifications to the plan to incorporate additional validated, applicable and practicable measures. The Director shall provide written notice of any requested modification to the farmer. Additions can include requirements to use on-farm and offsite trapping strategies. If the submitted or modified plan includes providing traps and bait free of charge to affected residents, the Director shall inform recent and subsequent complainants that free traps and bait are available from the farmer.
(j) The Director may request that a plan be modified at any time if the plan requires clarification or refinement, or if additional eye gnat abatement measures are validated while that plan is in place, and those measures are determined by the Director to be applicable and practicable for that farm. In addition, the Director may request that the second year of a two year plan be modified if the success of that plan is in jeopardy because significant eye gnat abatement measures in that plan did not perform as anticipated in the first year of the plan.
(k) If a farmer declines to add additional measures to a voluntary plan as requested by the Director, the Director may issue an order to abate, subject to the limitations in section 64.403. The farmer may appeal the order to abate as set out in this chapter.
(l) If the approved voluntary plan is implemented by the farmer on a timely basis and if there is substantial and continuous conformance to that plan, the Director may not issue an order to abate eye gnats to that farmer during the remainder of the calendar year or years in which the plan was implemented. If substantial progress is made by the end of the plan period the Director after consultation with the Eye Gnat Advisor and consideration of any input provided by experts hired by the farmer may approve a voluntary plan for an additional full calendar year. The Director can request modifications to any approved plan at any time to the extent provided in subsection (j) of this section.
(m) Whether to issue an order to abate after the first voluntary plan period (whether one or two years) is in the Director's discretion, subject to the limitations in section 64.403.
(Added by Ord. No. 10240 (N.S.), effective 1-4-13; amended by Ord. No. 10704 (N.S.), effective 1-8-21)