Congratulations to the City of Palestine for being approved as a GO TEXAN Certified Retirement Community (CRC).
I extend my most sincere congratulations to the citizens and leaders of Palestine for achieving this notable certification. It's a great honor for my hometown.
Launched in June 2006, the Texas Department of Agriculture's CRC initiative helps rural Texas communities attract retirees and potential retirees to live in their respective locales. The CRC Program also encourages tourism. Palestine is the 17th community in the state to be certified.
The Texas Department of Agriculture is looking forward to working with Palestine and our other certified retirement communities in a campaign to attract retirees and tourists to the Lone Star State. Not only do retirees have a significant economic impact on retirement areas, but they also bring a wealth of knowledge and energy for community service, employment and business.
Retirees spend an average $36,000 each year in their new communities while also paying $3,000 or more in state and local taxes. Texas is the second most popular retirement state, and native Texans account for one-fifth of retirees returning to Texas.
For more information on the GO TEXAN CRC Program, please visit our Web site. For more information on retiring in Texas, please visit the official state site at retireintexas.org. You can also call TDA's Rural Economic Development Division toll free at (877) 428-7848 or e-mail finance@tda.state.tx.us.
Now that the EPA has made its ruling and denied the ethanol waiver it is time to move forward. Farmers and ranchers need to come together to work on solutions for dealing with therising costs of fuel and fertilizer.
USDA has released its annual report of farm production expenditures and it is proof we must find answers to the escalating costs of doing business. According to the report, the rising cost of fuel and other products helped drive U.S. farm production expenditures to a record $260 billion in 2007. Total U.S. farm production expenditures rose 9.3 percent from 2006 and nearly 30 percent from five years ago. For a full summary of the USDA report click on the link from Pro Farmer: Link to full report.
I look forward to working with everyone in the agriculture industry to find ways that will help us effectively battle the rising costs of farming and ranching.
It’s been two weeks since the Texas Department of Agriculture implemented “Operation Spotlight,” an unprecedented investigation that uncovered dozens of Sunmart fuel stations cheating Texas drivers at the pump.
While the investigation into the calibration of the pumps continues, reinspections of Sunmart’s faulty pumps are underway and should be completed in a few weeks. I’m also pleased to note that Sunmart continues to cooperate with our requests throughout this investigation.
Just over a year ago, I quadrupled fines for fuel pump violations. Now, in light of these heinous actions against Texas consumers, I will seek legislative authority to increase those penalties even further while also strengthening TDA’s consumer protection resources with additional inspectors and enforcement staff. My team and I are working diligently to implement the following improvements in TDA’s regulatory process:
Conduct constant trend analyses of inspection data, such as the one that led to Operation Spotlight;
Increase penalties for repeat violations resulting from servicing and recalibration conducted by the same company that owns the station;
Implement "stop sales" on repeat egregious violators that will prohibit use of fuel pumps, even after recalibrations, until a reinspection by TDA is performed;
Improve the regulatory system for licensing fuel pump service companies and technicians;
Strengthen the regulations and penalties encouraging octane accuracy;
And examine new methods to better analyze inspection data to detect trends of non-compliance.
TDA is currently evaluating the appropriate enforcement actions that should be applied to Sunmart’s initial violations under “Operation Spotlight.” So far, all indications are that penalties will exceed $100,000. This is in addition to all civil or criminal penalties sought by Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott.
Consumer protection remains a priority at TDA. As such, we are committed to enforcing regulations that protect Texas consumers, and to seeing that justice be served for those who choose to violate of our state’s regulations.
Today Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott took legal action against Petroleum Wholesale, L.P., after the Texas Department of Agriculture's "Operation Spotlight" found that The Woodlands-based company's gas stations routinely failed to pump the amount of fuel its customers actually purchased.
Fair and honest businesses fuel the $1 trillion Texas economy. I will not tolerate a renegade company defrauding our consumers. It hurts families struggling in these challenging economic times and casts an unwarranted dark shadow over the business community. I commend Attorney General Abbott for his quick action on this serious matter, and I look forward to working with him to see all deceptive practices are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
For more information on Attorney General Abbott's suit, read the full press release.
You can also watch video of our joint press conference:
New details were released today concerning the nationwide salmonella Saintpaul outbreak affecting produce.
Food & Drug Administration officials linked the salmonella Saintpaul strain to irrigation water and serrano peppers at a packing facility and farm in Nuevo Leon, Mexico.
The FDA is advising people to avoid raw serrano and jalapeno peppers grown and packed in Mexico. The safest way to enjoy Serrano and jalapeno peppers is to buy Texas grown produce.
While the investigation has not cleared tomatoes grown on the Mexican farm that may have been sprayed with the tainted water, you can rest assured tomatoes grown in the Lone Star State are safe to eat. Keep your family healthy and safe while supporting Texas farmers.
Keep checking my blog for updates, as the information is changing on daily basis.
One more Texas county can use the pesticide, Termidor, to help get rid of crazy ants.
The Environmental Protection Agency has approved Termidor to be used in Hardin County since its original allowances issued at the beginning of the month.
Counties that are currently cleared for the use of Termidor are also in Southeast Texas: Brazoria, Galveston, Harris, Jefferson, Liberty, Montgomery and Wharton counties. More counties will be added to the list if Texas A&M entomologists identify the ants in those counties.
The EPA has granted Termidor use on man-made structures only.
Good news for our Texas producers and consumers. The Food and Drug Administration has announced Texas-grown jalapeno peppers are safe to eat. FDA scientists say the U.S. crop of jalapenos has not been linked to the outbreak of Salmonella. The FDA is narrowing its warning to jalapeno peppers grown in Mexico.
This latest alert reinforces what I have said in the past: we have the safest food supply in the world and consumers should buy and enjoy Texas products.
Since the outbreak began in April, 1,300 have become ill. Tomatoes were the initial suspect, however health officials have determined Texas tomatoes and all others on the market are safe to consume. So make sure you GO TEXAN this weekend and eat some Texas grown products.
The following is a press release from the Texas Department of Agriculture:
Federal Judge rules struggling producers can use land for haying and grazing
AUSTIN – Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples is pleased with the decision by a federal judge to conditionally allow haying and grazing on Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acreage under the Critical Feed Use (CFU) Program. The CFU program is designed to alleviate livestock feed needs resulting from drought and escalating feed costs.
“This is great news for Texas producers who work hard to feed the world and support their families,” Commissioner Staples said. “The judge made a sound decision, understanding that opening the land will assist producers who are struggling from the one-two punch of drought and high feed costs.”
Earlier this month Commissioner Staples filed an affidavit on behalf of Texas producers who would have suffered severe economic hardships had the National Wildlife Federation succeeded in convincing the court to suspend the use of CRP land for critical haying and grazing.
In light of the recent announcement from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding a Mexican-grown jalapeno pepper testing positive with Salmonella Saintpaul it is important to note that all reports indicate Texas-grown jalapenos are safe to eat.
In 2007, Texas harvested 4,500 acres, or 17 million pounds, of chile peppers, the majority being jalapenos. Most farms that grow jalapenos are in Hudspeth and Hidalgo counties.
While the jalapeno sample was obtained at a produce distribution center in McAllen, there is still no evidence to suggest the contamination occurred in Texas.
The process for tracking down the origin of the Salmonella Saintpaul contamination has been a long, daunting and frankly, frustrating process for all. I share in this frustration.
In the meantime, Texans can be assured that we continue to enjoy the safest food supply in the world.
Our food safety system in the United States is an effective web of firewalls that complement and support each other ensuring safety from food-borne pathogens. In the rare instance when a safeguard is compromised, there are other defenses that are automatically triggered to protect consumers.
Consumers should always properly wash and prepare all food items, as this is a basic part of family food safety.
Today I announced results of “Operation Spotlight,” a major investigation into Petroleum Wholesale, L.P.’s fuel stations. The company operates under the name Sunmart in Texas, and has stations located in several cities across the state. Findings from “Operation Spotlight” have confirmed numerous Sunmart gas stations have cheated Texas consumers by giving them less fuel than they purchased, and strongly indicate this could have been a deliberate act by the company.
At a time when families are struggling to purchase fuel, I am sure all Texans would agree with me that despicable violations such as these are repulsive and must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Giveb the strong indication this company has intentionally cheated consumers, I have passed along the results of ‘Operation Spotlight’ to Attorney General Abbott and his office has opened an investigation into the matter.
I initiated “Operation Spotlight” after becoming aware of some egregious violation patterns that pointed to the possibility of Sunmart intentionally shortchanging Texas drivers. The three-day operation ended on Sunday, July 20, with the following results:
· 990 of Sunmart’s 1,704 fuel pumps cheated consumers (58 percent) · 47 Sunmart stations cheated customers on more than half of their pumps · 15 of those 47 stations had every single pump cheating drivers. · TDA shut down all of the non-compliant pumps.
While the investigation remains ongoing, TDA estimates the company could be fined more than $100,000 as a result of their irresponsible actions.
Besides Texas, Petroleum Wholesale, L.P. operates Sunmart fuel stations in Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, Utah and Arizona. Commissioner Staples has alerted regulatory officials in these states to inform them of this investigation. While this specific operation may have ended, we are far from finished. We are going to shine the light on all violators who are looking to shortchange Texans. I will not stand for companies taking advantage of good citizens and I will work hard to protect all our consumers.
This investigation is ongoing. TDA inspectors will conduct follow-up inspections on each and every gas pump that was tagged out of order once it is recalibrated. We will also conduct re-inspections in the coming weeks on a random sample of the Sunmart stations. If we find continued violations, the penalties could rise much higher.
This investigation has given us great insight and we will use what we have learned to strengthen the regulatory process. We are raising the bar so there is a strong incentive for ALL gas station owners to be compliant; a goal which I believe is strongly shared by the 95 percent of the retail fuel industry that operates with honest business practices.
If you suspect a gas pump is out of compliance, you can report it by calling 1-800-TELL-TDA.
Click links to watch news coverage of "Operation Spotlight"
