1 South Carolina General Assembly 2 117th Session, 2007-2008 3 4 H. 3832 5 6 STATUS INFORMATION 7 8 General Bill 9 Sponsors: Reps. Toole and R. Brown 10 Document Path: l:\council\bills\nbd\11483ac07.doc 11 12 Introduced in the House on April 10, 2007 13 Currently residing in the House Committee on Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environmental 14 Affairs 15 16 Summary: Pine straw 17 18 19 HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS 20 21 Date Body Action Description with journal page number 22 4/10/2007 House Introduced and read first time HJ-11 23 4/10/2007 House Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environmental 24 Affairs HJ-11 25 5/8/2007 House Member(s) request name added as sponsor: R.Brown 26 27 28 VERSIONS OF THIS BILL 29 30 4/10/2007 31 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A BILL 10 11 TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 12 1976, BY ADDING SECTION 48-23-275 SO AS TO REQUIRE 13 A PERSON WHO GATHERS PINE STRAW FOR THE 14 PURPOSE OF SELLING IT TO OBTAIN WRITTEN 15 PERMISSION FROM THE LANDOWNER TO HARVEST THE 16 PINE STRAW, TO REQUIRE THE EXECUTION OF A 17 CERTIFICATE OF HARVEST BY A LANDOWNER IN 18 ORDER FOR A PERSON TO GATHER, BALE, TRANSPORT, 19 OR SELL PINE STRAW, AND TO PROVIDE CRIMINAL 20 PENALTIES FOR VIOLATIONS. 21 22 Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South 23 Carolina: 24 25 SECTION 1. Chapter 23, Title 48 of the 1976 Code is amended 26 by adding: 27 28 “Section 48-23-275. (A) As used in this section: 29 (1) ‘Landowner’ means the person who owns land on which 30 pine straw is harvested or the person having possession, control, or 31 use of such land who has lawful authority to grant permission to 32 harvest pine straw from the land. 33 (2) ‘Harvester’ means a person who gathers pine straw from 34 its site of origin for the purpose of commerce in straw as a 35 commodity. 36 (3) ‘Harvesting’ means the various methods or processes of 37 gathering pine straw for preservation, storage, use, or sale. 38 (4) ‘Person’ means an individual, partnership, corporation, 39 association, or any other legal entity. 40 (5) ‘Pine straw’ means the dead needles of coniferous 41 evergreen trees which have separated from the trees to which they 42 were originally attached.

1 [3832] 1 1 (6) ‘Pine straw dealer’ means a person who purchases or 2 otherwise obtains pine straw from a seller or landowner for the 3 purpose of resale at wholesale or retail, or both. 4 (7) ‘Seller’ means a person who exchanges pine straw for 5 money or for any other valuable consideration. 6 (B)(1) As a condition of selling pine straw within the State, the 7 harvester shall present to the pine straw dealer a certificate of 8 harvest. A certificate of harvest must be a written or printed 9 document granting permission for the harvest of the pine straw, 10 signed by the landowner from whose property the pine straw was 11 harvested. 12 (2) A certificate of harvest must include: 13 (a) the name, address, telephone number, and signature of 14 the landowner who granted permission to harvest the pine straw; 15 (b) the name, address, telephone number, and signature of 16 the authorized harvester of the pine straw; 17 (c) the location of the harvest, which shall include the 18 state and county where harvested; 19 (d) the starting date and ending date of the authorized 20 harvest period, not to exceed twelve months; and 21 (e) a statement substantially the same as the following: 22 ‘BY LAW YOU ARE REQUIRED TO HAVE IN YOUR 23 POSSESSION A ‘CERTIFICATE OF HARVEST’ FOR EACH 24 LANDOWNER UPON WHICH STRAW IS HARVESTED’. 25 (3) A landowner, selling straw directly to a dealer, shall 26 execute the certificate of harvest, signing as both the landowner 27 and harvester. 28 (C)(1) It is unlawful for a harvester to engage in raking, 29 gathering, baling, or transporting pine straw without having in 30 immediate possession a properly executed certificate of harvest 31 from the landowner of the property from which the straw 32 originates. 33 (2) It is unlawful for a harvester, or for any pine straw 34 dealer, to buy, sell, or offer to sell pine straw within the State 35 without a properly executed certificate of harvest for the straw 36 involved in the transaction. 37 (D) A law enforcement officer may, based on probable cause, 38 issue a citation for violation of this section, and may furthermore 39 seize any pine straw in possession of the violator until its rightful 40 owner may be determined. 41 (E) If ownership of pine straw seized under this section cannot 42 be determined after a reasonable effort within thirty days, the 43 seized straw may be disposed of at the discretion of the court.

1 [3832] 2 1 (F) This section must not be construed so as to affect any 2 farmer or other person harvesting or handling pine straw for home 3 or personal use. 4 (G) A person violating a provision of this section is guilty of a 5 misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined in an amount to 6 be determined by the court. Charges under this section do not 7 preclude charges for associated violations including, but not 8 limited to, larceny, trespassing, and removing forest products 9 without permission.” 10 11 SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval by the 12 Governor. 13 ----XX---- 14

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