1. (a) Except as provided in subsections (b) and (e) of this section, no permits to trap, transport, and transplant white-tailed deer or mule deer shall be issued by the department unless a sample of adult deer from the trap site equivalent to 10% of the number of deer to be transported has been tested for chronic wasting disease by the Texas Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratories.

   1. (1) The department will not authorize trapping activities unless the test result for each deer in the minimum required sample is 'not detected.'
   2. (2) The department will not issue a permit for any activity involving a trap site from which a 'detected' result for chronic wasting disease has been obtained.
   3. (3) The sample size shall be no more than 40 or less than ten animals.
   4. (4) The test results required by this section shall be presented to the department prior to the transport of any deer.
   5. (5) All deer released shall be marked in one ear with a department-assigned identification number.
   6. (6) A test result is not valid if the sample was collected or tested prior to October 1 of the previous permit year.
   7. (7) Except as provided in paragraph (8) of this section, a test result shall not be used more than once to satisfy the requirements of this section.
   8. (8) If a permittee traps, transports, and transplants fewer deer than are authorized in a given permit year, that permittee may trap, transport, and transplant the remaining deer the following year from the same trap site without having to provide new samples for testing; however, the person must apply for a new Triple T permit and must re-submit the test results from the previous year. If the application for a new Triple T permit specifies a number of deer greater than the remainder from the previous year, the requirements of paragraphs (1)-(4) of this subsection apply to the additional deer.

2. (b) The provisions of subsection (a) of this section do not apply to a property if:

   1. (1) there have been at least 60 CWD-IHC (immunohistochemistry) test results of 'not detected' received by the department for the property; and
   2. (2) there have been no results of 'detected' received by the department for the property.
3. (c) A property meeting the conditions of subsection (b) of this section continues to qualify for exemption from the provisions of subsection (a) of this section if all samples from the property continue to test 'not detected' on an annual basis. The minimum requirement for satisfying the provisions of this subsection is one deer per year or at least 3% of the number of deer moved from the property each calendar year, whichever is higher.
4. (d) The provisions of subsection (a) of this section automatically apply to any property that receives deer from a trap site that does not meet the requirements of subsections (b) and (c) of this section.
5. (e) CWD testing is not required for deer trapped on any property if the deer are being moved to adjacent, contiguous tracts owned by the same person who owns the trap site property.
6. (f) Nothing in this section authorizes the take of deer. The take of deer for the purposes of this section shall be in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.
7. (g) This section does not apply to deer possessed pursuant to a permit to trap, transport, and process white-tailed deer.

Source Note:The provisions of this §65.102 adopted to be effective November 28, 2002, 27 TexReg 11152; amended to be effective October 21, 2003, 28 TexReg 9079; amended to be effective October 11, 2004, 29 TexReg 9543; amended to be effective August 30, 2005, 30 TexReg 4998.