Whenever the Commissioner finds any article that is infested or reasonably believed to be infested or a host or pest exists on any property or is in transit in the Commonwealth, he may require full information as to origin, number and destination of same and, upon giving notice to the owner or his agent in possession thereof, seize, quarantine, treat, or otherwise dispose of such pest, host, or article in such manner as the Commissioner deems necessary to suppress, control, eradicate, prevent, or retard the spread of a pest; or the Commissioner may order such owner or agent to so treat or otherwise dispose of the pest, host, or article. The owner of any property destroyed or ordered to be treated or otherwise disposed of under this section may, in an action against the Commonwealth in the appropriate court, recover just compensation for any property so destroyed or the reasonable costs of disposal of any property so ordered if he establishes that the property was not a pest, or a host, or an infested article.

Terms Used In Virginia Code 3.2-705

  • Commissioner: means the Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services. See Virginia Code 3.2-100
  • Host: means any plant or plant product upon which a pest is dependent for completion of any portion of its life cycle. See Virginia Code 3.2-700
  • Infested: means actually infested or infected with a pest or so exposed to infestation that it would be reasonable to believe that an infestation exists. See Virginia Code 3.2-700
  • Pest: means an insect, disease, parasitic plant, or other organism of any character whatever, in any living stage, vertebrate or invertebrate, causing or capable of causing injury or damage to any plant or part thereof or any processed, manufactured, or other product of plants, or otherwise creating a public nuisance. See Virginia Code 3.2-700

1975, c. 29, § 3.1-188.25; 1980, c. 291; 2008, c. 860.

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