PAYMENT OF ASSESSMENTS; ASSESSMENT LIENS.

(a) A citrus producer who fails to pay an assessment levied under this chapter when due may be subject, after reasonable notice and opportunity for hearing, to a penalty set by the commissioner. In determining the amount of the penalty to be assessed, the commissioner shall consider:

(1) the seriousness of the violation, including the nature, circumstances, and extent of the violation;

(2) the history of previous violations;

(3) the amount necessary to deter future violations;

(4) the economic situation of the citrus producer; and

(5) any other matter that justice may require.

(b) The corporation may develop a compliance certificate program to manage the payment and collection of an assessment levied under this chapter. Under the program the corporation, subject to department rules, may issue a compliance certificate for citrus for which an assessment has been paid.

(c) In addition to any other remedies for the collection of assessments and penalties, the commissioner may adopt rules relating to the compliance certificate program for suppression assessments. The rules may include:

(1) provisions establishing and relating to the obligations of growers, packers, and buyers in due course of citrus produced in active pest management zones to ensure that assessments are paid within a prescribed time period;

(2) provisions allowing incentives in the form of discounted assessments for growers who pay assessments within a prescribed time period;

(3) provisions establishing penalties and interest against growers who pay assessments after a prescribed time period; and

(4) other provisions the commissioner determines are proper.

(d) In addition to any other remedies for the collection of assessments and penalties, an assessment lien in favor of the corporation attaches and is perfected 60 days after the date the corporation mails notice of the assessment on citrus produced and harvested that year from the acreage that is subject to the assessment that is due and unpaid. An assessment lien is not an agricultural lien for the purposes of Chapter 9, Business & Commerce Code, and is not subject to the provisions of that chapter. An assessment lien is subject to and preempted by the Food Security Act of 1985 (7 U.S.C. Section 1631 et seq.) and shall be treated under that Act in the same manner as a security interest created by the seller. A buyer of citrus takes free of the assessment lien if the buyer:

(1) receives a compliance certificate issued by the corporation when the buyer purchases the citrus that certifies that the assessment has been paid to the corporation;

(2) pays for the citrus by a check on which the department is named as a joint payee;

(3) does not receive notice of the assessment lien as required by the Food Security Act of 1985 (7 U.S.C. Section 1631 et seq.); or

(4) buys the citrus from a person other than the producer of the citrus.

(e) The corporation may assign, with the approval of the commissioner, assessments or liens in favor of the corporation as collateral for a loan to the corporation only if the proceeds of the loan are designated for use in the pest management zone from which the assessments or liens originated.

(f) If the department believes that a violation of this section or a rule adopted under this section has occurred, the department may investigate and, during normal business hours, audit and inspect the records of the person who is the subject of the investigation.