The powers and duties of the board shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following:

(a) Establish a separate Acala and Pima quality standard. When determining each standard, the board shall consider fiber length, strength, uniformity, micronaire, seed quality, productivity, resistance to disease, including verticillium wilt, and spinning characteristics.

(b) Annually review test data and approve for release and planting within the district, cotton varieties that meet the existing Acala or Pima quality standard but are superior in some meaningful respect, as determined by the board, and that have qualities generally recognized by the cotton industry to be essential factors in producing that cotton within the district, or significant area within the district.

(c) Conduct or commission tests for cotton production and quality evaluation in accordance with procedures to be adopted pursuant to Section 52902, and assess fees necessary for administering those tests.

(d) Conduct periodic referendums, as specified in this chapter, regarding the continuation of the district. A referendum shall also be conducted whenever the board proposes substantive changes in the Acala or Pima quality standard.

(e) Require all cotton varieties approved for release for planting, and produced in the district, to contain the word “Acala” or “Pima” in labeling and all lint to be marketed as “SJV Acala” or “SJV Pima.”

(f) Recommend to the secretary on all matters pertaining to this chapter including, but not limited to, the program for enforcing this chapter and the setting of an appropriate seed assessment rate necessary for the administration of this chapter.

(Amended by Stats. 1998, Ch. 708, Sec. 2. Effective January 1, 1999. Conditionally inoperative on January 1, 2014, as prescribed in Section 52991.)