Sec. 501.033. SEIZURE AND DISPOSITION OF BANNED OR MISBRANDED HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCE. (a) If an authorized agent of the department has good reason to believe that a hazardous substance is a banned or misbranded hazardous substance, the agent shall affix to the article a tag or other appropriate marking giving notice that the article is or is suspected to be a banned or misbranded hazardous substance and that the article has been detained, and warning all persons not to remove the article from the premises or dispose of the article by sale or in any other manner until permission to do so is given by the agent or a court.

(b) The department shall petition a district court of Travis County or of the county in which the article is located to authorize the destruction of the article. If the court determines that the article is a banned or misbranded hazardous substance, the department shall destroy the article, and the court shall impose all court costs and fees and storage and other proper expenses against the claimant of the article. However, if the court finds that misbranding occurred in good faith and can be corrected by proper labeling, the court may direct that the article be delivered to the claimant for proper labeling with the approval of the department.

(c) If the court finds that the article is not a banned or misbranded hazardous substance, the court shall order the department to remove the tags or other markings.

Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989. Amended by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 360, Sec. 11, eff. Sept. 1, 2001.