The planting, possessing for planting, growing, picking, harvesting, ginning of cotton, delinting of cottonseed, or sale of lint by anyone conducting research on nonapproved varieties shall be in compliance with regulations adopted by the department. The department shall also adopt regulations to accomplish all of the following purposes:

Before any nonapproved cotton is approved by the board for release and planting in the district, it shall be submitted to the board for production and quality evaluation and tests. The secretary, in consultation with the board and the University of California, shall adopt procedures for testing nonapproved cotton varieties. Variety tests shall be conducted for a minimum of three years prior to approval and release of the variety.

The secretary, by permit, may allow seed cotton produced outside the district to be ginned within the district if the planting seed has met the requirements of subdivision (c) of Section 52901. Cottonseed and lint resulting from these ginnings shall be disposed of as directed by the permit. Permittees may be charged an assessment not to exceed four dollars ($4) per bale to recover the department’s costs for permit enforcement.