Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection
Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
Rule Subject:
Plant
Pest
Import Controls and Quarantines
Adm. Code Reference:
ATCP 21
Clearinghouse #:
Not Applicable
DATCP Docket #:
14-R-15
Rule Description
This emergency rule creates
a
quarantine for
Adams, Buffalo, Calumet, Juneau, Kewaunee,
Manitowoc, Oneida
and Outagamie Counties
for
e
merald
a
sh
b
orer
(“EAB”)
. Under this rule
,
the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection
(“DATCP”) quarantines
these
c
ount
ies
to mitigate
the risk of
movement of
EAB
to other areas of Wisconsin and
to
other states.
DATCP is adopting this temporary emergency rule pending the adoption of a federal regulation
to quarantine
Adams, Buffalo, Calumet, Juneau, Kewaunee,
Manitowoc, Oneida
and Outagamie Counties
. The emergency rule will take effect immediately upon publication in the official state newspaper, and will remain in effect for
150 days. The Legislature’s Joint Committee for Review of Administrative Rules may extend the emergency rule for up to 120 additional days
.
The United States Department of Agriculture – Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (“APHIS”) positively identified EAB in
Adams County near Lake
Petenwell
in the Town of Monroe on July 31, 2014. APHIS subsequently identified EAB in Merrick State Park, Buffalo County, on August 5, 2014
.
On August 29, 2014, APHIS identified EAB in the Village of Sherwood, Calumet County, only four miles from the Outagamie County line.
On October 6, 201
4, APHIS identified EAB in the C
ity of Rhinelander, Oneida County.
While EAB has not yet been positively identified in
Juneau
, Kewaunee,
Manitowoc
and Outagamie
Count
ies
,
t
hese four
are
now
almost
completely surrounded by the state EAB quarantine
and are in relatively close proximity to existing infestations
.
It is
likel
y
that
these four counties
already contain some level of EAB
infestation
, and there is little economic or ecological benefit to
maintaining their status
out
side
of the
EAB
quarantine.
This emergency rule creates
a
DATCP quarantine
for
Adams, Buffalo, Calumet, Juneau, Kewaunee,
Manitowoc, Oneida
and Outagamie Counties
.
A
F
ederal quarantine will
be enacted approximately
six to
eight
weeks after a formal submission by the st
ate plant regulatory official.
E
AB
is carried
and spread
by untreated ash wood products. A
n eight-
week delay until enactment of the federal quarantine leaves too much time for businesses
or individuals to move potentially
EAB
inf
e
sted material out of the
se
eight
count
ies
to areas of Wisconsin or other states that are not infested with
EAB
.
This rule includes the following key provisions:
Create
s
a
quarantine
for
EAB
for
Adams, Buffalo, Calumet, Juneau, Kewaunee,
Manitowoc, Oneida
and Outagamie Counties
that prohibit
s
the movement of
all hardwood species of
firewood, nursery stock, green lumber, and other material living, dead, cut or fallen, including logs, stumps, roots, branches and composted and
uncomposted
chips of the genus
Fraxinus
(Ash wood),
out of
these
c
ount
ies
or any contiguous EAB quarantined counties
.
Provides an exemption for items that have been inspected and certified by a pest control official and are accompanied by a written certificate issued by the pest control official
(some
products, such as ash nursery stock
, cannot be given an exemption)
.
Provides an exemption for businesses that enter into a state or federal compliance agreement. The compliance agreement
describes in detail
what a company can and cannot do with regulated articles.
Small Business Affected
This emergency rule may have an impact on persons or companies that deal in any hardwood firewood or ash materials in
Adams, Buffalo, Calumet, Juneau, Kewaunee,
Manitowoc, Oneida
and Outagamie Counties
.
The affected businesses are all small businesses. This emergency rule restricts the sale or distribution of ash
trees and ash wood
products plus any hardwood firewood from
these
eight
c
ount
ies
to locations outside of
the
se
count
ies
or
outside
any
contiguously
quarantined counties
.
The business impact of this emergency rule depends on the number of
:
1)
nurseries that sell/distribute ash nursery stock outside
the
se
count
ies
,
2)
firewood producers/dealers that sell/distribute outside
these counties
,
3)
sawmills that move untreated ash stock
(green lumber)
outside
these counties
, and
4) untreated
wood waste
(
e.g.
ash brush, chips or mulch)
that is moved outside
these counties
.
Adams, Buffalo, Calumet, Juneau, Kewaunee,
Manitowoc, Oneida
and Outagamie Counties
ha
ve
a total of
3
9
licensed nursery growers that could possibly be growing ash nursery stock.
Those growers will not be able to
move or
sell ash nursery stock outside of the
quarantine area, though discussions with the Wisconsin Nursery
and Landscape
Association indicate that few, if any, nurseries continue to sell ash trees
. There
are also
an estimated
58
known firewood dealers in
these
eight
c
ount
ies
.
Firewood dealers
would need to be certified under
s
.
ATCP 21.20
, Wis. Admin. Code,
to sell
or move
firewood outside of the
contiguous quarantine area
. To obtain certification
,
a firewood dealer pay
s a $50
annual
certification fee to DATCP
and treat
s the firewood in a manner that e
nsures it is free of
EAB
.
There
are
59
known
lumber
mill
s
in
these
eight
c
ount
ies
and an
estimated
67
other tree service/
wood processing facilities
that
may also
deal with ash.
To
transport
ash wood products outside of
the quarantine area
they will have to enter into a compliance agreement with DATCP or APHIS that authorizes movement
of ash products outside of the
quarantine
only when there is assurance that the movement will not spread
EAB
to
non-quarantined
locations.
Reporting, Bookkeeping and other Procedures
Nursery growers will not have any additional reporting or record-keeping requirements. Wood products industries (
e.g.
firewood producers or
saw
mills) who enter into a compliance agreement shall keep records of all regulated product movement that leaves the contiguous quarantine area.
Professional Skills Required
No additional professional skills are required.
Accommodation for
Small Business
DATCP recognizes that every small business is different.
DATCP
will
work with individual businesses to meet the requirements of the quarantine while accommodating the unique character
of the i
ndividual business. Therefore
compliance agreement
s
will be designed to satisfy the regulations with minimal negative effects to the business.
Conclusion
This rule will help
affected businesses in
Adams, Buffalo,
Calumet, Juneau, Kewaunee,
Manitowoc, Oneida
and Outagamie Counties
to move ash wood and material without moving
EAB
to areas free from
EAB
. This will in turn help to protect the
resources on which the
se
businesses
depend. This rule may impose additional costs on some businesses, including small businesses,
depending on the nature of their
reliance on
ash
trees or ash
wood
products
.
T
he department works closely with each affected business to minimize any costs
,
and
these costs are
outweighed by the protection
of
Wisconsin’s ash resource
.