Statement of Scope
Department of Agriculture, Trade & Consumer Protection
Rule No.
:
|
Chapter ATCP 21, Wis. Adm. Code (Existing)
|
Relating to
:
|
Exotic Plant Pest Emergency Rule
|
1.
Description of the objective of the rule
:
An emergency rule authorized by this statement
of scope will
create county
or multi-county
or
township or
multi-township
quarantine
s
for
an exotic
plant pest in
counties
and
townships
where the
pest
is detected.
An
y
emergency rule authorized by this scope statement will be submitted to the Governor for approval pursuant to section
227.24
(1
) (
e
)
1g
,
Stats.,
each time the department finds that
a
quarantine
area for
an exotic plant pest
is required. T
he authorization to draft an emergency rule creating
a
quarantine area
pursuant to this
statement of scope
will expire on the first day following the
twelf
th
month of
publication
of this statement of scope
pursuant to section 227.135
(3)
and a n
ew statement of scope must be
approved and published pursuant to sections 227.135(2) and (3)
to continue the authorization of emergency rulemaking related to
exotic
pest
quarantines
.
2.
Description of existing policies relevant to the rule and of new policies proposed to be included in the rule and an analysis of policy alternatives; the history, background and justification for the proposed rule:
History and background
.
The Department
has
authority under s.
93.07 (12)
, Stats.
to
conduct surveys and inspections for the detection and control of pests injurious to plants, and to make, modify, and enforce reasonable rules needed to prevent the dissemination of pests.
The Department
also has
plant inspection and pest control authority under s.
94.01
,
Stats. The Department
may by rule impose restrictions on the importation or movement of serious plant pests, or items that may spread serious plant pests.
In recent years the rate of arrival of
new exotic plant pest
s to the United States has increased
significantly
. Some of the exotic pests which have already
been found in
our country include Emerald Ash Borer (EAB), Asian
Longhorned
Beetle (ALB)
,
Hemlock Woolly
Ad
el
gid
(HWA)
, Thousand Cankers Disease (TCD)
and Gypsy Moth
(GM)
.
I
ntroduced, invasive, plant, animal
,
and microbe species
in the United States cause
nearly $120 billion in
environmental damages and losses
annually (Pimentel et al. 2005).
I
nvasive
forest insects
are
estimated to cost
local governments
over
$2 billion
, and reduce
residential property value
s by $1.5 billion annually nationwide
.
To date,
EAB and
GM
have
infested
Wisconsin.
To focus on one example,
EAB
is an exotic pest that endangers Wisconsin’s
834
million ash trees and ash tree resources. This insect has the potential to
destroy entire stands of ash,
including
up to
20
% of Wisconsin’s urban street trees and residential landscaping trees, and
may
result in substantial losses to forest ecosystems.
The insect
can cause great harm to
state lands
and to
the state’s tourism and timber industries.
At this time
, EAB has been identified in
twenty-
eight
states
including Wisconsin, and
two
Canadian provinces.
Forty two
Wisconsin
counties
are currently
quarantined to restrict the movement of
ash
wood in order to prevent the spread of EAB.
Proposed
policies
.
This
emergency
rule
is necessary
to
create
a timely
quarantine
of the counties
or townships
, and possibly bordering
counties or
townships
,
with new
exotic
plant
pest
detections
until a
federal quarantine is enacted
. The federal quarantine will take effect
up to
eight weeks or longer
after a formal submission by the state plant regulatory official.
A
rule
authorized by this statement of scope will
do the following:
•
Create
county
or multi-county
or township or
multi-township
quarantines in which an exotic pest is detected. The quarantine will prohibit the movement of all articles potentially harboring the damaging pest. These regulated
articles would likely include:
firewood, nursery stock, green lumber, and other
woody
material living, dead, cut or fallen, including logs, stumps, roots, branches
,
and composted and un
-
composted chips
. Some examples of current plant pests of concern include
Emerald Ash Borer (EAB), A
sian
Longhorned
Beetle (ALB),
Hemlock Woolly
A
delgid
(HWA) or Thousand Cankers Disease of Walnut (TCD)
.
•
Provide
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 (depending on the specific pest, some products, such as nursery stock, cannot be given an exemption).
•
Provide
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.
Policy
alternatives
.
If
the Department
does nothing, potentially infested wood or agricultural products will be allowed to move freely and the department will not be able to regulate
their
movement. The department would have no regulatory authority
in the counties with new exotic plant pest finds, raising the potential of a more rapid spread of an exotic invasive plant pest.
3.
Statutory authority for the rule (including the statutory citation and language):
93.07
Department duties
. (1) It shall be the duty of the department:
(1) To make and enforce such regulations, not inconsistent with law, as it may deem necessary for the exercise and discharge of all the powers and duties of the department, and to adopt such measures and make such regulations as are necessary and proper for the enforcement by the state of
chs
.
93
to
100
, which regulations shall have the force of law.
(12)
To conduct surveys and inspections for the detection and control of pests injurious to plants, make, modify, and enforce reasonable rules needed to prevent the dissemination of pests, declare and manage emergencies related to the detection and control of pests injurious to plants, provided
such declaration does not super
s
ede the authority of the chief state forester under s.
23.114
or the department of natural resources under s.
26.30
, and suggest methods of control.
94.01
plant inspection and pest control authority
. In the conduct of survey and inspectional programs for the detection, prevention
,
and control of pests, the department may impose quarantines or such other restrictions on the importation into or movement of plants or other material within the state as necessary to prevent or control the dissemination or spread of injurious pests.
4. Estimate of the amount of time that state employees will spend to develop the rule and other resources necessary to develop the rule:
The Department
estimates t
hat it will use approximately
0.
1
FTE staff
time to develop these rules. This includes time required for investigation and analysis, rule drafting, preparing related documents
,
holding public hearings, and communicating with aff
ected persons and groups. The Department
will use existing staff to develop this rule.
5. Description of all entities that may be impacted by the rule:
According to the
Wisconsin Council on Forestry
,
Wisconsin is first in the nation in forestry jobs, employing over
62,200
workers and
generating $22.9 billion in value to our state’s economy.
Our agricultural industry also annually produces over $1.3 billion in corn grain, and over $510 million in soybeans.
Wisconsin
also
le
a
d
s
the nation in cranberry production ($
388
million
/year
) and
ranks 3rd
in potato production ($
270
million
/year
)
, according to UW – Whitewater’s Fiscal and Economic Research Center
. Wisconsin
produced 51.5 million pounds of apples
valued at $27.8 million in 2015
.
This emergency rule could have an impact on persons or companies that deal in any agricultural crop or forest product from the quarantined counties or townships to locations outside of the quarantined counties.
The Wisconsin Department of Tourism reports
that
travelers to
Wisconsin spent a total of $11.
9
billion in 201
5
. Tourism
also
directly sustains
135,095
jobs
in our state
.
Should Wisconsin’s forests, parks, and recreational areas be significantly damaged by an exotic plant pest, our tourism industry could suffer substantially.
Nurseries, firewood producers/dealers, saw mills
,
and farmers that sell or distribute articles potentially harboring the damaging exotic plant pest would all be impacted. In order to sell regulated products outside of a quarantined county, veneer mills and wood processors will have to enter into a
compliance agreement with the Department
or APHIS. The agreement authorizes movement of products outside the quarantine only when there is assurance that the movement will not spread the plant pest to other locations. Licensed nursery growers will not be able to sell regulated nursery stock outside of the quarantined counties. Firewood dealers would need to be certified to sell firewood outside of the quarantined counties.
Other p
roducers
and farmers
would be required to treat
regulated products
with an approved treatment option, should one exist, before movement out of the quarantine. Grain elevators could enter into
compliance agreements with the Department
or APHIS.
6. Summary and preliminary comparison of any existing or proposed federal regulation that is intended to address the activities to be regulated by the rule:
In order to limit the spread of
exotic plant pests
, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service of the
United States Department of Agriculture (APHIS) has imposed
quarantines for EAB in twenty-
eight
states, ALB in three states
(Massachusetts, New York, and Ohio)
, and GM in
twenty
states
plus the District of Columbia
. Including Wisconsin,
six states plus Canada have imposed an external quarantine for HWA, and
eighteen
states have
done the same for TCD
.
Department
rules currently prohibit
movement of regulated plant articles
from any federally quarantined area except under authorized conditions. This proposed rule is consistent with current state and federal rules.
7. Anticipated economic impact:
The Department
expects the rule to have minimal economic impact statewide and minimal to moderate economic impact locally.
Contact Person:
Brian
Kuhn
, Director
Bureau
of Plant Industry; Phone (608) 224-4590
