EmR1525 Hearing Information

State of Wisconsin

Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection

NOTICE OF HEARING

Rule Related to Plant Pest Import Controls and Quarantine

The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) announces that it will hold a public hearing on its emergency rule, s. ATCP 21.17, Wis. Adm. Code, relating to the quarantine of Marquette County for the emerald ash borer.

DATCP will hold a public hearing at the time and place shown below.

Hearing Date and Location:

January 20, 2016
1:30 pm

Conference Room 212 (2nd floor)

Dept. of Agriculture, Trade & Consumer Protection

2811 Agriculture Dr.

Madison, WI 53718

DATCP invites the public to attend the hearing and comment on the emergency rule. Following the public hearing, the hearing record will remain open until January 29, 2016 for additional written comments. Comments may be sent to the Division of Agricultural Resource Management at the address below, to [e-mail] or at http://adminrules.wisconsin.gov.

You can obtain a free copy of this hearing draft rule and related documents including the economic impact analysis by contacting the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, Division of Agricultural Resource Management, 2811 Agriculture Drive, P.O. Box 8911, Madison, Wisconsin 53708. You can also obtain a copy by calling [phone] or emailing [e-mail]. Copies will also be available at the hearing. To view the emergency rule online, go to: http://adminrules.wisconsin.gov.

Comments or concerns relating to small businesses may also be addressed to DATCP’s small business regulatory coordinator Keeley Moll at the address above, by email to [e-mail], or by telephone at [phone].

Hearing impaired persons may request an interpreter for this hearing. Please make reservations for a hearing interpreter by January 14, 2016, by writing to Barbara Stalker, Division of Agricultural Resource Management, P.O. Box 8911, Madison, WI 53708-8911, emailing [e-mail] or by telephone at [phone]. Alternatively, you may contact the DATCP TDD at [phone]. The hearing facility is handicap accessible.

Analysis Prepared by the Department of Agriculture,

Trade and Consumer Protection

This emergency rule creates a quarantine for Marquette County for emerald ash borer (EAB). Under this rule, the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) quarantines Marquette County to mitigate the movement of emerald ash borer to other areas of Wisconsin and other states.

DATCP is adopting this temporary emergency rule pending the adoption of a federal regulation to quarantine Marquette County. 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.

Statutes Interpreted

  Statutes Interpreted: ss. 93.07(12) and 94.01, Stats.

Statutory Authority

Statutory Authority: ss. 93.07(1), 93.07(12), 94.01 and 227.24, Stats.

Explanation of Statutory Authority

DATCP has broad general authority, under s. 93.07 (1), Stats., to adopt regulations to enforce laws under its jurisdiction. DATCP also has broad general authority, under ss. 93.07 (12) and 94.01, Stats., to adopt regulations to prevent and control plant pest infestations. Emerald ash borer quarantines created by this rule are part of an overall state strategy to prevent and control plant pest infestations, including EAB infestations. DATCP is adopting this temporary emergency rule, under authority of s. 227.24, Stats., pending the adoption of federal regulations on the same subject.

Background

The United States Department of Agriculture – Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (“APHIS”) positively identified EAB in Marquette County in the town of Montello on July 29, 2015. This emergency rule creates a DATCP quarantine for Marquette County. Federal quarantines will be enacted approximately six to eight weeks after a formal submission by the state plant regulatory official. Emerald ash borer is carried and spread by untreated ash wood products. An eight-week delay until enactment of the federal quarantine leaves too much time for businesses or individuals to spread potentially EAB-infested material out of this county to areas of Wisconsin or other states that are not infested with EAB.

Emerald ash borer is an injurious exotic pest that now endangers Wisconsin’s 770 million ash trees, comprising about 7% of our trees. This insect has the potential to destroy entire stands of ash, and any incursion of emerald ash borer can result in substantial losses both to forest ecosystems and urban trees, as well as the state’s vital tourism and timber industries. The emerald ash borer, now considered the most destructive forest pest in North America, has killed over fifty million trees in the Midwest and cost several hundred million dollars annually in losses to the woodlot, nursery, landscape industries and municipalities. The United States Department of Agriculture predicts the national urban impact from this pest could exceed $370 billion.

DATCP has plant inspection and pest control authority under s. 94.01, Stats., to adopt rules establishing quarantines or other restrictions on the importation into or movement of plants or other materials within this state, if these measures are necessary to prevent or control the spread of injurious plant pests. A quarantine order may prohibit the movement of any pest, or any plant, pest host or pest-harboring material, which may transmit or harbor a pest.

Emergency Rule Content

The emergency rule will do the following: