Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service August 27, 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

We are soliciting public comment on regulatory options that could be applied to wood packaging material (e.g., crates, dunnage, wooden spools, pallets, packing blocks) used in domestic commerce to decrease the risk of the artificial spread of plant pests such as the emerald ash borer and the Asian longhorned beetle. These and other plant pests that could be transported interstate by wood packaging material pose a serious threat to U.S. agriculture and to natural, cultivated, and urban forests. We are also announcing our intent to prepare an environmental impact statement on various potential pest mitigation measures and opening a public scoping period for this document.