Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 12, March 22, 2024
A quarantine is established against the following pest,
its hosts, and possible carriers:
(a)
Pest. Japanese beetle, Popillia japonica, a beetle, in the
family Scarabaeidae, which in the larval stage attacks the roots of many plants
and as an adult will attack the leaves, flowers, and fruits of many
plants.
(b) Definitions
(1) "Bill of Lading" is defined as a document
issued by a shipper or their agent to acknowledge receipt of cargo for
shipment.
(2) "California State
Plant Quarantine Officer" is defined for the purpose of this regulation, as a
state or county staff person authorized by the Secretary to:
(A) Certify the pest condition or pest
treatment of shipments
(B) Enforce
the laws and regulations relating to the Japanese beetle quarantine in title 3
California Code of Regulations Section
3280.
(3) "Category 1 state" is defined as a state
where Japanese beetle is not known to be established based on official survey,
where the state has officially adopted and maintained a quarantine to prevent
entry of Japanese beetle, and where the state has an active eradication program
in place for any incipient populations. California is a category 1 state under
the U.S. Domestic Japanese Beetle Harmonization Plan as adopted by the National
Plant Board.
(4) "Conveyance" is
defined as a thing, including, but not limited to, an aircraft, ship, or truck,
used to transport someone or something from one place to another and that is
subject to inspection.
(5) "Dead
Japanese beetle" is a Japanese beetle adult that has no capacity for movement
or response to stimuli. The beetle may have the appendages tucked beneath the
body, sometimes with the legs completely curled underneath the body. A dead
adult beetle may be dry and brittle and have appendages fixed in a rigid
position. A recently dead adult beetle may still possess flexible, pliant
appendages that can be readily moved by the observer.
(6) "Inspecting officer" is defined as the
federal, state, or county staff person conducting an inspection.
(7) "Inspection" is defined as an in-person
examination of a conveyance, shipment, object, or property to determine if a
pest or plant disease is present.
(8) "Live Japanese beetle" is defined as a
Japanese beetle adult that is alert, active, and responsive to external
stimuli. Live adult beetles have the capacity for coordinated movement at
ambient temperatures equal to or exceeding 70° F. Coordinated movements may
consist of any of the following: walking at least one body length, responding
to touch or other external physical stimuli, attempting to escape grasp or
capture via powered flight or leg/body movements, turning over (righting
itself) from back to front if placed upside down, and exhibiting feeding
behaviors. Live adult beetles typically exhibit a posture consisting of fully
extended legs and antennae.
(9)
"Moribund Japanese beetle" is a Japanese beetle adult that is in the process of
dying with no chance of recovery. These beetles may exhibit body or appendage
movement, but they are uncoordinated and not necessarily in response to any
external stimuli. In some instances, the body and/or appendages may be visibly
twitching. Moribund beetles, if already on their back, are not capable of
turning over (righting itself). Coordinated activities such as feeding,
sustained walking, and powered flight are not possible.
(10) "Person" is defined as any individual,
partnership, association, corporation, limited liability company, or any
organized group of persons whether incorporated or not.
(11) "Shipper" is any person who engages in
the operation of selling, marketing, handling, or distributing on behalf of a
producer, whether as owner, agent, employee, broker, or otherwise.
(12) "Transporter" is defined as a person or
thing that moves something from one property to another, within or into the
state.
(c) Area Under
Quarantine.
(1) The entire states of Alabama,
Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa,
Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota,
Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North
Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South
Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia,
Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia.
(2) In Canada: the entire provinces of New
Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, and
Quebec.
(d) Articles and
Commodities Covered. The following are hereby declared to be hosts and possible
carriers of the pest quarantined against:
(1)
Soil except when commercially packaged. For the purposes of this section, soil
shall mean all growing media;
(2)
Humus, compost, and manure (except when commercially packaged);
(3) All plants with roots (except bareroot
plants free from soil). "Free from soil" as used in this regulation shall mean
free from soil in amounts that could contain concealed Japanese beetle larvae
or pupae;
(4) Grass sod;
(5) Plant crowns or roots for propagation
(except when free from soil);
(6)
Bulbs, corms, tubers, and rhizomes of ornamental plants (except when free from
soil);
(7) Any other plant, plant
part, article, or conveyance when it is determined by a California State Plant
Quarantine Officer to present a hazard of spreading live Japanese beetle due to
infestation or exposure to infestation by Japanese beetle.
(e) Restrictions. All articles and
commodities covered are prohibited entry into California from the area under
quarantine with the following exceptions:
(1)
Certificate of Treatment. All of the articles and commodities covered except
grass sod, are approved for entry into California when accompanied by a
certificate issued by an authorized state agricultural official at origin
declaring that the article or shipment was treated for Japanese beetle prior to
shipment in accordance with methods and procedures approved and prescribed by
the Secretary.
All treatments shall be performed under direct
supervision of an authorized state agricultural official or by the shipper
under a compliance agreement with the authorized state agricultural official to
perform the treatments. The authorized state agricultural official shall
monitor all treatments and procedures performed under a compliance
agreement.
The phytosanitary certificate shall bear the following
Additional Declaration (AD): "The rooted plants were treated to control
Popillia japonica according to the criteria for shipment to
category 1 states as provided in the U.S. Domestic Japanese Beetle
Harmonization Plan."
(2)
Certificate of Origin. Commercial plant shipments with soil may be shipped from
the area under quarantine into California provided such shipments are
accompanied by a certificate issued by an authorized state agricultural
official at origin. Grass sod is not eligible for this authorization. Such
certificates shall be issued only if the shipment conforms fully with either
(A), (B), (C), (D), or (E) below:
(A)
Production in an Approved Japanese Beetle-Free
Greenhouse/Screenhouse. All the following criteria apply:
1. All growing media shall be sterilized,
except for commercially processed or prepared (soilless) growing
material.
2. All stock shall be
free of soil (bareroot) before planting into the approved medium.
3. The potted plants shall be maintained
within the greenhouse/screenhouse during the entire adult flight
period.
4. During the adult flight
period, June through September, the greenhouse/screenhouse shall be made secure
so that adult Japanese beetle cannot gain entry. Security will be documented by
the authorized agricultural official.
5. No Japanese beetle-contaminated material
shall be allowed into the secured area at any time.
6. The greenhouse/screenhouse shall be
officially inspected by the inspecting officers and shall be specifically
approved as a secure area. They shall be inspected by the same inspecting
officers for the presence of all life stages of the Japanese beetle.
7. The plants and their growing medium shall
be appropriately protected from subsequent infestation while being stored,
packed and shipped.
8. Certified
greenhouse/screenhouse nursery stock shall not be transported into or through
any infested areas unless shipment integrity is preserved and documented and
adequate safeguards are applied to prevent possible infestation.
9. Shipments from each greenhouse/screenhouse
operation approved by the inspecting officer as having met and maintained the
above criteria, shall be issued a phytosanitary certificate bearing the
following additional declaration (AD):
"The rooted plants (or crowns) were produced in a
California Department of Food and Agriculture approved Japanese beetle-free
greenhouse or screenhouse."
(B)
Plants Produced Outside Regulated
Area. The plants were not produced in the regulated area, were
transported into the regulated area in a closed conveyance or closed containers
and at all times thereafter were protected from becoming infested with Japanese
beetle.
(C)
Origin County
Free Survey. States or portions of states listed in the area under
quarantine may have counties that are not infested with Japanese beetle.
Shipments of articles and commodities covered will be accepted from these
non-infested counties if annual surveys are made in such counties and the
results of such surveys are negative for Japanese beetle. A list of counties so
approved will be maintained by the Secretary. The agricultural officials of
other states may recommend a non-infested county be placed on the approved
county list by written request to the Secretary for such approval and stating
how the surveys were made giving the following information:
1. Area surveyed and date survey was
performed.
2. Survey
method.
3. Personnel involved in
survey.
4. If the county was
previously infested, date of last infestation.
The recommendation for approval of such counties shall be
evaluated by the Pest Exclusion Branch, Plant Health and Pest Prevention
Services Division, California Department of Food and Agriculture.
If live Japanese beetle has been detected in neighboring
counties, approval shall be denied. To be maintained on the approved list, each
county must be reapproved every twelve (12) months. Shipments of articles and
commodities covered from non-infested counties shall only be allowed entry into
California if the non-infested county has been placed on the approved list
prior to the arrival of the shipment in California.
(D)
Nursery Free Survey.
Growing operations certified under this approach shall grow all their own stock
or shall receive nursery stock to introduce into the operation which has been
certified free of Japanese beetle by an authorized agricultural official.
Detection Survey:
The nursery site and a minimum one-mile radius buffer
area shall be trapped on an annual basis by an authorized agricultural
official. The growing operation shall be trapped at the following trap
density:
1. For sites less than 5
acres in size, 3 traps are used per site.
2. For sites 5 to 30 acres in size, a minimum
of three traps are used, with 1 additional trap added for every 5 acres over 15
acres.
3. For sites 31 to 160 acres
in size, a minimum of 6 traps are used, with 1 additional trap added for every
10 acres over 60 acres.
4. For
sites greater than 160 acres in size, a minimum of 16 traps are used, with 1
additional trap added for every 12 acres over 200 acres.
Traps shall be evenly spaced throughout the trapping
areas. In addition, the surrounding one mile buffer area shall be trapped at a
minimum of 2 traps placed per square mile.
Traps shall be baited with a lure consisting of a
Japanese beetle food lure (for example: phenyl-ethyl proprionate: eugenol:
geraniol [3:7:3 ratio]) in addition to a male sex pheromone. Traps shall be
renewed as often as necessary to maintain trapping efficacy.
The detection of a female (or any beetle if
identification of sex is not performed) Japanese beetle on the nursery site
shall result in that nursery being considered infested until a delimitation
survey has been completed and regulated articles and commodities cannot be
certified based upon an origin free from Japanese beetle.
The detection of a Japanese beetle in the buffer area
shall trigger a delimitation survey and the nursery may continue to ship until
there is a second detection in the same season as the original
detection.
Delimitation Survey:
Delimitation traps shall be placed over a 49 square-mile
area. Trap density in the core square mile shall be increased to 50 traps. Trap
densities in the remainder of the delimitation area shall be decreased from the
core outward within 48 hours of the find to complete a 50-25-5-5 trap array.
Trap densities in the core square mile shall be increased to protocol levels
within 24 hours, while trap placement in the remainder of the delimitation area
shall be completed from the core outward within 48 hours of the find. Traps in
the core mile shall be serviced daily for the first week, and all others
serviced at least once within the first week. After one week of negative finds,
all trap inspection frequencies shall change to weekly.
Delimitation trapping shall then continue for the
remainder of the season. Trap densities revert to origin survey levels after
two seasons of negative finds (includes the find season).
The phytosanitary certificate shall bear the following
Additional Declaration (AD):
"The plants were produced in a nursery which was found to
be free of Japanese beetle (Popillia japonica) based on
negative detection trapping."
(E)
Production During a Pest-Free
Window
The entire rooted plant production cycle (planting,
growth, harvest, and shipment) will be completed within a pest-free window
outside the adult Japanese beetle flight period, June through September, in
Japanese beetle-free commercial growing medium or sterilized field soil. The
accompanying phytosanitary certificate shall bear the following Additional
Declaration (AD):
"These plants were produced outside the Japanese beetle
flight season in Japanese beetle-free growing medium or sterilized field
soil."
(3)
Privately owned houseplants grown indoors may be inspected and passed by
California State Plant Quarantine Officers if found free from Japanese
beetle.
(f) Inspections
For Compliance
The secretary, commissioner or a designated inspecting
officer shall inspect any conveyance that is infested or infected by, or which
might act as a carrier of, Japanese beetle or any conveyance that originates
from an infested area. Inspection shall consist primarily of visual observation
of conveyance surfaces for Japanese beetle specimens as well as any other
objects that may harbor Japanese beetles.
(1) If, upon or during inspection of any
conveyance, a live Japanese beetle is found, the secretary or the commissioner
may order the reclosure of any conveyance that is capable of disseminating or
carrying the pest. Any aircraft may be moved from the area of inspection,
including withdrawal from the state, as directed by airport personnel, pending
abatement. For ground vehicles, the inspector shall determine the location the
vehicle is to be held if the transporter or their representative chooses
abatement rather than withdrawal from the state. The transporter or their
representative shall be immediately notified of any hold.
(2) The transporter of the conveyance shall,
at their expense, have the conveyance in which the Japanese beetle or beetles
have been located rendered free of living Japanese beetles, as determined by
subsequent reinspection for any living Japanese beetle.
(3) Any article that is part of the shipment
or conveyance that may have come in contact with the Japanese Beetle, if such
article is capable of conveying infestation as determined by the inspecting
officer, shall not be moved from the conveyance as determined by the inspecting
officer until after the infestation is removed, except for the purpose of
destruction or disinfection. If the inspecting officer determines that the
conveyance may be moved for the purpose of insect removal, destruction,
disinfection, or further inspection, then the conveyance shall be secured
against the escape of Japanese beetle before being moved following the closure
of all means of insect egress. This includes closing doors or any other
entryway to areas within the conveyance where Japanese beetle have been found
and any egress on the conveyance.
(4) Reinspection may occur once the
transporter or their representative determines that the quarantine violation
has been abated, or, if treatment occurs, once it is safe to reenter the
aircraft. Once the inspecting officer determines that the conveyance is free of
living Japanese beetles, the hold notice over the shipment or conveyance shall
be removed. If the Japanese beetle infestation is still active upon
reinspection, then withdrawal or further abatement and subsequent inspection
shall be required before the hold is removed.
(5) Any conveyance in which a living Japanese
beetle is detected is in violation of Food and Agricultural Code Section
6461. The secretary or the
commissioner may assess a fine on the transporter of not more than two thousand
five hundred dollars ($2,500) for each violation. A violation is defined as the
finding of a single living Japanese beetle.
(6) If a single shipment or conveyance is
found to contain multiple living Japanese beetles, the fine shall be levied for
each Japanese beetle found.
(7)
Appeals
Before a civil penalty is levied, the person charged with
the violation shall receive notice of the nature of the violation and shall be
given an opportunity to be heard. This shall include the opportunity to review
the evidence and the opportunity to present evidence on his or her own
behalf.
(A) The person against whom a
civil penalty is levied by a commissioner or the secretary may appeal to the
secretary within 10 days of the date of receiving notification of the penalty,
as follows:
1. The appeal shall be in writing
and signed by the appellant or their authorized agent and shall state the
grounds for the appeal.
2. Any
party, at the time of filing the appeal or within 10 days thereafter, may
present written evidence and a written argument to the secretary.
3. The secretary may grant oral arguments
upon application made at the time written arguments are filed.
4. If an application to present an oral
argument is granted, written notice of the time and place for the oral argument
shall be given at least 10 days prior to the date set therefor. This time
requirement may be altered by an agreement between the secretary and
appellant.
5. Based on any oral or
written arguments, briefs, and evidence that he or she has received in the
written appeal and oral arguments, the secretary shall, within 10 days after
the filing of the appeal, decide the appeal. The secretary's findings shall be
based on clear and convincing evidence.
6. The secretary shall render a written
decision within 45 days of the date the appeal is received by the Department or
within 15 days of the date of oral arguments.
7. On an appeal pursuant to this section, the
secretary may sustain, modify by reducing the amount of the penalty levied, or
reverse the decision. A copy of the secretary's decision shall be delivered or
mailed to the appellant and the commissioner who levied the
penalty.
(B) A review of
the decision of the secretary to impose a penalty may be sought by the person
against whom the penalty was levied within 30 days of the date of the decision
pursuant to Section
1094.5
of the Code of Civil Procedure.
(C)
Any funds recovered by the commissioner pursuant to this section shall be
deposited in the county general fund in the county in which the action is
brought and shall be allocated to the commissioner to cover costs related to
the enforcement of this division. Any funds recovered by the secretary pursuant
to this section shall be deposited in the Department of Food and Agriculture
Fund to cover costs related to the enforcement of this
division.
1. New
section filed 9-12-77; effective thirtieth day thereafter (Register 77, No.
38).
2. Repealer of subsection (e) filed 10-13-78 as an emergency;
effective upon filing (Register 78, No. 41).
3. Certificate of
Compliance filed 1-19-79 (Register 79, No. 3).
4. Repealer and new
section filed 3-29-83; effective thirtieth day thereafter (Register 83, No.
14).
5. Amendment filed 7-11-84; effective thirtieth day thereafter
(Register 84, No. 28).
6. Amendment of section heading and section
filed 8-1-96; operative 8-31-96 (Register 96, No. 31).
7. Amendment
of subsection (c)(3) filed 4-2-97; operative 4-2-97 pursuant to Government Code
section
11343.4(d).
Submitted to OAL for printing only (Register 97, No. 14).
8.
Amendment filed 12-29-2011; operative 1-28-2012 (Register 2011, No.
52).
9. Amendment of section and NOTE filed 5-5-2020; operative
5-5-2020 pursuant to Government Code section
11343.4(b)(3)
(Register 2020, No. 19).
10. Change without regulatory effect
redesignating former subsections (b)(2)(a)-(b) as subsections (b)(2)(A)-(B) and
amending subsections (d)(7) and (f)(5) filed 8-12-2021 pursuant to section
100, title 1, California Code of
Regulations (Register 2021, No. 33).
11. Repealer of subsection
(b)(10), subsection renumbering and amendment of subsections (f)(1)-(2),
(f)(4)-(5) and (f)(7)(A) filed 8-25-2022; operative 10-1-2022 (Register 2022,
No. 34).
Note: Authority cited: Sections
407,
5301,
5302
and
5311,
Food and Agricultural Code. Reference: Sections
5024,
5301,
5302,
5311,
5701,
6403,
6441,
6442
and
6461,
Food and Agricultural Code.
