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. Sweet orange scab (SOS) (SOS associated fungal pathogen
Elsinoë australis).
(b) Area Under Quarantine.
(1) An area shall be designated as under
quarantine when all the following criteria exist:
(A) Survey results indicate an SOS
infestation is present. An infestation of SOS is present when a single host is
determined to be positive for Elsinoë
australis.
(B) The
California Department of Food and Agriculture (Department) has defined the
infested area. The initial area under quarantine shall be a minimum of a
five-mile radius surrounding the site of the SOS-positive plant. Commercial
host properties shall not be split by the quarantine boundary line and the
boundary line shall be expanded beyond the five-mile radius as necessary, to
encompass such host material in its entirety. Wherever possible, known accepted
mapping features including, but not limited to, roads, streets, highways,
creeks, streams, rivers, canals, and city, county, state, park, and forest
boundary lines shall be used. If there are no acceptable features such as those
listed, imaginary lines may be used with a beginning and end point given as an
intersection of features or as latitude and longitude.
(C) The local California County Agricultural
Commissioner(s) (CAC) is notified of the infestation and requests the
quarantine area be established.
(2) The Department shall provide electronic
and/or written notification of the area designation(s) to other CACs and other
interested or affected parties and post the area description to its website at
https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/Citrus/.
An interested party may go to the listed website and elect to receive automatic
notifications of any changes in quarantine areas through the list serve
option.
(3) Satellite infestations.
A detection of SOS disease within any established quarantine area may be
considered a satellite infestation and may be used as the epicenter for an
additional five-mile radius surrounding the detection that modifies the border
of the quarantine area.
(4) Any
interested party or local entity may appeal an area quarantine designation by
submitting a written request for review of the designation to the Department.
The appeal must be accompanied by clear and convincing evidence that the
quarantine area designation does not meet the criteria specified by this
section. The appeal must be submitted to the Department's Legal Office at 1220
N Street, Suite 315, Sacramento, CA 95814 or emailed to
CDFA.LegalOffice@cdfa.ca.gov no later than ten (10) working days following
publication of the notice of designation. The Department must respond with a
written decision no later than ten (10) working days following receipt of the
appeal. The designation under appeal shall remain in effect while the decision
is pending.
(c) Articles
and Commodities Covered. The following are declared to be hosts and possible
carriers of the fungal pathogen that causes SOS.
(1) All nursery stock, plants, plant parts,
including green waste, and plant products capable of propagation of
Citrus spp. and Fortunella spp.
(2) Fruit, except seed, of
Citrus spp. and Fortunella spp.
(3) Articles intended for consumption,
apparel or a similar personal accessory, or decorative use made from
Citrus spp. and Fortunella spp.
(4) Any other articles or commodities which
are infested or exposed to infestation by SOS.
(5) Possible carriers shall include all
appliances used in the harvesting, processing, and hauling of the host plants
and plant parts and any green waste residues including, but not limited to,
pallet boxes, field boxes, field bins, vehicles transporting field boxes,
tractors, tarpaulins, trailers, trucks, picking and pruning equipment and
processing machinery and any other article, thing, or means of conveyance when
it is determined by the Secretary or CAC to present a hazard of spreading SOS
and the person in possession thereof has been so notified.
(6) Exemptions. The following articles are
exempt from the provisions of this subsection:
(A) Dying or dead plant material (green
waste) that has been processed, handled, or treated in a manner approved by the
Secretary to eliminate SOS and is moved directly to a city or county sanitary
landfill or State licensed compost facility within the quarantine
area.
(B) Host fruit commercially
cleaned, graded, and packed according to the SOS cleaning and disinfection
protocol established by federal order may be moved within and from the
quarantine area.
(d) Restrictions.
(1) Articles and commodities covered in
subsection (c)(1) are prohibited movement from the area under quarantine except
as provided in (A) or (B) below:
(A) Produced
and continuously maintained in a departmentally approved structure under the
terms of a compliance agreement with the Department or agricultural
commissioner's office.
(B) Moved
under the terms of a special permit as authorized under Title 3 Section
3154 of the California Code of
Regulations.
(2)
Regulated nursery stock not maintained within a departmentally approved
structure as in accordance with (d)(1)(A) and offered for sale or distribution
shall bear a specific tree label issued by the Department stating that it may
not be moved outside of the SOS quarantine.
(3) Articles and commodities covered in
subsection (c)(1) produced outside the area under quarantine may move within
and transit the area under quarantine by direct route and without delay in
vehicles or containers which prevent exposure to infestation of the article or
commodity to SOS while en route. Nursery stock shall be delivered directly to:
(A) Be planted at the delivery site within 48
hours; or
(B) A structure meeting
the requirements of subsections (d)(1)(A).
(4) Host fruit covered in subsection (c)(2)
is prohibited movement from or within an area under quarantine except if moved
under the terms of a special permit as authorized under Title 3, Section
3154 of the California Code of
Regulations.
(5) Articles and
commodities covered in subsection (c)(3), (c)(4), and (c)(5) are prohibited
movement from the area under quarantine except if cleaned and/or treated in a
manner to eliminate SOS to the satisfaction of the Department or CAC.
1. New
section filed 7-5-2023; operative 10-1-2023 (Register 2023, No. 27).
Note: Authority cited: Sections
407,
5301,
5302 and
5322 Food and Agricultural Code.
Reference: Sections
5024,
5321,
5322
and
5705
Food and Agricultural Code.