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PA Bulletin, Doc. No. 09-700

NOTICES

Partial Revocation of Plum Pox Virus Nursery Quarantine

[39 Pa.B. 1992]
[Saturday, April 18, 2009]

Recitals

   A.  The Plant Pest Act (act) (3 P. S. §§ 258.1--258.27) empowers the Department of Agriculture (Department) to take various measures to detect, contain and eradicate plant pests in this Commonwealth.

   B.  The powers granted to the Department under section 21 of the act (3 P. S. § 258.21) include the power to establish quarantines to prevent the dissemination of plant pests within this Commonwealth.

   C.  Plum Pox Virus (PPV) is a serious plant pest, indigenous to Europe. It injures and damages stone fruits such as peaches, nectarines, plums and apricots by drastically reducing the fruit yields from these stone fruit trees and by disfiguring the fruit to the point that it is unmarketable.

   D.  PPV has the potential to cause serious damage to the stone fruit production industry within this Commonwealth. It is transmitted from infected trees by aphids and by budding or grafting and can be spread into new areas by movement of infected nursery stock. The movement of PPV-infected fruit trees poses a danger to stone fruit trees in noninfected areas. There is no known control for PPV other than destruction of infected trees.

   E.  As a result of the presence of PPV in several townships and boroughs, the Department has issued a series of quarantine orders establishing and adjusting a quarantine area. This series of orders included a January 5, 2005, order published in 35 Pa.B. 552 (January 22, 2005) establishing a PPV Nursery Quarantine Area.

   F.  The Department has determined that it is appropriate to release the PPV Nursery Quarantine with respect to those areas where testing has failed to detect the presence of PPV within the last 6 years.

Order

   Under authority of section 21 of the act, and with the foregoing recitals incorporated herein, the Department hereby orders the following:

   1.  Conewago Township, located in York County, is hereby released from the PPV Nursery Quarantine Area established by Order of January 5, 2005, published in 35 Pa.B. 552, as there has been no detected presence of PPV in this area for at least 3 years after more expansive PPV-related quarantine restrictions have been rescinded.

   2.  Owners of nurseries located within Conewago Township, York County may, without restriction, propagate and grow nursery stock, use Prunus as a source of propagative material, and plant Prunus nursery stock in the ground, to be dug and sold. Propagators are advised to contact the Department for testing of Prunus before it is used for propagation.

   3.  The following local government units and areas remain subject to the Order described in Paragraph No. 1:

In Adams County

   *  Huntington Township.

   *  Latimore Township.

   *  That portion of Menallen Township as designated by the Order published in 35 Pa.B. 6543 (December 3, 2005).

   *  That portion of Franklin Township as designated by the Order published in 36 Pa.B. 6108 (October 7, 2006).

   *  That portion of Butler Township as designated by the Order published in 33 Pa.B. 5087 (October 11, 2003).

   *  That portion of Tyrone Township, as designated by Order published in 38 Pa.B. 6624 (December 6, 2008).

   *  The Borough of York Springs.

In Cumberland County

   *  Dickinson Township.

   *  South Middleton Township.

   *  The eastern corner of Southampton Township that lies within an 11.5 kilometer radius of Menallen Township (Adams County).

   *  The Borough of Mt. Holly Springs.

In York County

   *  Franklin Township.

   *  Monaghan Township.

   Any area within 11.5 kilometers (7.15 miles) of any location from which a PPV-positive sample has been detected within the preceding 3 years. These PPV-positive locations and the 11.5-kilometer radius from these locations are identified on maps that are available from the Department upon request. The 11.5-kilometer radius is determined using location readings received from global positioning satellites (GPS) and the computer-assisted calculations of a geographical information system. The Department shall, upon request, visit any site to take GPS readings and determine whether that site is within the quarantine area.

   4.  The conditions of the Quarantine established in the Orders referenced in Paragraph Nos. 1 and 3 shall remain in effect in a given local government unit for at least 3 years after a primary quarantine is rescinded, and until the Department issues an Order releasing that local government unit from quarantine.

   5.  The Department will continue to consult with the United States Department of Agriculture, European experts and scientific authorities with respect to the most efficacious measures by which to contain and eliminate PPV, and may, if warranted, reconsider the need for quarantine restrictions.

   6.  This Order is effective as of April 1, 2009.

DENNIS C WOLFF,   
Secretary

[Pa.B. Doc. No. 09-700. Filed for public inspection April 17, 2009, 9:00 a.m.]



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