The Asian Long Horned Beetle (ALB) is a destructive wood-boring insect native to China, Japan, Korea and the Isle of Hainan. It can cause serious damage to healthy trees by boring into their heartwood and eventually killing them. The adult Asian Long Horned Beetle has a large body (1 to 1.5 inches in length) with very long antenna (1.3-2.5 times their body length). Its body is black with white spots and its antenna are black and white. Adult beetles emerge during the spring and summer months from large (1/2 inch in diameter) round holes anywhere on infested trees, including branches, trunks and exposed roots. They fly for two or three days, during which they feed and mate. To lay eggs, adult females chew depressions in the bark of host trees to lay eggs. One female can lay 35 to 90 eggs. The larvae bore into and feed on the interior of the trees, where they over-winter. The accumulation of coarse sawdust around the base of the infested tree where branches meet the main stem and where branches meet other branches, is evidence of the presence of the borer. One generation is produced each year. Nursery stock, logs, green lumber, firewood, stumps, roots, branches and debris of a half inch or more in diameter are subject to infestation. Host hardwood materials at risk to attack and infestation include species of the following: Acer (Maple); Aesculus (Horse Chestnut), Albizzia (Silk Tree or Mimosa); Betula (Birch); Populus (Poplar); Salix (Willow); Ulmus (Elm); Celtis (Hackberry), Fraxinus (Ash), Cercidiphyllum japonicum (Katsura); Platanus (Plane tree, Sycamore); and Sorbus (Mountain Ash).

Since the Asian Long Horned Beetle is not considered established in the United States, the risk of moving infested nursery stock, logs, green lumber, firewood, stumps, roots, branches and debris of a half inch or more in diameter poses a serious threat to the hardwood forests and street, yard, park and fruit trees of the State. Approximately 858 million susceptible trees above 5 inches in diameter involving 62 percent (18.6 million acres) of the State’s forested land are at risk.

Control of the Asian Long Horned Beetle is accomplished by the removal of infested host trees and materials and then chipping or burning them. To date, 18,530 infested trees have been removed. Chemical treatments are also used to suppress ALB populations with approximately 544,000 treatments administered. However, the size of the area infested and declining fiscal resources cannot mitigate the risk from the movement of regulated articles outside of the area under quarantine. As a result, the quarantine imposed by this rule has been determined to be the most effective means of preventing the further spread of the Asian Long Horned Beetle. This will help ensure that as control measures are undertaken in the areas the Asian Long Horned Beetle currently infests, the infestation does not spread beyond those areas via the movement of infested trees and materials.

Based on the facts and circumstances set forth above the Department has determined that the immediate readoption of this emergency rule is necessary for the preservation of the general welfare and that compliance with subdivision one of section 202 of the State Administrative Procedure Act would be contrary to the public interest. The specific reason for this finding is that the failure to continue the modification of the quarantine area and restrict the movement of trees and materials from the areas of the State infested with Asian Long Horned Beetle could result in the spread of the pest beyond those areas and damage to the natural resources of the State and could result in a federal quarantine and quarantines by other states and foreign countries affecting the entire State. This would cause economic hardship to the nursery and forest products industries of the State. The consequent loss of business would harm industries which are important to New York State’s economy and as such would harm the general welfare. Given the potential for the spread of the Asian Long Horned Beetle beyond the areas currently infested and the detrimental consequences that would have, the rule modifying the quarantine area should be continued on an emergency basis and without complying with the requirements of subdivision one of section 202 of the State Administrative Procedure Act, including the minimum periods therein for notice and comment, pending adoption of the proposed permanent rulemaking.

1. Statutory authority:

Section 18 of the Agriculture and Markets Law provides, in part, that the Commissioner may enact, amend and repeal necessary rules which shall provide generally for the exercise of the powers and performance of the duties of the Department as prescribed in the Agriculture and Markets Law and the laws of the State and for the enforcement of their provisions and the provisions of the rules that have been enacted.

Section 164 of the Agriculture and Markets Law provides, in part, that the Commissioner shall take such action as he may deem necessary to control or eradicate any injurious insects, noxious weeds, or plant diseases existing within the State.

Section 167 of the Agriculture and Markets Law provides, in part, that the Commissioner is authorized to make, issue, promulgate and enforce such order, by way of quarantines or otherwise, as he may deem necessary or fitting to carry out the purposes of Article 14 of said Law. Section 167 also provides that the Commissioner may adopt and promulgate such rules and regulations to supplement and give full effect to the provisions of Article 14 of the Agriculture and Markets Law as he may deem necessary.

2. Legislative objectives:

The quarantine accords with the public policy objectives the Legislature sought to advance by enacting the statutory authority in that it will help to prevent the further spread within the State of an injurious insect, the Asian Long Horned Beetle.

3. Needs and benefits:

The Asian Long Horned Beetle, Anoplophora glabripennis, an insect species non-indigenous to the United States was detected in the Greenpoint section of Brooklyn, New York in August of 1996. Subsequent survey activities delineated other locations in Brooklyn as well as locations in and about Amityville, Queens, Manhattan and Staten Island.

As a result, 1 NYCRR Part 139 was adopted, establishing a quarantine of the areas in which the Asian Long Horned Beetle had been observed. The quarantine was later lifted in Islip, due to the eradication of the beetle in this area. The boundaries of those areas currently under quarantine are described in 1 NYCRR section 139.2. On July 8, 2013, a homeowner in North Lindenhurst found an Asian Long Horned Beetle on her property. This prompted a survey of neighboring areas. As of December 1, 2013, 244 infested trees have been identified in a 50.7 square mile area. These observations of the beetle and the infested trees have resulted in the need to extend the existing quarantine area on Long Island to North Lindenhurst, Farmingdale, East Farmingdale, Bethpage, Old Bethpage, Melville, Wyandanch, Wheatley Heights and the Town of Huntington. This rule contains the needed modification.

The Asian Long Horned Beetle is a destructive wood-boring insect native to China, Japan, Korea and the Isle of Hainan. It can cause serious damage to healthy trees by boring into their heartwood and eventually killing them. The adult Asian Long Horned Beetle has a large body (1 to 1.5 inches in length) with very long antenna (1.3-2.5 times their body length). Its body is black with white spots and its antenna are black and white. Adult beetles emerge during the spring and summer months from large (1/2 inch in diameter) round holes anywhere on infested trees, including branches, trunks and exposed roots. They fly for two or three days, during which they feed and mate. To lay eggs, adult females chew depressions in the bark of host trees to lay eggs. One female can lay 35 to 90 eggs. The larvae bore into and feed on the interior of the trees, where they over-winter. The accumulation of coarse sawdust around the base of the infested tree where branches meet the main stem and where branches meet other branches, is evidence of the presence of the borer. One generation is produced each year. Nursery stock, logs, green lumber, firewood, stumps, roots, branches and debris of a half inch or more in diameter are subject to infestation. Host hardwood materials at risk to attack and infestation include species of the following: Acer (Maple); Aesculus (Horse Chestnut), Albizzia (Silk Tree or Mimosa); Betula (Birch); Populus (Poplar); Salix (Willow); Ulmus (Elm); Celtis (Hackberry), Fraxinus (Ash); Cercidiphyllum japonicum (Katsura); Platanus (Plane tree, Sycamore) and Sorbus (Mountain Ash).

Since the Asian Long Horned Beetle is not considered established in the United States, the risk of moving infested nursery stock, logs, green lumber, firewood, stumps, roots, branches and debris of a half inch or more in diameter poses a serious threat to the hardwood forests and street, yard, park and fruit trees of the State. Approximately 858 million susceptible trees above 5 inches in diameter involving 62 percent (18.6 million acres) of the State’s forested land are at risk.

Control of the Asian Long Horned Beetle is accomplished by the removal of infested host trees and materials and then chipping or burning them. To date, 18,530 infested trees have been removed. Chemical treatments are also used to suppress ALB populations with approximately 544,000 treatments administered. However, the size of the area infested and declining fiscal resources cannot mitigate the risk from the movement of regulated articles outside of the area under quarantine. Additionally, a heavily traveled highway passes through the new quarantine area and poses the potential for movement of live beetles and infested wood to other areas in New York State. As a result, the extension of the quarantine imposed by this rule has been determined to be the most effective means of preventing the further spread of the Asian Long Horned Beetle. This will help ensure that as control measures are undertaken in the areas the Asian Long Horned Beetle currently infests, the infestation does not spread beyond those areas via the movement of infested trees and materials.

The effective control of the Asian Long Horned Beetle within the limited areas of the State where this insect has been found is also important to protect New York’s nursery and forest products industry. The failure of states to control insect pests within their borders can lead to federal quarantines that affect all areas of those states, rather than just the infested portions. Such a widespread federal quarantine would adversely affect the nursery and forest products industry throughout New York State.

4. Costs:

(a) Costs to the State government: None.

(b) Costs to local government: None.

(c) Costs to private regulated parties:

The extension of the quarantine to North Lindenhurst, Farmingdale, East Farmingdale, Bethpage, Old Bethpage, Melville, Wyandanch, Wheatley and Huntington would affect approximately 94 nursery dealers, nursery growers, landscaping companies, transfer stations, compost facilities and general contractors located within that area.

Nurseries exporting host material from the quarantine area established by this rule, other than pursuant to compliance agreement, will require an inspection and the issuance of a federal or state phytosanitary certificate. This service is available at a rate of $25 per hour. Most inspections will take one hour or less. It is anticipated that there would be 25 or fewer such inspections each year with a total annual cost of less than $1,000.

Most shipments will be made pursuant to compliance agreements for which there is no charge.

Tree removal services will have to chip host material or transport such material under a limited permit to a federal/state disposal site for processing.

Firewood from hardwood species within the quarantine area established by this rule may not move outside that area due to the fact that it is not practical at this time to determine for certification purposes that the material is free from infestations.

(d) Costs to the regulatory agency:

(i) The initial expenses the agency will incur in order to implement and administer the regulation:

None. The United States Department of Agriculture is dedicating 8.5-million dollars in funding to conduct surveys and remove infested trees.

(ii) It is anticipated that the Department will be able to administer the quarantine with existing staff.

5. Local government mandate:

Yard waste, storm clean-up and normal tree maintenance activities involving twigs and/or branches of ½” or more in diameter of host species will require proper handling and disposal, i.e., chipping and/or incineration if such materials are to leave the quarantine area established by this rule. An effort continues to identify centralized disposal sites that would accept such waste from cities, villages and other municipalities at no additional cost.

6. Paperwork:

Regulated articles inspected and certified to be free of Asian Long Horned Beetle moving from the quarantine area established by this rule will have to be accompanied by a state or federal phytosanitary certificate and a limited permit or be undertaken pursuant to a compliance agreement.

7. Duplication:

None.

8. Alternatives:

The only alternative considered was to not extend the quarantine. This alternative was rejected. The failure of the State to extend the existing quarantine to North Lindenhurst, Farmingdale, East Farmingdale, Bethpage, Old Bethpage, Melville, Wyandanch, Wheatley Heights and the Town of Huntington where the Asian Long Horned Beetle and infested trees have been observed could result in exterior quarantines by foreign and domestic trading partners as well as a federal quarantine of the entire State. It could also place the State’s own natural resources (forest, urban and agricultural) at risk from the spread of Asian Long Horned Beetle that could result from the unrestricted movement of regulated articles from the areas covered by the modified quarantine. In light of these factors there does not appear to be any viable alternative to the modification of quarantine proposed in this rulemaking.

9. Federal standards:

The amendment does not exceed any minimum standards for the same or similar subject areas. The United States Department of Agriculture will implement a parallel federal quarantine once New York State establishes its quarantine.

10. Compliance schedule:

It is anticipated that regulated persons would be able to comply with the rule immediately.

1. Effect on small business:

The small businesses affected by extending the quarantine to North Lindenhurst, Farmingdale, East Farmingdale, Bethpage, Old Bethpage, Melville, Wyandanch, Wheatley Heights and the Town of Huntington are the nursery dealers, nursery growers, landscaping companies, transfer stations, compost facilities and general contractors located within that area. There are approximately 94 such businesses within that area.

Although it is not anticipated that local governments will be involved in the shipment of regulated articles from the proposed quarantine area, in the event that they do, they would be subject to the same quarantine requirements as other regulated parties.

2. Compliance requirements:

All regulated parties in the new quarantine area established by the rule will be required to obtain certificates and limited permits in order to ship regulated articles from those areas. In order to facilitate such shipments, regulated parties may enter into compliance agreements.

3. Professional services:

In order to comply with the rule, small businesses and local governments shipping regulated articles from the new quarantine area will require professional inspection services, which would be provided by the Department and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

4. Compliance costs:

(a) Initial capital costs that will be incurred by a regulated business or industry or local government in order to comply with the proposed rule: None.

(b) Annual cost for continuing compliance with the proposed rule:

Nurseries exporting host material from the new quarantine area on Long Island, other than pursuant to a compliance agreement, will require an inspection and the issuance of a federal or state phytosanitary certificate. This service is available at a rate of $25 per hour. Most such inspections will take one hour or less. It is anticipated that there would be 25 or fewer such inspections each year, with a total cost of less than $1,000. Most shipments would be made pursuant to compliance agreements for which there is no charge.

Tree removal services will have to chip host material or transport such material under a limited permit to a federal/state disposal site for processing.

Firewood from hardwood species within the new quarantine areas may not move outside those areas due to the fact that it is not practical at this time to determine for certifications purposes that the material is free from infestation.

Although it is not anticipated that local governments will be involved in the shipment of regulated articles from the proposed quarantine area, in the event that they do, they would be subject to the same costs as other regulated parties.

5. Minimizing adverse impact:

The Department has designed the rule to minimize adverse economic impact on small businesses and local governments. This is done by limiting the new quarantine area to only those parts of Long Island where the Asian Long Horned Beetle and infested trees have been detected; and by limiting the inspection and permit requirements to only those necessary to detect the presence of the Asian Long Horned Beetle and prevent its movement in host materials from the quarantine area. As set forth in the regulatory impact statement, the rule provides for agreements between the Department and regulated parties that permit the shipment of regulated articles without state or federal inspection. These agreements, for which there is no charge, are another way in which the rule was designed to minimize adverse impact. The approaches for minimizing adverse economic impact required by section 202-a(1) of the State Administrative Procedure Act and suggested by section 202-b(1) of the State Administrative Procedure Act were considered. Given all of the facts and circumstances, it is submitted that the rule minimizes adverse economic impact as much as is currently possible.

6. Small business and local government participation:

The Department has had ongoing discussions with representatives of municipalities and various nurseries, arborists, the forestry industry, and local governments regarding the general needs and benefits of Asian Long Horned Beetle quarantines and the specific needs and benefits of this quarantine. The Department has also had extensive consultation with the USDA on the efficacy of such quarantines.

7. Assessment of the economic and technological feasibility of compliance with the rule by small businesses and local governments:

The economic and technological feasibility of compliance with the rule by small businesses and local governments has been addressed and such compliance has been determined to be feasible. Regulated parties shipping host materials from the new quarantine area, other than pursuant to a compliance agreement, will require an inspection and the issuance of a phytosanitary certificate. Most shipments, however, will be made pursuant to compliance agreements for which there is no charge.

1. Type and estimated numbers of rural areas:

The rule extends the Asian Long Horned Beetle quarantine to North Lindenhurst, Farmingdale, East Farmingdale, Bethpage, Old Bethpage, Melville, Wyandanch, Wheatley Heights and the Town of Huntington.

The extension of the quarantine will affect approximately 94 regulated parties, all of whom are in rural areas.

2. Reporting, recordkeeping and other compliance requirements; and professional services:

All regulated parties in the new quarantine area established by the rule will be required to obtain certificates and limited permits in order to ship regulated articles from those areas. In order to facilitate such shipments, regulated parties may enter into compliance agreements.

In order to comply with the rule, regulated parties in rural areas shipping regulated articles from the new quarantine area will require professional inspection services, which would be provided by the Department and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

3. Costs:

Nurseries exporting host material from the new quarantine area, other than pursuant to a compliance agreement, will require an inspection and the issuance of a federal or state phytosanitary certificate. This service is available at a rate of $25 per hour. Most such inspections will take one hour or less. It is anticipated that there would be 25 or fewer such inspections each year, with a total cost of less than $1,000. Most shipments would be made pursuant to compliance agreements for which there is no charge.

Tree removal services will have to chip host material or transport such material under a limited permit to a federal/state disposal site for processing.

Firewood from hardwood species within the new quarantine area may not move outside those areas due to the fact that it is not practical at this time to determine for certifications purposes that the material is free from infestation.

4. Minimizing adverse impact:

In conformance with State Administrative Procedure Act section 202-bb(2), the regulations were drafted to minimize adverse economic impact on all regulated parties, including those in rural areas. This is done by limiting the new quarantine area to only those parts of Long Island where the Asian Long Horned Beetle and infested trees have been detected; and by limiting the inspection and permit requirements to only those necessary to detect the presence of the Asian Long Horned Beetle and prevent its movement in host materials from the quarantine area. As set forth in the regulatory impact statement, the rule provides for agreements between the Department and regulated parties that permit the shipment of regulated articles without state or federal inspection. These agreements, for which there is no charge, are another way in which the rule was designed to minimize adverse impact. Given all of the facts and circumstances, it is submitted that the rule minimizes adverse economic impact in rural areas as much as is currently possible.

5. Rural area participation:

The Department has had ongoing discussions with representatives of municipalities and various nurseries, arborists, the forestry industry, and local governments regarding the general needs and benefits of Asian Long Horned Beetle quarantines and the specific needs and benefits of this quarantine. The Department has also had extensive consultation with the USDA on the efficacy of such quarantines.

The rule will not have a substantial adverse impact on jobs and employment opportunities. The extension of the existing quarantine area to North Lindenhurst, Farmingdale, East Farmingdale, Bethpage, Old Bethpage, Melville, Wyandanch, Wheatley Heights and the Town of Huntington is designed to prevent the further spread of the Asian Long Horned Beetle to other parts of the State. A spread of the infestation would have very adverse economic consequences to the nursery, forestry, fruit and maple product industries of the State, both from the destruction of the regulated articles upon which these industries depend, and from the more restrictive quarantines that could be imposed by the federal government, other states and foreign countries. By helping to prevent the spread of the Asian long horned beetle, the rule will help to prevent such adverse economic consequences and in so doing, protect the jobs and employment opportunities associated with the State’s nursery, forestry, fruit and maple product industries.

Forest related activities in New York State provide employment for approximately 70,000 people. Of that number, 55,000 jobs are associated with the wood-based forest economy, including manufacturing. The forest-based economy generates payrolls of more than $2 billion.

As set forth in the regulatory impact statement, the cost of the rule to regulated parties is relatively small and as such, the rule should not have a substantial adverse impact on jobs and employment opportunities.

The agency received no public comment since publication of the last assessment of public comment.