PART 1. TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
CHAPTER 19. QUARANTINES AND NOXIOUS AND INVASIVE PLANTS
SUBCHAPTER E. DATE PALM LETHAL DECLINE QUARANTINE
The Texas Department of Agriculture (the department) adopts on an emergency basis an amendment to §19.51 in order to expand the quarantined area for the Date Palm Lethal Decline Quarantine. In late June of 2009, some of the sabal palms and date palms located in Kleberg County were suspected to be infected with the date palm lethal decline disease. Consequently, samples from the apparently infected sabal palms and date palms were collected and analyzed for the disease by the Texas Plant Disease Diagnostic Laboratory at College Station. The test results, received on or about July 25, 2009, showed 3 of the 10 samples to be positive for the date palm lethal decline disease. Because the three infected palms are located within approximately 100 feet of one another, they are considered as originating from one site for establishment of the quarantined area. The amended section is adopted on an emergency basis to prevent spread of the date palm lethal decline. The amendment will facilitate treatment of the disease vectors and restrict movement of the quarantined articles located within two miles of an infected tree as described in the Date Palm Lethal Decline Quarantine.
The department believes it is necessary to take this immediate action to prevent the spread of the date palm lethal decline into non-infected areas of Texas, and adoption of the proposed emergency amendment to the Date Palm Lethal Decline Quarantine is both necessary and appropriate. The palm nursery industry, landscapers, homeowners and others who use the quarantined palms are in peril because without the emergency amendment, chances of these palms becoming infected with the disease increase significantly. Treatment options to control the disease are very limited. Moreover, once the spear leaf has died due to the disease, scientists recommend removal of the tree as soon as possible.
Amended §19.51 adds a 2-mile area surrounding the three infected palms occurring in close proximity at one site in Kleberg County of Texas to the quarantined area. The department will be proposing adoption of this rule amendment on a permanent basis in a separate submission.
The amended section is adopted on an emergency basis under the Texas Agriculture Code, §71.004, which provides the Texas Department of Agriculture with the authority to establish emergency quarantines; §71.007 which authorizes the department to adopt rules as necessary to protect agricultural and horticultural interests, including rules to provide for specific treatment of a grove or orchard or of infested or infected plants, plant products, or substances; and the Texas Government Code, §2001.034, which provides for the adoption of administrative rules on an emergency basis, without notice and comment.
§19.51.Quarantined Areas.
The quarantined areas are:
(1) Cameron, Hidalgo, Nueces, and Willacy
counties of Texas. [, and the]
(2) The area within two miles of palm trees infected with the date palm lethal decline disease located at the following site in Kleberg County of Texas.
(A) Latitude 27.52701 N and longitude 97.88132 W.
(B) Detail information on the areas described in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph may be obtained from Regulatory Programs Division, Texas Department of Agriculture, P.O. Box 12847, Austin, Texas 78711.
(3) The State of Florida.
This agency hereby certifies that the emergency adoption has been reviewed by legal counsel and found to be within the agency's legal authority to adopt.
Filed with the Office of the Secretary of State on August 3, 2009.
TRD-200903333
Dolores Alvarado Hibbs
General Counsel
Texas Department of Agriculture
Effective Date: August 3, 2009
Expiration Date: November 30, 2009
For further information, please call: (512) 463-4075