United States 

Department of 

Agriculture

Animal and 

Plant Health 

Inspection 

Service

April 2012

Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis

Interim Rule

12-003-1

Amendment of the Asian Longhorned Beetle 

(Anoplophora glabripennis) Quarantine Area 

in Massachusetts, Ohio, and New York

Policy & Program Development

Policy Analysis & Development
i

Summary

The Asian longhorned beetle (ALB) is an invasive forest pest that was introduced into the 

United States in 1996. ALB attacks hardwood trees and can cause extensive economic and 

environmental damage. There are currently ALB infestations being eradicated in Massachusetts, 

New Jersey, New York, and Ohio. This interim rule expands the quarantine in Massachusetts to 

include an additional 12 square miles of the Town of Shrewsbury in Worcester County, and 

establishes quarantine in Clermont County, Ohio (the Township of Tate, a portion of the 

Township of Monroe, and the entire acreage of East Fork State Park). While adding these areas 

to the ALB quarantine list, this rule also removes the quarantine in Islip, Suffolk County, New 

York because the pest has been eradicated from this area.

Potentially, about 30 entities may be affected in the expanded quarantine area in 

Massachusetts, and about 80 entities may be affected in Ohio. These businesses include

landscape companies, tree service companies, firewood dealers, construction companies, waste 

haulers, and other operations that move regulated articles from the quarantined areas. Additional 

costs of operating such businesses under ALB quarantine are small, and principally derive from 

self-inspection and certification of regulated material under compliance agreements. In Islip, 

New York, the approximately 90 entities that have been affected by the quarantine will benefit 

from its removal by no longer having to satisfy movement restrictions. Most if not all of the 

businesses that will be affected by this rule in the three States are small entities. We welcome 

public comment on the extent to which small entities in the areas regulated or deregulated may

be specifically affected.
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Table of Contents

Summary.............................................................................................................................. i

Introduction......................................................................................................................... 1

Reasons Action is Being Considered.................................................................................. 2

Objectives of and Legal Basis for the Rule ........................................................................ 2

Potentially Affected Small Entities..................................................................................... 3

Projected Reporting, Recordkeeping, and Other Compliance Requirements..................... 4

Duplication, Overlap, or Conflict with Existing Rules and Regulations............................ 5

Alternatives to minimize Significant Economic Impacts of the Rule................................. 5
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Introduction

The Regulatory Flexibility Act requires agencies to evaluate the potential effects of their 

proposed and final rules on small businesses, small organizations and small governmental 

jurisdictions. This initial regulatory flexibility analysis describes expected impacts of this 

interim rule on small entities, as required by section 603 of the Act.

The Asian longhorned beetle (ALB) (Anoplophora glabripennis) is an invasive forest 

pest that attacks multiple hardwood tree species. ALB larvae bore deep into the heartwood of 

host trees, and tunnel back out as adult beetles to mate and lay eggs (typically on the same tree 

from which they emerge). The tunnels weaken and eventually kill the host trees. The beetle was 

introduced into the United States from Asia on solid wood packing materials, and was first 

observed in New York in 1996. Other infestations have since been identified in Illinois, New 

Jersey, Massachusetts, and Ohio.

APHIS quarantines areas of infestation in order to prevent the spread of ALB to noninfested areas. The quarantine orders restrict the movement of regulated articles, including 

firewood of all hardwood species, green lumber and other material living, dead, cut, or fallen. 

Other regulated materials include nursery stock, logs, stumps, roots, branches, and debris of onehalf inch or more in diameter of all ALB host tree genera (which include Acer, Aesculus, Albizia, 

Betula, Celtis, Fraxinus, Platanus, Populus, Salix, Sorbus and Ulmus).

This interim rule will expand the quarantine area in Massachusetts to include an 

additional 12 square miles of the Town of Shrewsbury in Worcester County. The rule also 

establishes quarantine areas in Clermont County, Ohio (the Township of Tate, a portion of the 

Township of Monroe, and the entire acreage of East Fork State Park). While expanding the 
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quarantine to these areas, this rule removes the quarantine in Islip, Suffolk County, New York

because the pest has been eradicated from this area. 

Reasons Action is Being Considered

The regulations are being amended to change the quarantine area in order to better 

prevent the spread of ALB to areas that are not currently infested. Restricting the movement of 

regulated articles helps to reduce the likelihood of human-assisted spread of the pest. Without 

regulation, the spread of ALB could have significant negative economic impacts on many

industries, such as landscaping, tree servicing, construction, waste disposal, and real estate. The 

spread of ALB would also impact aesthetic and recreational values provided by host trees. The 

quarantine in Islip, New York, is being removed because the pest has been eradicated from this 

area.

Objectives of and Legal Basis for the Rule

The Secretary of Agriculture, under the authority of the Plant Protection Act (7 U.S.C. 

7701-7772), has the authority to promulgate regulations restricting the interstate movement of 

plant products. This interim rule will amend 7 CFR 301.51-3 by adding to the list of quarantine 

areas an additional portion of Worcester County, Massachusetts, and areas in Clermont County, 

Ohio. It will further amend the regulations by removing Islip in Suffolk County, New York, 

from the quarantine list. The objectives of this action are to prevent the human-assisted spread 

of ALB from newly found infested areas to non-infested areas, and any associated economic 

losses that would occur from the destruction of host trees; and remove the quarantine in an area

where this pest has been eliminated.
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Potentially Affected Small Entities

This interim rule will affect certain entities in both the added and removed quarantine 

areas. In the expanded area of Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, approximately 30 entities are likely 

to be affected by this rule; these include landscape companies, tree service companies, firewood 

dealers, a trucking company, construction companies, a waste hauler, an excavator, and a 

property management business. In Ohio, approximately 80 entities are likely to be affected by 

this rule; these entities include landscape companies, tree service companies, and waste haulers. 

In Islip, New York, approximately 90 entities will be impacted by this rule; the impacted entities 

include landscapers, arborists, firewood dealers, excavation companies, disposal yards, waste 

haulers, and garden centers.

According to Small Business Administration standards, entities in the following

industries, as categorized according to the North American Industry Classification System, may

be considered to be small if their annual receipts are not more than the indicated amounts: 

nursery and garden centers (NAICS 444220), $10 million; landscaping services (NAICS 

561730), $7 million; residential property managers (NAICS 531311), $2 million; site preparation 

contractors (NAICS 238910), $14 million; miscellaneous waste management services (NAICS 

562998), $7 million; solid waste landfill (NAICS 562212), $12.5 million; other fuel dealers 

(NAICS 454319), $7 million; truck transportation services (NAICS Subsector 484), $25.5 

million; and construction of buildings services (NAICS Subsector 236), $33.5 million. Although 

specific information on the size of entities in these industries in the affected areas is not 

available, we expect that most if not all are small. We welcome public comment on the size of 

affected entities within the areas regulated or deregulated by this rule.
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Projected Reporting, Recordkeeping, and Other Compliance 

Requirements

Conditions required for the interstate movement of regulated materials are set forth in 7 

CFR 301.51-4 through 7 CFR 301.51-9. In most instances, movement of a regulated article from 

an ALB quarantined area must be accompanied by a certificate or limited permit issued by an 

inspector or person who has entered into a compliance agreement with APHIS. The services of

an inspector during normal business hours are furnished without cost; the user is responsible for 

all costs and charges arising from inspection and other services provided outside of normal 

business hours. Persons requiring certification or other services must request the services from 

an inspector at least 48 hours before the services are needed, and the regulated articles must be 

assembled at the place and in the manner that the inspector designates as necessary. Many

affected entities avoid these inconveniences by entering into compliance agreements. In order to 

enter into a compliance agreement with the ALB Cooperative Eradication Program in 

Massachusetts, for example, entities are required to attend a one-hour workshop conducted by

regulatory officials.1 

Costs for affected entities in the newly quarantined areas in Massachusetts and Ohio are 

expected to be small. There are no costs to businesses that enter into a compliance agreement 

beyond the time required to learn about compliance responsibilities (such as by attending a onehour workshop) and the required self-inspection of regulated articles moved from the 

quarantined area. Entities are allowed access to approved disposal sites for uninfested woody

 

1 USDA APHIS. November 2009 (slightly revised August 2010). Living and Working in a Regulated Area, Asian 

Longhorned Beetle: Massachusetts. 

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/publications/plant_health/content/printable_version/ALB_regulated_area_mass.pdf
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debris free of charge. If an individual suspects that materials are infested, costs of removal of 

infested materials are incurred by the government. 

For the newly listed areas in Massachusetts and Ohio, the quarantine will not result in any

adverse affects on small entities beyond those already incurred because of current Federal 

Orders. Affected entities in Islip, New York, will benefit from the quarantine’s removal by no 

longer having to satisfy movement restrictions. 

Duplication, Overlap, or Conflict with Existing Rules and 

Regulations

APHIS has not identified any duplication, overlap, or conflict of the interim rule with 

other Federal rules.

Alternatives to minimize Significant Economic Impacts of 

the Rule

Based on our review of available information, APHIS does not expect the interim rule to 

have a significant economic impact on small entities. We have prepared this initial regulatory

flexibility analysis because our understanding of possible economic effects of the rule on small 

entities is incomplete. In the absence of apparent significant economic impacts, we have not 

identified alternatives that would minimize such impacts.