§ 301.80-2 Authorization to designate, and terminate designation of, regulated areas and suppressive or generally infested areas; and to exempt articles from certification, permit, or other requirements. ( a ) *List of regulated areas and suppressive or generally infested areas.* The Deputy Administrator will list as a regulated area each quarantined State, or portion of a State, in which witchweed has been found or in which there is reason to believe that witchweed is present or which it is deemed necessary to regulate because of its proximity to infestation or its inseparability for quarantine enforcement purposes from infested localities. The Deputy Administrator may divide any regulated area into a suppressive area and generally infested area in accordance with definitions of these terms in § 301.80-1. The Deputy Administrator will publish a list of all regulated areas (the regulated areas list) on the PPQ website at *www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/planthealth/plant-pest-and-disease-programs/pests-and-diseases/SA_Weeds/SA_Noxious_Weeds_Program*. The list will include the date that the list was last updated. Lists of all regulated areas may also be obtained by request from any local PPQ office; local offices are listed in telephone directories and on the internet at *www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/planthealth/ppq-program-overview/sphd*. After a change is made to the list of regulated areas, APHIS will publish a notice in the Federal Register informing the public that the change has occurred and describing the change to the regulated areas. Less than an entire quarantined State will be designated as a regulated area only if the Deputy Administrator determines that: ( 1 ) The State has adopted and is enforcing a quarantine which imposes restrictions on the intrastate movement of the regulated articles which are substantially the same as those which are imposed with respect to the interstate movement of such articles under this subpart; and
( 2 ) The designation of less than the entire State as a regulated area will otherwise be adequate to prevent the interstate spread of witchweed.
( b ) *Temporary designation of regulated areas and suppressive or generally infested areas.* The Deputy Administrator or an authorized inspector may temporarily designate any other premises in a quarantined State as a regulated area and may designate the regulated area or portions thereof as a suppressive or generally infested area, in accordance with the criteria specified in paragraph (a) of this section for designating such area, by serving written notice thereof on the owner or person in possession of such premises, and thereafter the interstate movement of regulated articles from such premises by any person having notice of the designation shall be subject to the applicable provisions of this subpart. As soon as practicable, such premises shall be added to the regulated areas list.
( c ) *Termination of designation as a regulated area and a suppressive or generally infested area.* The Deputy Administrator shall terminate the designation provided for under paragraph (a) of this section of any area designated as a regulated area, or a suppressive or a generally infested area within a regulated area, when the Deputy Administrator determines that such designation is no longer required under the criteria specified in paragraph (a) of this section. Notification of this change in the list of regulated areas, or suppressive or generally infested areas within a regulated area, will be made in accordance with the process set forth in paragraph (a) of this section. The Deputy Administrator or an inspector shall terminate the designation provided for under paragraph (b) of this section of any premises designated as a regulated area or a suppressive or a generally infested area when the Deputy Administrator determines that such designation is no longer required under the criteria specified in paragraph (a) of this section, and notice thereof shall be given to the owner or person in possession of the premises.
( d ) *Exemption of articles from certification, permit, or other requirements.* The Deputy Administrator may determine that a regulated article has been produced, processed, cleaned, or otherwise handled in a manner that is sufficient to allow the article to move interstate without hazard of spread of witchweed, provided that the article is not exposed to infestation after production, processing, cleaning, or other handling. The Deputy Administrator may also determine that a regulated article's intended use is such that it may be moved interstate without hazard of spread of witchweed. Such articles are exempt from the restrictions of this subpart. The list of regulated articles at *www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/planthealth/plant-pest-and-disease-programs/pests-and-diseases/SA_Weeds/SA_Noxious_Weeds_Program* is annotated to indicate the exemptions under this subpart.
[87 FR 80012, Dec. 29, 2022]