United States 

Department of 

Agriculture 

Marketing and 

Regulatory 

Programs 

Animal and 

Plant Health 

Inspection 

Service 

 

Proposed Rule for 

Importation of 

Oversized Dracaena 

spp. from Costa Rica 

Environmental Assessment,

September 2011
Proposed Rule for 

Importation of Oversized 

Dracaena spp. from Costa 

Rica 

Environmental Assessment, 

September 2011 

Agency Contact: 

William D. Aley 

Senior Import Specialist 

Plants for Planting Policy 

Plant Protection and Quarantine 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service 

U.S. Department of Agriculture 

4700 River Road, Unit 133

Riverdale, MD 20737 

________________________________________________________________ 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all 

its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, 

religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, and marital or family 

status. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with 

disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program 

information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA’s 

TARGET Center at (202) 720–2600 (voice and TDD). 

To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director, Office of Civil 

Rights, Room 326–W, Whitten Building, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, 

Washington, DC 20250–9410 or call (202) 720–5964 (voice and TDD). 

USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. 
Table of Contents 

I. Need for the Proposed Action ......................................... 1 

 

II. Alternatives.... ................................................................... 1 

 A. No Action ................................................................... 1 

 B. Proposed Action ........................................................ 2 

III. Environmental Consequences.... ...................................... 5 

 A. No Action ................................................................... 5 

 B. Proposed Action ........................................................ 6 

 

IV. Other Environmental Issues ............................................. 6 

 A. Endangered Species Act (ESA) ................................ 7 

 B. Other Considerations ................................................. 7 

V. Listing of Agencies and Persons Consulted................... .. 8 

VI. Literature Cited................... .............................................. 9 
1

I. Need for the Proposed Action 

 

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service (APHIS) is proposing to amend the regulations in “Subpart—Plants for Planting” 

(7 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) § 319.37-2) to allow the importation into the 

continental United States of oversized Dracaena spp. plants from Costa Rica. 

In response to a request from the National Plant Protection Organization (NPPO), the 

National Phytosanitary Service of the Ministry of Agriculture and Husbandry (MAG-SFE), 

to change the current size restriction for Dracaena spp. plants from 460 millimeters (mm) 

(18 inches) to 1,371.6 millimeters (mm) (54 inches) (oversized) for export into the 

continental United States, APHIS analyzed the potential environmental effects associated 

with implementing that request and general requirements applicable to all Dracaena spp. 

plants imported from Costa Rica to the United States. This environmental assessment (EA) 

addresses environmental issues related to the risk of introduction into the continental 

United States of quarantine pests associated with the importation of Dracaena spp. plants 

from Costa Rica. 

This environmental assessment is designed to satisfy the provisions of the National 

Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) (42 United States Code (U.S.C.) 4321, et. seq.) 

as prescribed in implementing regulations adopted by the Council on Environmental 

Quality (40 CFR §§ 1500─1508), and APHIS’ NEPA implementing procedures (7 CFR 

372). 

II. Alternatives 

This EA analyzes potential environmental consequences of implementing the rulemaking 

to amend the regulations governing importation of oversized Dracaena spp. plants from 

Costa Rica into the continental United States. Two alternatives are considered in this EA: 

(1) no action in which the current regulations will remain unchanged prohibiting the 

importation of Dracaena spp. plants from Costa Rica over 460 millimeters (mm) (18 

inches) and general requirements applicable to all Dracaena spp. plants would not be set 

forth (no action alternative), and (2) amending the regulations to authorize the importation 

of Dracaena spp. plants from Costa Rica with a maximum size of 1,371.6 millimeters 

(mm) (54 inches) under certain conditions that would apply to all Dracaena spp. plants 

imported from Costa Rica into the United States (preferred alternative). 

A. No Action 

The no action alternative would leave the current size restrictions for Dracaena spp. plants 

unchanged. Dracaena spp. plants from Costa Rica that are less than 460 millimeters (mm) 

could still be imported into the United States, Hawaii, and U.S. Territories, with inspection 

as the sole mitigation. Dracaena spp. plants from Costa Rica that are more than 460 

millimeters (mm) (18 inches) would continue to be prohibited from importation into the 

United States.
2

B. Proposed Action 

Under the proposed action, 7 CFR § 319.37-2 would be amended to allow the importation 

into the continental United States of oversized Dracaena spp. plants from Costa Rica, in 

addition to the smaller plants already permitted. This is in response to Costa Rica’s request 

that APHIS amend the regulations to increase the acceptable size for Dracaena spp. plants 

from Costa Rica to be imported into the United States. 

The pest risk assessment identified fifteen pests of quarantine significance present in Costa 

Rica that could be introduced into the United States via Dracaena spp.: Xylosandrus 

morigerus (brown coffee twig beetle), Caldwelliola reservata (leafhopper), Oncometopia 

clarior (blue sharpshooter), Coccus viridis (green scale), Planococcus minor (passionvine 

mealybug), Pseudococcus landoi (lando mealybug), Ancistrocercus circumdatus (katydid), 

Erioloides consobrinus (katydid), Neoconocephalus affinis (rattler conehead katydid), 

Chaetanaphothrips signipennis (banana rust thrips), Diplosolenodes occidentalis (spotted 

leatherleaf slug), Sarasinula plebeia (Caribbean leatherleaf slug), Ovachlamys fulgens 

(helicarnoid snail), Pallifera costaricensis (Costa Rica mantle slug), and Succinea 

costaricana (amber snail) (USDA, APHIS, 2010). Since 1984, there have been over 

11,000 pest interceptions on Dracaena spp. plants from Costa Rica (USDA, APHIS, 2010). 

A bilateral workplan between MAG-SFE and APHIS was developed with the intent of 

reducing pest interception rates. Under the requirements of the workplan, all Dracaena

spp. plants imported from Costa Rica into the United States must be produced, packed, and 

exported under an integrated measures approach. This proposed action would amend 7 

CFR 319.37-2 (b)(6)(i) to include the requirement that all Dracaena spp. plants comply 

with the bilateral workplan and to change the current size restriction. Summarized below 

are the mitigative measures that are required under the proposed action: 

 Dracaena spp. plants may not exceed 1,371.6 millimeters (54 inches) in length 

from the soil line (or the top of the rooting zone for plants produced by air layering) 

to the farthest end growing point. 

 Dracaena spp. plants are subject to standard port-of-entry inspection upon arrival in 

the United States. 

 The plants must be grown in compliance with the bilateral “workplan.” 

Additional requirements include: 

1. Participants - Producers, packers and exporters must be approved and 

registered by MAG-SFE as participants in the program to export Dracaena

spp. to the United States. Dracaena plants must be grown, packed, stored 
3

and exported in compliance with a written agreement between the 

participant and MAG-SFE, and the participant must agree to comply with 

the provisions of the CFR and the workplan; 

2. Facility - Production, packing and export facilities must be inspected, 

approved and registered by MAG-SFE for inclusion in the program. 

Registered packing facilities processing Dracaena plants for export to the 

United States may only accept plants from registered production facilities 

where plants are grown in compliance with the workplan and verified by 

appropriate records and documentation. In addition, MAG-SFE must 

maintain a list of approved participants and their approved facilities; this list 

must be provided to APHIS annually and when changes occur. 

3. Training - Participants and personnel at approved production, packing and 

export facilities must be trained in the requirements of the workplan and in 

recognizing the target pests outlined in the workplan. Training records must 

be maintained and made available to MAG-SFE and APHIS on request. 

4. Pest management plans and practices - Participants must establish a pest 

management plan for all approved production, packing and export facilities 

in the program. Pest management plans must include field or facility 

scouting, monitoring and control for target pests, and must be approved and 

audited by MAG-SFE and APHIS. Each approved facility must have a 

trained, dedicated person to supervise the pest management program. 

Records of pest management activities must be maintained and made 

available to MAG-SFE and APHIS on request. 

5. Traceability - Participants must establish a traceability system approved 

and audited by MAG-SFE and APHIS, as outlined in the workplan. The 

identity and origin of the Dracaena plants must be maintained from the 

production unit, through the packing and export facilities, to the port-ofentry in the United States for traceability back through the export and 

packing facilities to the production unit. Dracaena plants transported 

between production and packing facilities, processed at packing facilities, 

and exported to the United States must be appropriately separated and 

identified throughout the process. 

6. Sanitation - Sanitation measures must be maintained at approved 

production, packing and export facilities, as outlined in the workplan. Fallen 

or discarded plant material and debris, or plants with pests must be removed, 

and must not be included in field containers brought from production to 

packing facilities for export. Packing facilities and materials must be free of 

sand, soil, earth, and plant pests, and phytosanitary practices adequate to 

exclude plant pests must be employed. Sanitation of equipment, materials 

and tools must be maintained to avoid spreading pests or to prevent recontamination. 
4

Participants must employ the “Good Agricultural Practices” program 

established by MAG-SFE at approved production, packing and export 

facilities, as outlined in the workplan. At production facilities, growing 

practices aimed at limiting initial infestations and/or reducing pest 

populations must be employed. 

7. Inspections - Approved production, packing and export facilities must be 

inspected by dedicated trained personnel at the approved facilities, at least 

once weekly, and by MAG-SFE at least once monthly. Inspection dates and 

results must be recorded and must be available on request. 

8. Removal of infested plant material - Packing facilities must reject infested 

plant material and MAG-SFE must suspend infested production units from 

exporting Dracaena to the United States. Only production units and packing 

facilities that are determined to be free of quarantine pests upon inspection 

may continue the packing process for export, and this must be verified by 

appropriate records and documentation. If pests or signs of pests are found, 

exports from those sites must be suspended until a phytosanitary corrective 

action is implemented and inspection shows that the infestation has been 

eradicated. Corrective actions must be appropriately documented and the 

participant must receive approval from MAG-SFE to re-initiate the 

operation. 

9. Recordkeeping - Participants must maintain records of the actions related 

to the program, the corrective measures taken on detected irregularities, and 

the records must be available on request. Records must be maintained for a 

minimum of three years. 

10. Phytosanitary Certificate and Additional Declaration - Each 

consignment of Dracaena plants must be inspected by MAG-SFE before 

export. For each consignment, MAG-SFE must issue a Phytosanitary 

Certificate with an Additional Declaration stating that: 

“The plants in this consignment have been produced, packed, stored 

and exported in accordance with the requirements of 7 CFR 319.37 

and the bilateral workplan between Costa Rica and the United States. 

The plants in the consignment are from approved production, 

packing and export facilities and were inspected and found free of 

quarantine pests.” 

Shipping documents accompanying consignments of Dracaena spp. plants 

from Costa Rica to the United States must include the official registration 

number of the place of production at which the Dracaena spp. plants were 

grown, and must identify the packing facility in which the plants were 
5

processed. This identification must be maintained until the plants are 

released for entry into the United States. 

Participants must comply with all other applicable requirements in 7 CFR 

319.37, including approved packing material (319.37-9) and marking and 

identity (319.37-10). 

11. Oversight by MAG-SFE and APHIS - MAG-SFE must inspect, approve 

and register all production, packing and export facilities included in the 

program, ensure that participants follow the guidelines, and monitor the 

program activities as outlined in the work plan. APHIS may monitor and 

audit the program, as agreed by MAG-SFE and APHIS. 

12. Non-Compliance and Corrective Actions - MAG-SFE must take 

corrective action in the case of non-compliance with procedures established 

in the workplan. Corrective actions may include remedial actions, temporary 

suspension of participants until an investigation is conducted and/or noncompliance is addressed, or permanent suspension of participants with 

repetitive minor non-compliances or with serious non-compliances. This 

includes temporary or permanent suspension of participants with 

interceptions at the port-of-entry in the United States. MAG-SFE must 

inform APHIS of suspended participants. 

 

The measures described above are designed to be adequate to prevent the introduction of 

plant pests into the continental United States with Dracaena spp. plants imported from 

Costa Rica. 

III. Environmental Consequences 

A. No Action 

This section describes the environmental effects of the no action alternative. If the no 

action alternative is selected regulations in 7 CFR 319.37 will be unchanged. The current 

size restrictions for Dracaena spp. plants would remain unchanged. Since 1984, there have 

been over 11,000 pest interceptions on Dracaena spp. plants from Costa Rica (USDA, 

APHIS, 2010); it can be expected that without additional requirements for all Dracaena

spp. plants from Costa Rica this trend of pest interceptions will increase. Dracaena spp. 

plants from Costa Rica more than 460 millimeters (mm) (18 inches) would continue to be 

prohibited from importation into the United States. Significant environmental 

consequences as a result of selecting this no action alternative are expected. 
6

B. Proposed Action 

Under the proposed action, 7 CFR § 319.37-2 would be amended to allow the importation 

into the continental United States of oversized (up to 1,371.6 millimeters (mm) (54 inches)) 

Dracaena spp. plants under certain conditions that would apply to all Dracaena spp. plants 

imported from Costa Rica into the United States. The interception rates of pests from 

Costa Rica are expected to be low based upon adherence to proposed risk management 

measures. The specific pests of concern for Dracaena spp. plants from Costa Rica are 

Xylosandrus morigerus (brown coffee twig beetle), Caldwelliola reservata (leafhopper), 

Oncometopia clarior (blue sharpshooter), Coccus viridis (green scale), Planococcus minor 

(passionvine mealybug), Pseudococcus landoi (lando mealybug), Ancistrocercus 

circumdatus (katydid), Erioloides consobrinus (katydid), Neoconocephalus affinis (rattler 

conehead katydid), Chaetanaphothrips signipennis (banana rust thrips), Diplosolenodes 

occidentalis (spotted leatherleaf slug), Sarasinula plebeia (Caribbean leatherleaf slug), 

Ovachlamys fulgens (helicarnoid snail), Pallifera costaricensis (Costa Rica mantle slug), 

and Succinea costaricana (amber snail) (USDA, APHIS, 2010). Since 1984, there have 

been over 11,000 pest interceptions on Dracaena spp. plants from Costa Rica (USDA, 

APHIS, 2010). The mitigation measures that will be required under this rulemaking were 

determined to be necessary and adequate to achieve phytosanitary security for Costa Rican 

Dracaena spp. plants. The mitigations under this rule are expected to result in effective 

removal of pests of concern based on the associated pest risk assessment (USDA, APHIS, 

2010) and the pest risk management document (USDA, APHIS, 2011a). Based on the 

scientific findings and mitigations discussed within these documents, environmental 

impacts are not likely to be significant. 

In the unlikely event that a plant pest should be introduced into the United States and 

threaten to become established, appropriate eradication actions would likely be initiated. 

Such actions would likely involve the use of pesticides in a localized area. The area 

affected would likely be small because it is anticipated that any pests would be detected 

through monitoring activities before they became widespread. In the unlikely event that a 

pest threatens to become established somewhere in the continental United States as a result 

of the importation of oversized Dracaena spp. plants from Costa Rica, and actions are 

required of APHIS, an environmental assessment would be prepared to look at the sitespecific details necessary to eradicate the pest. Any eradication plan or program would not 

be undertaken before a separate environmental process was completed. 

IV. Other Environmental Issues 

The APHIS NEPA implementing procedures require, to the fullest extent possible, the 

integration of Federal environmental laws and executive orders associated with the analysis 

of environmental impacts (7 CFR § 372.7). Of the numerous environmental laws and 

executive orders, this document looks at those that have any possible association to plant, 

animal, or human health impacts from the proposed action. 
7

A. Endangered Species Act (ESA)

According to 40 CFR § 1508.27(b)(9), APHIS PPQ is required to consider the “degree to 

which the action may adversely affect an endangered or threatened species or its habitat 

that has been determined to be critical under the Endangered Species Act of 1973.” In 

addition, Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and ESA’s implementing 

regulations require Federal agencies to consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 

(FWS) and/or the National Marine Fisheries Service to ensure that their actions are not 

likely to jeopardize the continued existence of endangered or threatened species or result in 

the destruction or adverse modification of critical habitat. 

In meeting these requirements, APHIS has prepared and submitted a biological assessment 

(BA) (USDA, APHIS, 2011b) to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) in Arlington, 

VA. Weediness or invasiveness is not a concern with importation of Dracaena species 

plants and this aspect of the proposed action will have no effect on federally listed plants 

(e.g., no competition, allelochemicals, or loss of plant habitat). Although many species of 

listed plants may be hosts of the quarantine pests that could be introduced with Dracaena, 

APHIS has determined that these pests are effectively removed from the pathway and 

effectively precluded from establishment in the United States by the proposed mitigation 

measures (systems approach). In addition, requiring smaller Dracaena plants that are 

currently enterable in the United States and commonly infested with quarantine pests to be 

grown under the proposed systems approach will reduce the risk of establishment of 

quarantine pests in the United States. Therefore, APHIS has determined that the proposed 

action may affect, but is not likely to adversely affect federally-listed plants in the United 

States. APHIS requested concurrence with this determination from FWS and received a 

concurrence letter dated September 12, 2011. 

B. Other Considerations

Some executive orders, such as Executive Order 13045, “Protection of Children From 

Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks,” and Executive Order 12898, “Federal 

Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low-income 

Populations,” as well as departmental or agency directives call for special environmental 

reviews in certain circumstances. No circumstance that would trigger the need for special 

environmental reviews is involved in implementing the proposed action considered in this 

document. No disproportionate adverse effects are anticipated to any minority, low-income 

population or particular sub-group of the U.S. population. 
8

V. Listing of Agencies and Persons Consulted 

U.S. Department of Agriculture 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service 

Policy and Program Development 

Environmental and Risk Analysis Services, Unit 149 

Riverdale, MD 20737-1238 

U.S. Department of Agriculture 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service 

Plant Protection and Quarantine 

Plants for Planting Policy 

Riverdale, MD 20737-1238 

U.S. Department of Agriculture 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service 

Policy and Program Development 

Regulatory Analysis and Development, Unit 118 

Riverdale, MD 20737-1238 

U.S. Department of Agriculture 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service 

Plant Protection and Quarantine 

Regulations, Permits, and Manuals 

Riverdale, MD 20737-1238 
9

VI. Literature Cited 

USDA, APHIS─See U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. 2010. 

Importation of Oversized Dracaena Spp. as Ornamental Plants from Costa Rica into the 

Continental United States. Risk Assessment. 

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. 2011a. 

Importation of oversized Dracaena spp. plants from Costa Rica into the continental United 

States. 7 CFR 319.37 Risk Management Document. 

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. 2011b. 

Biological Assessment for the Importation of Oversized (54-inch) Dracaena spp. Plants 

from Costa Rica into the United States. 108 pp.