United States 

Department of 

Agriculture

Animal and 

Plant Health 

Inspection 

Service

November 

2011

Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis

Final Rule

APHIS-2008-0015

RIN 0579-AC85

Citrus Greening and Asian Citrus Psyllid; 

Quarantine and Interstate Movement 

Regulations

Policy & Program Development

Policy Analysis & Development
i

Table of Contents

Introduction......................................................................................................................... 2

Background..................................................................................................................... 2

Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis................................................................................. 3

Need for and Objectives of the Rule............................................................................... 3

Significant Issues raised by Public Comment in response to the Initial Regulatory

Flexibility Analysis ........................................................................................................ 4

Significant Issues raised by the Small Business Administration in response to the 

Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis........................................................................... 4

Potentially Affected Small Entities................................................................................. 4

Projected Reporting, Recordkeeping, and Other Compliance Requirements................. 9

Steps taken by APHIS to minimize Significant Economic Impacts on Small Entities .. 9
ii

Introduction

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is finalizing the interim rule 

which sought to amend the “Domestic Quarantine Notices” in Title 7, part 301 of the Code of 

Federal Regulations by adding a new subpart 301.76 through 301.76-13, “Citrus Greening and 

Asian Citrus Psyllid,” hereafter referred to as the “final regulations.” The purpose of the 

interim rule was to prevent the spread of the harmful citrus disease known informally as citrus 

greening (also known as Huanglongbing disease of citrus) and its vector, the Asian citrus 

psyllid (ACP). The final regulations will impose citrus greening quarantine restrictions on the 

States of Florida, Georgia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, two parishes in Louisiana, two 

counties in South Carolina, portions of one county in Texas, and portions of two counties in 

California. The final regulations will also impose ACP quarantine restrictions on Alabama, 

Florida, Georgia, Guam, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, Puerto Rico, Texas, the U.S. Virgin 

Islands, three counties in South Carolina, portions of one county in Arizona, four counties in 

California, and portions of an additional four counties in California. The final regulations will 

entail restrictions on the interstate movement of regulated articles from quarantined areas.

Background 

Citrus greening, also known as Huanglongbing disease of citrus, is proven to be one of 

the most serious citrus diseases in the world. Citrus greening greatly reduces production, 

destroys the economic value of the tree and its fruit, and can even kill the trees. Once infected, 

there is no cure for a citrus tree with citrus greening disease. In areas of the world where the 

disease is endemic, citrus trees decline and die within a few years and may never produce usable 

fruit.
2

The bacterial pathogen causing citrus greening can be transmitted by grafting, and, under 

laboratory conditions, by dodder. There is also emerging evidence that seed transmission may

occur. The bacterial pathogen can also be transmitted by two insect vectors in the family

Psyllidae: Diaphorina citri Kuwayama, (ACP), and Trioza erytreae (del Guercio), the African 

citrus psyllid. ACP is currently thrives in the United States, in the States and areas listed above.

The spread of citrus greening has unfavorable production, trade, and marketing implications 

for both fresh and processed citrus. Infected or infested citrus nursery stock pose a significant 

threat to the citrus industry as a whole, given the ease with which nursery stock movement can 

facilitate the spread of such pests and diseases as citrus canker, citrus greening, and ACP. The 

spread of these citrus pests and diseases can lead to significant costs, including infected tree 

removal, reduced yields associated with dead tree removal, increased grove survey costs, ACP 

control, and the cost of replacement trees. The costs of production in the citrus nursery stock 

industry have increased significantly over the past decade as the industry has transformed to 

meet the demand for improved production practices designed to produce disease free stock. 

Production losses due to the spread of citrus greening result from increased control costs, 

reduced yields, and, in many instances, the eventual death of the infected citrus tree. Widespread 

production losses over time in areas previously unaffected could lead to an industry-wide decline 

in domestically grown citrus fruit. Also, affected commercial citrus-producing States may face 

barriers to trade for fresh citrus exported to other citrus-producing countries.

The total value of the U.S. citrus crop, including oranges, grapefruit, and specialty 

varieties intended for both the fresh and processed market, was estimated to be $2.98 billion for 

the 2010-2011 season.1 However, the nation’s fruit-bearing acreage has declined by 37 percent 

 

1

 NASS, “Citrus Fruits 2011 Summary,” September 2011. 
3

since 1996 after which the industry experienced annual declines in new planting of acreage, in 

part because of the introduction and spread of harmful pests and diseases.2 Therefore, 

implementation of the final rule is intended to further prevent the spread of citrus greening and 

ACP to unaffected areas of the United States and to mitigate the extensive costs associated with 

this disease and pest. 

Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis

This regulatory impact analysis provides a cost-benefit analysis, as required by Executive 

Orders 12866 and 13563, which directs agencies to assess all costs and benefits of available 

regulatory alternatives and, if regulation is necessary, to select regulatory approaches that 

maximize net benefits (including potential economic, environmental, public health and safety 

effects, and equity).3This document also examines the potential economic effects of this rule on 

small entities as required by the Regulatory Flexibility Act.4

Need for and Objectives of the Rule

APHIS is imposing measures to prevent the spread of citrus greening and ACP to other 

commercial citrus-producing areas by prohibiting or restricting the movement of host material 

outside of areas quarantined for the pest or the disease. The legal basis for this action is outlined 

in section 412(a) of the PPA, which allows the Secretary of Agriculture to prohibit or restrict the 

movement in interstate commerce of any plant or plant product, if the Secretary determines that 

the prohibition or restriction is necessary to prevent the dissemination of a plant disease within 

the United States.

 

2

For 2006 statistics, see NASS, “Commercial Citrus Inventory 2011,” updated September 2011. 

3

http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/inforeg/eo12866.pdf; http://www.reginfo.gov/public/jsp/Utilities/EO_13563.pdf

4

http://www.sba.gov/advo/laws/regflex.html
4

Significant Issues raised by Public Comment in response to the Initial 

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis

There were no significant issues raised by public comment in response to the initial 

regulatory flexibility analysis. 

Significant Issues raised by the Small Business Administration in 

response to the Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis

There were no significant issues raised by the Small Business Administration in response 

to the initial regulatory flexibility analysis.

Potentially Affected Small Entities

Although the majority of affected establishments in the quarantined areas are small 

entities, the effects of this rule on these businesses will be minor. The Administrator of the 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has determined that this action will not have a 

significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. This final measure will 

affect nursery operations and other production sites in Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, 

Guam, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Texas, and the U.S. Virgin 

Islands that produce citrus trees, orange jasmine, curryleaf, and other articles regulated by the 

rule. The small business standard for nurseries identified by the Small Business Administration 

(SBA), based upon the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code 111422 

(“nursery and tree production,” a subset of NAICS 1114, “greenhouse, nursery, and floriculture 

production”) is $750,000 or less in annual receipts.5 We have examined the possible impact of 

this rule on nurseries by State.

 

 

5

Source: 2002 Census of Agriculture-State Data and the “Small Business Size Standards by NAICS 

Industry,” 13 CFR Chapter 1.
5

California

APHIS does not have information on the size distribution of affected nursery operations 

in California, but, according to the 2007 Census of Agriculture, there were 3,549 greenhouse, 

nursery, and floriculture operations (NAICS 1114).6 Of these, more than 78 percent had annual 

sales in 2007 of less than $500,000, which is below the SBA’s small-entity threshold of 

$750,000.

7

 We have ascertained that the majority of citrus nurseries are located within San 

Diego and Imperial Counties—that is, within counties containing areas quarantined for ACP. 

While information on cash receipts by size of operation is not readily available, it is reasonable 

to assume that the majority of citrus operations in these counties qualify as small entities. 

Additionally, all entities located within newly quarantined areas, both those for ACP and those 

for citrus greening, will be subject to the restrictions and prohibitions contained in the final rule. 

Florida

Most nursery operators in the State of Florida are small entities, according to SBA 

standards. In an interim rule effective and published in the Federal Register on August 1, 2006 

(71 FR 43345-43352, Docket No. APHIS-2006-0114), APHIS amended the domestic quarantine 

regulations by designating the entire State of Florida as a quarantined area for citrus canker. 

This change had the effect of explicitly forbidding the movement of fruit into States designated 

as commercial citrus-producing areas and the movement of other citrus articles into any State.8 

The amended regulations reflected a change in policy earlier that year, when USDA announced 

 

6 NASS, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), “United States: Summary and State Data, 

Volume 1,” 2007 Census of Agriculture, issued February 2009.

7 Source: SBA and 2002 Census of Agriculture.

8 To view this rule, go to 

http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main?main=DocketDetail&d=APHIS-2006-0114.
6

on January 10, 2006, that the eradication-based program pursued by USDA and the State of 

Florida up to that point was no longer a scientifically feasible option to address citrus canker. 

In an interim rule9effective and published in the Federal Register on March 22, 2007 

(72 FR 13423-13428, Docket No. APHIS-2007-0032), APHIS clarified the citrus canker 

regulations in order to explicitly forbid, with two, limited exceptions, the interstate movement of 

regulated nursery stock from areas quarantined for citrus canker and to address the risk 

associated with such movement. As one of these exceptions, we allowed calamondin and 

kumquat nursery stock to move interstate in accordance with a protocol designed to ensure their 

freedom from citrus canker prior to movement. We subsequently published a final rule

following the March 2007 interim rule on April 9, 2009 (74 FR 16097-16104, Docket No. 

APHIS-2007-0032). In that final rule, we removed calamondin from the protocol. 

Under this final rule, all citrus nursery stock is prohibited from interstate movement from 

the State of Florida, except for immediate export. This includes all species previously exempted 

under the regulations. Although APHIS has not been able to confirm the number of citrus 

nursery stock producers in the State of Florida currently engaged in kumquat nursery stock 

production, correspondence with State officials has suggested that there were no more than four 

such producers in 2007.10 APHIS did not receive further information from the public during the 

comment period on the number of nursery stock producers in the State of Florida currently 

engaged in kumquat nursery stock production.

 

9 To view this rule, go to 

http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main?main=DocketDetail&d=APHIS-2007-0032.

10 Source: Florida’s Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services/Bureau of Plant and Apiary 

Inspection. Correspondence with APHIS, November 2007.
7

Hawaii

APHIS does not have information on the size distribution of affected nursery operations 

in Hawaii, but, according to the 2007 Census of Agriculture, there were 1,393 greenhouse, 

nursery, and floriculture operations within the State (NAICS 1114).11 Of these, nearly 96 

percent had annual sales in 2007 of less than $500,000, which is well below the SBA’s smallentity threshold of $750,000.

Louisiana

APHIS does not have information regarding the size distribution of the total affected 

nursery operations in Louisiana, but, according to the 2007 Census of Agriculture, there were a 

total of 661 greenhouse, nursery, and floriculture operations (NAICS 1114).12 Of this number, 

more than 93 percent had annuals sales in 2002 of less than $500,000, which is well below the 

SBA’s small-entity threshold of $750,000.13

We have ascertained that the majority, if not all, of the State’s citrus operations are 

located within Plaquemines Parish.14 In 2008, there were approximately 10 nurseries reported in 

this parish; these operations produced roughly 350,000 to 400,000 trees per year. While 

information on cash receipts by size of operation is not readily available, it is reasonable to 

assume that a majority qualify as small entities. Moreover, approximately 60 to 70 percent of 

Louisiana’s citrus nursery stock is currently shipped interstate. 

 

11 Source: NASS, “United States: Summary and State Data, Volume 1,” 2007 Census of Agriculture, 

issued February 2009.

12 NASS, “United States: Summary and State Data, Volume 1,” 2007 Census of Agriculture, issued 

February 2009.

13 Source: SBA and 2002 Census of Agriculture.

14 Source: Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry. Correspondence with APHIS, September 

2008.
8

Texas

In 2008, there were approximately 18 commercial citrus operations accounting for 95 

percent of the citrus nursery plants produced in Texas. Ten of the 18 operations met the criteria 

to be considered small businesses according to SBA standards. Additionally, there were another 

17 nursery operations in Texas in 2008 producing citrus plants, along with non-citrus nursery

plants, that would account for the remaining 5 percent of the State’s nursery stock.15 Because the 

majority of the operations that account for 95 percent of Texas’ nursery stock production either 

meet or, at most, slightly exceed the SBA standards for small entities, it is therefore reasonable 

to assume that these nurseries, which account for a much smaller percentage of Texas’ nursery

stock production, meet the small business size standard for nurseries identified by the SBA. 

Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, Guam, Puerto Rico, and U.S. Virgin Islands

Nursery operations that engage in the production of the regulated articles in Alabama, 

Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, Guam, Puerto Rico, and U.S. Virgin Islands are considered 

to be predominantly small. However, APHIS does not have information the number or size of 

nursery operations that produce the regulated articles for sale outside of quarantined areas as we 

did not receive information from the public during the comment period of the interim rule that 

would aid us in identifying the potential effects of the rule for small entities in these States. 

American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands, Ventura, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, and Orange

Counties, CA, and Hidalgo County, TX

Since the interim rule was issued, we have quarantined American Samoa, Northern 

Mariana Islands for ACP, have extended the boundaries of the quarantine area for ACP in 

California to include all of one county (Ventura County) and portions of another additional 

 

15 Source: Texas Department of Agriculture. Correspondence with APHIS, February 2009.
9

county (Santa Barbara County), and have quarantined portions of one county in Texas (Hidalgo 

County) and an area comprising portions of two counties in California (Los Angeles and Orange 

Counties) for citrus greening. Producers in the newly quarantined areas for ACP that have relied 

on markets in commercial citrus-producing areas that are not currently quarantined for ACP or 

citrus greening will suffer the loss of those markets. Producers in the newly quarantined areas 

for citrus greening will likely experience a prohibition on the interstate movement of regulated 

articles. However, it is unlikely that producers of citrus nursery stock in these areas currently 

produce citrus nursery stock intended for markets outside of the quarantine area. The effort to 

mitigate the further spread of ACP and citrus greening will serve to benefit to other citrus 

producing areas. 

Projected Reporting, Recordkeeping, and Other Compliance 

Requirements

Reporting and recordkeeping requirements associated with the final rule are discussed in 

the rule under the heading "Paperwork Reduction Act."

Steps taken by APHIS to minimize Significant Economic Impacts on 

Small Entities

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

significant economic impact on small entities. In the absence of significant economic impacts, 

we have not identified alternatives that would minimize such impacts for the final rule.