### United States Department of Agriculture
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service January 2015 Analysis in Support of Certification that the Rule will not have a Significant Economic Impact on a Substantial Number of Small Entities

Interim Rule

APHIS

- 2014

- 0023

Gypsy Moth Generally Infested Areas; Additions in Minnesota, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin

Policy & Program Development Policy Analysis & Development

### Summary

APHIS is amending the gypsy moth regulations (contained in 7 CFR 301.45 through
301.45

- 12 ) by adding areas in Minnesota, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin to the list of generally infested areas based on detect ed infestations of gypsy moth. As a result of th is action, the interstate movement of regulated articles f rom those areas is restricted. This rule w ill affect
businesses such as nurseries, Christmas tree farms , and timber companies that are located within
the newly expanded quarantined areas and that tr ansport regulated articles interstate. Agricultural entities in the newly quarantined areas are predominantly, if not entirely,
small entities. Businesses with compliance agreements can self

- inspect regulated articles moved from quarantined areas. Many of the entities are already operating under compliance agreements. Businesses without compliance agreements can have inspection and certification services provided by State or Federal officials at no cost. The APHIS Administrator has de termined that this action will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.

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### Table of Contents Summary

................................ ................................ ................................ .............................. i
Introduction

................................ ................................ ................................ ......................... 1 Potential Impact on Small Entities

................................ ................................ ...................... 2

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### Introduction
This analysis provides the basis, as required by the Regulatory Flexibility Act, for certification by the APHIS Administrator that the rule will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities

. APHIS is amending the gypsy moth regulations (contained in 7 CFR 301.45 through
301.45

- 12 ) by adding areas in Minnesota, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin to the list of generally infested areas based on detect ed infestations of gypsy moth. As a re sult of this action, the interstate movement of regulated articles from those areas is restricted. This action is necessary to prevent the artificial spread of the gypsy moth to noninfested areas of the United
States. We are also removing the requirement in § 301.45

- 4 that regulated articles originating outside of any generally infested area and moving interstate directly through any generally
infested area must be covered to prevent access by any gypsy moth life stages. Th at requirement

was put in place out of an abundance of caution when we had a more limited understanding of
the biology and behavior of the gypsy moth

. In the intervening time , advances in our understanding of the pest have led APHIS to conclude that the requirement do es not provide
addi tional protection from the spread of gypsy moth during shipment. We are therefore removing a requirement that we no longer view as necessary, thus lightening the regulatory burden on shippers of regulated articles.

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### Potential Impact on Small Entities

T he gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar (Linnaeus), is a destructive pest of forest, shade, and commercial trees such as nursery stock and Christmas trees. The gypsy moth regulations (contained in 7 CFR 301.45 through 301.45

- 12 and referred to below as the regulations) restrict
the interstate movement of regulated articles from generally infested areas to prevent the artificial spread of the gypsy moth. The regulated articles, which include logs, pulpwood, and mobile homes , are produced or transported in most of the affected counties in some me asure. This rule w ill affect businesses
such as nurseries, Christmas tree farms , and timber companies that are located within the newly expanded quarantined areas and that transport regulated articles interstate.
Table 1 summarizes the 2007 Census of Agri culture data (the latest census for which consistent data are available for all regulated articles) according to commodity groups that will be affected by the interim rule. These commodity groups are: (1) n ursery; (2) cut Christmas

trees ; and (3) w ood pr oducts including logs ( classified with in North American Industry Classification System [NAICS] Subsector 321) and pulpwood (NAICS 3221)

. Figures for mobile homes shipped to each S tate are also included in table 1

. In 2007, there were 18 nurseries and 28 producers of Christmas trees in the nine newly
affected counties. Sales figures for these counties are not available as there are too few operations per county. In the same year, sales 1 of manufactured wood products exceeded $9.6
billion in the four S tates , while sales of all pulp and paper products were over $11.5 billion.
These statewide data are not available at the county level, nor are we able to disaggregate the se

1 The value of sales represents the gross market value before taxes and production expenses of all agricultural products sold o r removed f rom the place in 2007 regardless of who received the payment. 2values to the products actually affected by this rule. Similarly, only S tate

- level data are available for mobile home placements, which reveal that 5,536 mobile homes were shipped to the four
S tates in 2007 from manufacturers outside the state

. In three of the four S tates, the farm operations in the affected counties represent less than

one percent of the statewide operations in each commodity group. The exception is West Virginia, where the nurseries in the affected counties are 12.7% of the S tate’s total number of nurseries, and the affected Christmas tree operations are 7.1% of the S tate’s total.

Table 1

– Number of farms and value of sales for principal regulated commodity groups in the affected States and counties , 2007

Nursery Cut

- Christmas trees and short rotation woody crops Wood Products (NAICS 321) and Pulp ( NAICS 3221) Mobile Homes

– Shipped to State

State # of a ffected counties # of farms in affected counties # farms in S tate (% in

affected counties) # of farms in affected counties # farms in S tate (% in affected

counties) w ood s ales ( million $) p ulp s ales ( million $) Units MN 2 1 363 (.28%) 1 368 (.27%) 2,398 2,279 898 VA 1 0 392 (0%) 1 481 (.21%) 2,786 1,908 2 , 107 WV 5 14 110 (12.7%) 19 267 (7.1%) 1,173 0 1 , 833 WI 1 3 637 (.47%) 7 1 , 136 (.62%) 3,324 7,322 698 TOTAL 9 18 1 , 502 28 2 , 252 9 , 681 11 , 508 5 , 536 Source s : USDA, NASS , 2007 Census of Agriculture, State and C ounty Level D ata ; United States Census Bureau

– American FactFinder; Institute for Building Technology and Safety.

Sales of all crops sold in the S tates w ere over $ 10.6 b illion in 2007 , of which about $ 281
million can be attributed to the two broad commodity groups (nursery and Christmas trees) affected by the quarantine restrictions imposed by this rule (table 2)

. In Virginia, 12.1% of the
S tate’s crop sales in 2007 were in the two affected commodity groups. In all other cases, this figure was less than 4%. T he percentage of producers affected by this rule is actually

3significantly smaller , as very small shares of these industries , by State, are found within the
affected countie s
.

Table 2

– Prevalence of articles that would be regulated if the g y psy moth quarantines were statewide , 2007
State wide agricultural production Percent age s that would be
r egulated if the entire State were q uarantine d for gypsy moth State Total Operations Total Sales (million$) Operations Sales
MN 46,189 7,049 1.6% 1.1% VA 16,493 858 5.3% 12.1% WV 9,086 78.3 4.2% 1.2% WI 43 , 189 2,669 4.1% 3.7% Source: USDA, NASS , 200 7 Census of Agriculture, State and County Level Data. According to Small Business Administratio n criteria, a business engaged in crop production ( NAICS Subsector 111) is considered to be a small entity if its annual recei pts are not more than $750,000

. Agricultural entities in the newly quarantined areas are predominantly , if not entirely , small entities. We do not anticipate any significant economic impacts because of this action. APHIS works closely with State officials through quarantines and regulatory programs to limit the artificial spread of gypsy moth beyond infested areas , and stakeholders support these efforts

. No public comment was received , for example, oppo s ing an April 2013 interim rule that expanded the quarantined area in Wisconsin. West Virginia and Virginia already have regulatory programs in place due to previously quarantined counties. Many b usinesses operate under compliance
agreements that allow the m to self

- inspect regulated articles moved from quarantine areas. Businesses without compliance agreements can have inspection and certification services provided by State or Federal officials at no cost.

4T he APHIS Administrator has d etermined that this action will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.

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