Press Release

John Dodd	(301) 734-5175
Jerry Redding	(202) 720-6959

USDA AMENDS NEW JERSEY ASIAN LONGHORNED BEETLE QUARANTINE AREAS

WASHINGTON, Jan. 27, 2005-The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service today announced it is amending existing Asian longhorned beetle (ALB) quarantine boundaries in New Jersey.

Intensive surveys have confirmed infestations of ALB in the Borough of Carteret and in the Avenel section of Woodbridge Township in Middlesex County, and in the cities of Rahway and Linden in Union County, prompting the need to enact a 12.1-square-mile quarantine to include these areas. This action is necessary as APHIS remains vigilant in its effort to prevent the spread of this destructive pest to non-infested areas of the United States, and to increase public awareness to the dangers of transporting articles regulated for ALB.

The newly established quarantine is approximately 20 miles south of the 3.7-square-mile ALB quarantine established in October 2002 in Jersey City, N.J.

Regulated articles include firewood (all hardwood species), green lumber and other wood materials living, dead, cut or fallen, including nursery stock, logs, stumps, roots, branches and debris of half an inch or more in diameter, from the following: maple, horsechestnut, birch, poplar, willow, elm, ash, mimosa (silk tree), hackberry, sycamore, mountain ash and London plane. APHIS requires that regulated articles moved outside the quarantine area meet certain conditions and be accompanied by an APHIS-issued certificate or a limited permit. Extreme caution should be taken to assure unintentional transport of the beetle does not occur.

The ALB, native to China, Korea and Japan, bores into healthy hardwood trees and feeds on living tree tissue during the larval stage. Later, throughout the summer, adult beetles emerge from exit holes and briefly feed on the leaves and small twigs of host trees.

ALB infestations are responsible for the destruction of more than 10,000 trees in the New York, New Jersey and Illinois quarantined areas.

Since its initial discovery in New York in 1996, Illinois in 1998 and New Jersey in 2002, tree destruction had been the only method for controlling this beetle. APHIS and its cooperators undertake eradication by imposing quarantines, conducting intensified visual inspections around confirmed sites to delimit infestations, remove infested and high risk exposed host trees, and chemically treat host trees as part of an area-wide integrated pest management strategy. The goal is to eliminate this destructive insect from New York, New Jersey and Illinois before it can establish itself elsewhere.

The ALB Cooperative Eradication Program relies on the public's support and help in eliminating this destructive pest from the United States. The public can assist by not removing any regulated articles out of the quarantine areas in New York, Illinois and New Jersey. Residents can also help by looking for the ALB and reporting any sightings. To report a sighting of ALB, please call toll free (866) 233-8531 in New Jersey; (866) 265-0301 in New York; (800) 641-3934 in Illinois.

APHIS, USDA's Forest Service, New Jersey Department of Agriculture and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection participate in the ALB Cooperative Eradication Program. For more information, visit the APHIS Web site at www.aphis.usda.gov/alb.

This interim rule was effective Jan. 24 and is scheduled for publication in the Jan. 28 Federal Register. APHIS documents published in the Federal Register and related information, including the names of organizations and individuals who have commented on APHIS dockets, are available on the Internet at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppd/rad/webrepor.html.

Consideration will be given to comments received on or before March 29. Comments can be submitted by postal mail, commercial delivery or by e-mail. Send an original and three copies of postal mail or commercial delivery comments to Docket No. 04-130-1, Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 3C71, 4700 River Road, Unit 118, Riverdale, Md. 20737-1238 or e-mail your comments to regulations@aphis.usda.gov. E-mail comments must be contained in the body of the message; do not send attached files. Please include your name and address in your message and type "Docket No. 04-130-1 on the subject line. To submit comments online, go to http://www.regulations.gov and follow the instructions for locating this docket and submitting comments.

Comments can be reviewed at USDA, Room 1141, South Building, 14th St. and Independence Ave., S.W., Washington, D.C., between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. To facilitate entry into the comment reading room, please call (202) 690-2817 .

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