|
Counties removed from Phytophthora ramorum Federal Order
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is amending the Jan. 28, 2011, Federal Order requiring advance notification for certain shipments of P. ramorum- host nursery stock.
The Federal Order removes Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties in California; Lincoln County in Oregon; and Kitsap County in Washington State from the list of affected counties.
All other counties listed in the January 28 Federal Order remain the same.
The affected counties are:
California: Alameda, Contra Costa, Humboldt, Lake, Marin, Mendocino, Monterey, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano, Sonoma, Los Angeles, Placer, Sacramento, San Diego, San Joaquin, Shasta, Stanislaus and Tulare.
Oregon: Curry, Clackamas, Columbia, Lane, Marion, Multnomah, Washington and Yamhill.
Washington: Clark, Cowlitz, King, Lewis, Pacific, Snohomish and Thurston.
Beginning March 1, all nurseries located in the above mentioned counties that ship any species of Camellia, Kalmia, Pieris, Rhododendron (including azalea) and Viburnum interstate to non-regulated areas must provide advanced shipiping notification.
For more: www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/plant_pest_info.
Oregon approves buddleia cultivars for sale
The Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA), Plant Division, recently updated its list of buddleia cultivars approved to sell in the state.
The approved varieties produce 2 percent or less viable seeds and meet Oregon’s standards for sterility. ODA approved the transport, propagation and sale of the following varieties:
- Buddleia ‘Blue Chip’
- Buddleia ‘Asian Moon’
- Buddleia ‘Purple Haze’
- Flutterby Grande Blueberry Cobbler
- Flutterby Grande Peach Cobbler
- Flutterby Pink
- Flutterby Petite Snow White
- Flutterby Grande Sweet Marmalade
- Flutterby Grande Tangerine Dream
- Flutterby Grande Vanilla
For more: www.oregon.gov/oda/plant/nursery.
FEDS propose H-2B changes
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has issued a proposed rule that would make significant changes to the H-2B program, according to ANLA’s Craig Regelbrugge. The DOL suggests the changes are necessary due to widespread program abuse. DOL says much of the abuse stems from the attestation process established in the 2008 H-2B rule.
Some of the proposed changes include:
- Define temporary as less than 9 months, except in the case of a one-time occurrence that may last up to three years. If work spans all four seasons, DOL said it’s not “temporary.”
- Eliminate the attestation process.
- Require a registration process to substantiate the need for temporary workers. Registration would be good for three years if employers do not increase the required number of workers by more than 20 percent from year to year (50 percent if need less than 10 workers), if the beginning and end dates of the work do not vary by more than 14 days, or if the job classification does not change.
For more: www.anla.org.
|
