Proposed

1. How would the proposal be likely to increase discharge
to water; emissions to air; production, storage, or release
of toxic or hazardous substances; or production of noise?
Proposed measures to avoid or reduce such increases are:
2. How would the proposal be likely to affect plants, animals,
fish, or marine life?
Proposed measures to protect or conserve plants, animals,
fish, or marine life are:
3. How would the proposal be likely to deplete energy or
natural resources?
Proposed measures to protect or conserve energy and
natural resources are:
4. How would the proposal be likely to use or affect environmentally
sensitive areas or areas designated (or eligible
or under study) for governmental protection; such as
parks, wilderness, wild and scenic rivers, threatened or
endangered species habitat, historic or cultural sites,
wetlands, flood plains, or prime farmlands?
Proposed measures to protect such resources or to avoid
or reduce impacts are:
5. How would the proposal be likely to affect land and
shoreline use, including whether it would allow or
encourage land or shoreline uses incompatible with
existing plans?
Proposed measures to avoid or reduce shoreline and land
use impacts are:
6. How would the proposal be likely to increase demands
on transportation or public services and utilities?
Proposed measures to reduce or respond to such
demand(s) are:
7. Identify, if possible, whether the proposal may conflict
with local, state, or federal laws or requirements for the
protection of the environment.
Washington State Register, Issue 12-21 WSR 12-21-132
WSR 12-21-132
PROPOSED RULES
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
[Filed October 24, 2012, 9:50 a.m.]
Original Notice.
Preproposal statement of inquiry was filed as WSR 12-
18-076.
Title of Rule and Other Identifying Information: Chapter
16-474 WAC, Eastern filbert blight quarantine. The
department is proposing to establish a quarantine that would
place restrictions on the importation of hazelnut plants into
Washington state in response to eastern filbert blight.
Hearing Location(s): Washington State Department of
Agriculture, 117 North First, Suite 39, 2nd Floor, Mt. Vernon,
WA 98273, on November 29, 2012, at 11:00 a.m.
Date of Intended Adoption: December 6, 2012.
Submit Written Comments to: Henri Gonzales, P.O.
Box 42560, Olympia, WA 98504-2560, e-mail hgonzales@
agr.wa.gov, fax (360) 902-2094, by November 29, 2012.
Assistance for Persons with Disabilities: Contact Henri
Gonzales by November 20, 2012, TTY (800) 833-6388 or
711.
Purpose of the Proposal and Its Anticipated Effects,
Including Any Changes in Existing Rules: At the request of
Washington's filbert growers, the department is proposing to
establish a quarantine that requires hazelnut planting stock
from states east of the Rocky Mountains, including all of
Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico, to originate
from an area free of the fungus Anisogramma anomala
or be micro-propagated and shipped in artificial culture
media in a sealed container. In addition, the quarantine
requires hazelnut planting stock from all other states to be
inspected during the last growing season and found free of
eastern filbert blight. Establishment of a quarantine may better
protect the commercial hazelnut industry from an economically
significant plant disease.
Reasons Supporting Proposal: Eastern filbert blight is a
highly infectious plant disease affecting hazelnuts (also
called filberts) and closely related species. It is caused by the
fungus Anisogramma anomala. Until recently, varieties of
hazelnuts grown in the Pacific Northwest were resistant to
the local strain of A. anomala. However, more virulent
strains of A. anomala have been found in the eastern portion
of the United States. If these more virulent, exotic strains are
introduced into Washington, the disease resistance of local
commercial and ornamental varieties of hazelnuts will
decline and may be lost, resulting in potentially devastating
economic consequences to growers, loss of ornamental or
landscape hazelnut plants, and environmental consequences
of removing habitat and food sources for wildlife. Members
of the Washington industry have requested that the department
consider a rule to protect the local crop.
Statutory Authority for Adoption: RCW 17.24.041,
15.13.260, and chapter 34.05 RCW.
Statute Being Implemented: RCW 17.24.041.
Rule is not necessitated by federal law, federal or state
court decision.
Name of Proponent: Growers Society of Oregon, Washington
& British Columbia, private.
[ 179 ] Proposed