Connecticut Plant Pest and Nursery Laws
Sec. 22-84. Plant pests. The director of the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station shall have charge of all matters pertaining to official control, suppression or extermination of insects or diseases which are, or threaten to become, serious pests of plants of economic importance. He shall receive no additional compensation for such work, and may designate members of the station staff to carry out certain lines thereof and may employ such other assistance as may be required. Said director may cooperate with the agents of the United States Department of Agriculture in the control of plant pests; may make regulations and orders regarding the destruction or treatment of infested plants; may seize, treat, disinfect or destroy any plants or plant material moved in violation of any quarantine or regulation established under the provisions of this section or suspected of being infested by any dangerous insect pest or plant disease; may prohibit or regulate the transportation of plants and plant materials, brick, stone and quarry products or any other objects or materials liable to carry dangerous pests and may designate certain areas or districts wherein all such plants may be destroyed. Said director is authorized to promulgate, and to enforce by appropriate regulations, a quarantine prohibiting or restricting the transportation of any class of nursery stock, plant, fruit, seed or other article capable of carrying any dangerous plant disease or insect infestation, with reference to which the Secretary of Agriculture of the United States has not determined that a quarantine is necessary and established such quarantine, into or through this state or any portion thereof from any other state, the District of Columbia or any part of such state or said district in which said director finds such plant disease or insect infestation to exist. Said director is authorized to make regulations for the seizure, inspection, disinfection, destruction or other disposition of any nursery stock, plant, fruit, seed or other article capable of carrying any dangerous plant disease or insect infestation, a quarantine with respect to which has been established by the Secretary of Agriculture of the United States, and which have been transported to, into or through this state in violation of such quarantine. Said director may establish and maintain a quarantine against any premises, district, town or group of towns in this state, provided, before any quarantine is established within the state, a public hearing shall be held, of which five days' notice shall be given to the parties affected, either by mail or by publishing such notice in two newspapers having a circulation in the part of the state affected by such quarantine. Said director or any person authorized by him to enforce the provisions of this section may, at any reasonable time, enter any public or private premises in the performance of his duty. Any person aggrieved by any order of quarantine issued under the provisions of this section may appeal to the superior court, or to any judge thereof if said court is not in session, and said court or such judge may grant such relief or issue such order or judgment in the premises as to equity may appertain. Any person interfering with any person in the performance of his duties under the provisions of this section of violating any quarantine of any regulation established under said provisions shall be fined not less than five dollars nor more than one hundred dollars.
The regulations of Connecticut State Agencies are amended by adding sections 22-84-5a through 22-84-5c inclusive as follows:
(NEW) Section 22-84-5a REGULATED ITEMS. Regulated items are Arborvitae (Thuja), Juniper (Juniperus), Cedar (Chamaecyparis), and Pine (Pinus) trees, and raw wood products, including cut logs, infested by all living stages of a longhorned beetle (Callidiellum rufipenne).
(NEW) Section 22-84-5b SURVEY AND ERADICATION PROGRAM IN INFESTED AREAS OF CONNECTICUT. Nursery stock and other regulated items shall be examined by state inspectors or other persons authorized by the Director of The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station. Upon discovery of living Callidiellum rufipenne, state inspectors shall quarantine regulated items and survey public and private areas surrounding the initial point of infestation to determine the extent of the insect pest’s geographic distribution. Infested trees or other regulated items shipped into Connecticut may be returned to the point of origin by the Connecticut receivers at the shipper’s expense or, upon direction by authorized state officials, may be ordered destroyed by incineration, burning, burial or other approved methods or treated by acceptable procedures without expense to or indemnity paid by The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station or the State of Connecticut. When infested regulated items are received by state inspectors or authorized persons for the purpose of destruction, a certificate shall be given to the owner of said regulated items indicating the number of trees or amounts of regulated materials surrendered by the owner.
(NEW) Section 22-84-5c. RECORDS OF INFESTATIONS IN CONNECTICUT. The Office of the State Entomologist at The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, 123 Huntington Street, P.O. Box 1106, New Haven, Connecticut 06504-1106, shall maintain records of survey results and a list of towns where infested items have been found. This list shall be available on request.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE. To adopt regulations prohibiting the movement of living longhorned beetle (Callidiellum rufipenne) or infested nursery stock, cut logs, or other raw tree products and to eradicate infestations of Callidiellum rufipenne in regulated items.
Sec. 22-96. Certificate of inspection of imported nursery stock. All nursery stock- shipped into this state shall bear on each package a certificate that the contents of such package have been inspected by a state or government officer and that such contents appear free from all dangerous insects and diseases. If nursery stock has been brought into the state without such a certificate, the express, freight or other transportation company or person shall, before delivering the shipment to the consignee, notify the State Entomologist of the facts, giving the name and address of the consignee, the origin of shipment and approximate number of cars, boxes or packages and the probable date of delivery to the consignee. The State Entomologist may cause the inspection and, if infested, the treatment of the stock. Any person violating any of the provisions of this section shall be fined not more than fifty dollars.
Sec. 22-97. Nursery and nursery stock defined. For the purposes of sections 22-98, 22-99 and 22-100, any place at which hardy trees, shrubs and vines are propagated or grown out of doors for commercial purposes shall be considered a nursery, and such stock shall be regarded as nursery stock. Hardy herbaceous perennial plants, including strawberry plants, may be subject to the same provisions regarding inspection and pest control if, in the opinion of the State Entomologist, it is desirable to control the movement of such plants. Florists' ordinary plants, unless woody and field-grown, shall not be included.
*The Connecticut statutes' definition of nursery stock excludes houseplants. Nursery stock is defined as hardy trees, shrubs, and vines grown out of doors.
Sec. 22-98. Nursery stock; powers of State Entomologist. The State Entomologist or his assistants shall, upon application, inspect at least once each year all nurseries at which woody field-grown hardy trees and plants are grown for sale or shipment; may inspect any nursery stock when dug, before shipment or at destination; may inspect nurseries at any time for the purpose of controlling plant pests or to ascertain whether such pests exist in nurseries; may prescribe forms for registration, certificates and permits and may make regulations regarding time and methods of inspection; may destroy or treat or order the destruction or treatment of, and prohibit the movement of, plants infested with dangerous pests; may cooperate with agents of the United States Department of Agriculture in the inspection of nurseries and control of plant pests; may, at reasonable times, enter any public or private grounds in performance of his duties under the provisions of this section and sections 22-99 and 22-100. If orders are issued for the destruction or treatment of infested plants, the owner, manager or agent of the nursery shall, within a reasonable time from the date of such order, destroy such plants as are ordered destroyed and make such treatment within the time specified in the order or be subject to the penalty provided in section 22-101.
Sec. 22-99. Nurserymen and dealers to register. All nurserymen shall register with the State Entomologist each year, on or before July first, and make application for inspection, and furnish such data on such blanks as the State Entomologist prescribes and furnishes. All firms, stores and individuals who sell but do not grow nursery stock shall be classed as dealers and shall, each year, on or before March first, register with the State Entomologist, giving the chief sources of their nursery stock and such data as he requires, on such forms as he prescribes and furnishes, and the State Entomologist may issue a permit allowing such dealer to sell such nursery stock. The State Entomologist may make such regulations as he deems necessary to govern the shipment of nursery stock into the state by any nursery, person, firm or corporation outside the state.
Sec. 22-100. Nursery certificate. Uninspected stock. The State Entomologist shall issue to regular nurseries certificates, valid until the first day of August following the date of issue and covering the stock inspected and such other stock as has been received under valid certificates of inspection, and may issue temporary permits covering certain portions thereof, and permits to dealers. All such certificates and permits may be revoked for cause. Nursery stock which has not been inspected or stock from a nursery not holding a valid certificate of inspection shall not be sold or transported, and transportation companies shall refuse to accept any shipment not bearing such certificate or some form of permit issued by the State Entomologist, and all nurserymen shall furnish a certificate, and all dealers a permit, to accompany each package of stock sold or transported, but no provision of section 22-98 or 22-99 or this section shall prevent or render liable any person or firm transporting stock from one field or property to another field or property belonging to or operated by such person or firm when such stock is not to be immediately sold or offered for sale and when such transportation does not violate any established federal or state embargo or quarantine regulations.
Sec. 22-101. Penalty. Appeal. Any person who interferes with the State Entomologist or his assistant in the performance of his duties under the provisions of sections 22-98, 22-99 and 22-100, or any person, firm or corporation which violates any of the provisions thereof, shall be fined not more than fifty dollars. Any person aggrieved by any order issued under the provisions of said sections may appeal therefrom in accordance with the provisions of section 4-183.