§ 7715. Declaration of extraordinary emergency and resulting authorities

882 words·~4 min read·/usc/title-7/section-7715

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(a)Authority to declare If the Secretary determines that an extraordinary emergency exists because of the presence of a plant pest or noxious weed that is new to or not known to be widely prevalent in or distributed within and throughout the United States and that the presence of the plant pest or noxious weed threatens plants or plant products of the United States, the Secretary may—

(1)hold, seize, quarantine, treat, apply other remedial measures to, destroy, or otherwise dispose of, any plant, biological control organism, plant product, article, or means of conveyance that the Secretary has reason to believe is infested with the plant pest or noxious weed;

(2)quarantine, treat, or apply other remedial measures to any premises, including any plants, biological control organisms, plant products, articles, or means of conveyance on the premises, that the Secretary has reason to believe is infested with the plant pest or noxious weed;

(3)quarantine any State or portion of a State in which the Secretary finds the plant pest or noxious weed or any plant, biological control organism, plant product, article, or means of conveyance that the Secretary has reason to believe is infested with the plant pest or noxious weed; and

(4)prohibit or restrict the movement within a State of any plant, biological control organism, plant product, article, or means of conveyance when the Secretary determines that the prohibition or restriction is necessary to prevent the dissemination of the plant pest or noxious weed or to eradicate the plant pest or noxious weed.

(b)Required finding of emergency The Secretary may take action under this section only upon finding, after review and consultation with the Governor or other appropriate official of the State affected, that the measures being taken by the State are inadequate to eradicate the plant pest or noxious weed.

(c)Notification procedures

(1)In general Except as provided in paragraph (2), before any action is taken in any State under this section, the Secretary shall notify the Governor or other appropriate official of the State affected, issue a public announcement, and file for publication in the Federal Register a statement of—

(A)the Secretary’s findings;

(B)the action the Secretary intends to take;

(C)the reasons for the intended action; and

(D)where practicable, an estimate of the anticipated duration of the extraordinary emergency.

(2)Time sensitive actions If it is not possible to file for publication in the Federal Register prior to taking action, the filing shall be made within a reasonable time, not to exceed 10 business days, after commencement of the action.

(d)Application of least drastic action No plant, biological control organism, plant product, plant pest, noxious weed, article, or means of conveyance shall be destroyed, exported, or returned to the shipping point of origin, or ordered to be destroyed, exported, or returned to the shipping point of origin under this section unless, in the opinion of the Secretary, there is no less drastic action that is feasible and that would be adequate to prevent the dissemination of any plant pest or noxious weed new to or not known to be widely prevalent or distributed within and throughout the United States.

(e)Payment of compensation The Secretary may pay compensation to any person for economic losses incurred by the person as a result of action taken by the Secretary under this section. The determination by the Secretary of the amount of any compensation to be paid under this subsection shall be final and shall not be subject to judicial review or a review by any officer or employee of the Federal Government other than the Secretary or the designee of the Secretary.

(Pub. L. 106–224, title IV, § 415, June 20, 2000, 114 Stat. 445; Pub. L. 107–171, title VII, § 7504(a), May 13, 2002, 116 Stat. 465; Pub. L. 110–234, title X, § 10203(a), May 22, 2008, 122 Stat. 1342; Pub. L. 110–246, § 4(a), title X, § 10203(a), June 18, 2008, 122 Stat. 1664, 2104.)

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