§7715 Declaration of Extraordinary Emergency and Resulting Authorities

Summary

The Secretary can declare an extraordinary emergency when a plant pest or noxious weed that is new to, or not widely found in, the United States threatens U.S. plants or plant products. Then the Secretary may hold, seize, quarantine, treat, destroy, or otherwise get rid of any affected plants, biological control organisms, plant products, articles, or means of transport. The Secretary can also quarantine or treat places, quarantine whole states or parts of states, and ban or limit movement inside a state to stop the spread or to try to eradicate the pest or weed. The Secretary may act only after reviewing the situation and talking with the Governor or other state official and deciding the State’s steps are not enough. Before acting, the Secretary must notify the Governor, make a public announcement, and file a statement in the Federal Register saying what was found, what will be done, why, and, when possible, how long it should last. If filing first is not possible, the filing must be done within 10 business days after starting the action. The Secretary must use the least drastic feasible measure before destroying, exporting, or returning anything to its origin. The Secretary may pay people for economic losses caused by these actions, and the Secretary’s decision about how much to pay is final and cannot be reviewed by courts or other federal officials except the Secretary or the Secretary’s designee.