(1) The entire states of Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, the District of Columbia, the Provinces of Ontario and Quebec, and any other state, province, parish, or county where infestations of Japanese beetle are detected are declared to be under quarantine for Japanese beetle.

(2) The director may exempt individual counties of the states under quarantine from meeting the conditions in WAC 16-470-715 if the director determines that:

(a) The state has adopted and is enforcing restrictions on the interstate and intrastate movement of regulated articles that are equivalent to or exceed the restrictions placed on the movement of regulated articles as provided in WAC 16-470-715; and

(b) Annual surveys are conducted in such counties and the results of these surveys are negative for Japanese beetle; and

(c) One or more neighboring counties are not subject to an unacceptable heavy Japanese beetle infestation.

(3) A plant health official of any state may request exemption of one or more counties under subsection (2) of this section. The request must be in writing, and it must state the area surveyed, the survey method, personnel conducting the survey, and dates of any previous Japanese beetle infestations in that county.