PREPROPOSAL STATEMENT OF INQUIRY
Subject of Possible Rule Making: Establish plant tagging requirements for horticultural plants.
Statutes Authorizing the Agency to Adopt Rules on this Subject: Chapter 15.13 RCW.
Reasons Why Rules on this Subject may be Needed and What They Might Accomplish: Chapter 15.13 RCW requires the department to establish rules for the marking or tagging of horticultural plants. The ability to identify horticultural plants is critical when enforcing plant related quarantines, especially noxious weed quarantines. A tagging rule would allow nursery inspectors to better regulate horticultural plants entering the state through direct sale and would also benefit consumers of such plants by providing an accurate identity of purchased plants. This proposal would also allow consumers to identify native plants collected in their natural environment.
Other Federal and State Agencies that Regulate this Subject and the Process Coordinating the Rule with These Agencies: None.
Process for Developing New Rule: Washington State Department of Agriculture representatives discuss proposed rule change with affected stakeholders and then publish the rule proposal.
Interested parties can participate in the decision to adopt the new rule and formulation of the proposed rule before publication by contacting Mary A. Martin Toohey, Assistant Director, Washington State Department of Agriculture, Laboratory Services Division, P.O. Box 42560, Olympia, WA 98504-2560, phone (360) 902-1907, fax (360) 902-2094; or Tom Wessels, Plant Services Program Manager, Washington State Department of Agriculture, Laboratory Services Division, P.O. Box 42560, Olympia, WA 98504-2560, phone (360) 902-1984, fax (360) 902-2094.
October 20, 1999
Mary A. Martin Toohey
Assistant Director