Nursery growers in Oregon and California are once again free to ship their plants to South Carolina. Officials in that state have rescinded Regulation 27-78, which imposed state-based rules pertaining to Phytophthora ramorum.
The Oregon Association of Nurseries (OAN) and the California Association of Nurseries and Garden Centers (CANGC) sued to overturn the regulation, on the grounds that there are already federal rules in place to prevent the spread of the disease. The associations argued that the regulation made it practically impossible for the two states to ship any plants at all to South Carolina. In the end, South Carolina officials overturned the regulation rather than fight the lawsuit.
“We believe strong, effective federal regulation is of paramount importance on matters related to plant pests and disease,” OAN executive director John Aguirre stated in a press release. “If the principle of federal preemption had been undermined, then the door would swing open to a patchwork of regulation among the states and marketplace chaos would ensue.”
For more information, read the press release.
