250-RICR-40-10-2. Rules and Regulations Governing the Suppression of White Pine Blister Rust (version Periodic Refile, 12/31/2001 to 12/29/2004)

Regulations under Rhode Island General Law Title 2, Chapter 17, 1956, as amended, "Suppression of White Pine Blister Rust." Whereas, a dangerous and injurious disease known as the White Pine Blister Rust, Cronartium rivisola Fischer, is present in this state, and whereas the suppression and control of this disease is being prosecuted within the state by eradicating wild and cultivated currants and gooseberries, the alternate host plant of the disease; By virtue of the authority granted by Title 2, Chapter 17, General Laws, 1956, (§2-17-10) and in order to suppress the White Pine Blister Rust in Rhode Island, the following regulations were established: 1. The transportation within the State of Rhode Island or the importation of five-leafed pines or plants of the genus Ribes is hereby prohibited except as permitted by State and Federal Laws and Regulations. Application for permit to import or transport should be sent to the Department of Environmental Management, Division of Agriculture, 235 Promenade St., Providence, RI 02908. 2. Five-leafed pines and plants of the genus Ribes shall be planted in Rhode Island only after a permit for planting has been obtained from the Rhode Island Department of Agriculture. 3. The cultivated black currant (Ribes nigrum L.) or any variety of this species is hereby declared to be a public nuisance and it shall be unlawful for any person to possess, transport, plant, propagate, sell or offer for sale, plants, roots, scions, seeds or cuttings of these plants in the State of Rhode Island. Such roots, plants, scions, seeds or cuttings may be destroyed by the State Commissioner of Agriculture or his agents. The planting of flowering currants (Ribes aureum and Ribes odoratum) anywhere in the State is also prohibited. (This section supersedes or extends Section 2 of the Blister Rust Rules and Regulations effective April 8, 1919, which reads as follows: The planting of black currants or flowering currants will not be permitted anywhere in the state.) 4. The following towns or parts of towns in the State of Rhode Island have been set aside as White Pine Blister Rust control areas: Burrillville except for the closely built up districts (as defined by Section 1, definition 16 of the Motor Vehicle Laws of Rhode Island, published in 1927) in the village of Pascoag and Harrisville, that part of North Smithfield lying west of the city line of Woonsocket and the state highway known as the Farnum Pike (R-104), Glocester, Foster, Scituate, Coventry, West Greenwich, Goddard Memorial Park in the town of Warwick and that part of Exeter lying west of the state highway known as Nooseneck Hill Road (R-1 A) and the possession and planting of all plants, roots, scions, seeds or cuttings of the genus Ribes in these areas prohibited. 5. Any person violating provisions of these regulations shall be fined not exceeding one hundred dollars as provided in §2-17-15 of Title 2, Chapter 17, General Laws 1956. 6. The above rules and regulations are hereby adopted and shall be effective on and after April 1st, 1928. These rules and regulations shall supersede those previously issued, except as provided for in regulation 3. Note: Outside of the areas mentioned in Section 4 above, any stands of five-leafed pines comprising one acre or more in extent may also by declared white pine blister rust control areas and possession and planting of a plants, roots, scions, seeds or cuttings of the genus Ribes within 900 feet of such areas will be prohibited if in the discretion of the Director. Rhode Island Department of Agriculture and Conservation safeguarding of the white pine stand is more important than continued permission to grow Ribes within the said area. Nurseries growing five-leafed pine as nursery stock may safeguard this stock by applying to the Rhode Island Department of Agriculture to have the nursery set aside as a white pine blister rust control area. Each such application must be considered on its on merits and no general regulation covering all cases can be issued.