[MAIPC] Invasive species legislation pending in Virginia

[Marney Bruce]

In 2012, the Maryland Legislature passed the Maryland Invasive Plant Prevention and Control law. The law established an 11-member body called IPAC, the Invasive Plant Advisory Committee, to assist the Secretary of Agriculture in assigning regulatory status to invasive ornamental terrestrial plants. The law required IPAC to adopt a risk assessment tool for use in this process; IPAC chose the Weed Risk Assessment (WRA). Three IPAC members traveled to North Carolina in 2012 to learn to use the WRA. It soon became clear that more trained assessors were needed to handle the volume of plant assessments. This spring, Dr. Tony Koop, one of the originators of the WRA, and Dr. Sylvan Kaufman, an ecological consultant and author of a well-known book on invasive plants, created a streamlined training for new assessors, consisting of three webinars and a two-day workshop.
The WRA consists of 94 questions about a target plant species, divided into four risk factors: establishment and spread (how it grows and reproduces), impacts (what effects it has on natural, human and agricultural production systems), geographic potential (where it can live), and entry potential (how it can get here). As assessors answer each of these questions, they also note how sure (or not) they are of their answers, based on the quality and quantity of the evidence. A completed WRA gives a probability that a plant will be a major or minor invader, or not invasive at all, and whether there is a high or moderate risk of invasion. 

IPAC uses the WRA results to do further analysis to assign a regulatory rating to an assessed species of either Tier 1 or Tier 2. Tier 1 plants may not be purchased, sold, transferred, transported or introduced in Maryland. Tier 2 plants may still be sold, but must be clearly and brightly labeled as Tier 2 – invasive – plants. The sales restrictions and signage requirements are aimed to prevent or discourage further introductions of these invasive species through ornamental plantings. Currently, Tier 1 plants include fig buttercup, Amur honeysuckle, and shining geranium, among others. Some of the Tier 2 plants are burning bush, heavenly bamboo and wisteria. For the entire list, see https://mda.maryland.gov/plants-pests/Pages/maryland_invasive_plants_prevention_and_control.aspx <https://mda.maryland.gov/plants-pests/Pages/maryland_invasive_plants_prevention_and_control.aspx>. 

> On Jan 11, 2021, at 5:49 PM, Kathy Daniel <kdaniel20816 at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Does Maryland have similar legislation in the works? 
> 
> There is some important invasive species legislation pending during the short Virginia legislative session. See summary below.
> 
> Study; Department of Conservation and Recreation and Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services; invasive plant species work group; report. Requests the Department of Conservation and Recreation, jointly with the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, to establish a work group to study the sale and use of invasive plant species. The resolution requests that the departments work with several state agencies, conservation nonprofits, and plant industry and agriculture groups to develop recommendations regarding statutory and regulatory changes intended to reduce or eliminate the sale and use of invasive plant species in the Commonwealth and promote the sale and use of native plants.
> 
> Virginia House Joint Resolution 527
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