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On March 8, 2010, the California Association of Nurseries and Garden Centers (CANGC) and the Oregon Association of Nurseries (OAN) filed suit in U.S. District Court in Columbia, S.C., seeking to overturn the state?EUR??,,????'?????<???EUR?s 2009 passage of legislation limiting California and Oregon growers from shipping here unless they comply with additional inspection, documentation and advance notice requirements regarding the Phytophthora ramorum pathogen, better know as Sudden Oak Death to non-Latin majors.
The CANGC and OAN note in the suit the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) already maintains strict regulations on Sudden Oak Death to protect forest health, landscapes and nurseries, and that nurseries in Oregon and California have ?EUR??,,????'?????<?outstanding compliance?EUR??,,????'?????<? with these federal rules.
The suit challenges the state and its department of agriculture?EUR??,,????'?????<???EUR?s regulation as unconstitutional. The suit notes the federal government has the exclusive power to protect plants sold in interstate commerce under the U.S. Plant Protection Act, and that the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution prevents states from overriding federal regulations.
?EUR??,,????'?????<?It is disappointing the South Carolina Department of Agriculture, which runs programs to promote its home-state products for sale in other states, chose to follow this path,?EUR??,,????'?????<? said Robert Dolezal, CANGC?EUR??,,????'?????<???EUR?s executive vice president.
California and Oregon are among the leading states for the production and shipping of ornamental plants, trees, shrubs, bulbs, and other horticultural products in the U.S. and to other countries.
“California nurseries are fully complying with the federal APHIS order,” Dolezal continued. “Protecting our customers in other states and shipping clean plants is in the best interest of everyone in our industry.”
?EUR??,,????'?????<?Nurseries take very seriously the threat of plant diseases,?EUR??,,????'?????<? said OAN Executive Director John Aguirre. ?EUR??,,????'?????<?Over 70 percent of Oregon’s nursery sales are destined for buyers outside our state. Oregon growers cannot allow states to violate federal law in an effort to close their markets to our growers.?EUR??,,????'?????<?
In 2004, the California Association of Nursery and Garden Centers successfully sued Kentucky under similar circumstances.
?EUR??,,????'?????<?Despite that precedent, our polite requests were ignored. We had no other option but to defend our nurseries from being cut off from their customers in South Carolina,?EUR??,,????'?????<? Dolezal concluded.
Francisco Uviña, University of New Mexico
Hardscape Oasis in Litchfield Park
Ash Nochian, Ph.D. Landscape Architect
November 12th, 2025
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