Plum Pox Compensation

We are amending the plum pox compensation regulations to provide additional compensation to affected growers, under certain conditions. We are providing additional compensation to growers who have already been paid compensation for 3 years of lost production, but who are prohibited from replanting regulated articles for a total of more than 3 years due to additional detections of plum pox in areas already under quarantine. Such growers will be paid compensation for up to 2 additional years. We are also providing additional compensation to growers who are direct marketers of their fruit and growers who have had trees that were less than 1 year old destroyed. We are taking these actions in response to issues that have surfaced during our 2 years of experience in managing the plum pox quarantine and paying compensation to affected growers. These changes are necessary to provide adequate compensation to persons affected by the plum pox quarantine and eradication efforts associated with the quarantine.