(a) Certified facility. The fumigation treatment facility must be certified by APHIS. Facilities are required to be inspected and recertified annually, or as often as APHIS directs, depending upon treatments performed, commodities handled, and operations conducted at the facility. In order to be certified, a fumigation facility must:

(1) Be capable of administering the required dosage range for the required duration and at the appropriate temperature, as specified in the treatment schedules in the PPQ Treatment Manual or in another treatment schedule approved in accordance with §305.2.

(2) Be adequate to contain the fumigant and be constructed from material that is not reactive to the fumigant.

(3) For vacuum fumigation facilities, be constructed to withstand required negative pressure.

(b) Monitoring. Treatment must be monitored by an official authorized by APHIS to ensure proper administration of the treatment, including that the correct amount of gas reaches the target organism and that an adequate number and placement of blowers, fans, sampling tubes, or monitoring lines are used in the treatment enclosure. An official authorized by APHIS approves, adjusts, or rejects the treatment.

(c) Compliance agreements. Any person who conducts a fumigation in the United States or operates a facility where fumigation is conducted in the United States for phytosanitary purposes must sign a compliance agreement with APHIS.

(1) Fumigation treatment facilities treating imported articles; compliance agreements with facility operators for fumigation in the United States. If fumigation treatment of imported articles is conducted in the United States, the fumigation treatment facility operator or the person who conducts fumigation must sign a compliance agreement with APHIS. The fumigation facility operator or the person who conducts fumigation must agree to comply with the requirements of this section and any additional requirements found necessary by APHIS to prevent the escape of any pests of concern that may be associated with the articles to be treated.

(2) Fumigation treatment facilities treating articles moved interstate from Hawaii and U.S. territories. Fumigation treatment facilities treating articles moved interstate from Hawaii and U.S. territories must complete a compliance agreement with APHIS as provided in §318.13-3(d) of this chapter.

(3) Fumigation treatment facilities treating articles moved interstate from areas quarantined for fruit flies. Fumigation treatment facilities treating articles moved interstate from areas quarantined for fruit flies must complete a compliance agreement with APHIS as provided in §301.32-6 of this chapter.

(4) Fumigation treatment facilities treating articles moved interstate from areas quarantined for Asian citrus psyllid. Fumigation treatment facilities treating articles moved interstate from areas quarantined only for Asian citrus psyllid, and not for citrus greening, must complete a compliance agreement with APHIS as provided in §301.76-8 of this chapter.

(d) Treatment procedures.

(1) To kill the pest, all chemical applications must be administered in accordance with an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved pesticide label and the APHIS-approved treatment schedule prescribed in the PPQ Treatment Manual or in another treatment schedule approved in accordance with §305.2. If EPA cancels approval for the use of a pesticide on a commodity, then the treatment schedule prescribed in the PPQ Treatment Manual or approved in accordance with §305.2 is no longer authorized for that commodity. If the commodity is not listed on the pesticide label and/or included in a Federal quarantine or crisis exemption in accordance with FIFRA section 18, then no chemical treatment is available.

(2) Temperature/concentration readings must be taken for items known to be sorptive or whose sorptive properties are unknown when treatment is administered in chambers at normal atmospheric pressure.

(3) Unless otherwise specified in the PPQ Treatment Manual or in another approved treatment schedule, the volume of the commodity stacked inside the treatment enclosure must not exceed 2⁄3 of the volume of the enclosure. Stacking must be approved by an official authorized by APHIS before treatment begins. All commodities undergoing treatment must be listed on the label or authorized under Section 18 of FIFRA.

(4) Recording and measuring equipment must be adequate to accurately monitor the gas concentration, to ensure the correct amount of gas reaches the pests, and to detect any leaks in the enclosure. At least three sampling tubes or monitoring lines must be used in the treatment enclosure.

(5) An adequate number of blowers or fans must be used inside of the treatment enclosure to uniformly distribute gas throughout the enclosure. The circulation system must be able to recirculate the entire volume of gas in the enclosure in 3 minutes or less.

(6) The exposure period begins after all gas has been introduced.

(7) For vacuum fumigation: The vacuum pump must be able to reduce pressure in the treatment enclosure to 1-2 inches of mercury in 15 minutes or less.

(Approved by the Office of Management and Budget under control number 0579-0450)

[75 FR 4241, Jan. 26, 2010, as amended at 76 FR 60361, Sept. 29, 2011; 83 FR 5876, Feb. 12, 2018]