HEALTH AND SENIOR SERVICES
PUBLIC HEALTH SEVICES BRANCH
DIVISION OF EPIDEMIOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL AND OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH
COMMUNICABLE DISEASE SERVICE
INFECTIOUS AND ZOONOTIC DISEASE PROGRAM
Importation of Dogs, Reporting of Rabies in Animals, Control of Avian Chlamydiosis in Pet Birds, Sales and Distribution of Turtles and Turtle Eggs and Transportation by Animal Control Officers
Proposed Readoption with Amendments: N.J.A.C. 8:23
Authorized By: Poonam Alaigh, MD, MSHCPM, FACP, Commissioner, Department of Health and Senior Services, in consultation with Public Health Council, Herbert Yardley, MA, Chairperson.
Authority: N.J.S.A. 4:19-15.16; 26:1A-7; and 26:4-78, 79, 80 and 81.
Calendar Reference: See Summary below for explanation of exception to calendar requirement.
Proposal Number: PRN 2011-095.
Submit written comments by June 17, 2011 to:
Devon L. Graf, Director
Office of Legal and Regulatory Compliance
New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services
PO Box 360Trenton, NJ 08625-0360
The agency proposal follows:
N.J.A.C. 8:23 establishes standards for importation of dogs, reporting of rabies in animals, control of avian chlamydiosis in pet birds, sales of turtles and turtle eggs and transportation by animal control officers.
Following is a summary of the regulatory history of the chapter.
The last notice of proposal to readopt N.J.A.C. 8:23 provides a summary of the regulatory history of the chapter from prior to 1969 until April 2005. See 37 N.J.R. 1113(a).
In April 2005, the Department proposed to readopt N.J.A.C. 8:23 with amendments, repeals and a new rule. Id. The Department proposed to repeal N.J.A.C. 8:23-1.6, which prohibited the sale of milk from dairy animals unless the animals were free from brucellosis because the rule was redundant of other more specific rules of the Departments of Health and Senior Services and Agriculture requiring brucellosis testing of dairy herds and prohibiting the sale of milk from dairy herds not proven free from brucellosis. Id. A proposed repeal and new rule addressed reporting of animals known to be or suspected of being rabid. Proposed amendments expanded reporting requirements for psittacosis occurrences in all birds and not just those of the psittacine family, and revised the rule governing the sale of viable turtle eggs and live turtles to mirror the FDA ban on the sale of viable turtle eggs and live turtles with a carapace length of less than four inches, thereby eliminating potential ambiguity or conflict between the State and Federal laws. Id.
On September 14, 2005, Acting Governor Sires extended the expiration date of N.J.A.C. 8:23 from September 16, 2005, to September 15, 2006. See 37 N.J.R. 4019(a). The Department adopted the proposed readoption with amendments, repeals and new rule, with substantive and technical amendments. See 38 N.J.R. 1733(b). Changes on adoption deleted references to the term, “psittacosis,” added in its stead references to the more appropriate terminology, “avian chlamydiosis,” limited the applicability of bird quarantine and bird sale recordkeeping requirements to pet birds to avoid conflict with the jurisdiction of the Department of Agriculture, made the quarantine obligations of local health officers in occurrences of avian chlamydiosis in pet birds applicable only upon diagnosis of the disease by a veterinarian and made corresponding changes to the chapter heading.
The Department anticipates reviewing N.J.A.C. 8:23-1.4 with a view toward the development of future rulemaking with respect to the authority of health officers to receive and investigate reports from veterinarians, managers of licensed animal facilities and certified animal control officers, and to order pet birds confined due to infection by, or exposure to, avian chlamydiosis (Chlamydophila psittaci).
Subject to this anticipated analysis, the Department has reviewed N.J.A.C. 8:23 and has determined that the rules contained therein remain necessary, adequate, reasonable, efficient, understandable and responsive to the purposes for which they were originally promulgated. As described below and in the Social Impact statement, this chapter has protected, and would continue to protect, public health. Therefore, the Department proposes to readopt the chapter with technical amendments.
N.J.A.C. 8:23 was to expire on March 14, 2011 pursuant to N.J.S.A. 52:14B-5.1. In accordance with N.J.S.A. 52:14B-5.1c, the filing of this notice of proposal with the Office of Administrative Law prior to the expiration date of the chapter operated to extend the chapter expiration date to September 10, 2011.
Following is a summary of the rules proposed for readoption and the proposed amendments.
The Department proposes an amendment to the chapter heading to correct a grammatical error and to reflect that the chapter addresses sales and distribution of turtles and turtle eggs.
Subchapter 1 addresses importation of dogs, rabies reporting, transportation of confined animals and control of chlamydiosis in pet birds. N.J.A.C. 8:23-1.1 establishes standards and certification requirements for importation of dogs and establishes the required contents of a health certificate that must accompany the animal.
N.J.A.C. 8:23-1.2 establishes standards for reporting cases of rabies in animals and identifies the required content of a report. N.J.A.C. 8:23-1.3 establishes standards for transportation of confined animals and prohibits transportation absent the permission of a local health authority pursuant to conditions the Department establishes.
N.J.A.C. 8:23-1.4 establishes standards for quarantine and testing of pet birds diagnosed with avian chlamydiosis and transportation of quarantined pet birds. The Department proposes to amend N.J.A.C. 8:23-1.4(b) and (c) to delete references to the term “psittacosis” and to add in their stead references to the term, “avian chlamydiosis.” In modern public health terminology, “avian chlamydiosis” refers to the disease caused by Chlamydophila psittaci occurring in birds that is transmissible to humans, causing the disease known as “psittacosis.” Upon the readoption of this chapter in 2006, the Department changed N.J.A.C. 8:23-1.4(a) to delete the term, “psittacosis,” and to add in its stead the term, “avian chlamydiosis,” but inadvertently omitted to make this change at subsections (b) and (c) in that notice of readoption. See 38 N.J.R. 1733(b), 1735, at Summary of Agency-Initiated Changes paragraph 1. As stated therein, continued use of the term “psittacosis” to refer to the disease as it occurs in birds is incorrect and could be confusing.
N.J.A.C. 8:23-1.5 establishes recordkeeping standards applicable to dealers in pet birds.
Subchapter 2 establishes standards for the sale or distribution of viable turtle eggs and live turtles. N.J.A.C. 8:23-2.1 generally prohibits the sale or distribution of viable turtle eggs, live turtles of carapace length of less than four inches and other turtles except those demonstrated to the Department to be free from Salmonella contamination. N.J.A.C. 8:23-2.1(c) establishes the opportunity for Department waiver of this prohibition for research and zoological purposes and for food.
Subchapter 3 establishes standards for animal transportation by animal control officers. N.J.A.C. 8:23-3.1 requires animal control officers transporting animals to comply with the transportation standards contained in N.J.A.C. 8:23A.
The Department has provided a 60-day comment period for this rulemaking. Therefore, pursuant to N.J.A.C. 1:30-3.3(a)5, this rulemaking is excepted from the rulemaking calendar requirements at N.J.A.C. 1:30-3.1 and 3.2.
The rules proposed for readoption have benefited and would continue to benefit society by protecting the public from zoonotic diseases, and by ensuring the safe transport of impounded animals by animal control officers.
N.J.A.C. 8:23-1.1 and 1.2, relating to rabies control, remain necessary to protect the public from the ever-present threat of rabies in raccoons, bats and other animals in the State.
Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 26:4-82, 83 and 84, animals potentially exposed to rabies virus and those that bite or attack people must be confined by order of a local health agency, to permit effective monitoring so appropriate action can be initiated if an animal develops clinical signs of rabies. N.J.A.C. 8:23-1.3 would continue to prohibit transporting such animals from confinement without the appropriate permission as specified therein, thereby protecting the public by ensuring that persons exposed to rabies receive prompt post-exposure prophylaxis to prevent infection, as well as protecting the public and other animals from exposure to potentially rabid animals until a conclusive determination as to an animal’s exposure can be reached.
N.J.A.C. 8:23-1.4 and 1.5, pertaining to avian chlamydiosis in pet birds and control measures to prevent infections in people (that is, psittacosis), remain necessary to continue to protect the public, especially considering the general aging of the population, the higher susceptibility of the elderly to psittacosis and the popular trend of keeping birds in nursing homes as pets.
N.J.A.C. 8:23-1.4 would continue to require veterinarians, managers of licensed animal facilities and certified animal control officers to report pet birds infected with avian chlamydiosis to the health officer with jurisdiction over the location where the birds are housed. Health officers are to investigate and implement disease control measures, such as bird testing, isolation of infected birds and quarantine of exposed birds, to prevent further spread of the disease to birds or humans, under the guidance of the Department and consistent with national guidelines published by the National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians.
N.J.A.C. 8:23-1.5 would continue to require dealers in pet birds to maintain records of transactions in pet birds. This would continue to protect the public from the spread of zoonotic disease from pet birds, and may protect pet bird dealers from unwarranted claims that they had sold infected birds.
Exotic animal dealers have protested the restriction on turtle sales and distribution provided at N.J.A.C. 8:23-2.1. The Department has determined that the benefit to the public in preventing the transmission of salmonellosis from pet turtles through the enforcement of N.J.A.C. 8:23-2.1 outweighs both the potential economic loss of income to these dealers caused by the restriction, and the potential loss to the public of the companionship benefits of pet turtle ownership caused by the restriction. The rule reflects the FDA ban on the sale of viable turtle eggs and live turtles of carapace length less than four inches, enacted in 1975.
The National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians, as well as many other public health organizations, animal welfare groups and wildlife protection organizations, strongly recommend that wild animal species not be kept as pets, due to both the public health risks and the wildlife and animal protection issues involved. N.J.A.C. 8:23-2.1 protects the public health, and provides protection to wild turtle species by preventing their exploitation as pets. It has become common knowledge that the trade of wild animals as pets has resulted not only in the endangerment of wild species, but also in the inhumane deaths of such animals due to improper shipping, care, housing and release to the environment of the animals by pet dealers. Surviving animals may die after purchase by laypersons, who are frequently ill-equipped and educated to provide for the adequate care and housing of such animals. Purchasers of turtles and other wildlife are frequently unaware of the dangers of zoonotic disease transmission from keeping these animals in the home. There are numerous zoos and wildlife education centers in New Jersey and in nearby states that display wild turtles species and provide the public with educational information on them. Domestic animal species such as dogs, cats, hamsters and guinea pigs are more suitable as pets in comparison to wildlife species.
Compliance with N.J.A.C. 8:23-3.1 has required and would continue to require animal control agencies appointed by local governing bodies not affiliated with a licensed animal pound or shelter to provide the same sanitation and animal care practices and standards during transport as those affiliated with a licensed animal pound or shelter. This ensures proper animal care and promotes uniformity in the operations and conduct of animal control officers. Failure to readopt this section would create an inconsistent or double standard for transport of animals depending on whether the transporting animal control officer is affiliated with a licensed animal facility, and could result in illness, injury or death of animals not transported under proper conditions.
Compliance with N.J.A.C. 8:23-1.1 has required and would continue to require individuals importing dogs into the State to incur costs for veterinary examinations to obtain the required certificate.
Compliance with N.J.A.C. 8:23-1.2, which requires reporting cases of rabid or suspect rabid animals to local health agencies has caused, and may continue to cause persons submitting such reports to incur administrative expenses associated with making such reports such as postage, paper and electricity, and, when reporters are businesses, minimal costs of personnel time.
Compliance with N.J.A.C. 8:23-1.3, which requires persons seeking to transport confined animals to obtain permission from the Department, has caused, and may continue to cause, entities seeking such permission to incur administrative expenses associated with requesting permission and, when such entities are businesses, minimal costs of personnel time.
Compliance with N.J.A.C. 8:23-1.4(a) has required and would continue to require dealers of pet birds to incur expenses relating to isolating and quarantining birds, cleaning and disinfection and use of personal protective equipment for workers in contact with infected or potentially infected birds. Compliance with N.J.A.C. 8:23-1.4(c) has required and would continue to require bird owners to incur laboratory testing fees for birds suspected of having avian chlamydiosis. Compliance with N.J.A.C. 8:23-1.4(d) has required and would continue to require persons seeking to transport quarantined birds to obtain permission as specified therein has caused, and may continue to cause, entities seeking such permission to incur administrative expenses associated with requesting permission and, when such entities are businesses, minimal costs of personnel time.
Compliance with N.J.A.C. 8:23-1.5, which requires psittacine bird dealers to maintain records and to make them available for inspection has required and would continue to require such bird dealers to incur administrative expenses associated with record creation, maintenance and storage. The Department believes that maintenance of records of psittacine bird transactions would continue to protect such bird dealers from potential liability associated with bird purchasers becoming ill from birds infected with diseases that are communicable to humans, by providing proof of the infected bird’s good health at the time of the transaction.
Compliance with N.J.A.C. 8:23-2.1 has required and would continue to require entities seeking to sell live turtles to either ensure that turtle shipments are certified to be free from Salmonella, or to incur costs associated with bacteriological testing on turtles to attempt to certify that they are free of Salmonella. The Department does not believe that the market for pet turtles in the State is large, and does not believe that N.J.A.C. 8:23-2.1 has prevented pet dealers from realizing profits from selling other pets in this area.
The Department believes that the savings realized by preventing zoonotic disease transmission significantly outweighs the costs for compliance with these rules. These savings are realized in the areas of medical care costs and losses in productivity that would be incurred because of disease transmission, as well as in the potential loss of life.
Animal control agencies that are not affiliated with a licensed animal pound or shelter have incurred and may continue to incur increased costs associated with upgrading their sanitation and animal care practices and standards during transport.
The FDA banned the sale or commercial distribution of viable turtle eggs and small turtles of carapace length less than four inches subject to certain exceptions, pursuant to 21 CFR 1240.62, effective May 1975. The ban applies to both interstate and intrastate sales and distribution. There are no Federal standards applicable to sales of live turtles of carapace length of four inches or greater. N.J.A.C. 8:23-2.1 prohibits sales of viable turtle eggs and live turtles of carapace length under four inches (small turtles) in New Jersey subject to the FDA’s delineated exceptions, and would continue to prohibit the sales of live turtles of carapace length of four inches or greater (larger turtles) absent proof that turtle shipments are free from Salmonella contamination. Therefore, N.J.A.C. 8:23-2.1 as would be consistent with the Federal ban on the sale of turtle eggs and small turtles, and would provide protections regarding larger turtles, the sale of which the Federal government does not regulate. The cost burdens of the requirement that larger turtles be proven to be Salmonella-free is described in the Economic Impact above. The Department has determined that the rule’s benefit of protecting public health, wildlife and promoting animal welfare, as discussed in the Social Impact and Economic Impact, above, outweigh these burdens.
Except as described above, there are no Federal standards applicable to the rules proposed for readoption and the proposed amendments.
The rules proposed for readoption have not resulted in the creation or loss of jobs in the State, and the Department does not anticipate that the rules proposed for readoption and the proposed amendments would result in the creation or loss of jobs in the State.
N.J.A.C. 8:23-1.2 requires reports of suspected or diagnosed rabies in any animal to local health officers, as does N.J.A.C. 8:57-1.8(b), the communicable disease reporting standards. N.J.A.C. 8:23-1.4 requires reports of diagnosed cases of avian chlamydiosis in pet birds to local health agencies.
N.J.A.C. 2:2, the Disease Control Program rules of the Division of Animal Health of the New Jersey Department of Agriculture, establishes standards requiring reporting of “infectious, contagious, and hazardous diseases and agents” to “protect the health of livestock, poultry, aquacultured aquatic organisms or species and animals raised for fur in New Jersey.” 41 N.J.R. 4349(a), 4350. That chapter requires reporting of diseases infectious to livestock, including rabies, and avian chlamydiosis in poultry to the Department of Agriculture.
Subject to the foregoing, the rules proposed for readoption and the proposed amendments have not had an impact on the agriculture industry of the State and the Department does not anticipate that the rules proposed for readoption and the proposed amendments would have an impact on the agriculture industry of the State.
The rules proposed for readoption at N.J.A.C. 8:23 have imposed, and, upon the adoption of the proposed amendments, would continue to impose reporting, recordkeeping and other compliance requirements on pet dealers, pet shop owners and veterinarians, some of whom may be small businesses within the meaning of the Regulatory Flexibility Act, N.J.S.A. 52:14B-16 et seq. These reporting, recordkeeping and compliance requirements are described in the Summary, above. Potential costs to small businesses are the same as those imposed on all businesses, as described in the Economic Impact, above.
The rules may require dealers in pet birds and turtle dealers to obtain the professional services of laboratories to certify that animals they wish to sell are free of disease. The need for these services would depend on whether the dealer imports, or otherwise deals in, animals that are already certified free from disease. Laboratory fees vary depending on the nature of the test and the number of tests performed.
Except as described above with respect to the rules proposed for readoption at N.J.A.C. 8:23-1.4 and 1.5 relating to control of avian chlamydiosis, the Department does not anticipate that small businesses would require the services of professionals in order to comply with the rules proposed for readoption at N.J.A.C. 8:23.
The Department has determined that the rules proposed for readoption and the proposed amendments would continue to provide the minimum standards necessary to protect the public health, safety and welfare through the prevention and control of zoonotic diseases among animals, thereby preventing the spread of such diseases to humans. Therefore, the Department has provided no differing or lesser standards based on business size.
Smart Growth Impact
The rules proposed for readoption have not had, and upon the adoption of the proposed amendments would not have, an impact on the achievement of smart growth and the implementation of the State Development and Redevelopment Plan.
Housing Affordability Impact
The rules proposed for readoption have had, and upon the adoption of the proposed amendments would have, an insignificant impact on affordable housing in New Jersey, and there is an extreme unlikelihood that rules proposed for readoption and the proposed amendments would evoke a change in the average costs associated with housing because the rules for readoption and the proposed amendments would affect only importation of dogs, reporting of rabies in animals, control of avian chlamydiosis in pet birds, sales of turtles and turtle eggs and transportation by animal control officers, and would have no bearing on housing costs.
Smart Growth Development Impact
The rules proposed for readoption have had, and upon the adoption of the proposed amendments would have, an insignificant impact on smart growth. There is an extreme unlikelihood that the rules proposed for readoption and the proposed amendments would evoke a change in housing production in Planning Areas 1 or 2, or within designated centers, under the State Development and Redevelopment Plan in New Jersey because the rules proposed for readoption and the proposed amendments would affect only importation of dogs, reporting of rabies in animals, control of avian chlamydiosis in pet birds, sales of turtles and turtle eggs and transportation by animal control officers, and would have no bearing on housing production.
Full text of the rules proposed for readoption may be found in the New Jersey Administrative Code at N.J.A.C. 8:23.
Full text of the proposed amendments follows (additions indicated in boldface thus; deletions indicated in brackets [thus]):
CHAPTER 23IMPORTATION OF DOGS, REPORTING OF RABIES IN ANIMALS, CONTROL OF AVIAN CHLAMYDIOSIS IN PET BIRDS, SALES AND DISTRIBUTION OF TURTLES AND TURTLE EGGS [SALES,] AND TRANSPORTATION BY ANIMAL CONTROL OFFICERS
8:23-1.4 Quarantine, testing and transportation of quarantined pet birds
(a) (No change.)
(b) The right of the Department of Health and Senior Services to establish bird quarantine procedure for any area of the State wherein [psittacosis] avian chlamydiosis exists, or danger exists of the spread of that disease, shall not be considered as limited or otherwise affected by the provisions of this chapter.
(c) Laboratory testing when appropriate shall be performed on quarantined bird(s) suspected of having [psittacosis] avian chlamydiosis and the fees for such testing shall be paid by the owner of the bird(s).
(d) (No change.)
42 N.J.R. 937(a)
April 18, 2011
Filed March 22, 2011
New Jersey information is provided by and printed with permission of the New Jersey Office of Administrative Law, Division of Administrative Rules.