TPWD Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) Detection and Response Rules – Recommended Adoption of New Surveillance Zones August 22, 2024

TPWD Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) Detection and Response Rules – Recommended Adoption of New Surveillance Zones August 22, 2024

Commission Agenda Item 4

August 22, 2024

Item Type: Action

Presenter: Ben Olsen

Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) Detection and Response Rules – Recommended Adoption of New Surveillance Zones

I. Executive Summary:

Staff seeks adoption of a proposed amendment to rules governing chronic wasting disease (CWD) detection, response, and management. The proposed amendment would create new CWD Surveillance Zones (SZ) in portions of Real, Edwards, Zavala, Trinity, and Sutton counties in response to the detection of CWD in additional deer breeding facilities.

II. Discussion:

In March, April, and June of 2024, the department received confirmation that CWD is present in five additional deer breeding facilities. In accordance with TPWD’s Standard Operating Procedure regarding scenarios in which CWD is detected in a breeding facility but not on any associated release sites, staff recommends the creation of an SZ around each positive facility pending further developments, as listed in Exhibit A.

At the Commission Work Session meeting on May 22, 2024, staff was authorized to publish the proposed amendment in the Texas Register for public comment. The proposed amendment appeared in the July 19, 2024, issue of the Texas Register (49 TexReg 5334). A summary of public comment on the proposed amendment will be presented at the time of the meeting.

III. Recommendation:

Staff recommends that the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission adopt the following motion:

“The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission adopts an amendment to 31 Texas Administrative Code §65.82, concerning Disease Detection and Response, as listed in Exhibit A, with changes as necessary to the proposed text as published in the July 19, 2024, issue of the Texas Register (49 TexReg 5334).”

Attachment – 1

Exhibit A – Disease Detection and Response Rules

Exhibit A – Commission Agenda Item No. 4

DISEASE DETECTION AND RESPONSE RULES

CWD SURVEILLANCE ZONES

PROPOSAL PREAMBLE

1. Introduction.

 The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department proposes an amendment to 31 TAC §65.82, concerning Disease Detection and Response. The proposed amendment would establish five new Surveillance Zones (SZs) in response to the continued detection of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in deer breeding facilities.

 The proposed amendment would implement heightened surveillance efforts in the affected areas as part of the agency’s effort to manage chronic wasting disease (CWD).

 CWD is a fatal neurodegenerative disorder that affects some cervid species, including white-tailed deer, mule deer, elk, red deer, sika, and their hybrids (referred to collectively as susceptible species). It is classified as a TSE (transmissible spongiform encephalopathy), a family of diseases that includes scrapie (found in sheep), bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, found in cattle and commonly known as “Mad Cow Disease”), and variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD) in humans.

 Much remains unknown about CWD, although robust efforts to increase knowledge are underway in many states and countries. The peculiarities of its transmission (how it is passed from animal to animal), infection rate (the frequency of occurrence through time or other comparative standard), incubation period (the time from exposure to clinical manifestation), and potential for transmission to other species are still being investigated. Currently, scientific evidence suggests that CWD has zoonotic potential; however, no confirmed cases of CWD have been found in humans. Consequently, both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization strongly recommend testing animals taken in areas where CWD exists, and if positive, recommend not consuming the meat. What is known is that CWD is invariably fatal to certain species of cervids (including white-tailed and mule deer) and is transmitted both directly (through animal-to-animal contact) and indirectly (through environmental contamination). If CWD is not contained and controlled, the implications of the disease for Texas and its multi-billion-dollar ranching, hunting, wildlife management, and real estate economies could be significant.

 The department has engaged in several rulemakings over the years to address the threat posed by CWD, including rules to designate a system of zones in areas where CWD has been confirmed. The purpose of those CWD zones is to determine the geographic extent and prevalence of the disease while containing it by limiting the unnatural movement of live CWD-susceptible species as well as the movement of carcass parts.

 The department’s response to the emergence of CWD in captive and free-ranging populations is guided by the department’s CWD Management Plan (Plan) https://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/wild/diseases/cwd/plan.phtml. Developed in 2012 in consultation with the Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC), other governmental entities and conservation organizations, and various advisory groups consisting of landowners, hunters, deer managers, veterinarians, and epidemiologists, the Plan sets forth the department’s CWD management strategies and informs regulatory responses to the detection of the disease in captive and free-ranging cervid populations in the State of Texas. The Plan is intended to be dynamic; in fact, it must be so in order to accommodate the growing understanding of the etiology, pathology, and epidemiology of the disease and the potential management pathways that emerge as it becomes better understood through time. The Plan proceeds from the premise that disease surveillance and active management of CWD once it is detected are critical to containing it on the landscape.

 When CWD is detected in a deer breeding facility, a SZ is created, consisting of the area within a two-mile radius around the deer breeding facility (the physical facility, not the boundaries of the property where the facility is located), within which the department implements heightened sampling efforts in an effort to quickly determine the prevalence and spread of CWD, if it exists, surrounding the facility where it has been discovered.

 On March 11, 2024, the department received confirmation of CWD in a 10.5-year-old female deer in a deer breeding facility in Real County. On April 5, 2024, the department received confirmation of CWD in two 2.6-year-old female deer in a deer breeding facility in Edwards County (the department notes that both deer had tested negative via ante-mortem test one year earlier, which illustrates why ante-mortem testing, at this point in time, cannot be used as a definitive test for individual animals). On April 11, 2024, the department received confirmation of CWD in a 2.6-year-old male deer in a deer breeding facility in Zavala County. On June 7, 2024, the department received confirmation of CWD in a 2.9-year-old female deer in a deer breeding facility in Trinity County. On June 26, 2024, the department received confirmation of CWD in a 1.9-year-old female deer in a deer breeding facility in Sutton County. In response to these detections, per department policy, the proposed amendment would create new SZs in Real, Edwards, Zavala, Trinity, and Sutton counties, to consist of a two-mile radius around each positive facility.

 NOTE: Regulation of CWD response and surveillance efforts within deer breeding facilities is not the subject of this rulemaking; the rules governing CWD response and surveillance within deer breeding facilities are located in Division 2 of this subchapter and are not affected or implicated by this rulemaking.

2. Fiscal Note.

 Robert Macdonald, Regulations Coordinator, has determined that for each of the first five years that the rule as proposed are in effect, there will be no fiscal implications to state and local governments as a result of enforcing or administering the rule as proposed, as department personnel currently allocated to the administration and enforcement of disease management activities will administer and enforce the rules as part of their current job duties.

3. Public Benefit/Cost Note.

 Mr. Macdonald also has determined that for each of the first five years the amendment as proposed is in effect:

 (A) The public benefit anticipated as a result of enforcing or administering the rule as proposed will be a reduction of the probability of CWD being spread from locations where it might exist and an increase in the probability of detecting CWD if it does exist, thus ensuring the public of continued enjoyment of the resource and also ensuring the continued beneficial economic impacts of hunting in Texas.

 (B) There could be adverse economic impact to persons required to comply with the rules as proposed. Persons who harvest deer within a SZ where mandatory testing requirements are in effect (which would be the case in all four proposed new SZs) are required to preserve and present the heads of harvested animals to the department for CWD testing (testing costs are borne by the department). Therefore, persons who harvest a deer within a SZ would incur the cost of transporting the head to a department-designated check station, unless a tissue sample is removed at the site of harvest by a TAHC-certified CWD sample collector (training and certification are free) or the department has approved an alternative arrangement in writing. The department estimates the cost of compliance to be less than $50, which represents the maximum fuel cost to travel 100 miles round-trip averaging 20 miles per gallon fuel efficiency at the current per-gallon gasoline average cost in Texas of $3.10.

 (C) Under the provisions of Government Code, Chapter 2006, a state agency must prepare an economic impact statement and a regulatory flexibility analysis for a rule that may have an adverse economic effect on small businesses, micro-businesses, and rural communities. As required by Government Code, §2006.002(g), in April 2008, the Office of the Attorney General issued guidelines to assist state agencies in determining a proposed rule’s potential adverse economic impact on small businesses. Those guidelines state that an agency need only consider a proposed rule’s "direct adverse economic impacts" to small businesses and micro-businesses to determine if any further analysis is required. For that purpose, the department considers "direct economic impact" to mean a requirement that would directly impose recordkeeping or reporting requirements; impose taxes or fees; result in lost sales or profits; adversely affect market competition; or require the purchase or modification of equipment or services.

 The department has determined that because the proposed rule does not directly or indirectly regulate any small business, microbusiness or rural community, neither the economic impact statement nor the regulatory flexibility analysis required under Government Code, Chapter 2006, is not required.

 (D) The department has not drafted a local employment impact statement under the Administrative Procedures Act, §2001.022, as the agency has determined that the rule as proposed will not result in direct impacts to local economies.

 (E) The department has determined that Government Code, §2001.0225 (Regulatory Analysis of Major Environmental Rules), does not apply to the proposed rule.

 (F) The department has determined that there will not be a taking of private real property, as defined by Government Code, Chapter 2007, as a result of the proposed rules. Any impacts resulting from the discovery of CWD in or near private real property would be the result of the discovery of CWD and not the proposed rule.

 (G) In compliance with the requirements of Government Code, §2001.0221, the department has prepared the following Government Growth Impact Statement (GGIS). The rules as proposed, if adopted, will:

 (1) neither create nor eliminate a government program;

 (2) not result in an increase or decrease in the number of full-time equivalent employee needs;

 (3) not result in a need for additional General Revenue funding;

 (4) not affect the amount of any fee;

 (5) create a new regulation;

 (6) will not limit or repeal an existing regulation, but will expand an existing regulation (by adding new SZs);

 (7) not increase the number of individuals subject to regulation; and

 (8) not positively or adversely affect the state’s economy.

4. Request for Public Comment.

 Comments on the proposed rule may be submitted to Dr. Hunter Reed, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, 4200 Smith School Road, Austin, Texas, 78744; (830) 890-1230 (email: jhunter.reed@tpwd.texas.gov); or via the department’s website at www.tpwd.texas.gov.

5. Statutory Authority.

 The amendment is proposed under the authority of Parks and Wildlife Code, §42.0177, 42.0177, which authorizes the commission to modify or eliminate the tagging, carcass, final destination, or final processing requirements or provisions of §§42.001, 42.018, 42.0185, 42.019, or 42.020, or other similar requirements or provisions in Chapter 42; Chapter 43, Subchapter L, which authorizes the commission to make regulations governing the possession, transfer, purchase, sale, of breeder deer held under the authority of the subchapter; and §61.021, which provides that no person may possess a game animal at any time or in any place except as permitted under a proclamation of the commission.

 The proposed amendment affects Parks and Wildlife Code, Chapter 42, Chapter 43, Subchapter L, Chapter 61.

6. Rule Text.

 §65.82. Surveillance Zones; Restrictions. The areas described in paragraph (1) of this section are SZs and the provisions of this subchapter applicable within the described areas.

 (1) Surveillance Zones.

 (A) – (W) (No change.)

 (X) Surveillance Zone 27. Surveillance Zone 27 is that portion of Real County lying within the area described by the following latitude/longitude pairs:…

Snip…see full text;

https://tpwd.texas.gov/business/feedback/meetings/2024/0822/agenda/item.phtml?item=4

PLEASE NOTE, TPWD CWD TRACKING PAGE HAS BEEN STUCK ON 795 POSITIVE CWD CASES FOR SOME TIME AGAIN, AND IS WOEFULLY OUTDATED!

Texas TAHC TPWD Confirm 132 More Cases of CWD TSE PrP

Jumps from 663 in March, to 795 Positive In May 2024, wow!

https://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/wild/diseases/cwd/positive-cases/listing-cwd-cases-texas.phtml#texasCWD

Texas CWD TSE Prion Jumps To 795 Positive To Date

Listing of CWD Cases in Texas

Show entries

Positive Number CWD Positive Confirmation Date Free Range Captive County Source Species Sex Age

795 2024-05-16 White-tailed Deer Hunt Facility #9 White-tailed Deer - Breeder Deer F 2.9

794 2024-05-16 White-tailed Deer Hunt Facility #9 White-tailed Deer - Breeder Deer F 2.9

793 2024-05-16 White-tailed Deer Hunt Facility #9 White-tailed Deer - Breeder Deer F 2.9

792 2024-05-16 White-tailed Deer Hunt Facility #9 White-tailed Deer - Breeder Deer F 4.8

791 2024-05-16 White-tailed Deer Hunt Facility #9 White-tailed Deer - Breeder Deer F 6.8

790 2024-05-16 White-tailed Deer Hunt Facility #9 White-tailed Deer - Breeder Deer M 3.8

789 2024-05-16 White-tailed Deer Hunt Facility #9 White-tailed Deer - Breeder Deer M 1.8

788 2024-05-16 White-tailed Deer Hunt Facility #9 White-tailed Deer - Breeder Deer M 2.9

787 2024-05-01 White-tailed Deer Frio Facility #21 White-tailed Deer - Breeder Deer F 4.7

786 2024-05-01 White-tailed Deer Frio Facility #21 White-tailed Deer - Breeder Deer M 2.7

785 2024-05-01 White-tailed Deer Frio Facility #21 White-tailed Deer - Breeder Deer F 4.7

784 2024-05-01 White-tailed Deer Frio Facility #21 White-tailed Deer - Breeder Deer M 2.7

783 2024-05-01 White-tailed Deer Frio Facility #21 White-tailed Deer - Breeder Deer M 2.7

782 2024-05-01 White-tailed Deer Frio Facility #21 White-tailed Deer - Breeder Deer M 1.7

781 2024-05-01 White-tailed Deer Frio Facility #21 White-tailed Deer - Breeder Deer M 2.7

780 2024-05-01 White-tailed Deer Frio Facility #21 White-tailed Deer - Breeder Deer M 2.7

779 2024-05-01 White-tailed Deer Frio Facility #21 White-tailed Deer - Breeder Deer M 2.7

778 2024-05-01 White-tailed Deer Frio Facility #21 White-tailed Deer - Breeder Deer M 3.7

777 2024-05-01 White-tailed Deer Frio Facility #21 White-tailed Deer - Breeder Deer M 2.7

776 2024-05-01 White-tailed Deer Zavala Facility #17 White-tailed Deer - Breeder Deer F 8.8

775 2024-05-01 White-tailed Deer Zavala Facility #17 White-tailed Deer - Breeder Deer F 2.8

774 2024-05-01 White-tailed Deer Zavala Facility #17 White-tailed Deer - Breeder Deer F 2.8

773 2024-05-01 White-tailed Deer Zavala Facility #17 White-tailed Deer - Breeder Deer F 6.8

772 2024-05-01 White-tailed Deer Zavala Facility #17 White-tailed Deer - Breeder Deer F 14.8

Showing 1 to 24 of 795 entries

*CWD Positive Confirmation Dates marked with * are dates confirmed by Texas A&M Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory rather than the National Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory.

https://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/wild/diseases/cwd/positive-cases/listing-cwd-cases-texas.phtml#texasCWD

Texas CWD Surveillance Positives (cwd totals confirmed at 663 is outdated)

https://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/wild/diseases/cwd/positive-cases/listing-cwd-cases-texas.phtml#texasCWD

Counties where CWD Exposed Deer were Released

https://tpwd.texas.gov/documents/257/CWD-Trace-OutReleaseSites.pdf

Number of CWD Exposed Deer Released by County

https://tpwd.texas.gov/documents/258/CWD-Trace-OutReleaseSites-NbrDeer.pdf

Chronic Wasting Disease CWD Captive Herds updated April 2023

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/animalhealth/animal-disease-information/cervid/cervids-cwd/cervids-voluntary-hcp

Chronic Wasting Disease CWD Captive Herds updated April 2023

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/animal_diseases/cwd/downloads/status-of-captive-herds.pdf

Distribution of CWD in North America MAP

https://www.usgs.gov/media/images/distribution-chronic-wasting-disease-north-america-0