PPQ conducts weed risk assessments (WRA) as part of its process for safeguarding U.S. agriculture and natural resources from weeds and invasive plants. A weed risk assessment is a science-based evaluation of the potential of a plant species to establish, spread, and cause harm in the United States. PPQ may initiate an assessment for any number of reasons, including: evaluation of commodity import requests, detection of a new weed in the United States, and petitions for listing from stakeholders.
Below is a list of the available WRAs that PPQ has conducted. They are provided for interested stakeholders and may be useful in setting local policies or for informing resource managers. While most of the risk assessments were prepared by PPQ using our current weed risk assessment process [see Guidelines document below], others were prepared using an older process (prior to 2010). We continue to provide these for interested stakeholders. Below, species are listed alphabetically by their scientific name. If a species has a common name, it is provided. New entries to this website are also indicated. Listings may be associated with one or two designations, noted below, that describe their current regulatory status.
For information on weed risk assessments contact:
Anthony L. Koop, Ph.D.
Weed Risk Assessment Lead / Botanist, Ecologist
Telephone: (919) 855-7429
Email: Anthony.L.Koop@usda.gov
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For information on FNW policies contact:
Anne LeBrun
National Policy Manager / Agriculturalist
Telephone: (301) 851-2259
E-mail: Anne.LeBrun@usda.gov
For information on plants for planting listed under NAPPRA contact:
Shannon Jarman
Regulatory Policy Specialist
Telephone: 650-705-8837
email: shannon.e.jarman@usda.gov