The course will provide a background overview and illustration of how containment facilities for plant research can be designed, constructed, and operated to meet various standards and guidelines. The standards will be based on those given by US agencies though international entities will also be referenced. Principles of plant diseases and the organisms that cause them will be discussed as well as an emphasis on the pathways that pathogens may disseminate to new areas and using diagnosis for early and accurate detection. Case studies will be used to give an overview of systems that protect cropping systems from plant diseases. The plant diseases caused by insects section will focus on insect damage and insect disease and on how insects are the most important vectors of plant viruses and the main means of the spread of many plant pathogens. The Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) began using a new permitting system in 2021-22 for several USDA programs: Plant Protection Quarantine (PPQ), Biotechnology Regulatory Services (BRS), and Veterinary Services (VS). This section will provide an overview of what to expect when utilizing the new system to apply for imported soil and plant pest and pathogen permits and advise how the phase-out of permits already in its predecessor ePermits will be managed and new features incorporated into eFile will be covered. Another section on decontamination of greenhouses, and solid and liquid waste will occur.