[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2732 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2732

To amend the Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act 
 of 1990 to prevent the westward spread of aquatic nuisance species by 
 directing the Secretary of the Interior to prevent westward spread of 
   such species across and beyond the 100th meridian, monitor water 
bodies, and provide rapid response capacity in certain Western States, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             August 2, 2001

Mr. Baird (for himself, Mr. Ehlers, Mr. Otter, Mr. Bonior, Mr. Rahall, 
  Mr. Oberstar, Mr. DeFazio, Mr. Walden, Mr. Inslee, Mr. Hastings of 
   Washington, Mr. McDermott, Mr. Wu, Mr. Blumenauer, Ms. Hooley of 
 Oregon, Mr. Borski, Mr. Barcia, Mr. George Miller of California, Mr. 
Simpson, Mr. Thompson of California, Mr. Nethercutt, Mr. Dicks, and Mr. 
Hall of Texas) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the 
 Committee on Resources, for a period to be subsequently determined by 
the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 
           within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act 
 of 1990 to prevent the westward spread of aquatic nuisance species by 
 directing the Secretary of the Interior to prevent westward spread of 
   such species across and beyond the 100th meridian, monitor water 
bodies, and provide rapid response capacity in certain Western States, 
                        and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Stop Westward Aquatic Threats Act''.

SEC. 2. AMENDMENT OF NONINDIGENOUS AQUATIC NUISANCE PREVENTION AND 
              CONTROL ACT OF 1990.

    Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in this Act an 
amendment or repeal is expressed in terms of an amendment to, or repeal 
of, a section or other provision, the reference shall be considered to 
be made to a section or other provision of Nonindigenous Aquatic 
Nuisance Prevention and Control Act of 1990 (16 U.S.C. 4701 et seq.).

SEC. 3. 100TH MERIDIAN AND WESTWARD PROGRAM.

    Subtitle C (16 U.S.C. 4721 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 
the following:

``SEC. 1210. 100TH MERIDIAN AND WESTWARD PROGRAM.

    ``(a) Public Information and Education.--The Secretary shall 
coordinate with the States to provide the public with information and 
education on the threat of zebra mussels and other aquatic nuisance 
species and how to prevent their westward advance.
    ``(b) Source States Action Plan.--The Secretary, in consultation 
with the Task Force, shall work with States that contain aquatic 
nuisance species, including zebra mussels, that threaten western States 
to develop and implement a prevention action plan that includes 
inspections of vessels at boat launches and elsewhere.
    ``(c) Movement Across the 100th Meridian.--
            ``(1) Early detection and rapid response.--The Secretary, 
        in consultation with the Task Force, shall seek to prevent 
        westward movement of aquatic nuisance species by monitoring and 
        preventing westward movement of zebra mussels and other aquatic 
        nuisance species across and beyond the 100th meridian, 
        monitoring water bodies, educating boaters leaving waters 
        infected by aquatic nuisance species, and providing rapid 
        response capacity in North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, 
        Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas.
            ``(2) Check stations.--Under this subsection, the 
        Secretary, in collaboration with the Secretary of 
        Transportation and the States, shall--
                    ``(A) work with States to establish check stations 
                on highways and waterways that cross the 100th 
                meridian, and require that all commercial vessels 
                moving westward across the meridian stop and be checked 
                for zebra mussels and aquatic weeds at such check 
                stations;
                    ``(B) require that contaminated vessels identified 
                at such check stations be cleaned in accordance with 
                protocols developed by the Task Force before being 
                moved across the 100th meridian;
                    ``(C) assess and collect from persons who violate 
                such requirement more than one time a civil penalty of 
                $150 for each violation after the first violation;
                    ``(D) identify and record all vessels that stop at 
                such check stations and the water body most recently 
                visited by each such vessel;
                    ``(E) focus prevention resources on States having 
                the greatest number of contaminated vessels; and
                    ``(F) coordinate implementation of this subsection 
                with appropriate Canadian authorities.
    ``(d) Vector Action Plans.--The Secretary and the Task Force, in 
collaboration with the States and within 18 months after the date of 
the enactment of this subsection, shall--
            ``(1) assess the relative risk of vectors and pathways of 
        westward movement of zebra mussels and other aquatic nuisance 
        species across the 100th meridian and throughout the western 
        States and develop adequate action plans to control each 
        pathway, ranked by priority; and
            ``(2) provide to the Task Force, for distribution to the 
        States, data developed through such assessment.
    ``(e) Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Expedition.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary of the Interior shall 
        ensure that the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the 
        National Park Service coordinate efforts to implement an action 
        plan to prevent the spread of aquatic nuisance species by 
        vessels and other potential vectors involved in the Lewis and 
        Clark Bicentennial Expedition, including efforts to educate 
        participants in such Expedition by no later than January 1, 
        2003.
            ``(2) Authorization of appropriations.--There are 
        authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of the Interior 
        to carry out this subsection $100,000 for each of fiscal years 
        2002 through 2005.
    ``(f) Application in Other States.--If the Secretary determines 
that any State (other than those listed in subsection (c)) that is 
located west of the 100th meridian needs to be involved in 
implementation of this section for this section to be effective, the 
Secretary may apply this section in such State.
    ``(g) Evaluation of Effectiveness.--The Secretary shall enter into 
an arrangement with an independent entity under which the entity shall, 
by January 1, 2005, evaluate the effectiveness of the 100th meridian 
and westward program under this section in stopping the westward 
movement of zebra mussels and other aquatic nuisance species across and 
beyond the 100th meridian.
    ``(h) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this section $5,000,000 for 
each of fiscal years 2003 through 2007.''.

SEC. 4. STATE MANAGEMENT PLANS.

    (a) Grants to States for Development of Management Plans.--Section 
1204(b) (16 U.S.C. 4724(b)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1) by inserting ``make grants to States 
        to develop management plans under this section, including for 
        hiring personnel for such development, and'' after ``at the 
        recommendation of the Task Force,'';
            (2) in paragraph (3)(A) by striking ``each comprehensive 
        management plan implemented with Federal assistance'' and 
        inserting ``implementation of each comprehensive management 
        plan''; and
            (3) in paragraph (3)(B) by striking ``each public facility 
        management plan implemented with Federal assistance'' and 
        inserting ``implementation of each public facility management 
        plan''.
    (b) Authorization of Appropriations.--Section 1301 (16 U.S.C. 4724) 
is amended--
            (1) in subsection (c) by striking ``There are authorized'' 
        and all that follows through ``of which'' and inserting ``For 
        grants to States under section 1204(b) there are authorized to 
        be appropriated to the Director $10,000,000 for each of fiscal 
        years 2003 through 2007, of which up to 20 percent may be 
        available for plan development and of which''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(f) Funding for Capacity Building by Western Regional Panel.--To 
build capacity and foster the development and implementation of 
comprehensive management plans under section 1204 for States located on 
or west of the 100th meridian there are authorized to be appropriated 
to the Western Regional panel established under section 1203(b) 
$600,000 for each of fiscal years 2003 through 2007.''.
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