[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2767 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2767

   To enhance agricultural biosecurity in the United States through 
       increased prevention, preparation, and response planning.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 22, 2002

   Mr. Akaka introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
   referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To enhance agricultural biosecurity in the United States through 
       increased prevention, preparation, and response planning.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Agriculture 
Security Preparedness Act''.
    (b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents of this Act is as 
follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Definitions.
                          TITLE I--PREVENTION

Sec. 101. Inclusion of agroterrorism in terrorist acts involving 
                            weapons of mass destruction.
Sec. 102. Legal framework for agroterrorism.
Sec. 103. Study on feasibility of establishing a national agroterrorism 
                            and ecoterrorism incident clearinghouse.
Sec. 104. International agricultural disease surveillance.
Sec. 105. Agricultural inspections.
Sec. 106. On-farm and on-ranch biosecurity.
                 TITLE II--PREPAREDNESS AND MITIGATION

Sec. 201. Interagency coordination.
Sec. 202. Planning.
Sec. 203. Exercises and training.
Sec. 204. Communication with the public.
Sec. 205. Vaccine development and disease research.
Sec. 206. Diagnostic and laboratory capacity.
                    TITLE III--RESPONSE AND RECOVERY

Sec. 301. Implementation of Federal, State, and local response plans.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the 
        Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
            (2) Agricultural disease emergency.--The term 
        ``agricultural disease emergency'' means a plant or animal 
        disease outbreak that requires prompt action in order to 
        prevent injury or damage to people, plants, livestock, 
        property, the economy, or the environment, as determined by the 
        Secretary pursuant to section 415 of the Plant Protection Act 
        (7 U.S.C. 7715) or section 10407(b) of the Animal Health 
        Protection Act (7 U.S.C. 8306(b)).
            (3) Agriculture.--The term ``agriculture'' includes the 
        science and practice of activity relating to food, feed, and 
        fiber production, processing, marketing, distribution, use, and 
        trade, and also includes family and consumer sciences, 
        nutrition, food science and engineering, agricultural economics 
        and other social sciences, forestry, wildlife, fisheries, 
        aquaculture, floraculture, veterinary medicine, and other 
        environmental and natural resource sciences.
            (4) Agroterrorism.--The term ``agroterrorism'' means the 
        commission of an agroterrorist act.
            (5) Agroterrorist act.--The term ``agroterrorist act'' 
        means a criminal act to cause or attempt to cause damage to or 
        destruction or contamination of a crop, livestock, farm or 
        ranch equipment, material, or other property, or a person 
        engaged in agricultural activity, committed with the intent to 
        intimidate or coerce a civilian population or to influence the 
        policy of a government by intimidation or coercion.
            (6) Biosecurity.--The term ``biosecurity'' means protection 
        from the risks posed by biological, chemical, or radiological 
        agents to plant and animal health, the agricultural economy, 
        the environment, and human health, including the exclusion, 
        eradication, and control of biological agents that cause 
        agricultural diseases.
            (7) Department.--The term ``Department'' means the 
        Department of Agriculture.
            (8) Ecoterrorism.--The term ``ecoterrorism'' means the use 
        of force or violence against a person or property to intimidate 
        or coerce all or part of a government or the civilian 
        population, in furtherance of a social goal in the name of an 
        environmental cause.
            (9) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Agriculture.
            (10) Zoonotic agent.--The term ``zoonotic agent'' means any 
        bacterium, virus, parasite, or other biological entity that is 
        naturally transmissible from animals to humans.

                          TITLE I--PREVENTION

SEC. 101. INCLUSION OF AGROTERRORISM IN TERRORIST ACTS INVOLVING 
              WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION.

    It is the sense of Congress that, to formulate and encourage 
international consensus regarding intentional acts against agriculture 
and to facilitate disarmament negotiations and international sanctions 
against weapons of mass destruction, the United Nations Security 
Council should include agroterrorism in the definition of a terrorist 
act involving a weapon of mass destruction.

SEC. 102. LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR AGROTERRORISM.

    Section 2332a(a) of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ``or'' at the end;
            (2) in paragraph (3), by striking the comma at the end and 
        inserting ``; or''; and
            (3) by inserting after paragraph (3) the following:
            ``(4) against private property, including property used for 
        agricultural or livestock operations.''.

SEC. 103. STUDY ON FEASIBILITY OF ESTABLISHING A NATIONAL AGROTERRORISM 
              AND ECOTERRORISM INCIDENT CLEARINGHOUSE.

    Not later than 240 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 
the Attorney General, in conjunction with the Secretary, shall submit 
to Congress a report on the feasibility and estimated cost of 
establishing and maintaining a national agroterrorism incident 
clearinghouse to gather information for use in coordinating and 
assisting investigations on incidents of--
            (1) agroterrorism committed against or directed at--
                    (A) any animal or plant enterprise; or
                    (B) any person, because of any actual or perceived 
                connection of the person with, or support by the person 
                of, agriculture; and
            (2) ecoterrorism.

SEC. 104. INTERNATIONAL AGRICULTURAL DISEASE SURVEILLANCE.

    Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of State and the 
Administrator of the United States Agency for International 
Development, shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a 
report on measures taken by the Secretary to--
            (1) streamline the process of notification by the Secretary 
        to Federal agencies in the event of outbreaks of agricultural 
        diseases in foreign countries; and
            (2) cooperate with representatives of foreign countries, 
        international organizations, and industry to devise and 
        implement methods of sharing information on international plant 
        and animal disease outbreaks and unusual agricultural 
        activities.

SEC. 105. AGRICULTURAL INSPECTIONS.

    The Secretary shall--
            (1) cooperate with appropriate Federal intelligence 
        officials to improve the ability of the Department to identify 
        agricultural products, livestock, and other goods imported from 
        suspect locations recognized by the intelligence community as 
        having--
                    (A) experienced agricultural terrorist activities 
                or unusual agricultural disease outbreaks; or
                    (B) harbored agroterrorists;
            (2) use the information collected under paragraph (1) to 
        establish inspection priorities;
            (3) not later than 240 days after the date of enactment of 
        this Act, develop a plan to increase the laboratory capacity of 
        the Department and the effectiveness of the Department in 
        detecting the presence of pathogens and disease in agricultural 
        products; and
            (4) not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of 
        this Act, submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a 
        report that provides a description, and an estimate of the 
        costs, of the plan developed under paragraph (3).

SEC. 106. ON-FARM AND ON-RANCH BIOSECURITY.

    (a) Biosecurity Guidelines.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 240 days after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, in consultation with associations of 
        agricultural producers and taking into consideration the 
        research conducted under subtitle N of the National 
        Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 
        1977 (7 U.S.C. 3351 et seq.), the Secretary shall--
                    (A) develop guidelines--
                            (i) to improve monitoring of vehicles and 
                        materials entering or departing farm or ranch 
                        operations; and
                            (ii) to control human traffic onto farm or 
                        ranch operations; and
                    (B) disseminate the guidelines to agricultural 
                producers through agricultural educational seminars and 
                biosecurity training sessions.
            (2) Authorization of appropriations.--
                    (A) In general.--There are authorized to be 
                appropriated to carry out this subsection--
                            (i) $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2003; and
                            (ii) such sums as are necessary for each 
                        fiscal year thereafter.
                    (B) Education program.--Of the amounts made 
                available under subparagraph (A), the Secretary may use 
                such sums as are necessary to establish in each State 
                an education program to distribute the biosecurity 
                guidelines developed under paragraph (1).
    (b) Biosecurity Grant Pilot Program.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 240 days after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall develop a pilot 
        program to provide incentives, in the form of grants or low-
        interest loans, in an amount not to exceed $10,000, for 
        agricultural producers to restructure farm and ranch operations 
        (based on the biosecurity guidelines developed under subsection 
        (a)(1)) to--
                    (A) control access to farms or ranch property by 
                persons intending to commit an agroterrorist act;
                    (B) prevent the introduction and spread of 
                agricultural diseases; and
                    (C) take other measures to ensure biosecurity.
            (2) Report.--Not later than 3 years after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the 
        appropriate committees of Congress a report that--
                    (A) describes the implementation of the program; 
                and
                    (B) makes recommendations on expansion of the 
                program.
            (3) Authorization of appropriations.--There are authorized 
        to be appropriated to carry out this subsection--
                    (A) $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2003; and
                    (B) such sums as are necessary for each of fiscal 
                years 2004 through 2007.

                 TITLE II--PREPAREDNESS AND MITIGATION

SEC. 201. INTERAGENCY COORDINATION.

    (a) Agricultural Disease Emergency Management Liaison.--The 
Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency shall establish a 
senior level position to serve, as a primary responsibility, as a 
liaison for agricultural disease emergency management between--
            (1) the Federal Emergency Management Agency;
            (2) the Department;
            (3) the emergency management community; and
            (4) the affected industries.
    (b) Transportation.--The Secretary of Transportation, in 
consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture and the Director of the 
Federal Emergency Management Agency, shall--
            (1) publish in the Federal Register proposed guidelines for 
        restrictions on interstate transportation of an agricultural 
        commodity or product in response to an agricultural disease 
        emergency created by a foreign or emerging disease affecting 
        the agricultural commodity or product;
            (2) provide for a comment period for the proposed 
        guidelines of not less than 90 days;
            (3) establish the final guidelines, taking into 
        consideration any comments received under paragraph (2); and
            (4) provide the guidelines to officers and employees of--
                    (A) the Department;
                    (B) the Department of Transportation; and
                    (C) the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
    (c) Animal Health Care Liaison.--The Secretary of Health and Human 
Services shall establish within the Department of Health and Human 
Services a senior level position to serve, as a primary responsibility, 
as a liaison between the Department of Health and Human Services, the 
Department of Agriculture, the animal health community, the emergency 
management community, and industry.
    (d) Regional, State, and County Preparation.--The Administrator, in 
consultation with the Secretary, shall cooperate with regional, State, 
and local disaster preparedness officials to include consideration of 
potential environmental impacts of response activities when planning 
responses to agricultural disease emergencies.

SEC. 202. PLANNING.

    (a) Federal Response Plan.--Not later than 180 days after the date 
of enactment of this Act, the Director of the Federal Emergency 
Management Agency, in consultation with the Secretary, shall examine, 
and revise as necessary, the Emergency Support Functions of the Federal 
Response Plan, to include the economic, environmental, and medical 
impacts of naturally-occurring agricultural disease outbreaks and 
agroterrorist acts in emergency response planning activities.
    (b) Local Response Planning.--The Secretary shall cooperate with 
State agriculture officials, State and local emergency managers, 
representatives from State land grant colleges, research universities, 
agricultural producers, and agricultural trade associations to 
establish local response plans for foreign or emerging agricultural 
disease emergencies.
    (c) Animal Care.--
            (1) In general.--The Director of the Federal Emergency 
        Management Agency, in consultation with the Secretary, shall 
        establish a program to provide grants to small communities to 
        facilitate the participation of State and local animal health 
        care officials in community emergency planning efforts.
            (2) Authorization of appropriations.--There is authorized 
        to be appropriated to carry out this subsection $5,000,000 for 
        fiscal year 2003.
    (d) Modeling and Statistical Analyses.--
            (1) In general.--In consultation with the Steering 
        Committee of the National Animal Health Emergency Management 
        Systems and other stakeholders, the Secretary shall conduct a 
        study--
                    (A) to determine the best use of epidemiologists, 
                computer modelers, and statisticians as members of the 
                emergency response task forces that handle foreign or 
                emerging agricultural disease emergencies; and
                    (B) to identify the types of data that are not 
                collected but that would be necessary for proper 
                modeling and analysis of agricultural disease 
                emergencies.
            (2) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit a report that 
        describes the results of the study to--
                    (A) the Director of the Federal Emergency 
                Management Agency; and
                    (B) the heads of other appropriate governmental 
                agencies involved in agricultural disease emergency 
                response planning.
    (e) Geographic Information System Grants.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary shall establish a program to 
        provide grants to States to develop capabilities to use 
        geographic information systems and statistical models for 
        epidemiological assessments in the event of agricultural 
        disease emergencies.
            (2) Authorization of appropriations.--There are authorized 
        to be appropriated to carry out this subsection--
                    (A) $2,500,000 for fiscal year 2003; and
                    (B) such sums as are necessary for each fiscal year 
                thereafter.

SEC. 203. EXERCISES AND TRAINING.

    (a) Best Practices.--The Director of the Federal Emergency 
Management Agency, in consultation with the Secretary, shall--
            (1) establish a task force, consisting of agricultural 
        producers and State and local emergency response officials, to 
        identify best practices for State regional agricultural 
        disaster exercise programs; and
            (2) distribute to States and localities a report that 
        describes the best practices.
    (b) Exercises.--On the basis of the identified best practices, the 
Secretary shall design and distribute packages of exercises for 
training, in the form of printed materials and electronic media, for 
distribution to State and local emergency managers and State 
agriculture officials.

SEC. 204. COMMUNICATION WITH THE PUBLIC.

    (a) Education.--The Secretary, in consultation with agricultural 
producers and trade associations, shall develop a national education 
campaign--
            (1) to demonstrate the contribution of agriculture to the 
        well-being of people and economic prosperity of the United 
        States;
            (2) to improve the public image of agriculture in the 
        United States;
            (3) to increase public awareness about the potential for 
        negative economic and social effects that  could result from 
foreign or emerging agricultural diseases; and
            (4) to increase public awareness of the benefits of animal 
        and plant health research for preventing and responding to 
        agroterrorism.
    (b) Outreach.--The Secretary, in consultation with the Director of 
the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Secretary of Health and 
Human Services, shall establish, as part of agroterrorism preparedness 
efforts, a program to encourage regional emergency management planners 
to--
            (1) develop cooperative relationships with agricultural 
        producers, trade associations, and local groups that promote 
        plant and animal health issues to explain to the public the 
        nature of potential agroterrorist threats and the reasons why 
        certain response measures need to be taken; and
            (2) prepare information in the form of brochures, 
        pamphlets, literature packets, CD ROMs, or other similar forms, 
        for distribution to the public in the event of a foreign or 
        emerging agricultural disease emergency.
    (c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated such sums as are necessary for fiscal year 2004 and each 
fiscal year thereafter to carry out this section.

SEC. 205. VACCINE DEVELOPMENT AND DISEASE RESEARCH.

    (a) In General.--In carrying out the foreign or emerging diseases 
and pests program of the Department, the Secretary shall establish a 
program to provide grants to colleges and universities to identify and 
develop--
            (1) rapid diagnostic tests to identify plant and animal 
        diseases;
            (2) improved vaccines for animal diseases;
            (3) new diagnostic techniques to be used in distinguishing 
        between animals that test positive for exposure to an 
        infectious foreign or emerging animal disease as a result of 
        vaccination and those that test positive as a result of having 
        contracted the disease; and
            (4) techniques to disinfect areas where outbreaks of plant 
        or animal diseases occur.
    (b) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section--
            (1) $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2003; and
            (2) such sums as are necessary for each fiscal year 
        thereafter.

SEC. 206. DIAGNOSTIC AND LABORATORY CAPACITY.

    (a) Research on Disease Diagnostic Kits.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary, in consultation with the 
        Secretary of State, the Administrator of the United States 
        Agency for International Development, and representatives of 
        foreign countries, shall seek collaborative agricultural 
        research opportunities in foreign countries in which foreign or 
        emerging agricultural diseases are endemic, to test the 
        performance of disease diagnostic kits and disinfection 
        techniques that, because of low or no known incidence of those 
        agricultural diseases in the United States, have not been 
        adequately tested.
            (2) Authorization of appropriations.--There are authorized 
        to be appropriated to expand overseas research collaboration 
        activities of the Department, including research on foreign and 
        emerging plant and animal diseases--
                    (A) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2003; and
                    (B) such sums as are necessary for each fiscal year 
                thereafter.
    (b) Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratories.--The Secretary of 
Health and Human Services shall include animal disease diagnostic 
laboratories in the Laboratory Response Network of the Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention.
    (c) Clinical Sample Screening.--Not later than 180 days after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary and the Secretary of 
Health and Human Services shall jointly--
            (1) conduct a study to identify means of expanding 
        laboratory capabilities to screen and handle large quantities 
        of veterinary and human clinical samples for foreign or 
        emerging zoonotic agents in the event of an agricultural 
        emergency; and
            (2) submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a 
        report on the results of the study.
    (d) Study on Feasibility of Establishing a National Plant Disease 
Laboratory.--Not later than 270 days after the date of enactment of 
this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the appropriate committees of 
Congress a report on the feasibility of establishing a national plant 
disease laboratory, based on the model of the Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention, with the primary task of--
            (1) integrating and coordinating a nationwide system of 
        independent plant disease diagnostic laboratories, including 
        existing plant clinics maintained by land grant colleges and 
        universities; and
            (2) increasing the capacity, technical infrastructure, and 
        information sharing capabilities of laboratories described in 
        paragraph (1).

                    TITLE III--RESPONSE AND RECOVERY

SEC. 301. IMPLEMENTATION OF FEDERAL, STATE, AND LOCAL RESPONSE PLANS.

    (a) Grant Program.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 240 days after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in consultation with the 
        Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, shall 
        establish a grant program to facilitate the establishment of 
        regional agricultural emergency response networks.
            (2) Duties.--The regional networks established under 
        paragraph (1) shall serve as the basis for coordination by 
        Federal, State, and local officials and industry 
        representatives in the event of a foreign or emerging 
        agricultural disease emergency.
            (3) Authorization of appropriations.--There are authorized 
        to be appropriated to carry out this subsection--
                    (A) $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2003; and
                    (B) such sums as are necessary for each fiscal year 
                thereafter.
    (b) Review of Legal Authority.--
            (1) In general.--The Attorney General, in consultation with 
        the Secretary, shall conduct a review of State and local laws 
        relating to agroterrorism and biosecurity to determine--
                    (A) the extent to which those laws facilitate or 
                impede the implementation of current or proposed 
                response plans with respect to agricultural 
                emergencies;
                    (B) whether an injunction issued by a State court 
                could--
                            (i) delay the implementation of a Federal 
                        response plan; or
                            (ii) affect the extent to which an 
                        infectious plant or animal disease spreads; and
                    (C) the types and extent of legal evidence that may 
                be required by State courts before a response plan may 
                be implemented.
            (2) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall submit to the 
        appropriate committees of Congress a report that describes the 
        results of the review conducted under paragraph (1) (including 
        any recommendations of the Attorney General).
                                 <all>