[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2707 Engrossed in House (EH)]


  2d Session

                               H. R. 2707

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT

  To provide for an assessment of the extent of the invasion of Salt 
   Cedar and Russian Olive on lands in the Western United States and 
 efforts to date to control such invasion on public and private lands, 
including tribal lands, to establish a demonstration program to address 
 the invasion of Salt Cedar and Russian Olive, and for other purposes.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
108th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 2707

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT


 
  To provide for an assessment of the extent of the invasion of Salt 
   Cedar and Russian Olive on lands in the Western United States and 
 efforts to date to control such invasion on public and private lands, 
including tribal lands, to establish a demonstration program to address 
 the invasion of Salt Cedar and Russian Olive, 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 ``Salt Cedar and Russian Olive Control 
Assessment and Demonstration Act''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Secretaries.--The term ``Secretaries'' means the 
        Secretary of Agriculture, in cooperation with the Secretary of 
        the Interior.
            (2) Western united states.--The term ``Western United 
        States'' refers to the States defined by the Act of June 17, 
        1902 (commonly known as the 1902 Reclamation Act; 43 U.S.C. 371 
        et seq.), which includes Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, 
        Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Nevada, New 
        Mexico, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

SEC. 3. ASSESSMENT OF SALT CEDAR AND RUSSIAN OLIVE INFESTATION IN 
              WESTERN UNITED STATES.

    (a) Assessment.--Not later than one year after the date on which 
funds are first made available to carry out this section, the 
Secretaries shall complete an assessment of the extent of Salt Cedar 
and Russian Olive invasion in the Western United States.
    (b) Content.--The assessment shall include the following:
            (1) To the extent practicable, documentation of the 
        quantity of water lost due to the infestation.
            (2) Documentation of the quantity of water saved due to 
        various control methods, including the portion of saved water 
        that returns to surface water or groundwater supplies and at 
        what rates.
            (3) Determination of the optimum control method for the 
        various land types and land uses.
            (4) Determination of what conditions indicate the need to 
        remove such growth and the optimal methods for disposal or use 
        of such growth.
            (5) Determination of methods to prevent the regrowth and 
        reintroduction of Salt Cedar and Russian Olive and to 
        reestablish native species.
    (c) Report on Assessment.--
            (1) Preparation and content.--The Secretaries shall prepare 
        a report containing the results of the assessment. The report 
        shall identify long-term management and funding strategies that 
        could be implemented by Federal, State, Tribal, and private 
        land managers and owners on all land management types to 
        address the invasion of Salt Cedar and Russian Olive. The 
        report shall also identify deficiencies or areas for further 
        study and where actual field demonstrations would be useful in 
        the control effort.
            (2) Submission.--The Secretaries shall submit the report to 
        the Committee on Resources and the Committee on Agriculture of 
        the House of Representatives and the Committee on Agriculture, 
        Nutrition, and Forestry and the Committee on Energy and Natural 
        Resources of the Senate.
    (d) Support for Identification of Long-Term Management and Funding 
Strategies.--The Secretaries may make grants to institutions of higher 
education or nonprofit organizations (or both) with an established 
background and expertise in the public policy issues associated with 
the control of Salt Cedar and Russian Olive to obtain technical 
experience, support, and recommendations related to the identification 
of the long-term management and funding strategies required to be 
included in the report under subsection (c)(1). Each grant awarded 
under this subsection may not be less than $250,000.

SEC. 4. DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM FOR CONTROL OF SALT CEDAR AND RUSSIAN 
              OLIVE IN WESTERN STATES.

    (a) Demonstration Projects.--
            (1) Projects required.--Based on the results of the 
        assessment and report in section 3, the Secretaries shall 
        initiate a program of not fewer than three demonstration 
        projects in the Western United States designed to address the 
        deficiencies and areas for further study to address the 
        invasion of Salt Cedar and Russian Olive, including the test of 
        additional control methods, identified by the report.
            (2) Implementation.--The Secretaries may enter into an 
        agreement with a State in the Western United States to carry 
        out a demonstration project. If the Secretaries select a 
        demonstration project for implementation on National Forest 
        System lands, the Secretary of Agriculture shall be responsible 
        for implementation of the project.
    (b) Elements of Projects.--
            (1) Design and scale.--Each demonstration project shall be 
        designed with integrated methods and adaptive management 
        strategies and carried out over time frames and spatial scales 
        large enough to accomplish the goals laid out in the report.
            (2) Scientific review.--Before being carried out, the 
        methods and strategies proposed for each demonstration project 
        shall be subject to review by scientific experts, including 
        non-Federal experts, selected by the Secretaries. The 
        Secretaries may use existing scientific review processes to the 
        extent they comply with this requirement.
    (c) Project Costs and Cost Sharing.--The total cost of each 
demonstration project may not exceed $7,000,000, including the costs of 
planning, design, implementation, revegetation, maintenance, and 
monitoring. In the case of a demonstration project conducted on lands 
under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Interior or the 
Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretaries may accept, but not require, 
funds or in-kind contributions, including State agency provided 
services. The Federal share of the costs of any activity on private 
lands funded under the project shall be no more than 75 percent of the 
total cost of the activity.
    (d) Reporting Requirement.--During the period in which the 
demonstration projects are carried out, the Secretaries shall submit to 
the congressional committees specified in section 3(c)(2) an annual 
report describing--
            (1) the demonstration projects;
            (2) the progress made in carrying out the projects during 
        the period covered by the report; and
            (3) the costs of the projects under subsection (c).
    (e) Monitoring.--Demonstration projects shall include the 
following:
            (1) Documentation of the quantity of water saved due to 
        various control methods, including the portion of water saved 
        that returns to surface water or groundwater supplies and at 
        what rates.
            (2) Optimal revegetative states to prevent the regrowth and 
        reintroduction of Salt Cedar and Russian Olive and to 
        reestablish native species.
    (f) Cooperation.--The Secretaries shall use the expertise of their 
various agencies, as well as other Federal agencies, institutions of 
higher education, State and local governments and political 
subdivisions thereof, including soil and water conservation districts, 
and Indian tribes, which are actively conducting assessments on or 
implementing Salt Cedar and Russian Olive control activities.

SEC. 5. RELATION TO OTHER AUTHORITY.

    Nothing in this Act shall be construed to affect, or otherwise 
bias, the use by the Secretaries of other statutory or administrative 
authorities to plan or conduct Salt Cedar or Russian Olive control and 
eradication that is not planned or conducted under this Act.

SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    (a) Assessment.--There are authorized to be appropriated to the 
Secretaries $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2005 to conduct the assessment 
required by section 3.
    (b) Grants.--There are authorized to be appropriated to the 
Secretaries $1,000,000 for fiscal year 2005 to award as grants under 
section 3(d).
    (c) Demonstration Projects.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to the Secretaries $18,000,000 for each of the fiscal 
years 2005 through 2009 to carry out the program of demonstration 
projects under section 4.

            Passed the House of Representatives February 24, 2004.

            Attest:

                                                                 Clerk.