1.
This Act may be cited as the
Homeland Security Food and Agriculture
Act of 2005
.
2.
(a)Title VIII of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C.
361 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
J
899A.In this subtitle:
(1)The term agricultural disease means an
outbreak of a plant or animal disease, or a pest infestation, that requires
prompt action in order to prevent injury or damage to people, plants,
livestock, property, the economy, or the environment.
(2)The term agriculture includes—
(A)the science and
practice of an activity relating to—
(i)food, feed, and
fiber production; or
(ii)the processing,
marketing, distribution, use, or trade of food, feed, or fiber;
(B)a social science,
such as—
(i)family and
consumer science;
(ii)nutritional
science;
(iii)food science
and engineering; or
(iv)agricultural
economics; and
(C)an environmental
or natural resource science, such as—
(i)forestry;
(ii)wildlife
science;
(iii)fishery
science;
(iv)aquaculture;
(v)floraculture;
or
(vi)veterinary
medicine.
(3)
(A)The term agroterrorist act means the
criminal act, committed with the intent described in subparagraph (B), of
causing or attempting to cause damage or harm (including destruction or
contamination) to—
(i)a
crop;
(ii)livestock;
(iii)farm or ranch
equipment;
(iv)material or
property associated with agriculture; or
(v)a
person engaged in an agricultural activity.
(B)The
term agroterrorist act means an act described in subparagraph (A)
that is committed with the intent to—
(i)intimidate or
coerce a civilian population; or
(ii)influence the
policy of a government by intimidation or coercion.
(4)
(A)The term biosecurity means protection from
the risk posed by a biological, chemical, or radiological agent to—
(i)the agricultural
economy;
(ii)the
environment;
(iii)human health;
or
(iv)plant or animal health.
(B)The term biosecurity includes the
exclusion, eradication, and control of a biological agent that causes an
agricultural disease.
(5)Emergency
response providerThe term emergency response
provider includes any Federal, State, or local—
(A)emergency public
safety professional;
(B)law enforcement
officer;
(C)emergency medical
professional (including an employee of a hospital emergency facility);
(D)veterinarian or
other animal health professional; and
(E)related
personnel, agency, or authority.
(6)The term suspect location means a location
that, as recognized by an element of the intelligence community—
(A)has experienced,
or may experience, an agroterrorist act or an unusual disease; or
(B)has harbored, or
may harbor, a person that committed an agroterrorist act.
899B.Agricultural
security responsibilities of the Department of Homeland Security
(a)Coordination of
food and agricultural security
(1)The Secretary shall
establish and carry out a program to protect the agriculture and food supply of
the United States from agroterrorist acts.
(2)The program established pursuant to paragraph (1)
shall include provisions for—
(A)advising and
coordinating with Federal, State, local, regional, and tribal homeland security
officials regarding—
(i)preparedness for
and the response to an agroterrorist act; and
(ii)the detection,
prevention, and mitigation of an agroterrorist act; and
(B)executing the
agriculture security responsibilities of the Secretary described in Homeland
Security Presidential Directive 7 (December 17, 2003) and Homeland Security
Presidential Directive 9 (February 3, 2004).
(b)
(1)The
Secretary shall have responsibility for—
(A)increasing
communication and coordination among all Federal, State, local, regional, and
tribal emergency response providers regarding biosecurity;
(B)ensuring that
each Federal, State, local, regional, and tribal emergency response provider
understands and executes the role of that emergency response provider in
response to an agroterrorist attack;
(C)(i)ensuring that State,
local, and tribal officials have adequate access to information and resources
at the Federal level; and
(ii)developing and implementing
information-sharing procedures by which a Federal, State, local, regional, or
tribal emergency response provider can share information regarding a biological
threat, risk, or vulnerability;
(D)coordinating with
the Secretary of Transportation to develop guidelines for restrictions on the
interstate transportation of an agricultural commodity or product in response
to an agricultural disease;
(E)coordinating with
the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency in considering the
potential environmental impact of a response by Federal, regional, State,
local, and tribal emergency response providers to an agricultural
disease;
(F)working with
Federal agencies (including the Department of Agriculture and other elements of
the intelligence community) to improve the ability of employees of the
Department of Homeland Security to identify a biological commodity or product,
livestock, and any other good that is imported from a suspect location;
(G)coordinating with
the Department of State to provide the President and Federal agencies
guidelines for establishing a mutual assistance agreement with another country,
including an agreement—
(i)to provide
training to veterinarians, public health workers, and agriculture specialists
of the United States in the identification, diagnosis, and control of foreign
diseases;
(ii)to provide
resources and technical assistance personnel to a foreign government with
limited resources; and
(iii)to participate
in a bilateral or multilateral training program or exercise relating to
biosecurity.
(2)Undersecretary
for Emergency Response and PreparednessThe Undersecretary for
Emergency Response and Preparedness shall have responsibility for—
(A)not later than
180 days after the date of enactment of this subtitle, cooperating with State,
local, and tribal homeland security officials to establish State, local, and
regional response plans for an agricultural disease or agroterrorist act that
include—
(i)a
comprehensive needs analyses to determine the appropriate investment
requirements for responding to an agricultural disease or agroterrorist
act;
(ii)a potential
emergency management assistance compact and any other mutual assistance
agreement between neighboring States; and
(iii)an
identification of State and local laws (including regulations) and procedures
that may affect the implementation of a State response plan; and
(B)not later than 90
days after the date of enactment of this subtitle, establishing a task force
consisting of State and local homeland security officials that shall—
(i)identify the best
practices for carrying out a regional or State biosecurity program;
(ii)make available
to State, local, and tribal governments a report that describes the best
practices identified under clause (i); and
(iii)design and make
available information (based on the best practices identified under clause (i))
concerning training exercises for emergency response providers in the form of
printed materials and electronic media to—
(I)managers of
State, local, and tribal emergency response provider organizations; and
(II)State health and
agricultural officials.
(c)Grants to
facilitate participation of state and local animal health care
officials
(1)The Office of State and Local Coordination and
Preparedness, in consultation with the Undersecretary for Emergency Response
and Preparedness and the Secretary, shall establish a program under which the
Secretary shall provide grants to communities to facilitate the participation
of State and local animal health care officials in community emergency planning
efforts.
(2)Authorization
of appropriationsThere is authorized to be appropriated to carry
out this subsection $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2006.
.