110 HR 667 IH: Early Pest Detection and Surveillance U.S. House of Representatives 2007-01-24 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.

I 110th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 667 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES January 24, 2007 Mr. Costa (for himself, Mr. Putnam, Mr. Farr, Mr. Cardoza, Mr. English of Pennsylvania, Mr. Rohrabacher, Mr. Honda, Mr. Herger, Mr. Baca, Mr. Filner, Mr. Radanovich, Mr. Thompson of California, Mr. Calvert, Mrs. McMorris Rodgers, Mr. Gallegly, Ms. Zoe Lofgren of California, Mr. Hinojosa, Mr. George Miller of California, Mr. Nunes, Mrs. Capps, Mr. Crenshaw, Mr. Carter, Mr. Gary G. Miller of California, Mrs. Davis of California, Ms. Matsui, Ms. Woolsey, Mr. Salazar, Mr. Boyd of Florida, Mr. Butterfield, Mr. Bonner, and Ms. Hirono) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture A BILL To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to enter into cooperative agreements with States to augment their efforts to conduct early detection and surveillance to prevent the establishment or spread of plant pests that endanger agriculture, the environment, and the economy of the United States, and for other purposes.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Early Pest Detection and Surveillance Improvement Act.

2.

Support for commodity inspection efforts to prevent introduction or spread of pests

(a)

Definitions

In this section: (1)

Department of agriculture

The term department of agriculture means an agency of a State that has a legal responsibility to perform early pest detection and surveillance activities. (2)

Early pest detection and surveillance

The term early pest detection and surveillance means the full range of activities undertaken to find newly introduced pests, whether new to the United States or new to certain areas of the United States, before the pests become established, or before pest infestations become too large and costly to eradicate or control. (3)

Pest

The term pest has the meaning given the term plant pest in section 403(14) of the Plant Protection Act (7 U.S.C. 7702(14)). (4)

Secretary

The term Secretary means the Secretary of Agriculture. (5)

State

The term State means— (A)each of the several States; (B)the District of Columbia; (C)the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; (D)Guam; (E)American Samoa; (F)the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands; (G)the Federated States of Micronesia; (H)the Republic of the Marshall Islands; (I)the Republic of Palau; and (J)the United States Virgin Islands. (b)

Cooperative agreements authorized

The Secretary of Agriculture shall enter into a cooperative agreement with each department of agriculture that agrees to conduct early pest detection surveillance activities in accordance with guidelines established under the Cooperative Agricultural Pest Survey. The pest detection surveillance activities of the department of agriculture of a State may include inspection and surveillance of domestic plant shipments between that State and other States. (c)

Application

A department of agriculture seeking to enter into a cooperative agreement under this section shall submit an application to the Secretary containing such information as the Secretary may require. The Secretary shall notify applicants of the following: (1)The requirements to be imposed on a department of agriculture for auditing of, and reporting on, the use of any funds provided by the Secretary under the cooperative agreement. (2)The criteria to be used to ensure that early pest detection and surveillance activities supported under the cooperative agreement are based on knowledge, experience, and capabilities. (3)The means of identifying pathways of pest introductions. (4)The methods to be used to determine the level of support for proposed early pest detection and surveillance activities by private and public interests adversely affected by pests. (d)

Consultation

The Secretary will consult with the National Plant Board and the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture in carrying out this section. (e)

Base funds under agreements

Subject to the availability of appropriated funds to carry out this section, each State department of agriculture with which the Secretary enters into a cooperative agreement under this section shall receive a base level of funding of $250,000 for each of fiscal years 2008 through 2012. If the funds available for a fiscal year are insufficient to provide the full amount specified in this subsection, the Secretary shall reduce the amount provided to each State as necessary so that each State receives an equal amount of the available funds. (f)

Additional funds; special considerations

After the application of subsection (e), the Secretary shall distribute the remainder of the funds appropriated to carry out this section, if any, to departments of agriculture of States that are recognized as high-risk sentinel States for one or more pest, based on the following factors: (1)The number of international airports and maritime facilities in the State. (2)The volume of international passenger and cargo entry into the State. (3)The geographic location of the State, such that its location would be conducive to agricultural pest and disease establishment due to both the State’s climate and its crop diversity. (4)The State has received an emergency declaration, as authorized by section 442 of the Plant Protection Act (7 U.S.C. 7772), due to an agricultural pest or disease of Federal concern. (5)Such other factors as the Secretary determines to be appropriate. (g)

Use of funds

(1)

Pest detection and surveillance activities

A department of agriculture that receives funds under this section shall use the funds to carry out early pest detection and surveillance activities to prevent the introduction of a pest or facilitate the eradication of a pest. (2)

Subagreements

Nothing in this section is intended to prevent the department of agriculture of a State from using funds received under subsection (e) or (f) to enter into subagreements with political subdivisions in the State that have legal responsibilities relating to agricultural pest and disease surveillance. (3)

Treatment of funds

Funds provided under subsection (e) or (f) are intended for implementation purposes, and it is expected that administrative or overhead costs will be limited in a manner to achieve this purpose. (4)

Relationship to other funds and programs

Funds provided under subsection (e) or (f) are intended to augment the funds otherwise available to a department of agriculture to perform early pest detection and surveillance activities, and not to replace such funds. (h)

Reporting requirement

Not later than 180 days after the date of completion of an early pest detection and surveillance activity conducted by a department of agriculture using funds provided under this section, the department of agriculture shall submit to the Secretary a report that describes the purposes and results of the activities. (i)

No effect on PILT payments

The receipt of funds by the department of agriculture of a State under this section shall have no effect on the amount of any payment received by the State under chapter 69 of title 31, United States Code. (j)

Authorization of appropriations

There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary such sums as may be necessary for each of the fiscal years 2008 through 2012 to carry out this section. Not more than five percent of the funds appropriated pursuant to this authorization of appropriations for a fiscal year may be used by the Secretary for administrative costs.