[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4782 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4782

  To direct the Secretary of the Interior to provide loans to certain 
organizations in certain States to address habitats and ecosystems and 
                to address and prevent invasive species.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 4, 2010

   Mr. Young of Alaska (for himself and Ms. Berkley) introduced the 
    following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural 
                               Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To direct the Secretary of the Interior to provide loans to certain 
organizations in certain States to address habitats and ecosystems and 
                to address and prevent invasive species.

    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 ``Invasive Species Emergency Response 
Fund Act''.

SEC. 2. PURPOSES.

    The purpose of this Act is to encourage partnerships among Federal 
and State agencies, Indian tribes, academic institutions, and public 
and private stakeholders--
            (1) to prevent against the introduction and spread of 
        harmful invasive species;
            (2) to protect, enhance, restore, and manage a variety of 
        habitats for native plants, fish, and wildlife; and
            (3) to establish early detection and rapid response 
        capabilities to combat incipient harmful invasive species.

SEC. 3. INVASIVE SPECIES EMERGENCY RESPONSE FUND.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Ecosystem.--The term ``ecosystem'' means an area, 
        considered as a whole, that contains living organisms that 
        interact with each other and with the non-living environment.
            (2) Eligible state.--The term ``eligible State'' means any 
        State located in Region 4, as determined by the Census Bureau.
            (3) Fund.--The term ``Fund'' means the Invasive Species 
        Emergency Response Fund established by subsection (b).
            (4) Indian tribe.--The term ``Indian tribe'' has the 
        meaning given the term in section 4 of the Indian Self-
        Determination Act and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 
        450b).
            (5) Introduction.--The term ``introduction'', with respect 
        to a species, means the intentional or unintentional escape, 
        release, dissemination, or placement of the species into an 
        ecosystem as a result of human activity.
            (6) Invasive species.--The term ``invasive species'' means 
        a species--
                    (A) that is nonnative to a specified ecosystem; and
                    (B) the introduction to an ecosystem of which 
                causes, or may cause, harm to--
                            (i) the economy;
                            (ii) the environment; or
                            (iii) human, animal, or plant health.
            (7) Qualified organization.--
                    (A) In general.--The term ``qualified 
                organization'' means an organization that--
                            (i) submits an application for a project in 
                        an eligible State; and
                            (ii) demonstrates an effort to address--
                                    (I) a certain invasive species; or
                                    (II) a certain habitat or ecosystem 
                                impacted by an invasive species.
                    (B) Inclusions.--The term ``qualified 
                organization'' includes any individual representing, or 
                any combination of--
                            (i) public or private stakeholders;
                            (ii) Federal agencies;
                            (iii) Indian tribes;
                            (iv) State land, forest, or fish wildlife 
                        management agencies;
                            (v) academic institutions; and
                            (vi) other organizations, as the Secretary 
                        determines to be appropriate.
            (8) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of the Interior.
            (9) Stakeholder.--The term ``stakeholder'' includes--
                    (A) State, tribal, and local governmental agencies;
                    (B) the scientific community; and
                    (C) nongovernmental entities, including 
                environmental, agricultural, and conservation 
                organizations, trade groups, commercial interests, and 
                private landowners.
    (b) Establishment of Fund.--There is established in the Treasury of 
the United States a revolving fund, to be known as the ``Invasive 
Species Emergency Response Fund'', consisting of--
            (1) such amounts as are appropriated to the Fund pursuant 
        to subsection (h); and
            (2) interest earned on investments of amounts in the Fund 
        under subsection (e).
    (c) Expenditures From Fund.--
            (1) In general.--Subject to paragraph (2), on request by 
        the Secretary, the Secretary of the Treasury shall transfer 
        from the Fund to the Secretary such amounts as the Secretary 
        determines are necessary to provide loans under subsection 
        (f)(1).
            (2) Administrative expenses.--Of the amounts in the Fund--
                    (A) not more than 5 percent shall be available for 
                each fiscal year to pay the administrative expenses of 
                the Department of the Interior to carry out this 
                section;
                    (B) not more than 5 percent shall be available for 
                each fiscal year to pay the administrative expenses of 
                offices of the Governors of eligible States to carry 
                out this section; and
                    (C) not more than 10 percent shall be available for 
                each fiscal year to pay the administrative expenses of 
                a qualified organization to carry out this section.
    (d) Transfers of Amounts.--
            (1) In general.--The amounts required to be transferred to 
        the Fund under this section shall be transferred at least 
        monthly from the general fund of the Treasury to the Fund on 
        the basis of estimates made by the Secretary of the Treasury.
            (2) Adjustments.--Proper adjustment shall be made in 
        amounts subsequently transferred to the extent prior estimates 
        were in excess of or less than the amounts required to be 
        transferred.
    (e) Investment of Amounts.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary of the Treasury shall invest 
        such portion of the Fund as is not, in the judgment of the 
        Secretary of the Treasury, required to meet current 
        withdrawals.
            (2) Interest-bearing obligations.--Investments may be made 
        only in interest-bearing obligations of the United States.
    (f) Use of Fund.--
            (1) Loans.--
                    (A) In general.--The Secretary shall use amounts in 
                the Fund to provide loans to qualified organizations to 
                prevent and remediate the impacts of invasive species 
                on habitats and ecosystems.
                    (B) Eligibility.--
                            (i) In general.--To be eligible to receive 
                        a loan under this paragraph, a qualified 
                        organization shall submit to the Governor of 
                        the eligible State in which the project of the 
                        qualified organization is located an 
                        application at such time, in such manner, and 
                        containing such information as may be required 
                        by application requirements established by the 
                        Secretary, after taking into account the 
                        recommendations of the Governors of eligible 
                        States.
                            (ii) Gubernatorial recommendations.--In 
                        reviewing the applications under clause (i), 
                        the Governor may recommend to the Secretary for 
                        approval any application of a qualified 
                        organization under clause (i) if the Governor 
                        determines that the qualified organization is 
                        carrying out or will carry out a project--
                                    (I) designed to fully assess long-
                                term comprehensive severity of the 
                                problem or potential problem addressed 
                                by the project;
                                    (II) that uses early detection and 
                                response mechanisms that seek to 
                                prevent--
                                            (aa) the introduction or 
                                        spread of invasive species from 
                                        outside the United States into 
                                        an eligible State; or
                                            (bb) the spread of an 
                                        established invasive species 
                                        into an eligible State;
                                    (III) to prevent the regrowth or 
                                reintroduction of an invasive species, 
                                to the extent to which the qualified 
                                organization has achieved progress with 
                                respect to reduction or elimination of 
                                the invasive species;
                                    (IV) in rare or unique habitats, 
                                such as--
                                            (aa) desert terminal lakes;
                                            (bb) rivers that feed 
                                        desert terminal lakes;
                                            (cc) desert springs;
                                            (dd) alpine lakes;
                                            (ee) old growth forest 
                                        ecosystems; and
                                            (ff) special land 
                                        allocations, such as 
                                        wilderness, wilderness 
                                        management areas, research 
                                        natural areas, and experimental 
                                        forests;
                                    (V) that is likely to prevent or 
                                resolve a problem relating to invasive 
                                species;
                                    (VI) to remediate the spread of 
                                aquatic invasive species within 
                                important bodies of water, as 
                                determined by the Secretary (including 
                                the Colorado River);
                                    (VII) to remediate the spread of 
                                terrestrial invasive species within 
                                important forest ecosystems, including 
                                wilderness, wilderness management 
                                areas, research natural areas, and 
                                experimental forests;
                                    (VIII) to assess and promote 
                                wildfire management strategies, 
                                increase the supply of native plant 
                                materials, and reintroduce native plant 
                                species intended to limit or mitigate 
                                the impacts of invasive species;
                                    (IX) to assess and reduce invasive 
                                species-related changes in wildlife 
                                habitat and aquatic, terrestrial, and 
                                arid ecosystems;
                                    (X) to assess and reduce negative 
                                economic impacts and other impacts 
                                associated with control methods and the 
                                restoration of a native ecosystem;
                                    (XI) to improve the overall 
                                capacity of the United States to 
                                address invasive species;
                                    (XII) to promote cooperation and 
                                participation between States that have 
                                common interests regarding invasive 
                                species;
                                    (XIII) that addresses or enhances 
                                the efforts of qualified organizations, 
                                States, or landscape-level initiatives 
                                that have invasive species 
                                responsibility, authority, or 
                                prevention, remediation and control 
                                strategies, and applicable plans in 
                                place; or
                                    (XIV) to educate the public 
                                regarding the negative effects of 
                                invasive species, to help prevent and 
                                mitigate the introduction and spread of 
                                invasive species into or near high-risk 
                                aquatic, terrestrial, and arid 
                                ecosystems.
                            (iii) Transmission to the secretary.--The 
                        Governor shall transmit to the Secretary all 
                        applications received by the Governor under 
                        clause (i).
                    (C) Sense of congress regarding multistate 
                compacts.--It is the sense of Congress that--
                            (i) Governors of States should enter into 
                        multistate compacts in coordination with 
                        qualified organizations to prevent, address, 
                        and remediate against the spread of animals, 
                        plants, or pathogens, or aquatic, wetland, or 
                        terrestrial invasive species;
                            (ii) the Secretary should give special 
                        consideration to multistate compacts described 
                        in clause (i) in reviewing loan solicitations 
                        and applications of the States and qualified 
                        organizations that are parties to the compacts; 
                        and
                            (iii) if a multistate compact is entered 
                        into under clause (i), the Governors of all 
                        States that are parties to the compact should 
                        combine to repay to the Secretary of the 
                        Treasury a total combined amount equal to not 
                        less than 25 percent of the amount of the loan 
                        provided under this Act (including interest at 
                        a rate less than or equal to the market 
                        interest rate).
                    (D) Petitions.--
                            (i) Action by governor.--Not later than 90 
                        days after the receipt of an application 
                        recommended for approval by the Secretary under 
                        subparagraph (B)(ii), the Governor of an 
                        eligible State shall submit to the Secretary, 
                        on behalf of all qualified organizations, a 
                        petition, together with copies of the 
                        recommended application, to receive a loan 
                        under this paragraph.
                            (ii) Approval.--Not later than 60 days 
                        after the date of receipt of a petition under 
                        clause (i), the Secretary, at the sole 
                        discretion of the Secretary, may approve the 
                        petition.
                            (iii) Action on approval.--Not later than 
                        30 days after the date of approval of a 
                        petition under clause (ii) or the approval by 
                        the Secretary of an application otherwise 
                        transmitted by a Governor under subparagraph 
                        (B)(iii), the Secretary shall provide to the 
                        qualified organization a loan under this 
                        paragraph.
                    (E) Priority.--In providing loans under this 
                paragraph, the Secretary shall give priority to 
                applications of qualified organizations carrying out, 
                or that will carry out, more than 1 project described 
                in subparagraph (B)(ii).
            (2) Requirements.--
                    (A) Loan repayment.--
                            (i) In-kind consideration.--With respect to 
                        loan repayment under clause (ii), the Secretary 
                        may accept, in lieu of monetary payment, in-
                        kind contributions in such form and such 
                        quantity as may be acceptable to the Secretary, 
                        including contributions in the form of--
                                    (I) maintenance, remediation, 
                                prevention, alteration, repair, 
                                improvement, or restoration (including 
                                environmental restoration) activities 
                                for approved projects; and
                                    (II) such other services as the 
                                Secretary considers to be appropriate.
                            (ii) Repayment.--Subject to clause (iv), 
                        not later than 10 years after the date on which 
                        a qualified organization receives a loan under 
                        paragraph (1), the qualified organization shall 
                        repay to the Secretary of the Treasury an 
                        amount equal to not less than 25 percent of the 
                        amount of the loan (including interest at a 
                        rate less than or equal to the market interest 
                        rate).
                            (iii) Waiver.--Not more frequently than 
                        once every 5 years, the Secretary, in 
                        consultation with the Secretary of the 
                        Treasury, may waive the requirements under 
                        clauses (i) and (ii) with respect to 1 
                        qualified organization.
                    (B) Long-term management and remediation 
                strategies.--The Secretary shall ensure that no loan 
                provided under paragraph (1) is used to carry out a 
                long-term management or remediation strategy, unless 
                the Governor or applicable qualified organization 
                demonstrates either or both a reliable funding stream 
                and in-kind contributions to carry out the strategy 
                over the duration of the project.
            (3) Renewal.--After reviewing the reports under subsection 
        (g), if the Secretary, in consultation with the Governor of 
        each affected State, determines that a project is making 
        satisfactory progress, the Secretary may renew the loan 
        provided under this subsection for a period of not more than 3 
        additional fiscal years.
    (g) Reports.--
            (1) Reports to secretary.--For each year during which a 
        qualified organization receives a loan under subsection (f), 
        the qualified organization, in conjunction with the Governor of 
        the eligible State in which the qualified organization is 
        primarily located, shall submit to the Secretary a report 
        describing each project (including the results of the project) 
        carried out by the qualified organization using the loan during 
        that year.
            (2) Report to congress.--Not later than September 30, 2011, 
        and annually thereafter through September 30, 2015, the 
        Secretary shall submit a report describing the total loan 
        amount requested by each eligible State during the preceding 
        fiscal year and the total amount of the loans provided under 
        subsection (f)(1) to each eligible State during that fiscal 
        year, and an evaluation on effectiveness of the Fund and the 
        potential to expand the Fund to other regions, to--
                    (A) the Committees on Appropriations, Energy and 
                Natural Resources, and Environment and Public Works of 
                the Senate; and
                    (B) the Committees on Appropriations and Natural 
                Resources of the House of Representatives.
            (3) Report by borrower.--
                    (A) In general.--Each qualified organization that 
                receives a loan under subsection (f)(1) shall submit to 
                the Secretary a report describing the use of the loan 
                and the success achieved by the qualified 
                organization--
                            (i) not less frequently than once each year 
                        until the date of expiration of the loan; or
                            (ii) if the loan expires before the date 
                        that is 1 year after the date on which the loan 
                        is provided, at least once during the term of 
                        the loan.
                    (B) Interim update.--In addition to the reports 
                required under subparagraph (A), each qualified 
                organization that receives a loan under subsection 
                (f)(1) shall submit to the Secretary, electronically or 
                in writing, a report describing the use of the loan and 
                the success achieved by the qualified organization, 
                expressed in chronological order with respect to the 
                date on which each project was initiated--
                            (i) not less frequently than once every 180 
                        days until the date of expiration of the loan; 
                        or
                            (ii) if the loan expires before the date 
                        that is 180 days after the date on which the 
                        loan is provided, on the date on which the term 
                        of the loan is 50 percent completed.
    (h) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to the Fund $80,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2011 
through 2015.
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