[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1828 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1828

    To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to provide financial 
  assistance to the State of Louisiana for a pilot program to develop 
measures to eradicate or control feral swine and to assess and restore 
                    wetlands damaged by feral swine.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 11, 2011

 Mr. Boustany introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to provide financial 
  assistance to the State of Louisiana for a pilot program to develop 
measures to eradicate or control feral swine and to assess and restore 
                    wetlands damaged by feral swine.

    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 ``Feral Swine Eradication and Control 
Pilot Program Act of 2011''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
            (1) wetlands in Louisiana provide substantial cultural, 
        economic, and ecological benefits to the United States and is 
        essential to protecting coastal communities from flooding;
            (2) nonnative invasive feral swine populations in coastal 
        Louisiana are increasing and severely impacting wetlands, 
        especially acreages recovering from the negative impacts of 
        nutria herbivory;
            (3) Louisiana State University researchers have determined 
        that feral swine damage to coastal wetlands is very similar to 
        nutria damage but is more severe and may exceed the 
        approximately 105,000 acres previously impacted by nutria; and
            (4) methodologies developed for the State of Louisiana 
        under the Coastwide Nutria Control Program established under 
        the Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Act 
        (16 U.S.C. 3951 et seq.) may provide the basis for the 
        effective control and restoration of wetlands damage caused by 
        feral swine.
    (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to authorize the Secretary 
of the Interior to provide financial assistance to the State of 
Louisiana for a pilot program to develop measures to eradicate or 
control feral swine and to assess and restore wetlands damaged by feral 
swine.

SEC. 3. FERAL SWINE ERADICATION AND CONTROL PILOT PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--Subject to the availability of appropriations 
under subsection (e), the Secretary of the Interior (referred to in 
this section as the ``Secretary'') may provide financial assistance to 
the State of Louisiana to pay the Federal share of the cost of carrying 
out a pilot program--
            (1) to study and assess the nature and extent of damage to 
        wetlands in the State caused by feral swine;
            (2) to develop methods to eradicate or control feral swine 
        in the State that may also be used in other States; and
            (3) to develop methods to restore wetlands damaged by feral 
        swine.
    (b) Coordination.--In carrying out this section, the Secretary 
shall ensure that the pilot program consider and use, as appropriate, 
the knowledge and expertise gained through the activities carried out 
under--
            (1) the Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and 
        Restoration Act (16 U.S.C. 3951 et seq.); and
            (2) the Nutria Eradication and Control Act of 2003 (Public 
        Law 108-16; 117 Stat. 621).
    (c) Cost Sharing.--
            (1) Federal share.--The Federal share of the costs of the 
        pilot program under this section may not exceed 75 percent of 
        the total costs of carrying out the pilot program.
            (2) In-kind contributions.--The non-Federal share of the 
        costs of the pilot program may be provided in the form of in-
        kind contributions of materials or services.
    (d) Limitation on Administrative Expenses.--Not more than 10 
percent of financial assistance provided by the Secretary under this 
section may be used for administrative expenses.
    (e) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this section such sums as 
are necessary for each of fiscal years 2012 through 2016.
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