[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2691 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2691

To amend certain appropriation Acts to repeal the requirement directing 
  the Administrator of General Services to sell Federal property and 
 assets that support the operations of the Plum Island Animal Disease 
        Center in Plum Island, New York, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 16, 2013

   Mr. Bishop of New York (for himself, Mr. Courtney, and Mr. Grimm) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                           Homeland Security

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend certain appropriation Acts to repeal the requirement directing 
  the Administrator of General Services to sell Federal property and 
 assets that support the operations of the Plum Island Animal Disease 
        Center in Plum Island, New York, 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. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Federal Government has owned Plum Island since 
        1899.
            (2) Since 1954, the Animal Disease Center on Plum Island 
        has conducted first-rate scientific research on a variety of 
        infectious animal-borne diseases, including foot-and-mouth 
        disease, resulting, most recently, in the development of a new 
        cell line that rapidly and reliably detects this highly 
        debilitating disease of livestock.
            (3) The safety record of the Center is unparalleled, with 
        no accidental releases reaching the mainland in the history of 
        the Center.
            (4) $23,200,000 in Federal funds have been spent on 
        upgrades to, and the maintenance of, the Plum Island Animal 
        Disease Center since January 2012, and significant investments 
        in the Center in the next five years are likely.
            (5) In addition to the Animal Disease Center, Plum Island 
        contains cultural, historical, ecological, and natural 
        resources of regional and national significance.
            (6) Plum Island is situated where the Long Island Sound and 
        Peconic Bay meet, each being estuaries that are part of the 
        National Estuary Program, reflecting each natural system's 
        nationally significant environmental and economic values to the 
        region.
            (7) The Federal Government has invested hundreds of 
        millions of Federal funds over the last two decades to make 
        long-term improvements with respect to the conservation and 
        management needs of Long Island Sound and Peconic Bay.
            (8) Due to cleanup costs from past Center activities and 
        the zoning proposed by the town of Southold, New York, 
        prohibiting residental or commercial development, the Federal 
        Government will receive very little to no compensation from the 
        sale of Plum Island.

SEC. 2. REPEAL OF REQUIREMENT TO SELL CERTAIN FEDERAL PROPERTY IN PLUM 
              ISLAND, NEW YORK.

    (a) Repeal in Public Law 110-329.--Section 540 of title V of 
division D of the Consolidated Security, Disaster Assistance, and 
Continuing Appropriations Act, 2009 (Public Law 110-329; 122 Stat. 
3688) is repealed.
    (b) Repeal in Public Law 112-74.--Section 538 of title V of 
division D of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2012 (Public Law 
112-74; 125 Stat. 976) is repealed.
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