[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1550 Introduced in House (IH)]
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116th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1550
To support State and tribal efforts to develop and implement management
strategies to address chronic wasting disease among deer, elk, and
moose populations, to support applied research regarding the causes of
chronic wasting disease and methods to control the further spread of
the disease, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 6, 2019
Mr. Kind (for himself and Mr. Sensenbrenner) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in
addition to the Committee on Natural Resources, for a period to be
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration
of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee
concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To support State and tribal efforts to develop and implement management
strategies to address chronic wasting disease among deer, elk, and
moose populations, to support applied research regarding the causes of
chronic wasting disease and methods to control the further spread of
the disease, 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. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Chronic Wasting
Disease Management Act''.
(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act is as
follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Definitions.
Sec. 3. Findings.
Sec. 4. Support for State efforts to manage and control chronic wasting
disease.
Sec. 5. Support for applied research regarding chronic wasting disease.
Sec. 6. Multi-agency cooperation with States to address chronic wasting
disease.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Chronic wasting disease.--The term ``chronic wasting
disease'' means the animal disease afflicting among deer, elk,
and moose populations that--
(A) is a transmissible disease of the nervous
system resulting in distinctive lesions in the brain;
and
(B) belongs to the group of diseases known as
transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, which group
includes scrapie, bovine spongiform encephalopathy, and
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
(2) Eligible grant recipient.--The term ``eligible grant
recipient'' means a State department of wildlife, State
department of agriculture, college or university, or related
research center conducting scientific applied research
regarding chronic wasting disease.
(3) Indian tribe.--The term ``Indian tribe'' has the
meaning given the term in section 4 of the Indian Self-
Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b).
(4) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Agriculture, acting through the Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service-Wildlife Services.
SEC. 3. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Pursuant to State and Federal law, the States retain
primary and policy-making authority with regard to wildlife
management, and nothing in this Act interferes with or
otherwise affects the primary authority of the States in
managing wildlife generally, or managing, surveying, and
monitoring the incidence of chronic wasting disease.
(2) Chronic wasting disease, the fatal neurological disease
found in cervids, is a fundamental threat to the health and
vibrancy of deer, elk, and moose populations, and the increased
occurrence of chronic wasting disease in regionally diverse
locations in recent months necessitates an escalation in
applied research, surveillance, monitoring, and management
activities focused on containing and managing this lethal
disease.
(3) As the States move to manage existing levels of chronic
wasting disease and insulate noninfected wild and captive
cervid populations from the disease, the Federal Government
should endeavor to provide integrated and holistic financial
and technical support to these States and the many State
departments of wildlife, State departments of agriculture,
colleges and universities, and related research centers
conducting scientific applied research regarding chronic
wasting disease.
(4) The Secretary should provide consistent, coherent, and
integrated support structures and programs for the benefit of
State wildlife and agricultural administrators, as chronic
wasting disease can move freely between captive and wild
cervids across the broad array of Federal, State, tribal, and
local land management jurisdictions.
(5) The Secretary can provide consistent, coherent, and
integrated support systems under existing legal authorities to
States and the many State departments of wildlife, State
departments of agriculture, colleges and universities, and
related research centers conducting scientific applied research
regarding chronic wasting disease.
SEC. 4. SUPPORT FOR STATE EFFORTS TO MANAGE AND CONTROL CHRONIC WASTING
DISEASE.
(a) Availability of Assistance.--The Secretary shall allocate funds
made available under subparagraphs (A) and (B) of subsection (e)(1)
directly to State and tribal agencies responsible for wildlife
management to support State and tribal efforts to develop and implement
management strategies to address chronic wasting disease.
(b) Petition Process.--A State or tribal agency shall petition the
Secretary for a portion of the funds available under subsection (a).
(c) Funding Priorities.--In determining the amounts to be allocated
to State and tribal agencies under subsection (a), the Secretary shall
give priority to States and tribal agencies based on the following
criteria:
(1) Relative scope of incidence of chronic wasting disease
on lands of the State or Indian tribe, with priority given to
those States and Indian tribes with the highest incidence of
the disease.
(2) State or tribal expenditures on chronic wasting disease
management, monitoring, surveillance, and applied research,
with priority given to those States and Indian tribes that have
shown the greatest financial commitment to managing,
monitoring, surveying, and researching chronic wasting disease.
(3) Comprehensive and integrated State or tribal policies
and programs focused on chronic wasting disease management
between involved State or tribal wildlife and agricultural
agencies, with priority given to those States and Indian tribes
that have integrated the programs and policies of all involved
agencies related to chronic wasting disease management.
(4) Rapid response to new outbreaks of chronic wasting
disease, whether occurring in areas in which chronic wasting
disease is already found or areas with first infections, with
the intent of containing the disease in any new area of
infection.
(d) Rapid Response Fund.--The Secretary shall use funds made
available under subsection (e)(1)(C) as a rapid response fund to
support State and tribal efforts to control the spread of chronic
wasting disease upon the detection of chronic wasting disease among
deer, elk, or moose populations not previously infected.
(e) Authorization of Appropriations.--
(1) In general.--There are authorized to be appropriated to
the Secretary $35,000,000 to support State and tribal efforts
to manage and control chronic wasting disease, of which--
(A) $20,000,000 shall be allocated to States under
subsection (a);
(B) $5,000,000 shall be allocated to tribal
agencies under subsection (a); and
(C) $10,000,000 shall be retained for the rapid
response fund under subsection (d).
(2) Availability.--Funds appropriated pursuant to the
authorization of appropriations in paragraph (1) shall remain
available until expended.
(3) Limitation on administrative costs.--Not more than
three percent of the amount appropriated pursuant to the
authorization of appropriations in paragraph (1) may be used to
cover administrative expenses incurred by the Secretary.
SEC. 5. SUPPORT FOR APPLIED RESEARCH REGARDING CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE.
(a) Expansion of Applied Research Grants.--The Secretary shall make
grants to support efforts to expand and accelerate applied research on
chronic wasting disease, including (but not limited to) research
regarding the following:
(1) Sustainable cervid harvest management practices to
reduce chronic wasting disease occurrence and to prevent or
limit spatial spread of chronic wasting disease.
(2) Management experiments and strategies designed for
long-term suppression of chronic wasting disease.
(3) Harvest management practices and other practices that
exacerbate chronic wasting disease occurrence, with an emphasis
on retrospective analyses of available harvest management and
chronic wasting disease trend data.
(4) Factors contributing to local emergence of chronic
wasting disease, increased prevalence of chronic wasting
disease, and distribution of chronic wasting disease, including
mechanisms of disease transmission and effective barriers to
transmission.
(5) Methods and products to effectively detect infectious
prions in, and decontaminate infectious prions from natural
environments and inorganic surfaces.
(b) Authorization of Appropriations.--
(1) In general.--There are authorized to be appropriated to
the Secretary $10,000,000 to make grants under subsection (a).
(2) Availability.--Funds appropriated pursuant to the
authorization of appropriations in paragraph (1) shall remain
available until expended.
(3) Limitation on administrative costs.--Not more than
three percent of the amount appropriated pursuant to the
authorization of appropriations in paragraph (1) may be used to
cover administrative expenses incurred by the Secretary.
SEC. 6. MULTI-AGENCY COOPERATION WITH STATES TO ADDRESS CHRONIC WASTING
DISEASE.
Land management agencies of the Department of Agriculture and the
Department of the Interior shall work cooperatively with States--
(1) in the conduct of applied research regarding chronic
wasting disease; and
(2) in the implementation of State chronic wasting disease
response plans to reduce the spread and prevalence of chronic
wasting disease.
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