[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3244 Introduced in House (IH)]
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116th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3244
To amend the Plant Protection Act for purposes of mitigating the threat
of invasive species, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 12, 2019
Mr. Welch introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Agriculture
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Plant Protection Act for purposes of mitigating the threat
of invasive species, 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.
This Act may be cited as the ``Invasive Species Prevention and
Forest Restoration Act''.
SEC. 2. EXPANDING EMERGENCY AUTHORITY WITH RESPECT TO INVASIVE SPECIES.
(a) In General.--Subsection (a) of section 442 of the Plant
Protection Act (7 U.S.C. 7772) is amended by striking ``noxious weed
threatens'' and inserting ``noxious weed directly or indirectly
threatens''.
(b) Emergency Defined.--Section 442 of the Plant Protection Act (7
U.S.C. 7772) is amended by adding at the end the following new
subsection:
``(d) Emergency Defined.--In this section, the term `emergency'
means an outbreak of a plant pest or noxious weed that the Secretary
determines is occurring at a time during which insufficient Federal
funds are available to timely achieve the arrest, control, eradication,
or prevention of the spread of such plant pest or noxious weed.''.
(c) Disbursement of Funds.--Subsection (b) of section 442 of the
Plant Protection Act (7 U.S.C. 7772) is amended by adding at the end
the following: ``Any funds so transferred with respect to a designation
of an emergency under subsection (a) shall be transferred not later
than 60 days after the date on which such designation is made.''.
SEC. 3. FOREST RECLAMATION GRANTS.
Subtitle K of the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and
Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3310 et seq.) is amended by
adding at the end the following new section:
``SEC. 1473H. FOREST RECLAMATION GRANTS.
``(a) Establishment of Program.--The Secretary, for purposes of
addressing the critical threat to numerous tree species posed by non-
native plant pests and noxious weeds, shall award competitive grants to
eligible institutions under which such eligible institutions--
``(1) conduct research to promote the restoration of
affected tree species, including research on--
``(A) biological control of plant pests or noxious
weeds threatening native tree species heavily damaged
by non-native pests;
``(B) exploration of genetic manipulation of plant
pests or noxious weeds;
``(C) enhancement of host-resistance mechanisms;
and
``(D) development of other strategies for restoring
individual tree species; and
``(2) develop and disseminate to the public tools and
information based on the research conducted under this section.
``(b) Eligible Institutions.--An entity eligible to receive a grant
under this section is any of the following:
``(1) An agency of the Federal Government.
``(2) A State cooperative institution.
``(3) A college or university offering a baccalaureate or
higher degree in the study of food, forestry, and agricultural
sciences.
``(4) A nonprofit entity described in section 501(c)(3) of
the Internal Revenue Code (and exempt from tax under section
501(a) of such Code).
``(c) Application.--Each eligible institution seeking to receive a
grant under this section shall submit a comprehensive forest
restoration research program to the Secretary at such time, in such
manner, and containing such information as the Secretary may require.
``(d) Use of Funds.--
``(1) In general.--An eligible institution receiving a
grant under this section may use funds received through such
grant only to conduct research intended to address specific
questions related to the recovery of tree species native to the
United States suffering severe levels of mortality caused by
non-native plant pests or noxious weeds.
``(2) Matching requirement.--An eligible institution
receiving a grant under this section shall provide matching
funds from non-Federal sources in an amount equal to not less
than 20 percent of the grant. Indirect costs charged against a
grant awarded under this section shall not exceed 30 percent of
the total Federal funds provided under the grant award.
``(3) Maximum amount of grants.--The total amount of grant
funding a grant recipient is eligible to receive under this
section shall not exceed $400,000 per year.
``(e) Cooperation Among Eligible Institutions.--The Secretary, to
the maximum extent practicable, shall encourage eligible institutions
to cooperate in setting research priorities under this section.
``(f) Administration.--In carrying out this subsection, the
Secretary shall--
``(1) establish a committee of experts composed of
representatives of the Forest Service, the Animal and Plant
Health Inspection Service, the Agricultural Research Service,
and State forestry agencies to advise the Secretary on criteria
appropriate for--
``(A) defining research topics eligible for funding
under this section;
``(B) reviewing grant proposals' adherence to the
purposes specified in subsection (a)(1); and
``(C) membership in scientific peer review panels
to review grant applications;
``(2) establish an advisory committee composed of
representatives of land-grant colleges and universities and
affiliated State agricultural experiment stations, the forest
products industry, recreationists, and conservation
organizations to assist the committee of experts established
under paragraph (1) with respect to the responsibilities of
such committee specified in subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C) of
such paragraph; and
``(3) submit, beginning one year after the date on which
the first grant is awarded under this section, and annually
thereafter, to the Committee on Agriculture of the House of
Representatives and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition,
and Forestry of the Senate a report on the use of funds under
this section in the previous year.
``(g) Funding.--Of the funds available to the Commodity Credit
Corporation, the Secretary shall make available to carry out this
section--
``(1) $3,000,000 for fiscal year 2019;
``(2) $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2020;
``(3) $8,000,000 for fiscal year 2021; and
``(4) $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2022.
``(h) Definitions.--In this section and in section 1473I, the terms
`plant pest' and `noxious weed' have the meanings given such terms in
section 403 of the Plant Protection Act (7 U.S.C. 7702).''.
SEC. 4. FOREST RESTORATION IMPLEMENTATION GRANTS.
Subtitle K of the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and
Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3310 et seq.), as amended by
section 3, is further amended by adding at the end the following new
section:
``SEC. 1473I. FOREST RESTORATION IMPLEMENTATION GRANTS.
``(a) In General.--The Secretary may award grants on a competitive
basis under this section to eligible entities to support--
``(1) the implementation of research conducted pursuant to
section 1473H; or
``(2) any other solution that the committee established
under subsection (f)(1) of such section determines to be an
effective solution to restore forest tree species native to
forests in the United States that have suffered severe levels
of mortality caused by non-native plant pests or noxious weeds.
``(b) Eligible Entities.--An entity eligible to receive a grant
under this section is any of the following:
``(1) A cooperating forestry school.
``(2) A land-grant college or university.
``(3) A State agricultural experimental station.
``(4) A non-profit, non-governmental organization.
``(c) Application.--Each eligible institution seeking to receive a
grant under this section shall submit an application to the Secretary
at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the
Secretary may require. Such application shall demonstrate to the
satisfaction of the Secretary that the entity has a program in effect
with a forest restoration strategy that incorporates a majority of the
following components:
``(1) Collection and conservation of native tree genetic
material.
``(2) Production of propagules of native trees in numbers
large enough for landscape scale restoration.
``(3) Preparation of planting sites in former habitats of
the native tree species that is the subject of the proposal.
``(4) Planting of native tree seedlings.
``(5) Post-planting maintenance of native trees.
``(d) Selection Criteria.--The Secretary shall select an eligible
entity to receive a grant under this section based on the degree to
which the entity's application addresses the following criteria:
``(1) Risk posed to the forests of the State in which the
work is to be conducted by non-native plant pest or noxious
weed species present in the State.
``(2) The proportion of such State's forest composed of
species vulnerable to non-native plant pests or noxious weeds
present in the United States.
``(3) The non-native plant pests or noxious weeds' rate of
spread via natural or human-assisted means.
``(4) The environmental and public health safety of the
proposed project, as demonstrated by supporting research.
``(e) Matching Requirement.--An eligible institution receiving a
grant under this section shall provide matching funds from non-Federal
sources in an amount equal to not less than 10 percent of the grant.
Indirect costs charged against a grant awarded under this section shall
not exceed 30 percent of the total Federal funds provided under the
grant award.
``(f) Authorization of Appropriations.--
``(1) In general.--There are authorized to be appropriated
to carry out this section $25,000,000 for each fiscal years
2020 through 2024.
``(2) Limitation.--Of the funds made available under
paragraph (1) for a fiscal year, not more than 5 percent of
such amounts may be used by the Secretary for expenses related
to administering the program under this section.''.
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