[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 60 (Thursday, May 5, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2738-S2740]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. CARDIN (for himself, Ms. Landrieu, Ms. Mikulski, Mr. 
        Merkley, and Mrs. Hagan):
  S. 899. A bill to provide for the eradication and control of nutria; 
to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, today I am proud to reintroduce the Nutria 
Eradication and Control Act of 2011 along with my colleagues, Senator 
Landrieu, Senator Mikulski, Senator Merkley, and Senator Hagan. This 
legislation will build on the successful Nutria Eradication and Control 
Act of 2003. This program encourages habitat protection, education, 
research, monitoring, and capacity building to provide for the long-
term protection of coastal wetlands from destruction caused by nutria.
  Invasive species are one of the largest threats to biodiversity in 
the United States today. As invasive species go, the nutria is one of 
the most destructive creatures we have, especially in my home State of 
Maryland and in Louisiana.
  The nutria is a large, semi-aquatic rodent that was originally 
brought to the United States to bolster the fur trade in the early 20th 
century. Unfortunately, we underestimated their strong appetite and 
high reproductive

[[Page S2739]]

potential. Since their introduction, the nutria have damaged millions 
of acres of wetlands and countless miles of shoreline and have even 
earned a spot among the International Union for Conservation of 
Nature's list of the world's 100 worst invasive alien species. By the 
early 1990s, the Chesapeake Bay/Delmarva Peninsula population was 
estimated to exceed 150,000 animals.
  These ``eating machines'' can consume up to 25 percent of their body 
weight in plants per day, feasting directly on plant roots. This wrecks 
havoc on our wetlands, turning our once productive lands into barren 
mud flats. The destruction exacerbates the damaging impacts of ongoing 
land subsidence and sea level rise.
  We understand how important our wetlands are and provide numerous 
ecosystem services to our society. They provide fish and wildlife 
habitat, flood protection, erosion control, and water quality 
preservation.
  In my own State of Maryland, nutria invaded the Blackwater National 
Wildlife Refuge nearly 6 decades ago, destroying vital habitat for 
native shorebirds, muskrats, and blue crabs. They are responsible for 
the loss of more than 5,000 acres of wetlands in this refuge alone.
  We must remember this has a significant impact on people--people who 
depend on it for their livelihood and for people who use it for 
recreation. The loss of Blackwater wetlands, that are vital to the 
fishery, was estimated to cost Maryland's economy nearly $4 million 
annually. Millions of Americans spend billions of dollars pursuing 
their fishing, hunting and wildlife watching activities, which 
contribute to millions of jobs in industries and businesses that 
support wildlife-related recreation.
  In 2000, Congress established a Federal funding source to develop a 
successful public-private partnership program to address nutria in 
Maryland. This financial support has directly led to the successful 
eradiation of nutria from 150,000 acres of the approximate 400,000 
acres of wetland habitats that they infest. The project success is due 
to strategic planning, permanent and dedicated staff members, and 
cooperation with private landowners.
  In Louisiana, an incentive program is used to encourage trappers to 
trap nutria. Since the implementation of the program, the damage to 
coastal wetlands has been reduced from 90,000 to 20,000 acres.
  The management techniques developed in Maryland and Louisiana have 
already been exported to other states like Oregon and Washington to 
control their own nutria populations and minimize the damage done to 
their marsh habitats. Healthy wetlands are returning to places where 
nutria have been removed. But the job is not yet done.
  Last Congress, I introduced the Nutria Eradication and Control Act of 
2009 to continue and improve the successful nutria eradication program 
in Maryland and Louisiana and expand it to other significantly impacted 
states like Oregon and Washington. This bill passed out of the Senate 
Environment and Public Works Committee in 2009 and had the support of 
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Maryland Department of Natural 
Resources, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries, and the 
Nature Conservancy.
  Today, I proudly rise again and rededicate myself to passing the 
Nutria Eradication Control Act of 2011. This bill will authorize the 
Secretary of the Interior to provide financial assistance to the states 
of Maryland, Louisiana, Delaware, Oregon, Washington, the Commonwealth 
of Virginia, and North Carolina to eradicate and control nutria 
populations and restore nutria-damaged wetlands.
  We know how valuable our wetlands are. We know how destructive the 
nutria is. We know what we can do to stop the nutria and that these 
programs work. I urge my colleagues to remember that we have a 
responsibility to be good stewards of the earth and to join me in 
supporting this bill.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                 S. 899

       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 ``Nutria Eradication and 
     Control Act of 2011''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSE.

       Section 2 of the Nutria Eradication and Control Act of 2003 
     (Public Law 108-16; 117 Stat. 621) is amended--
       (1) in subsection (a)--
       (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``and in Louisiana'' and 
     inserting ``, the State of Louisiana, and other coastal 
     States'';
       (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ``in Maryland and 
     Louisiana on Federal, State, and private land'' and inserting 
     ``on Federal, State, and private land in the States of 
     Maryland and Louisiana and in other coastal States''; and
       (C) by striking paragraphs (3) and (4) and inserting the 
     following:
       ``(3) This Act authorizes the Maryland Nutria Project, 
     which has successfully eradicated nutria from more than 
     130,000 acres of Chesapeake Bay wetlands in the State of 
     Maryland and facilitated the creation of voluntary, public-
     private partnerships and more than 406 cooperative landowner 
     agreements.
       ``(4) This Act and the Coastal Wetlands Planning, 
     Protection, and Restoration Act (16 U.S.C. 3951 et seq.) 
     authorize the Coastwide Nutria Control Program, which has 
     reduced nutria-impacted wetland acres in the State of 
     Louisiana from 80,000 acres to 23,141 acres.
       ``(5) The proven techniques developed under this Act that 
     are eradicating nutria in the State of Maryland and reducing 
     the acres of nutria-impacted wetlands in the State of 
     Louisiana should be applied to nutria eradication or control 
     programs in other nutria-infested coastal States''; and
       (2) by striking subsection (b) and inserting the following:
       ``(b) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to authorize the 
     Secretary of the Interior to provide financial assistance to 
     the States of Delaware, Louisiana, Maryland, North Carolina, 
     Oregon, Virginia, and Washington to carry out activities--
       ``(1) to eradicate or control nutria; and
       ``(2) to restore nutria damaged wetlands.''.

     SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

       The Nutria Eradication and Control Act of 2003 (Public Law 
     108-16; 117 Stat. 621) is amended--
       (1) by redesignating sections 3 and 4 as sections 4 and 5, 
     respectively; and
       (2) by inserting after section 2 the following:

     ``SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

       ``In this Act:
       ``(1) Coastal state.--The term `coastal State' means each 
     of the States of Delaware, Oregon, North Carolina, Virginia, 
     and Washington.
       ``(2) Program.--The term `program' means the nutria 
     eradication program established by section 4(a). ``
       ``(3) Public-private partnership.--The term `public-private 
     partnership' means a voluntary, cooperative project 
     undertaken by governmental entities or public officials and 
     affected communities, local citizens, nongovernmental 
     organizations, or other entities or persons in the private 
     sector.'
       ``(4) Secretary.--The term `Secretary' means the Secretary 
     of the Interior.''.

     SEC. 4. NUTRIA ERADICATION PROGRAM.

       Section 4 of the Nutria Eradication and Control Act of 2003 
     (Public Law 108-16; 117 Stat. 621) (as redesignated by 
     section 3) is amended--
       (1) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the following:
       ``(a) In General.--The Secretary may, subject to the 
     availability of appropriations, provide financial assistance 
     to the States of Maryland and Louisiana and the coastal 
     States to implement measures--
       ``(1) to eradicate or control nutria; and
       ``(2) to restore wetlands damaged by nutria.'';
       (2) in subsection (b)--
       (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting ``the State of'' before 
     ``Maryland'';
       (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ``other States'' and 
     inserting ``the coastal States''; and
       (C) in paragraph (3), by striking ``marshland'' and 
     inserting ``wetlands'';
       (3) in subsection (c)--
       (A) by striking ``(c) Activities'' and inserting ``(c) 
     Activities in the State of Maryland''; and
       (B) by inserting ``, and updated in March 2009'' before the 
     period at the end;
       (4) in subsection (e), by striking ``financial assistance 
     provided by the Secretary under this section'' and inserting 
     ``the amounts made available under subsection (f) to carry 
     out the program''; and
       (5) by striking subsection (f) and inserting the following:
       ``(f) Authorization of Appropriations.--Subject to 
     subsection (e), for each of fiscal years 2012 through 2016, 
     there are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to 
     carry out the program such sums as are necessary.''.

     SEC. 5. REPORT.

       Section 5 of the Nutria Eradication and Control Act of 2003 
     (Public Law 108-16; 117 Stat. 621) (as redesignated by 
     section 3) is amended--
       (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ``2002 document entitled 
     `Eradication Strategies for Nutria in the Chesapeake and 
     Delaware Bay Watersheds'; and'' and inserting ``March 2009 
     update of the document entitled `Eradication Strategies for 
     Nutria in the Chesapeake and

[[Page S2740]]

     Delaware Bay Watersheds' and originally dated March 2002;'';
       (2) in paragraph (2)--
       (A) by striking ``develop'' and inserting ``continue''; and
       (B) by striking the period at the end and inserting ``; 
     and''; and
       (3) by adding after paragraph (2) the following:
       ``(3) develop, in cooperation with the State of Delaware 
     Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, 
     the State of Virginia Department of Game and Inland 
     Fisheries, the State of Oregon Department of Fish and 
     Wildlife, the State of North Carolina Department of 
     Environment and Natural Resources, and the State of 
     Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, long-term nutria 
     control or eradication programs, as appropriate, with the 
     objective of--
       ``(A) significantly reducing and restoring the damage 
     nutria cause to coastal wetlands in the coastal States; and
       ``(B) promoting voluntary, public-private partnerships to 
     eradicate or control nutria and restoring nutria-damaged 
     wetlands in the coastal States.''.
                                 ______