[House Report 118-849]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
118th Congress } { Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2d Session } { 118-849
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NUTRIA ERADICATION AND CONTROL REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2024
_______
December 10, 2024.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on
the State of the Union and ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Westerman, from the Committee on Natural Resources, submitted the
following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 8308]
The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred
the bill (H.R. 8308) to reauthorize the Nutria Eradication and
Control Act of 2003, having considered the same, reports
favorably thereon without amendment and recommends that the
bill do pass.
Purpose of the Legislation
The purpose of H.R. 8308 is to reauthorize the Nutria
Eradication and Control Act of 2003.
Background and Need for Legislation
H.R. 8308 reauthorizes the Nutria Eradication and Control
Act of 2003 through FY 2030 at the existing authorization of
appropriation levels. Nutria are native to South America but
were introduced to North America in 1899 for fur production.\1\
Nutria eat, dig, and trample healthy wetland habitat causing
significant amounts of erosion and habitat damage to native
ecosystems. The Chesapeake Bay Nutria Eradication Project
(CBNEP) has been successful, as nutria was declared eradicated
in Maryland as of 2022.\2\ The Chesapeake Bay area is one of
the great successes of this program, at the time of original
passage an estimated 17 percent of Chesapeake marshlands had
been destroyed by nutria.\3\ Efforts have also been successful
in California, where 4,338 nutria have been taken since
2017,\4\ and to a more considerable extent in Louisiana, where
5,549,662 nutria have been taken.\5\
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\1\Bill Report, To Amend the Nutria Eradication and Control Act of
2003 to Include California in the Program, and for Other Purposes.
February 25, 2020.
\2\USWFS, Decades-long Partnership Eradicates Destructive Nutria
Rodents from Maryland. September 16, 2022. https://www.fws.gov/press-
release/2022-09/decades-long-partnership-
eradicates-destructive-nutria-rodents-maryland.
\3\Id.
\4\California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Discovery of
Invasive Nutria in California, May 16, 2024. https://wildlife.ca.gov/
Conservation/Invasives/Species/Nutria/Infestation.
\5\Herbivory Damage and Harvest Maps. Louisiana Department of
Wildlife and Fisheries. https://nutria.com/nutria-controlprogram/
herbivory-damage-and-harvest-maps/.
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Committee Action
H.R. 8308 was introduced on May 8, 2024, by Rep. Josh
Harder (D-CA). The bill was referred to the Committee on
Natural Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee
on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries. On July 9, 2024, the
Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries held a hearing on
the bill. On November 20, 2024, the Committee on Natural
Resources met to consider the bill. The Subcommittee on Water,
Wildlife and Fisheries was discharged from further
consideration of H.R. 8308 by unanimous consent. The bill was
ordered favorably reported to the House of Representatives by
unanimous consent.
Hearings
For the purposes of clause 3(c)(6) of House rule XIII, the
following hearing was used to develop or consider this measure:
hearing by the Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries
held on July 9, 2024.
Section-by-Section Analysis
Section 1. Short title
Section 1 establishes the short title of this act as the
``Nutria Eradication and Control Reauthorization Act of 2024''.
Section 2. Reauthorization of Nutria Eradication and Control Act of
2003
Section 2 reauthorizes the nutria eradication program
through 2030 at existing funding levels.
Committee Oversight Findings and Recommendations
Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the
Committee on Natural Resources' oversight findings and
recommendations are reflected in the body of this report.
Compliance With House Rule XIII and Congressional Budget Act
1. Cost of Legislation and the Congressional Budget Act.
Pursuant to clause 3(c)(2) of House rule XIII and section
308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, and pursuant to
clause 3(c)(3) of House rule XIII and section 402 of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee has requested
but not received from the Director of the Congressional Budget
Office a budgetary analysis and a cost estimate of this bill.
2. General Performance Goals and Objectives. As required by
clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII, the general performance goal or
objective of this bill is to reauthorize the Nutria Eradication
and Control Act of 2003.
Earmark Statement
This bill does not contain any Congressional earmarks,
limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined
under clause 9(e), 9(f), and 9(g) of rule XXI of the Rules of
the House of Representatives.
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act Statement
An estimate of federal mandates prepared by the Director of
the Congressional Budget Office pursuant to section 423 of the
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act was not made available to the
Committee in time for the filing of this report. The Chair of
the Committee shall cause such estimate to be printed in the
Congressional Record upon its receipt by the Committee, if such
estimate is not publicly available on the Congressional Budget
Office website.
Existing Programs
Directed Rule Making. This bill does not contain any
directed rule makings.
Duplication of Existing Programs. This bill does not
establish or reauthorize a program of the federal government
known to be duplicative of another program. Such program was
not included in any report from the Government Accountability
Office to Congress pursuant to section 21 of Public Law 111-139
or identified in the most recent Catalog of Federal Domestic
Assistance published pursuant to the Federal Program
Information Act (Public Law 95-220, as amended by Public Law
98-169) as relating to other programs.
Applicability to Legislative Branch
The Committee finds that the legislation does not relate to
the terms and conditions of employment or access to public
services or accommodations within the meaning of section
102(b)(3) of the Congressional Accountability Act.
Preemption of State, Local or Tribal Law
Any preemptive effect of this bill over state, local, or
tribal law is intended to be consistent with the bill's
purposes and text and the Supremacy Clause of Article VI of the
U.S. Constitution.
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported
In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (existing law
proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new
matter is printed in italics, and existing law in which no
change is proposed is shown in roman):
NUTRIA ERADICATION AND CONTROL ACT OF 2003
* * * * * * *
SEC. 3. NUTRIA ERADICATION PROGRAM.
(a) Grant Authority.--The Secretary of the Interior (referred
to in this Act as the [``Secretary''),] ``Secretary'') may
provide financial assistance to a State, in an amount that is
in proportion to the total impacted area of such State affected
by nutria, that has demonstrated to the Secretary sufficient
need for a program to implement measures to eradicate or
control nutria and restore marshland, public and private
wetlands, and agricultural lands damaged by nutria.
(b) Activities.--In the State of Maryland, the Secretary
shall require that the program consist of management, research,
and public education activities carried out in accordance with
the document published by the United States Fish and Wildlife
Service entitled ``Eradication Strategies for Nutria in the
Chesapeake and Delaware Bay Watersheds'', dated March 2002.
(c) Cost Sharing.--
(1) Federal share.--The Federal share of the costs of
a State program referred to in subsection (a) may not
exceed 75 percent of the total costs of the program.
(2) In-kind contributions.--The non-Federal share of
the costs of a State program referred to in subsection
(a) may be provided in the form of in-kind
contributions of materials or services.
(d) Limitation on Administrative Expenses.--Not more than 5
percent of financial assistance provided to a State by the
Secretary under this section may be used for administrative
expenses.
(e) Authorization of Appropriations.--For financial
assistance under this section, there is authorized to be
appropriated to the Secretary $12,000,000 for each of fiscal
years 2021 through [2025] 2030.
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