II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 382 To authorize a special resource study on the spread vectors of chronic wasting disease in Cervidae, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 7, 2019 Mr. BARRASSO (for himself, Mr. BENNET, Mr. JONES, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mrs. CAPITO, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. CORNYN, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. ENZI, Mrs. FISCHER, Mr. GARDNER, Ms. HASSAN, Mr. HOEVEN, Mr. INHOFE, Mr. JOHNSON, Mr. KING, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. MANCHIN, Mr. PETERS, Ms. SMITH, Mr. THUNE, Mr. UDALL, Mr. WICKER, and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry A BILL To authorize a special resource study on the spread vectors of chronic wasting disease in Cervidae, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Chronic Wasting Dis- 4 ease Transmission in Cervidae Study Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:36 Feb 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S382.IS S382 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 382 IS (1) ACADEMY.—The term ‘‘Academy’’ means 1 the National Academy of Sciences. 2 (2) CERVID.—The term ‘‘cervid’’ means any 3 species within the family Cervidae. 4 (3) CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE.—The term 5 ‘‘chronic wasting disease’’ means the animal disease 6 afflicting deer, elk, and moose populations that— 7 (A) is a transmissible disease of the nerv- 8 ous system resulting in distinctive lesions in the 9 brain; and 10 (B) belongs to the group of diseases known 11 as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, 12 which group includes scrapie, bovine spongiform 13 encephalopathy, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. 14 (4) SECRETARIES.—The term ‘‘Secretaries’’ 15 means— 16 (A) the Secretary of Agriculture, acting 17 through the Administrator of the Animal and 18 Plant Health Inspection Service; and 19 (B) the Secretary of the Interior, acting 20 through the Director of the United States Geo- 21 logical Survey. 22 SEC. 3. CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE TRANSMISSION IN 23 CERVIDAE RESOURCE STUDY. 24 (a) STUDY.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:36 Feb 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S382.IS S382 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 382 IS (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretaries shall enter 1 into an arrangement with the Academy under which 2 the Academy shall conduct, and submit to the Secre- 3 taries a report describing the findings of, a special 4 resource study to identify the predominant pathways 5 and mechanisms of the transmission of chronic wast- 6 ing disease in wild, captive, and farmed populations 7 of cervids in the United States. 8 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—The arrangement under 9 paragraph (1) shall provide that the actual expenses 10 incurred by the Academy in conducting the study 11 under paragraph (1) shall be paid by the Secre- 12 taries. 13 (b) CONTENTS OF THE STUDY.—The study under 14 subsection (a) shall— 15 (1) with respect to wild, captive, and farmed 16 populations of cervids in the United States, iden- 17 tify— 18 (A)(i) the pathways and mechanisms for 19 the transmission of chronic wasting disease 20 within live cervid populations and cervid prod- 21 ucts, which may include pathways and mecha- 22 nisms for transmission from Canada; 23 (ii) the infection rates for each pathway 24 and mechanism identified under clause (i); and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:36 Feb 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S382.IS S382 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 382 IS (iii) the relative frequency of transmission 1 of each pathway and mechanism identified 2 under clause (i); 3 (B)(i) anthropogenic and environmental 4 factors contributing to new chronic wasting dis- 5 ease emergence events; 6 (ii) the development of geographical areas 7 with increased chronic wasting disease preva- 8 lence; and 9 (iii) the overall geographical patterns of 10 chronic wasting disease distribution; 11 (C) significant gaps in current scientific 12 knowledge regarding the transmission pathways 13 and mechanisms identified under subparagraph 14 (A)(i); and 15 (D) for prioritization the scientific research 16 projects that will address the knowledge gaps 17 identified under subparagraph (C); and 18 (2) review and compare science-based best prac- 19 tices, standards, and guidance regarding the man- 20 agement of chronic wasting disease in wild, captive, 21 and farmed populations of cervids in the United 22 States that have been developed by— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:36 Feb 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S382.IS S382 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 382 IS (A) the National Chronic Wasting Disease 1 Herd Certification Program of the Animal and 2 Plant Health Inspection Service; 3 (B) the United States Geological Survey; 4 and 5 (C) State wildlife and agricultural agen- 6 cies, in the case of practices, standards, and 7 guidance that provide practical, science-based 8 recommendations to State and Federal agencies 9 for minimizing or eliminating the risk of trans- 10 mission of chronic wasting disease in the 11 United States. 12 (c) DEADLINE.—The study under subsection (a) shall 13 be completed not later than 180 days after the date on 14 which funds are first made available for the study. 15 (d) DATA SHARING.—The Secretaries shall share 16 with the entity conducting the study under subsection (a) 17 data and access to databases on chronic wasting disease 18 under the jurisdiction of— 19 (1) the Veterinary Services Program of the Ani- 20 mal and Plant Health Inspection Service; and 21 (2) the United States Geological Survey. 22 (e) REPORT.—On completion of the study, the Secre- 23 taries shall submit to the Committee on Agriculture, Nu- 24 trition, and Forestry, the Committee on Energy and Nat- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:36 Feb 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S382.IS S382 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 382 IS ural Resources, and the Committee on Environment and 1 Public Works of the Senate and the Committee on Agri- 2 culture and the Committee on Natural Resources of the 3 House of Representatives a report that describes— 4 (1) the findings of the study; and 5 (2) any conclusions and recommendations that 6 the Secretaries determine to be appropriate. 7 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:36 Feb 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S382.IS S382 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS