Chronic Wasting Disease Management Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 689 To amend the Animal Health Protection Act 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 research regarding the causes of chronic wasting disease and methods to control the further spread of the disease, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 6, 2019 Mr. TESTER (for himself, Mr. CASEY, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. JONES, Ms. BALDWIN, and Ms. SMITH) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and For- estry A BILL To amend the Animal Health Protection Act to support State and Tribal efforts to develop and implement man- agement strategies to address chronic wasting disease among deer, elk, and moose populations, to support re- search 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 Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:30 Mar 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S689.IS S689 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 689 IS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Chronic Wasting Dis- 2 ease Management Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE SUPPORT FOR STATES 4 AND TRIBES. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Animal Health Protection 6 Act is amended by inserting after section 10409A (7 7 U.S.C. 8308a) the following: 8 ‘‘SEC. 10409B. CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE SUPPORT FOR 9 STATES AND TRIBES. 10 ‘‘(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 11 ‘‘(1) Pursuant to State and Federal law, the 12 States retain primacy and policymaking authority 13 with regard to wildlife management. 14 ‘‘(2) Chronic wasting disease, the fatal neuro- 15 logical disease found in cervids, is a fundamental 16 threat to the health and vibrancy of deer, elk, and 17 moose populations, and the increased occurrence of 18 chronic wasting disease in regionally diverse loca- 19 tions necessitates an escalation in research, surveil- 20 lance, monitoring, and management activities fo- 21 cused on containing and managing chronic wasting 22 disease. 23 ‘‘(3) As the States move to manage existing lev- 24 els of chronic wasting disease and insulate non- 25 infected wild and captive cervid populations from 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:30 Mar 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S689.IS S689 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 689 IS chronic wasting disease, the Federal Government 1 should provide integrated and holistic financial and 2 technical support to States, State departments of 3 wildlife, State departments of agriculture, institu- 4 tions of higher education, and related research cen- 5 ters conducting scientific research regarding chronic 6 wasting disease. 7 ‘‘(4) The Secretary should provide consistent, 8 coherent, and integrated support structures and pro- 9 grams for the benefit of State wildlife and agricul- 10 tural administrators, as chronic wasting disease can 11 move freely between captive and wild cervids across 12 Federal, State, Tribal, and local land management 13 jurisdictions. 14 ‘‘(5) The Secretary can provide consistent, co- 15 herent, and integrated support systems under exist- 16 ing legal authorities to States, State departments of 17 wildlife, State departments of agriculture, institu- 18 tions of higher education, and related research cen- 19 ters conducting scientific research regarding chronic 20 wasting disease. 21 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 22 ‘‘(1) CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE.—The term 23 ‘chronic wasting disease’ means the animal disease 24 afflicting deer, elk, and moose populations that— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:30 Mar 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S689.IS S689 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 689 IS ‘‘(A) is a transmissible disease of the nerv- 1 ous system resulting in distinctive lesions in the 2 brain; and 3 ‘‘(B) belongs to the group of diseases 4 known as transmissible spongiform encephalop- 5 athies, which includes scrapie, bovine 6 spongiform encephalopathy, and Cruetzfeldt- 7 Jakob disease. 8 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE GRANT RECIPIENT.—The term 9 ‘eligible grant recipient’ means a State department 10 of wildlife, a State department of agriculture, an in- 11 stitution of higher education, or a related research 12 center conducting scientific research regarding 13 chronic wasting disease. 14 ‘‘(c) SUPPORT FOR STATE EFFORTS TO MANAGE 15 AND CONTROL CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE.— 16 ‘‘(1) AVAILABILITY OF ASSISTANCE.—The Sec- 17 retary shall allocate funds made available under 18 clauses (i) and (ii) of paragraph (5)(A) directly to 19 State and Tribal agencies responsible for wildlife 20 management to support State and Tribal efforts to 21 develop and implement management strategies to 22 address chronic wasting disease. 23 ‘‘(2) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible to receive 24 funding under paragraph (1), a State or Tribal 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:30 Mar 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S689.IS S689 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 689 IS agency shall submit to the Secretary an application 1 for the funding at such time, in such manner, and 2 containing such information as the Secretary may 3 require. 4 ‘‘(3) FUNDING PRIORITIES.—In determining 5 the amounts to be allocated to State and Tribal 6 agencies under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall 7 give priority to States and Indian tribes— 8 ‘‘(A) with the highest incidence of chronic 9 wasting disease; 10 ‘‘(B) that have shown the greatest finan- 11 cial commitment to managing, monitoring, sur- 12 veying, and researching chronic wasting disease; 13 ‘‘(C) that have comprehensive policies and 14 programs focused on chronic wasting disease 15 management that are integrated among all in- 16 volved State or Tribal wildlife and agricultural 17 agencies; or 18 ‘‘(D) that have the greatest need for rapid 19 response to new outbreaks of chronic wasting 20 disease occurring in areas in which chronic 21 wasting disease is already found or areas with 22 first infections, with the intent of containing 23 chronic wasting disease in any new area of in- 24 fection. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:30 Mar 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S689.IS S689 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 689 IS ‘‘(4) RAPID RESPONSE.—If a State or Indian 1 tribe detects chronic wasting disease in a deer, elk, 2 or moose population that was not previously infected 3 with chronic wasting disease, the Secretary shall use 4 funds made available under paragraph (5)(A)(iii) to 5 support State and Tribal efforts to immediately con- 6 trol the spread of chronic wasting disease within 7 that population. 8 ‘‘(5) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to 10 be appropriated to the Secretary to carry out 11 this subsection $35,000,000 for each fiscal 12 year, to remain available until expended, of 13 which— 14 ‘‘(i) $20,000,000 shall be allocated to 15 States under paragraph (1); 16 ‘‘(ii) $5,000,000 shall be allocated to 17 Tribal agencies under paragraph (1); and 18 ‘‘(iii) $10,000,000 shall be retained 19 for rapid response under paragraph (4). 20 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION ON ADMINISTRATIVE 21 COSTS.—Not more than 3 percent of the 22 amount made available under subparagraph (A) 23 may be used to cover administrative expenses 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:30 Mar 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S689.IS S689 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 689 IS incurred by the Secretary in carrying out this 1 subsection. 2 ‘‘(d) SUPPORT FOR APPLIED RESEARCH REGARDING 3 CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE.— 4 ‘‘(1) EXPANSION OF RESEARCH GRANTS.—The 5 Secretary shall make grants to eligible grant recipi- 6 ents to support efforts to expand and accelerate ap- 7 plied research on chronic wasting disease, including 8 research relating to— 9 ‘‘(A) methods and products to effectively 10 detect infectious prions in, and decontaminate 11 infectious prions from, natural environments 12 and inorganic surfaces; 13 ‘‘(B) sustainable cervid harvest manage- 14 ment practices to reduce chronic wasting dis- 15 ease occurrence and to prevent or limit spatial 16 spread of chronic wasting disease; 17 ‘‘(C) management experiments and strate- 18 gies designed for long-term suppression of 19 chronic wasting disease; 20 ‘‘(D) harvest management practices and 21 other practices that exacerbate chronic wasting 22 disease occurrence, with an emphasis on retro- 23 spective analyses of available harvest manage- 24 ment and chronic wasting disease trend data; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:30 Mar 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S689.IS S689 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •S 689 IS ‘‘(E) factors contributing to local emer- 1 gence of chronic wasting disease, increased 2 prevalence of chronic wasting disease, and dis- 3 tribution of chronic wasting disease, including 4 mechanisms of disease transmission and effec- 5 tive barriers to transmission. 6 ‘‘(2) LIMITATIONS ON ADMINISTRATIVE 7 COSTS.— 8 ‘‘(A) ELIGIBLE GRANT RECIPIENTS.—Not 9 more than 15 percent of the amount of a grant 10 under paragraph (1) may be used by an eligible 11 grant recipient for administrative costs incurred 12 by the eligible grant recipient. 13 ‘‘(B) SECRETARY.—Not more than 3 per- 14 cent of the amount made available under para- 15 graph (3) may be used to cover administrative 16 expenses incurred by the Secretary in carrying 17 out this subsection. 18 ‘‘(3) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 19 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Sec- 20 retary to make grants under paragraph (1) 21 $25,000,000 for each fiscal year, to remain available 22 until expended. 23 ‘‘(e) MULTIAGENCY COOPERATION WITH STATES TO 24 ADDRESS CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE.—Land manage- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:30 Mar 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S689.IS S689 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •S 689 IS ment agencies of the Department of Agriculture and the 1 Department of the Interior shall work cooperatively with 2 States— 3 ‘‘(1) in the conduct of chronic wasting disease 4 research; and 5 ‘‘(2) in the implementation of State manage- 6 ment strategies to reduce the spread and prevalence 7 of chronic wasting disease. 8 ‘‘(f) EFFECT.—Nothing in this section interferes with 9 or otherwise affects the primacy of the States in managing 10 wildlife generally, including managing, surveying, and 11 monitoring the incidence of chronic wasting disease.’’. 12 (b) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—Section 10403(8) of 13 the Animal Health Protection Act (7 U.S.C. 8302(8)) is 14 amended by striking ‘‘(25 U.S.C. 450b)’’ and inserting 15 ‘‘(25 U.S.C. 5304)’’. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:30 Mar 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S689.IS S689 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS