Chronic Wasting Disease Management Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1550 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 applied research regarding the causes of chronic wasting disease and methods to control the further spread of the disease, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 6, 2019 Mr. KIND (for himself and Mr. SENSENBRENNER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on Natural Resources, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provi- sions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To support State and tribal efforts to develop and implement management strategies to address chronic wasting dis- ease among deer, elk, and moose populations, to support applied research 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 18:13 Mar 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1550.IH H1550 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1550 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 1 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 2 ‘‘Chronic Wasting Disease Management Act’’. 3 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 4 this Act is as follows: 5 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Definitions. Sec. 3. Findings. Sec. 4. Support for State efforts to manage and control chronic wasting dis- ease. Sec. 5. Support for applied research regarding chronic wasting disease. Sec. 6. Multi-agency cooperation with States to address chronic wasting dis- ease. SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act: 7 (1) CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE.—The term 8 ‘‘chronic wasting disease’’ means the animal disease 9 afflicting among deer, elk, and moose populations 10 that— 11 (A) is a transmissible disease of the nerv- 12 ous system resulting in distinctive lesions in the 13 brain; and 14 (B) belongs to the group of diseases known 15 as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, 16 which group includes scrapie, bovine spongiform 17 encephalopathy, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. 18 (2) ELIGIBLE GRANT RECIPIENT.—The term 19 ‘‘eligible grant recipient’’ means a State department 20 of wildlife, State department of agriculture, college 21 or university, or related research center conducting 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:13 Mar 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1550.IH H1550 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1550 IH scientific applied research regarding chronic wasting 1 disease. 2 (3) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ 3 has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the 4 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 5 Act (25 U.S.C. 450b). 6 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 7 the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Ani- 8 mal and Plant Health Inspection Service-Wildlife 9 Services. 10 SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 11 Congress finds the following: 12 (1) Pursuant to State and Federal law, the 13 States retain primary and policy-making authority 14 with regard to wildlife management, and nothing in 15 this Act interferes with or otherwise affects the pri- 16 mary authority of the States in managing wildlife 17 generally, or managing, surveying, and monitoring 18 the incidence of chronic wasting disease. 19 (2) Chronic wasting disease, the fatal neuro- 20 logical disease found in cervids, is a fundamental 21 threat to the health and vibrancy of deer, elk, and 22 moose populations, and the increased occurrence of 23 chronic wasting disease in regionally diverse loca- 24 tions in recent months necessitates an escalation in 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:13 Mar 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1550.IH H1550 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1550 IH applied research, surveillance, monitoring, and man- 1 agement activities focused on containing and man- 2 aging this lethal disease. 3 (3) As the States move to manage existing lev- 4 els of chronic wasting disease and insulate non- 5 infected wild and captive cervid populations from the 6 disease, the Federal Government should endeavor to 7 provide integrated and holistic financial and tech- 8 nical support to these States and the many State de- 9 partments of wildlife, State departments of agri- 10 culture, colleges and universities, and related re- 11 search centers conducting scientific applied research 12 regarding chronic wasting disease. 13 (4) The Secretary should provide consistent, co- 14 herent, and integrated support structures and pro- 15 grams for the benefit of State wildlife and agricul- 16 tural administrators, as chronic wasting disease can 17 move freely between captive and wild cervids across 18 the broad array of Federal, State, tribal, and local 19 land management jurisdictions. 20 (5) The Secretary can provide consistent, coher- 21 ent, and integrated support systems under existing 22 legal authorities to States and the many State de- 23 partments of wildlife, State departments of agri- 24 culture, colleges and universities, and related re- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:13 Mar 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1550.IH H1550 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1550 IH search centers conducting scientific applied research 1 regarding chronic wasting disease. 2 SEC. 4. SUPPORT FOR STATE EFFORTS TO MANAGE AND 3 CONTROL CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE. 4 (a) AVAILABILITY OF ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary 5 shall allocate funds made available under subparagraphs 6 (A) and (B) of subsection (e)(1) directly to State and trib- 7 al agencies responsible for wildlife management to support 8 State and tribal efforts to develop and implement manage- 9 ment strategies to address chronic wasting disease. 10 (b) PETITION PROCESS.—A State or tribal agency 11 shall petition the Secretary for a portion of the funds 12 available under subsection (a). 13 (c) FUNDING PRIORITIES.—In determining the 14 amounts to be allocated to State and tribal agencies under 15 subsection (a), the Secretary shall give priority to States 16 and tribal agencies based on the following criteria: 17 (1) Relative scope of incidence of chronic wast- 18 ing disease on lands of the State or Indian tribe, 19 with priority given to those States and Indian tribes 20 with the highest incidence of the disease. 21 (2) State or tribal expenditures on chronic 22 wasting disease management, monitoring, surveil- 23 lance, and applied research, with priority given to 24 those States and Indian tribes that have shown the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:13 Mar 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1550.IH H1550 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1550 IH greatest financial commitment to managing, moni- 1 toring, surveying, and researching chronic wasting 2 disease. 3 (3) Comprehensive and integrated State or trib- 4 al policies and programs focused on chronic wasting 5 disease management between involved State or tribal 6 wildlife and agricultural agencies, with priority given 7 to those States and Indian tribes that have inte- 8 grated the programs and policies of all involved 9 agencies related to chronic wasting disease manage- 10 ment. 11 (4) Rapid response to new outbreaks of chronic 12 wasting disease, whether occurring in areas in which 13 chronic wasting disease is already found or areas 14 with first infections, with the intent of containing 15 the disease in any new area of infection. 16 (d) RAPID RESPONSE FUND.—The Secretary shall 17 use funds made available under subsection (e)(1)(C) as 18 a rapid response fund to support State and tribal efforts 19 to control the spread of chronic wasting disease upon the 20 detection of chronic wasting disease among deer, elk, or 21 moose populations not previously infected. 22 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 23 (1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 24 appropriated to the Secretary $35,000,000 to sup- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:13 Mar 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1550.IH H1550 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 1550 IH port State and tribal efforts to manage and control 1 chronic wasting disease, of which— 2 (A) $20,000,000 shall be allocated to 3 States under subsection (a); 4 (B) $5,000,000 shall be allocated to tribal 5 agencies under subsection (a); and 6 (C) $10,000,000 shall be retained for the 7 rapid response fund under subsection (d). 8 (2) AVAILABILITY.—Funds appropriated pursu- 9 ant to the authorization of appropriations in para- 10 graph (1) shall remain available until expended. 11 (3) LIMITATION ON ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.— 12 Not more than three percent of the amount appro- 13 priated pursuant to the authorization of appropria- 14 tions in paragraph (1) may be used to cover admin- 15 istrative expenses incurred by the Secretary. 16 SEC. 5. SUPPORT FOR APPLIED RESEARCH REGARDING 17 CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE. 18 (a) EXPANSION OF APPLIED RESEARCH GRANTS.— 19 The Secretary shall make grants to support efforts to ex- 20 pand and accelerate applied research on chronic wasting 21 disease, including (but not limited to) research regarding 22 the following: 23 (1) Sustainable cervid harvest management 24 practices to reduce chronic wasting disease occur- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:13 Mar 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1550.IH H1550 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 1550 IH rence and to prevent or limit spatial spread of 1 chronic wasting disease. 2 (2) Management experiments and strategies de- 3 signed for long-term suppression of chronic wasting 4 disease. 5 (3) Harvest management practices and other 6 practices that exacerbate chronic wasting disease oc- 7 currence, with an emphasis on retrospective analyses 8 of available harvest management and chronic wast- 9 ing disease trend data. 10 (4) Factors contributing to local emergence of 11 chronic wasting disease, increased prevalence of 12 chronic wasting disease, and distribution of chronic 13 wasting disease, including mechanisms of disease 14 transmission and effective barriers to transmission. 15 (5) Methods and products to effectively detect 16 infectious prions in, and decontaminate infectious 17 prions from natural environments and inorganic sur- 18 faces. 19 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 20 (1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 21 appropriated to the Secretary $10,000,000 to make 22 grants under subsection (a). 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:13 Mar 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1550.IH H1550 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 1550 IH (2) AVAILABILITY.—Funds appropriated pursu- 1 ant to the authorization of appropriations in para- 2 graph (1) shall remain available until expended. 3 (3) LIMITATION ON ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.— 4 Not more than three percent of the amount appro- 5 priated pursuant to the authorization of appropria- 6 tions in paragraph (1) may be used to cover admin- 7 istrative expenses incurred by the Secretary. 8 SEC. 6. MULTI-AGENCY COOPERATION WITH STATES TO AD- 9 DRESS CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE. 10 Land management agencies of the Department of Ag- 11 riculture and the Department of the Interior shall work 12 cooperatively with States— 13 (1) in the conduct of applied research regarding 14 chronic wasting disease; and 15 (2) in the implementation of State chronic 16 wasting disease response plans to reduce the spread 17 and prevalence of chronic wasting disease. 18 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:13 Mar 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1550.IH H1550 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS