Continued Rapid Ohia Death Response Act of 2023

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 927 To require the Secretary of the Interior to partner and collaborate with the Secretary of Agriculture and the State of Hawaii to address Rapid Ohia Death, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 22, 2023 Ms. HIRONO (for herself and Mr. SCHATZ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry A BILL To require the Secretary of the Interior to partner and collaborate with the Secretary of Agriculture and the State of Hawaii to address Rapid Ohia Death, 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 ‘‘Continued Rapid Ohia 4 Death Response Act of 2023’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds that— 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:53 Mar 31, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S927.IS S927 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 927 IS (1) the fungus Ceratocystis, known as ‘‘Rapid 1 Ohia Death’’, has killed more than 1,000,000 native 2 trees in the State; and 3 (2) the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through 4 the Chief of the Forest Service and the Adminis- 5 trator of the Agricultural Research Service, has pro- 6 vided funding and staff— 7 (A) to identify and detect Rapid Ohia 8 Death; 9 (B) to prevent the spread of Rapid Ohia 10 Death; 11 (C) to identify Ohia trees that are resist- 12 ant to Rapid Ohia Death; and 13 (D) to propagate trees that are resistant to 14 Rapid Ohia Death in order to restore the native 15 forests of the State. 16 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 17 In this Act: 18 (1) RAPID OHIA DEATH.—The term ‘‘Rapid 19 Ohia Death’’ means the fungus described in section 20 2(1) that has killed more than 1,000,000 native 21 trees in the State. 22 (2) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the State 23 of Hawaii. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:53 Mar 31, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S927.IS S927 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 927 IS SEC. 4. COLLABORATION. 1 The Secretary of the Interior shall partner and col- 2 laborate with the Secretary of Agriculture and the State 3 to address Rapid Ohia Death. 4 SEC. 5. SUSTAINED EFFORTS. 5 (a) TRANSMISSION.—The Secretary of the Interior, 6 acting through the Director of the United States Geologi- 7 cal Survey, shall continue to conduct research on Rapid 8 Ohia Death vectors and transmission. 9 (b) UNGULATE MANAGEMENT.—The Secretary of the 10 Interior, acting through the Director of the United States 11 Fish and Wildlife Service, shall continue to partner with 12 the State and with local stakeholders to manage ungulates 13 in Rapid Ohia Death control areas on Federal, State, and 14 private land. 15 (c) RESTORATION AND RESEARCH.—The Secretary 16 of Agriculture, acting through the Chief of the Forest 17 Service, shall continue to provide— 18 (1) financial assistance, including to the Sec- 19 retary of the Interior— 20 (A) to prevent the spread of Rapid Ohia 21 Death; and 22 (B) to restore the native forests of the 23 State; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:53 Mar 31, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S927.IS S927 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 927 IS (2) staff and necessary infrastructure funding 1 to the Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry to con- 2 duct research on Rapid Ohia Death. 3 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 4 For each of fiscal years 2024 through 2034, there 5 is authorized to be appropriated $5,000,000 to carry out 6 this Act, including for activities carried out by the Sec- 7 retary of the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, or 8 both. 9 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:53 Mar 31, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S927.IS S927 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS