Invasive Species Prevention and Forest Restoration Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3174 To amend the Plant Protection Act for purposes of mitigating the threat of invasive species, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 10, 2023 Ms. BALINT (for herself, Mr. CASE, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Ms. KUSTER, Mr. LAWLER, Ms. ROSS, Ms. SALINAS, and Mr. THOMPSON of California) in- troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agri- culture A BILL To amend the Plant Protection Act for purposes of miti- gating the threat of invasive species, and for other pur- poses. 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 ‘‘Invasive Species Pre- 4 vention and Forest Restoration Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. EMERGENCY AUTHORITY WITH RESPECT TO 6 INVASIVE SPECIES. 7 Section 442 of the Plant Protection Act (7 U.S.C. 8 7772) is amended— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 May 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3174.IH H3174 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3174 IH (1) in subsection (a), by inserting ‘‘directly or 1 indirectly’’ before ‘‘threatens’’; 2 (2) in subsection (b)— 3 (A) by striking ‘‘shall remain’’ and insert- 4 ing the following: ‘‘shall— 5 ‘‘(1) remain’’; 6 (B) in paragraph (1) (as so designated), by 7 striking the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; 8 and’’; and 9 (C) by adding at the end the following: 10 ‘‘(2) be transferred not later than 60 days after 11 the date on which the Secretary determines that 12 there is an emergency described in subsection (a).’’; 13 (3) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub- 14 section (d); and 15 (4) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol- 16 lowing: 17 ‘‘(c) EMERGENCY DETERMINATION.—In determining 18 whether there is an emergency described in subsection (a), 19 the Secretary shall consider, but shall not treat as a dis- 20 positive factor, whether there are sufficient Federal funds 21 available to timely achieve the arrest, control, eradication, 22 or prevention of the spread of the applicable plant pest 23 or noxious weed.’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 May 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3174.IH H3174 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3174 IH SEC. 3. FOREST RECLAMATION GRANTS. 1 Subtitle K of the National Agricultural Research, Ex- 2 tension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3310 3 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 4 ‘‘SEC. 1473I. FOREST RECLAMATION GRANTS. 5 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 6 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en- 7 tity’ means any of the following: 8 ‘‘(A) A Federal agency. 9 ‘‘(B) A State cooperative institution. 10 ‘‘(C) A college or university offering a bac- 11 calaureate or higher degree in the study of 12 food, forestry, and agricultural sciences. 13 ‘‘(D) An organization described in section 14 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 15 and exempt from taxation under section 501(a) 16 of that Code. 17 ‘‘(2) NOXIOUS WEED; PLANT PEST.—The terms 18 ‘noxious weed’ and ‘plant pest’ have the meanings 19 given those terms in section 403 of the Plant Pro- 20 tection Act (7 U.S.C. 7702). 21 ‘‘(b) GRANT AWARDS.—For purposes of addressing 22 the critical threat to numerous tree species posed by non- 23 native plant pests and noxious weeds, the Secretary shall 24 award competitive grants to eligible entities under which 25 the eligible entities shall— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 May 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3174.IH H3174 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3174 IH ‘‘(1) conduct research to promote the restora- 1 tion of affected tree species, including research on— 2 ‘‘(A) biological control of nonnative plant 3 pests or noxious weeds threatening or heavily 4 damaging native tree species; 5 ‘‘(B) exploration of genetic manipulation of 6 plant pests or noxious weeds; 7 ‘‘(C) enhancement of pest-resistance mech- 8 anisms of hosts; and 9 ‘‘(D) development of other strategies for 10 restoring individual tree species; and 11 ‘‘(2) develop, and disseminate to the public, 12 tools and information based on the research con- 13 ducted under paragraph (1). 14 ‘‘(c) APPLICATIONS.—An eligible entity seeking to re- 15 ceive a grant under this section shall submit to the Sec- 16 retary an application at such time, in such manner, and 17 containing such information as the Secretary may require, 18 including a description of a comprehensive forest restora- 19 tion research program to be carried out by the eligible en- 20 tity using the funds received through the grant. 21 ‘‘(d) USE OF FUNDS.— 22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity receiving 23 a grant under this section shall use the funds re- 24 ceived through the grant to conduct research in- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 May 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3174.IH H3174 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3174 IH tended to address specific questions relating to the 1 recovery of tree species that are native to the United 2 States and suffering severe levels of mortality caused 3 by nonnative plant pests or noxious weeds. 4 ‘‘(2) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.— 5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity re- 6 ceiving a grant under this section shall provide 7 matching funds from non-Federal sources in an 8 amount equal to not less than 20 percent of the 9 grant. 10 ‘‘(B) INDIRECT COSTS.— 11 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Indirect costs 12 charged against a grant awarded under 13 this section shall not exceed 30 percent of 14 the total Federal funds provided under the 15 grant award. 16 ‘‘(ii) INCLUSIONS.—Indirect costs de- 17 scribed in clause (i) shall include— 18 ‘‘(I) equipment used in relation 19 to the grant; 20 ‘‘(II) capital improvements of fa- 21 cilities that are necessary to carry out 22 the grant; 23 ‘‘(III) accounting costs, personnel 24 costs, and administrative costs in- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 May 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3174.IH H3174 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3174 IH curred by an eligible entity necessary 1 to carry out the grant; and 2 ‘‘(IV) such other costs as the 3 Secretary determines to be appro- 4 priate. 5 ‘‘(3) MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF GRANTS.—An eligi- 6 ble entity may not receive more than a total of 7 $400,000 per year in grant funding under this sec- 8 tion. 9 ‘‘(e) COOPERATION AMONG ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.— 10 To the maximum extent practicable, the Secretary shall 11 encourage eligible entities to cooperate in setting research 12 priorities under this section. 13 ‘‘(f) COMMITTEES.—In carrying out this section, the 14 Secretary shall— 15 ‘‘(1) establish a committee of experts composed 16 of representatives of the Forest Service, the Animal 17 and Plant Health Inspection Service, the Agricul- 18 tural Research Service, and State forestry agencies 19 to advise the Secretary on criteria appropriate for— 20 ‘‘(A) defining research topics eligible for 21 funding under this section; 22 ‘‘(B) reviewing the adherence of grant pro- 23 posals to the purposes described in subsection 24 (b)(1); and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 May 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3174.IH H3174 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3174 IH ‘‘(C) membership in scientific peer review 1 panels to review grant applications under this 2 section; and 3 ‘‘(2) establish an advisory committee composed 4 of representatives of land-grant colleges and univer- 5 sities and affiliated State agricultural experiment 6 stations, the forest products industry, recreationists, 7 and professional forester, conservation, and con- 8 servation scientist organizations to assist the com- 9 mittee of experts established under paragraph (1) 10 with respect to the responsibilities of that committee 11 described in subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C) of that 12 paragraph. 13 ‘‘(g) REPORTS.—Not later than 1 year after the date 14 on which the first grant is awarded under this section, 15 and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to the 16 Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives 17 and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and For- 18 estry of the Senate a report describing the use of funds 19 under this section in the previous year. 20 ‘‘(h) FUNDING.—Of the funds of the Commodity 21 Credit Corporation, the Secretary shall use to carry out 22 this section— 23 ‘‘(1) $3,000,000 for fiscal year 2023; 24 ‘‘(2) $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2024; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 May 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3174.IH H3174 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3174 IH ‘‘(3) $8,000,000 for fiscal year 2025; and 1 ‘‘(4) $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2026.’’. 2 SEC. 4. FOREST RESTORATION IMPLEMENTATION GRANTS. 3 Subtitle K of the National Agricultural Research, Ex- 4 tension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3310 5 et seq.) (as amended by section 3) is amended by adding 6 at the end the following: 7 ‘‘SEC. 1473J. FOREST RESTORATION IMPLEMENTATION 8 GRANTS. 9 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 10 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en- 11 tity’ means any of the following: 12 ‘‘(A) A cooperating forestry school. 13 ‘‘(B) A land-grant college or university. 14 ‘‘(C) A State agricultural experimental sta- 15 tion. 16 ‘‘(D) An organization described in section 17 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 18 and exempt from taxation under section 501(a) 19 of that Code. 20 ‘‘(E) A Federal agency. 21 ‘‘(2) NOXIOUS WEED; PLANT PEST.—The terms 22 ‘noxious weed’ and ‘plant pest’ have the meanings 23 given those terms in section 403 of the Plant Pro- 24 tection Act (7 U.S.C. 7702). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 May 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3174.IH H3174 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 3174 IH ‘‘(b) GRANT AWARDS.—The Secretary may award 1 grants on a competitive basis under this section to eligible 2 entities to support— 3 ‘‘(1) the implementation of research conducted 4 under section 1473I; or 5 ‘‘(2) any other solution that the committee es- 6 tablished under subsection (f)(1) of that section de- 7 termines to be effective in restoring forest tree spe- 8 cies native to forests in the United States that have 9 suffered severe levels of mortality caused by non- 10 native plant pests or noxious weeds. 11 ‘‘(c) APPLICATION.—An eligible entity seeking to re- 12 ceive a grant under this section shall submit to the Sec- 13 retary an application at such time, in such manner, and 14 containing such information as the Secretary may require, 15 including a demonstration that the eligible entity has a 16 program in effect with a forest restoration strategy that 17 incorporates a majority of the following components: 18 ‘‘(1) Collection and conservation of native tree 19 genetic material. 20 ‘‘(2) Production of propagules of native trees in 21 numbers large enough for landscape-scale restora- 22 tion. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 May 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3174.IH H3174 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 3174 IH ‘‘(3) Preparation of planting sites in former 1 habitats of the native tree species that are the sub- 2 jects of the application. 3 ‘‘(4) Planting of native tree seedlings. 4 ‘‘(5) Post-planting maintenance of native trees. 5 ‘‘(d) SELECTION CRITERIA.—The Secretary shall se- 6 lect an eligible entity to receive a grant under this section 7 based on the degree to which the application submitted 8 by the eligible entity under subsection (c) addresses the 9 following criteria: 10 ‘‘(1) The risk posed to the forests of the State 11 in which the work is to be conducted using funding 12 received through the grant by nonnative plant pest 13 or noxious weed species present in the State. 14 ‘‘(2) The proportion of the forest land of the 15 State composed of species vulnerable to nonnative 16 plant pests or noxious weeds present in the United 17 States. 18 ‘‘(3) The rate of spread in the State, through 19 natural or human-assisted means, of nonnative plant 20 pests or noxious weeds. 21 ‘‘(4) The environmental and public health safe- 22 ty of the project proposed to be conducted using 23 funding received through the grant, as demonstrated 24 by supporting research. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 May 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3174.IH H3174 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 3174 IH ‘‘(e) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.— 1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity receiving 2 a grant under this section shall provide matching 3 funds from non-Federal sources in an amount equal 4 to not less than 10 percent of the grant. 5 ‘‘(2) INDIRECT COSTS.— 6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Indirect costs charged 7 against a grant awarded under this section 8 shall not exceed 30 percent of the total Federal 9 funds provided under the grant award. 10 ‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS.—Indirect costs de- 11 scribed in subparagraph (A) shall include— 12 ‘‘(i) equipment used in relation to the 13 grant; 14 ‘‘(ii) capital improvements of facilities 15 that are necessary to carry out the grant; 16 ‘‘(iii) accounting costs, personnel 17 costs, and administrative costs incurred by 18 an eligible entity necessary to carry out the 19 grant; and 20 ‘‘(iv) such other costs as the Secretary 21 determines to be appropriate. 22 ‘‘(f) FUNDING.— 23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Of the funds of the Com- 24 modity Credit Corporation, the Secretary shall use 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 May 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3174.IH H3174 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 3174 IH to carry out this section $25,000,000 for each of fis- 1 cal years 2023 through 2026. 2 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—Of the funds made available 3 under paragraph (1) for a fiscal year, not more than 4 5 percent may be used by the Secretary for expenses 5 relating to the administration of this section.’’. 6 SEC. 5. STUDY ON PROTECTION OF FORESTS FROM NON- 7 NATIVE PLANT PESTS AND PATHOGENS. 8 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 9 (1) many Federal agencies have important roles 10 to play in addressing nonnative plant pests and 11 pathogens in the stewardship and management of 12 forests by those Federal agencies; 13 (2) because of a lack of national policy, non- 14 native plant pests and pathogens of forests are a low 15 priority for all Federal agencies; and 16 (3) efforts to prevent the introduction and 17 spread of nonnative plant pests and pathogens, and 18 especially to reduce the resulting damage and re- 19 store tree species to forests, lack coordination and 20 action. 21 (b) STUDY.— 22 (1) I [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]