Invasive Species Response Act

[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 10037 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                               H. R. 10037

   To direct the Secretary of the Interior to establish the Invasive 
                    Species Rapid Response Program.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 25, 2024

 Mr. Case (for himself and Mr. Moylan) introduced the following bill; 
        which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To direct the Secretary of the Interior to establish the Invasive 
                    Species Rapid Response Program.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Invasive Species Response Act''.

SEC. 2. INVASIVE SPECIES STRIKE TEAM PROGRAM.

    (a) Purpose.--The purpose of this Act is to legislatively authorize 
programs within the Department of the Interior to control and eradicate 
invasive species impacting Federal lands through prevention, early 
detection, and rapid response.
    (b) Invasive Species Strike Team Program.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary shall establish a program to 
        identify and respond to priority invasive species threats 
        within the National Wildlife Refuge System in collaboration 
        with Federal, State, local, and Tribal governments, 
        nongovernmental institutions, nonprofit organizations, and 
        private individuals and entities with expertise in invasive 
        species management, to be known as the ``Invasive Species 
        Strike Team Program''.
            (2) Requirements.--In carrying out the Program, the 
        Secretary shall--
                    (A) establish species response teams trained in 
                rapid response and invasive species management for 
                multiple taxa, including Incident Command System 
                trainings and table-top exercises, to assist with 
                priority invasive species response;
                    (B) establish at least 1 species response team 
                within each region of the United States Fish and 
                Wildlife Service;
                    (C) develop a set of consistent taxonomy standards 
                and implement such standards among all Department of 
                Interior databases; and
                    (D) develop and utilize unified reporting 
                platforms, including--
                            (i) the National Agricultural Pest 
                        Information System;
                            (ii) the National Data Repository of the 
                        National Plant Diagnostic Network;
                            (iii) the Early Detection and Distribution 
                        Mapping System (EDDMapS);
                            (iv) the Nonindigenous Aquatic Species 
                        Database of the United States Geological 
                        Survey;
                            (v) iMapInvasives; and
                            (vi) State databases.
            (3) Provision of assistance.--In carrying out the Program, 
        the Secretary is authorized to--
                    (A) conduct outreach to Federal, State, local, and 
                Tribal governments, nongovernmental institutions, 
                nonprofit organizations, and private individuals and 
                entities to address the management of property in the 
                vicinity of, or ecologically related to, a unit of the 
                National Wildlife Refuge System, including providing or 
                entering into, upon request--
                            (i) financial assistance, including direct 
                        expenditures and grants;
                            (ii) technical assistance;
                            (iii) contracts; and
                            (iv) cooperative agreements; and
                    (B) upon the request of another Federal department 
                or agency, enter into an agreement with such department 
                or agency to provide to such department or agency the 
                expertise and use of species response teams established 
                under paragraph (2) to respond to invasive species 
                under the jurisdiction of such department or agency.
            (4) Coordination of management actions.--The Secretary 
        shall encourage each unit of the National Wildlife Refuge 
        System to coordinate the management actions of each such unit 
        with each State within which each such unit is located.
            (5) Annual report.--
                    (A) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the 
                date of the enactment of this section, and annually 
                thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to the 
                Committees on Appropriations and Natural Resources of 
                the House of Representatives and the Committees on 
                Appropriations and Energy and Natural Resources of the 
                Senate, and make available to the public on the website 
                of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, a 
                report regarding the Program.
                    (B) Contents of report.--Each report submitted 
                under subparagraph (A) shall include--
                            (i) an assessment of each priority invasive 
                        species within the National Wildlife Refuge 
                        System; and
                            (ii) progress made by the Program toward 
                        the eradication of each priority invasive 
                        species.
    (c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this section $15,000,000 for 
each of fiscal years 2025 through 2029.
    (d) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Invasive species.--The term ``invasive species'' means 
        a non-native species to the ecosystem whose introduction causes 
        or is likely to cause economic harm, environmental harm or harm 
        to human health.
            (2) Priority invasive species.--The term ``priority 
        invasive species'' means an invasive species that is a major 
        concern and necessary to map, monitor and manage based on the 
        following factors: potential impact on other native species, 
        ability to alter habitats, ability to harm human health and 
        severity of economic impact.
            (3) Program.--The term ``Program'' means the Invasive 
        Species Strike Team Program established under subsection 
        (b)(1).
            (4) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of the Interior, acting through the Director of the United 
        States Fish and Wildlife Service.
            (5) State.--The term ``State'' means each of the several 
        States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto 
        Rico, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, 
        American Samoa, Guam, the Virgin Islands, and any other 
        territory or possession of the United States.
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