I 

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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Invasive Species Re5 sponse Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. INVASIVE SPECIES STRIKE TEAM PROGRAM. 

7 (a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to legisla8 tively authorize programs within the Department of the 

9 Interior to control and eradicate invasive species impactVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:05 Oct 28, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H10037.IH H10037

ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 10037 IH

1 ing Federal lands through prevention, early detection, and 

2 rapid response. 

3 (b) INVASIVE SPECIES STRIKE TEAM PROGRAM.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish 

5 a program to identify and respond to priority 

6 invasive species threats within the National Wildlife 

7 Refuge System in collaboration with Federal, State, 

8 local, and Tribal governments, nongovernmental in9 stitutions, nonprofit organizations, and private indi10 viduals and entities with expertise in invasive species 

11 management, to be known as the ‘‘Invasive Species 

12 Strike Team Program’’. 

13 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—In carrying out the Pro14 gram, the Secretary shall— 

15 (A) establish species response teams 

16 trained in rapid response and invasive species 

17 management for multiple taxa, including Inci18 dent Command System trainings and table-top 

19 exercises, to assist with priority invasive species 

20 response; 

21 (B) establish at least 1 species response 

22 team within each region of the United States 

23 Fish and Wildlife Service; 

24 (C) develop a set of consistent taxonomy 

25 standards and implement such standards 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 10037 IH

1 among all Department of Interior databases; 

2 and 

3 (D) develop and utilize unified reporting 

4 platforms, including— 

5 (i) the National Agricultural Pest In6 formation System; 

7 (ii) the National Data Repository of 

8 the National Plant Diagnostic Network; 

9 (iii) the Early Detection and Distribu10 tion Mapping System (EDDMapS); 

11 (iv) the Nonindigenous Aquatic Spe12 cies Database of the United States Geo13 logical Survey; 

14 (v) iMapInvasives; and 

15 (vi) State databases. 

16 (3) PROVISION OF ASSISTANCE.—In carrying 

17 out the Program, the Secretary is authorized to— 

18 (A) conduct outreach to Federal, State, 

19 local, and Tribal governments, nongovernmental 

20 institutions, nonprofit organizations, and pri21 vate individuals and entities to address the 

22 management of property in the vicinity of, or 

23 ecologically related to, a unit of the National 

24 Wildlife Refuge System, including providing or 

25 entering into, upon request— 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 10037 IH

1 (i) financial assistance, including di2 rect expenditures and grants; 

3 (ii) technical assistance; 

4 (iii) contracts; and 

5 (iv) cooperative agreements; and 

6 (B) upon the request of another Federal 

7 department or agency, enter into an agreement 

8 with such department or agency to provide to 

9 such department or agency the expertise and 

10 use of species response teams established under 

11 paragraph (2) to respond to invasive species 

12 under the jurisdiction of such department or 

13 agency. 

14 (4) COORDINATION OF MANAGEMENT AC15 TIONS.—The Secretary shall encourage each unit of 

16 the National Wildlife Refuge System to coordinate 

17 the management actions of each such unit with each 

18 State within which each such unit is located. 

19 (5) ANNUAL REPORT.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 

21 after the date of the enactment of this section, 

22 and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall 

23 submit to the Committees on Appropriations 

24 and Natural Resources of the House of Rep25 resentatives and the Committees on AppropriaVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:05 Oct 28, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H10037.IH H10037

ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 10037 IH

1 tions and Energy and Natural Resources of the 

2 Senate, and make available to the public on the 

3 website of the United States Fish and Wildlife 

4 Service, a report regarding the Program. 

5 (B) CONTENTS OF REPORT.—Each report 

6 submitted under subparagraph (A) shall in7 clude— 

8 (i) an assessment of each priority 

9 invasive species within the National Wild10 life Refuge System; and 

11 (ii) progress made by the Program to12 ward the eradication of each priority 

13 invasive species. 

14 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

15 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry 

16 out this section $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2025 

17 through 2029. 

18 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

19 (1) INVASIVE SPECIES.—The term ‘‘invasive 

20 species’’ means a non-native species to the ecosystem 

21 whose introduction causes or is likely to cause eco22 nomic harm, environmental harm or harm to human 

23 health. 

24 (2) PRIORITY INVASIVE SPECIES.—The term 

25 ‘‘priority invasive species’’ means an invasive species 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 10037 IH

1 that is a major concern and necessary to map, mon2 itor and manage based on the following factors: po3 tential impact on other native species, ability to alter 

4 habitats, ability to harm human health and severity 

5 of economic impact. 

6 (3) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Program’’ means 

7 the Invasive Species Strike Team Program estab8 lished under subsection (b)(1). 

9 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

10 the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Di11 rector of the United States Fish and Wildlife Serv12 ice. 

13 (5) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 

14 the several States, the District of Columbia, the 

15 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Commonwealth 

16 of the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, 

17 Guam, the Virgin Islands, and any other territory or 

18 possession of the United States. 

Æ 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS