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92–376 PDF 2004

S. HRG. 108–354

NATIONAL AQUATIC INVASIVE SPECIES

ACT OF 2003

HEARING

BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON FISHERIES,

WILDLIFE, AND WATER

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON

ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS

UNITED STATES SENATE

ONE HUNDRED EIGHTH CONGRESS

FIRST SESSION

on

S. 525

A BILL TO AMEND THE NONINDIGENOUS AQUATIC NUISANCE PREVENTION AND CONTROL ACT OF 1990 TO REAUTHORIZE AND IMPROVE

THAT ACT

JUNE 17, 2003

Printed for the use of the Committee on Environment and Public Works

(
COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS

ONE HUNDRED EIGHTH CONGRESS

FIRST SESSION

JAMES M. INHOFE, Oklahoma, Chairman

JOHN W. WARNER, Virginia

CHRISTOPHER S. BOND, Missouri

GEORGE V. VOINOVICH, Ohio

MICHAEL D. CRAPO, Idaho

LINCOLN CHAFEE, Rhode Island

JOHN CORNYN, Texas

LISA MURKOWSKI, Alaska

CRAIG THOMAS, Wyoming

WAYNE ALLARD, Colorado

JAMES M. JEFFORDS, Vermont

MAX BAUCUS, Montana

HARRY REID, Nevada

BOB GRAHAM, Florida

JOSEPH I. LIEBERMAN, Connecticut

BARBARA BOXER, California

RON WYDEN, Oregon

THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware

HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON, New York

ANDREW WHEELER, Majority Staff Director

KEN CONNOLLY, Minority Staff Director

SUBCOMMITTEE ON FISHERIES, WILDLIFE, AND WATER

MICHAEL D. CRAPO, Idaho, Chairman

JOHN W. WARNER, Virginia

LISA MURKOWSKI, Alaska

CRAIG THOMAS, Wyoming

WAYNE ALLARD, Colorado

BOB GRAHAM, Florida

MAX BAUCUS, Montana

RON WYDEN, Oregon

HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON, New York

(II)
(III)

CONTENTS

Page

JUNE 17, 2003

OPENING STATEMENTS

Allard, Hon. Wayne, U.S. Senator from the State of Colorado ............................ 2

Crapo, Hon. Michael D., U.S. Senator from the State of Idaho ........................... 1

Inhofe, Hon. James M., U.S. Senator from the State of Oklahoma .................... 49

Jeffords, Hon. James M., U.S. Senator from the State of Vermont .................... 49

Murkowski, Hon. Lisa, U.S. Senator from the State of Alaska ........................... 19

Voinovich, Hon. George V., U.S. Senator from the State of Ohio ........................ 7

Warner, Hon. John W., U.S. Senator from the State of Virginia ........................ 18

WITNESSES

Angelo, Joseph J., Director of Standards, U.S. Coast Guard ............................... 23

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 75

Beers, Jim, Science Advisor, The American Land Rights Association ................ 37

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 87

Responses to additional questions from Senator Murkowski ....................... 89

Hargrove, Sebastian, Government Relations Associate, The Nature Conservancy of Idaho ...................................................................................................... 40

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 91

Hauser, Michael, Aquatic Nuisance Species Specialist, Vermont Department

of Environmental Conservation .......................................................................... 41

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 93

Responses to additional questions from Senator Allard ................................ 95

Hill, Barry, Director, Interior Issues, Office of Environment and Natural

Resources, U.S. General Accounting Office; Accompanied by: Trish McClure,

Assistant Director, Office of Environment and Natural Resources, U.S.

General Accounting Office ................................................................................... 13

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 53

Responses to additional questions from:

Senator Allard ........................................................................................... 61

Senator Murkowski ................................................................................... 63

Senator Voinovich ..................................................................................... 61

Hogan, Matthew, Deputy Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service .................... 24

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 76

Keeney, Timothy R.E., Deputy Assistant Secretary for Oceans and Atmosphere, U.S. National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration ........................ 25

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 80

Responses to additional questions from:

Senator Allard ........................................................................................... 84

Senator Murkowski ................................................................................... 84

Levin, Hon. Carl, U.S. Senator from the State of Michigan ................................ 5

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 50

Mehan, G. Tracy,III, Assistant Administrator for Water, U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency ................................................................................................. 27

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 85

Weakley, James, President, Lake Carriers’ Association ....................................... 43

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 95

Responses to additional questions from:

Senator Allard ........................................................................................... 97

Senator Voinovich ..................................................................................... 97

Williams, Lori, Executive Director, National Invasive Species Council .............. 21
Page

IV

Williams, Lori, Executive Director, National Invasive Species Council—Continued

Management Plan, National Invasive Species Council ................................. 67

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 64

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL

Statements:

Collins, Hon. Susan M., U.S. Senator from the State of Maine ................... 51

Metcalf, Kathy J., Chamber Shipping of America ......................................... 100

Sherman, Thomas, W., Aquacide .................................................................... 98

U.S. Geological Survey ..................................................................................... 104

Text of S. 525, National Aquatic Invasive Species Act of 2003 ........................... 106
(1)

NATIONAL AQUATIC INVASIVE SPECIES

ACT OF 2003

TUESDAY, JUNE 17, 2003

U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS, SUBCOMMITTEE ON FISHERIES, WILDLIFE, AND WATER, Washington, DC.

The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:34 a.m. in room

406, Senate Dirksen Building, Hon. Michael D. Crapo [chairman of

the subcommittee] presiding.

Present: Senators Crapo, Warner, Murkowski, Allard, and Jeffords [ex officio].

Also present: Senator Voinovich.

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. MICHAEL D. CRAPO,

U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF IDAHO

Senator CRAPO. Good morning. The Subcommittee on Fisheries,

Wildlife and Water will come to order.

Today, the subcommittee will be receiving testimony on S. 525,

the National Aquatic Invasive Species Act. This bill would reauthorize the Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act of 1990, as amended by the National Invasive Species Act

of 1996.

Aquatic nuisance species have cost our Nation billions of dollars

in lost revenue and costs of action to control aquatic nuisance to

protect commerce and our environment. In many instances, aquatic

nuisance species enter our Nation’s waterways through ship ballast

water. Many of us are familiar with the challenges that the sea

lamprey and the zebra mussel infestations have presented to citizens of the Great Lakes area and elsewhere. We have learned that

once an aquatic nuisance species gains a presence in our waterways, control costs are often high and effectiveness is often limited.

It is clearly much more cost-effective and less damaging to prevent

the introduction of new aquatic nuisance species than to deal with

them after they have arrived.

Aquatic nuisance species also enter our waters through other

means such as by introduction of species from the pet trade. Just

last year, we saw a dramatic example of the effects of these kinds

of introductions when officials discovered and were forced to try to

eradicate the snakehead fish in Eastern United States waterways.

In Idaho, we may have experienced the first known occurrence of

New Zealand mud snail in the country in the Hagerman reach of

the Snake River. Also, the State of Idaho will increase its spending

to $250,000 this year trying to control the Eurasian water milfoil,
2

an aquatic nuisance plant species that threatens to choke off waterways, affecting agriculture and recreation.

If Zebra mussels ever gain a foothold in the Snake River in

Idaho, it could threaten a large portion of our irrigated agriculture

community, as well as hydropower systems and the Snake River

salmon recovery efforts. We are already familiar with the impacts

that other long-present invasive or nuisance species can have. For

example, in significant portions of the Western United States,

cheat grass is taking over native range vegetation, reducing forage

and habitat value for livestock and wildlife, and causing more frequent and severe wildfires. These effects cause Americans millions

of dollars a year. Cheat grass control actions have just begun. They

are expensive and are not yet broadly effective. Addressing aquatic

nuisance species may be even more difficult when moving waters

can connect habitats without any human assistance, and detection

of species may be more difficult underwater than on land.

I know that our witnesses will be recommending numerous

changes to this large and complex bill. However, this bill is a good

starting point for addressing some critical needs. I appreciate the

work of Senator Levin and the cosponsors of this bill and the work

that they have done. It is my hope that this subcommittee can

begin working to resolve some of the issues that have been brought

to our attention so that we can move swiftly to protect our economy

and our environment.

Since there are no other members of the committee here yet, we

will go immediately to our first panel. Excuse me, I did not look

to my right. Senator Allard, excuse me.

[Laughter.]

Senator CRAPO. If I didn’t have Senator Levin here to keep me

on course, I would have just gone right ahead.

Senator Allard, if you have an opening statement, please go

ahead.

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. WAYNE ALLARD,

U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF COLORADO

Senator ALLARD. I do, Mr. Chairman. I want to thank you for

holding this hearing and thank Senator Levin for bringing this bill

forward.

I think this is a very important issue. The prominence of

invasive species and its surrounding issues have grown tremendously over the past several years. Each of us point to instances

in our State that highlight the critical importance of responsible

control and eradication of plant species that harm natural ecosystems and crowd out native plants.

For example, in my State of Colorado, invasive species such as

the myrtle spurge have grown in great popularity as an ornamental

plant for xeriscaping. However, the plant is rapidly expanding into

sensitive ecosystems, displacing native vegetation and reducing forage for wildlife. It also exudes a toxic milky latex which causes

skin irritation upon contact. Hardly a beneficial addition, I would

say, to the native plant mix.

While this bill deals with aquatics, it is important to keep in

mind that the difference between invasive types can be blurry.

Take tamarisk as an example. The tamarisk, also known as salt
3

cedar, is an invasive species that has crowded our natural stands

of cottonwoods and willows along Colorado River banks. The

tamarisk is an aggressive plant that grows to 20 or 30 feet high

and sends its roots hundreds of feet into the earth below. Two

things make this plant a particular concern. First, the plant can

consume up to 250 gallons of water a day. Second, the plant leaves

are highly saline, creating a problem for both plant life and riparian systems.

Now, 250 gallons of water a day per plant in a drought-stricken

State of Colorado, you can see why the eradication of this plant becomes so very important. It is a non-native species. Not only does

the tamarisk steal water from the river and drop salt and leaves

on the ground, it straightens out river channels and displaces habitat for the endangered willow flycatcher.

I have joined my colleague from Colorado, Senator Ben

Nighthorse Campbell, in an effort to end the tamarisk problem. Together, we have introduced legislation that will create a series of

grants to Western States suffering from the invasion. The grants

will provide an infusion of Federal aid toward eradication efforts,

saving water, protecting stream banks, ending salinity problems,

returning land to its natural state, and promoting the propagation

of the willow flycatcher.

You can see from the tamarisk and the other bills introduced on

this subject that invasive species create overlapping dilemmas.

This is one thing that we must be careful of when considering the

bill. Any legislation must focus directly on the needs of our States

and their water. Legislation must address these needs and provide

end-game solutions so that continued Federal involvement does not

infringe upon local and private rights.

In Colorado, golden algae or paramecium parvum is responsible

for fish kills at places like Prewitt Reservoir in Northeastern Colorado. The finding of golden algae results in an immediate ban on

boating, fishing, wading and swimming. Long associate with fish

die-offs in aquariums, golden algae has been a fish culture problem

in Texas since the 1980’s. They have also been associated with fish

kills in Denmark, Great Britain, South Africa and Israel. In 2001,

the algae was responsible for killing the entire hatchery production

of striped bass and wipper in Texas, and they are suspected in a

fish kill in New Mexico.

Finding solutions that responsibly address such invasive species

as golden algae and tamarisk is a difficult task. But again, I would

ask my colleagues on the committee to be mindful of existing agency efforts and private projects. Federal legislation should not

overstep its bounds, becoming a burden without solving the problem. Nor should the Federal Government impose additional unfunded mandates on States. If we are going to require new compliance with Federal regulations, we must provide a means for States

to avoid such new responsibilities.

The bill is 134 pages long, and the stated purpose of the bill is

to protect the Nation’s waterways from non-native, nuisance aquatic invasive species. This purpose is a worthy cause, but other

causes of a similar nature that have been brought before this committee resulted in legislation without corresponding benefits. Anytime a 134-page bill surfaces, a bill that deals with water, Colo-
4

radans rightfully get a little nervous. They have endured a broken

endangered species system that places a high priority on listing

species and recovering them. The private property infractions resulting from this law have turned many conservationists into skeptical landowners.

The Colorado system of water law is a product of 100 years

worth of constitutional dictates, case law, statute and practice. I

want to make sure that any bill dealing with water, whether in a

National Forest matter or a new Invasive Species Act, does not intrude upon private property rights. I insist that it not burden the

existing doctrine of prior appropriation. Water rights are properly

a matter before the States’ courts. Federal legislation must not

interfere with State water rights and the rights of those people who

hold them.

Mr. Chairman, again I thank you for allowing me to share my

thoughts with the committee and for working to ensure that this

bill promotes a healthier ecosystem, but also protects private property rights and rights properly belong to the States.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

[The prepared statement of Senator Allard follows:]

STATEMENT OF HON. WAYNE ALLARD, U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF COLORADO

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The prominence of invasive species and its surrounding issues has grown tremendously over the past several years. Each of us can

point to instances in our State that highlight the critical importance of responsible

control and eradication of plant species that harm natural ecosystems and crowd out

native plants.

For example, in my State of Colorado, invasive species such as myrtle spurge have

grown in great popularity as an ornamental plant for xeriscaping. However, the

plant is rapidly expanding into sensitive ecosystems, displacing native vegetation

and reducing forage for wildlife. It also exudes a toxic, milky latex which causes

skin irritation upon contact. Hardly an added addition to the native plant mix.

While this bill deals with aquatics, it is important to keep in mind that the difference between invasive types can be blurry. Take tamarisk as an example. The

tamarisk, also known as the salt cedar, is an invasive shrub that has crowded out

natural stands of cottonwoods and willows along Colorado river banks. The

tamarisk is an aggressive plant that grows to 20 or thirty feet high and sends its

roots hundreds of feet into the earth below.

Two things make this plant of particular concern: First, the plant can consume

up to 250 gallons of water a day; and second, the plant’s leaves are highly saline,

creating a problem for both plant life and riparian systems. At 250 gallons a day

in the arid, drought stricken, State of Colorado, you can see why the eradication

of this plant is so important. Not only does the tamarisk steal water from the river

and drop salty leaves on the ground, it straightens out river channels and replaces

habitat for the endangered willow flycatcher.

I have joined my colleague from Colorado, Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell, in

an effort to end the tamarisk problem. Together, we have introduced legislation that

will create a series of grants to western States suffering from the invasion. The

grants will provide an infusion of Federal aid toward eradication efforts, saving

water, protecting streambanks, ending salinity problems, returning land to its natural state and promoting the propagation of the willow flycatcher.

You can see from the tamarisk, and the other bills introduced on this subject, that

invasive species create overlapping dilemmas—this is one thing that we must be

careful of when considering the bill. Any legislation must focus directly on the needs

of our State’s and their water; legislation must address these needs, and provide

end-game solutions so that continued Federal involvement will not infringe upon

local and private rights.

In Colorado, golden algae, or Prymnesium parvum, is responsible for fish kills at

places like Prewitt Reservoir in northeastern Colorado. The finding of golden algae

resulted in an immediate ban on boating, fishing, wading and swimming. Long associated with fish die-offs in aquariums, golden algae have been a fish culture problem

in Texas since the 1980’s. They have also been associated with fish kills in Den-
5

mark, Great Britain, South Africa and Israel. In 2001, the algae were responsible

for killing the entire hatchery production of striped bass and wiper in Texas, and

they are suspected in a fish kill in New Mexico.

Finding solutions that responsibly address such invasive species as golden algae

and tamarisk is a difficult task, but again, I would ask my colleagues on the committee to be mindful of existing agency efforts and private projects. Federal legislation should not over step its bounds, becoming a burden without solving the problem. Nor should the Federal Government impose additional unfunded mandates on

States—if we are going to require new compliance with Federal regulations, we

must provide a means for States to afford such new responsibilities.

This bill is 134 pages long. The stated purpose of the bill is to protect the nations’

waters from non-native, nuisance aquatic invasive species. This purpose is a worthy

cause, but other causes of a similar nature that have been brought before this committee have resulted in legislation without corresponding benefits.

Anytime a 134 page bill surfaces—a bill that deals with water—Coloradans rightfully get a little nervous. They have endured a broken endangered species system

that places a higher priority on listing species than recovering them.

The private property infractions resulting from this law have turned many conservationists into the most skeptical of private property owners. Colorado’s system

of water law is the product of a hundred years worth of constitutional dictates, case

law, statute, and practice. I want to make sure that any bill dealing with water,

whether it is a national forest matter or a new invasive species act, does not intrude

upon private property rights, and I insist that it not burden the existing doctrine

of prior appropriation. Water rights are properly a matter before the State’s courts—

Federal legislation must not interfere with State water rights and the rights of

those people who hold them.

Mr. Chairman, again, I thank you for allowing me to share my thoughts with the

committee, and for working to ensure that this bill promotes a healthier ecosystem,

but also protects private property rights and rights properly belonging to the States.

Senator CRAPO. Thank you very much, Senator Allard. I strongly

agree with your concerns about the protection of private property

rights and making certain that we recognize the sovereignty of

States over the jurisdiction of water. The allocation, use and management of water is a State issue in my opinion, and I appreciate

your raising that important point.

Now I see that there are no other Senators on the panel present,

and I will then turn to our first panel, who is the chief sponsor of

this proposed legislation.

Senator Levin, we welcome you here and we encourage you to

take the time that you need to present your legislation to us.

STATEMENT OF HON. CARL LEVIN, U.S. SENATOR FROM THE

STATE OF MICHIGAN

Senator LEVIN. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, for holding

this hearing. Senator Allard, thank you as always for your participation in involvement in these critical issues.

As both of you have stated, the hearing today is to consider the

authorization of the Levin–Collins National Aquatic Invasive Species Act. It has 16 senators sponsoring it, in addition to Senator

Collins and myself. A companion bill has been cosponsored in the

House by Congressmen Gilchrest and Ehlers. Its purposes are essential, which is to reauthorize the Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act, and to take a more comprehensive approach toward addressing aquatic nuisance species to protect our waters.

This problem is a real one in all of our States. As you both have

mentioned, the invasion of foreign species, non-domestic species

has hit all of our States, and hit many of our States very, very

hard. These species, micro-organisms, pathogens, plants, fish and

animals, because they are foreign, typically do not run into any
6

natural enemies in their new environments. The result is that they

are often ecologically and economically disastrous.

I think you may remember what happened in the late 1980’s

when the zebra mussel was released into the Great Lakes through

ballast water. The Great Lakes still have those zebra mussels, but

now 20 other States have them as well. Just in less than a decade,

or perhaps a decade and a half, 20-plus States are now fighting to

control these mussels which have changed the dynamics of our waters. They have decimated native mussels. They have allowed toxins to reenter the food chain, and they may be responsible for creating oxygen-deficient conditions or a dead zone in Lake Erie.

Many of our beaches are now littered by zebra mussel shells, and

it is estimated that electrical generation, water treatment and industrial facilities spend tens of millions of dollars every year combating the zebra mussel.

The legislation is needed now for a number of reasons. One is

just to reauthorize existing law. However, we also need to provide

some direction to our negotiators at the International Maritime Organization to create an international ballast water standard, and

to provide a national ballast water standard, rather than the

patchwork of State efforts that we now have, in order to move a

Ballast Water Management Program forward.

As the Chairman mentioned, the best effort that we have against

invasive species is prevention. While the Coast Guard has authority under existing law to significantly increase the Nation’s efforts

to prevent the introduction of aquatic invasive species through the

largest pathway of introduction, which is ballast water, there has

been very little progress to move toward technology that is as effective as ballast water exchange. By requiring the Coast Guard and

the EPA to set interim and final ballast water management standards, the legislation allows and would promote ballast water technology to develop to a known standard.

The bill requires the Coast Guard to set an interim standard

that would require ships entering a U.S. port from outside the economic zone to either use ballast water exchange or use technology

that reduces the number of living organisms in ballast tanks by 95

percent. This interim standard is not intended to be implemented

for the long run and it is not perfect. However, a final standard is

difficult to set today or in the near future because of the limited

research that has been conducted on how clean or sterile ballast

water discharge should be, and what is the best expression of a

standard. But rather than wait many more years before taking action to stop new introductions, an imperfect but clear and achievable interim standard for treatment technology is the right approach. It will take at least another step forward.

The interim standard would lead to the use of ballast water

treatments that are more protective of our waters than the default

method of ballast water exchange, and it can be implemented in

the very near future. The bill provides the Coast Guard with flexibility to promulgate the interim standard using either a size-based

standard or by whatever parameters the Coast Guard determines

are appropriate.

There are a number of other important provisions of the bill designed to prevent and respond to invasive species. The bill would
7

authorize $160 million to $170 million each year. It is a lot of

money. It is a critical investment, however, compared to the cost

of invasive species, which are estimated at $137 billion per year.

All of us face the havoc caused by invasive species and we know

the ecological and economic damage that invasive species can

cause.

So Mr. Chairman and other members of the committee, again I

want to thank you for tackling this subject. It is an issue which affects all of our States. We in the Great Lakes feel very strongly

about our waters. I think all of us do, as Senator Allard has mentioned. Water is a very, very important issue in every State in the

Union, and we in the Great Lakes have the same kind of special

pride that all our other States do in their own waters and protecting those waters, and in controlling those waters at a State

level. We need to get the Coast Guard more active in terms of foreign ballast coming into our lakes and our waters, and that is one

of the purposes of this bill as well, which is to reauthorize the entire program.

Again, I thank you all for your attendance here and for your interest in this subject.

Senator CRAPO. Thank you very much, Senator Levin.

I will withhold my questions until the end, and we will go to the

two members of the panel who have just arrived. Senator Jeffords,

would you like to either make a statement or ask a question of

Senator Levin?

Senator JEFFORDS. No. I would just thank him for his statement.

I know the terrible problems that are created by the zebra mussel

in particular, so I appreciate your excellent statement.

Senator LEVIN. Thank you, Senator Jeffords.

Senator CRAPO. Senator Voinovich?

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. GEORGE V. VOINOVICH,

U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF OHIO

Senator VOINOVICH. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to thank

you for calling today’s hearing on the National Invasive Species Act

of 2003.

Although you do not represent a Great Lakes or coastal State,

you have recognized, Mr. Chairman, that the issue of invasive species is a problem that plagues our entire Nation. As a Senator from

Ohio whose northern boundary is Lake Erie and a cosponsor of the

bill before this committee, I am glad to join Senator Levin in the

cosponsorship of this legislation. I truly appreciate your attention

to this issue.

As you know, I have a scheduling conflict this morning in Governmental Affairs. We are marking up several bills, and I will try

to keep my statement brief and try and get back for the rest of the

witnesses.

The issue of invasive species is very important to restoring and

protecting one of our Nation’s greatest natural resources, the Great

Lakes. I am pleased to welcome James Weakley who is here to testify. He is the President of the Lake Erie Carriers’ Association and

is from my hometown of Cleveland, Ohio, right on America’s north

coast.
8

During 37 years of public service, I have committed myself to

stopping the deterioration of the lake and have waged what I refer

to as the Second Battle of Lake Erie to reclaim and restore Ohio’s

Great Lake. I consider my efforts to preserve and protect Lake Erie

of all the Great Lakes to be among the most significant that I have

done during my entire career in public service.

Through the years, we have seen great progress in the restoration of the lakes, but they remain threatened by a grave enemy,

aquatic invasive species. These species threaten the health and viability of the Great Lakes fishery and ecosystem. I am worried about

these aquatic terrorists from the ballast water of boats from all

over the world. These species are already wreaking havoc in the

lakes and our coastal waters and will continue to do so until they

are stopped.

As Mayor of Cleveland in the 1980’s, I was alarmed about the

introduction of zebra mussels into the Great Lakes and conducted

the first national meeting to investigate the problem. It is a complicated situation, and we still are learning how invasive species

like the zebra mussel affect the ecosystem. Since the 1800’s, over

145 invasive species have colonized the Great Lakes. Since 1990

when legislation to address aquatic nuisance species was first enacted, we have averaged about one new invader every year. Hard

to believe.

Clearly, we have not closed the door to invasive species. I know

first-hand the damage that these species can cause as I have seen

the lakes become infiltrated with zebra and quagga mussels,

gobies, sea lampreys and a variety of other species. This past August, I held a hearing in Cleveland on what might seem to be an

unrelated problem, the annual formation of dead zones in the lake.

If anyone is unfamiliar with this term, these are areas in our waterways that are without oxygen. While I have introduced the

Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Act of

2003 to better understand the cause and possible solutions to this

phenomenon, some experts believe that invasive species are behind

it. The scientists that I have talked to think that the dead zones

are created by the invasive species.

The possible link between Lake Erie’s dead zone problem and

invasive species underscores the seriousness of the problem. Aquatic invasive species readily spread through interconnected waterways and are very difficult to treat. The National Aquatic Invasive

Species Act attempts to address the introduction, screening, response, research and hopefully eradication of these aquatic terrorists. We cannot afford to wait any longer in taking real and measurable steps to address the invasion of our waters. We must act

quickly to strengthen our Nation’s efforts to prevent invasive species from wreaking havoc on the Great Lakes’ aquatic habitat and

throughout the United States.

I just want to make one other comment, Mr. Chairman. It is my

understanding now that the zebra mussels have been seen in the

Columbia River basin. It is just amazing. We did everything we

could to try and limit it to Lake Erie and the Great Lakes. All of

our lakes in Ohio now are infested with zebra mussels. This thing

is just spreading all over the United States of America. We have

another thing called quagga mussels that are even worse. They are
9

going to be around. This is a very, very serious problem that I

think that we need to tackle forthrightly if we are going to preserve

the great resources that we have, not only the Great Lakes, but

throughout the United States.

Thank you very much.

[The prepared statement of Senator Voinovich follows:]

STATEMENT OF HON. GEORGE V. VOINOVICH, U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF

OHIO

Mr. Chairman, thank you for calling today’s hearing on the National Aquatic

Invasive Species Act of 2003. Although you do not represent a Great Lakes or coastal State, you have recognized that the issue of invasive species is a problem that

plagues our entire nation. As a Senator from Ohio whose northern boundary is Lake

Erie, and as cosponsor of the bill before this Subcommittee today, I truly appreciate

you turning your attention to this important issue.

The issue of invasive species is very important to restoring and protecting one of

our nation’s greatest natural resources the Great Lakes. I am pleased to welcome

James Weakley, who is here to testify. He is the President of the Lake Carriers’

Association and is from my home town of Cleveland, Ohio, right on the coast of Lake

Erie.

Lake Erie’s ecology has come a long way since I was elected to the State legislature in 1966. During that time, Lake Erie formed the northern border of my district

and it was known worldwide as a dying lake. Lake Erie’s decline was covered extensively by the media and became an international symbol of pollution and environmental degradation. Its problems were so well-known that the British Broadcasting

Company sent a film crew to make a documentary about it.

Thirty-seven years ago, when I saw firsthand the effects of pollution on Lake Erie

and the surrounding region, I knew we had to do more to protect the environment

for our children and grandchildren. As a State legislator, I made a commitment to

stop the deterioration of the Lake and to wage the ‘‘Second Battle of Lake Erie’’ to

reclaim and restore Ohio’s Great Lake. I have continued this fight throughout my

career as County Commissioner, State Legislator, Lieutenant Governor, Mayor of

Cleveland, Governor of Ohio, and now United States Senator. I consider my efforts

to preserve and protect Lake Erie and all of the Great Lakes to be among the most

significant of my career and of my life.

It is comforting to me that in the 37 years since I started my career in public

service, I am still involved, as a member of the U.S. Senate and our Committee on

Environment and Public Works, in the battle to save Lake Erie and all the Great

Lakes.

Today in Ohio, we celebrate Lake Erie’s improved water quality. It is a habitat

to countless species of wildlife, a vital resource to the area’s tourism, transportation,

and recreation industries, and the main source of drinking water for many Ohioans.

Unfortunately, however, there is still a great deal that needs to be done to improve

and protect Ohio’s greatest natural asset.

I have taken several specific steps in the 108TH Congress to ensure that the

Great Lakes are protected and receive the attention they deserve. I proposed an

amendment that was included in the fiscal year 2003 Omnibus Appropriations bill

to extend the current moratorium on oil and gas drilling in the Great Lakes until

the end of fiscal year 2005.

Additionally, we must protect the area and specifically the wetlands around the

Great Lakes. With almost 98 percent of the costal wetland system that existed in

western Lake Erie lost over the past two centuries, I was pleased that Congress

passed earlier this year my bill to expand the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge and

Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge.

Recently, the General Accounting Office reported that while there are many Federal, State, and local programs, restoration of the Great Lakes is being hindered because there is no coordination or unified strategy for these activities. Furthermore,

the GAO found that although more than a billion dollars has been spent since 1992,

it is not possible to comprehensively assess restoration progress in the Great Lakes

because overall indicators do not exist.

The conclusions of this GAO report confirm concerns I have had that the Great

Lakes are not receiving the attention they deserve. As Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, I plan to hold an oversight

hearing on management of Great Lakes environmental programs. In addition, I cosponsored legislation (S. 1116) to direct the Great Lakes National Program Office

to develop, implement, monitor, and report on a series of indicators of water quality
10

and related environmental factors in the Great Lakes. This bill would expand the

Lake Erie Water Quality Index that I created as Governor to cover all of the Great

Lakes.

Through the years, we have seen great progress in the restoration of the Great

Lakes, but they remain threatened by a grave enemy aquatic invasive species.

These species threaten the health and viability of the Great Lakes fishery and ecosystem. I am worried about these aquatic terrorists in the ballast water of boats

from all over the world. These invasive species are already wreaking havoc in the

Lakes and our coastal waters and will continue to do so until they are stopped.

Since the 1800’s, over 145 invasive species have colonized in the Great Lakes.

Since 1990, when legislation to address aquatic nuisance species was first enacted,

we have averaged about one new invader each year. Clearly, we have not closed the

door to invasive species. I am deeply troubled by the surge in new invasive species

in Lake Erie, because once a species establishes itself, there is virtually no way to

eliminate it.

Because I know firsthand the damage these species can cause as I have seen the

Lakes become infiltrated with Zebra and quagga mussels, gobies, sea lampreys, and

a variety of other species I am involved in a fight to keep another invasive species

out of the Great Lakes the Asian Carp. I cosponsored an amendment that was included in the fiscal year 2003 Omnibus Appropriations bill to provide funds to continue operation of the Chicago Ship and Sanitary Canal Dispersal Barrier, which

is the last line of defense to a very big and destructive fish. Fortunately, the bill

before the Subcommittee today expands on the existing program by improving the

Barrier project.

As Mayor of Cleveland in the 1980’s, I was alarmed about the introduction of

zebra mussels into the Great Lakes and conducted the first national meeting to investigate the problem. It is a complicated situation, and we are still learning how

invasive species like the zebra mussel affect the ecosystem.

This past August, for example, I conducted a field hearing of the Environment

and Public Works Committee to examine the increasingly extensive oxygen depletion or hypoxia in the central basin of Lake Erie. This phenomenon has been referred to as a ‘‘dead zone’’ and has been associated with massive fish kills, toxic

algae blooms, and bad-tasting or bad-smelling water.

Hypoxia is usually the result of decaying algae blooms which consume oxygen at

the bottom of the lake. In the past, excessive phosphorus loading from point sources

such as municipal sewage treatment plants were greatly responsible for algae

blooms. Since 1965, the level of phosphorus entering the Lake has been reduced by

about 50 percent. These reductions have resulted in smaller quantities of algae and

more oxygen going into the system.

In recent years, overall phosphorus levels in the Lake have been increasing, but

the amount of phosphorus entering it has not. Scientists are unable to account for

the increased levels of phosphorus in the Lake. One hypothesis is the influence of

two aquatic nuisance species the zebra and quagga mussels. Although their influence is not well understood, they may be altering the way phosphorus cycles

through the system.

Another way zebra mussels could be responsible for oxygen depletion in Lake Erie

is due to their ability to filter and clear vast quantities of lake water. Clearer water

allows light to penetrate deeper into the Lake, encouraging additional organic

growth on the bottom. When this organic material decays, it consumes oxygen.

This year, I introduced the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research Amendments Act of 2003 (S. 937) to reauthorize and expand the Harmful Algal Bloom and

Hypoxia Research and Control Act of 1998 to include the Great Lakes. The research

authorized by the original Act focused only on coastal marine waters, although these

problems exist throughout the Great Lakes. We need to focus our research and dollars not only on coastal marine waters, but also on these troubling situations in the

Great Lakes.

It is my understanding that Senators Olympia Snowe (R–ME) and John Breaux

(D–LA) have also introduced a bill (S. 247) to reauthorize the Act and that the Commerce Committee will be marking up this legislation on Thursday. I also understand

that they will be including the provisions in my bill that deal with the Great Lakes.

I thank them for their leadership on this issue and for recognizing the importance

of expanding this program to include the Great Lakes.

However, more needs to be done. The possible link between Lake Erie’s dead zone

problem and invasive species underscores the seriousness of this problem. Aquatic

invasive species readily spread through interconnected waterways and are extremely difficult to treat safely. Over the last 30 years, we have made remarkable

progress in improving water quality and restoring the natural resources of our nation’s aquatic areas, and we need to prevent any backsliding on this progress.
11

While these species are a particular problem, I recognize that both terrestrial and

aquatic invasive species cause significant economic and ecological damage throughout North America. Recent estimates state that invasive species cost the U.S. at

least $138 billion per year and that 42 percent of the species on the Threatened and

Endangered Lists are at risk primarily due to invasive species.

In 1999, President Clinton issued an Executive Order creating the National

Invasive Species Council to develop a national management plan for invasive species

and to bring together the Federal agencies responsible for managing them. This was

a promising plan that has never been fully implemented. The National Invasive

Species Management Plan was issued in 2001, but agencies with responsibilities

under the plan have been slow to complete activities by the established due dates.

Moreover, the agencies do not always act in a coordinated manner.

The General Accounting Office released a report in October 2002 that showed that

implementing the Management Plan was possibly being hampered by the lack of a

congressional mandate for the Council. It is disturbing to me that this Council exists but is not making substantial progress. Make no mistake about it; these species

are not waiting for the Federal Government to get all of its ducks in a row. Instead,

they are continuing to invade the waters and lands of the U.S.

To correct this problem by legislatively establishing the Council, I am pleased to

be an original cosponsor of the National Invasive Species Council Act (S. 536). I am

interested to hear from the witnesses their thoughts on this legislation as well as

any other recommendations they may have.

The National Aquatic Invasive Species Act attempts to address the introduction,

screening, response, research, and hopefully eradication of these aquatic terrorists.

We cannot afford to wait any longer in taking real and measurable steps to address

the invasion of our waters. We must act quickly to strengthen our nation’s efforts

to prevent invasive species from wreaking havoc on the Great Lakes’ aquatic habitat

and throughout the U.S.

Again, Mr. Chairman, thank you for holding this hearing. This lineup of witnesses

is extraordinary and I thank all of the expert witnesses who are here today. I look

forward to their input on this very important legislation.

Thank you.

Senator VOINOVICH. Senator Levin, thank you for giving me an

opportunity to make this statement. I know that you are a very

busy person.

Senator LEVIN. See you at Governmental Affairs.

[Laughter.]

Senator CRAPO. Thank you very much, Senator Voinovich.

I just have one quick question, Senator Levin, then we will see

if Senator Allard has one and we will let you get off to your meetings.

As you know, federalism is a big issue that has been raised with

regard to the management of invasive species. I note that in the

GAO report that we will have discussion of following you, there

was sort of a mix between the States as to whether they thought

that we should have Federal legislation that integrated all of the

Federal authorities on invasive species, or whether to approach it

from another perspective. I was just curious as to how your proposed legislation addresses this issue.

Senator LEVIN. Mr. Chairman, I think we are all sensitive to the

need for us to have the States basically be in the driver’s seat relative to the waters. We feel very keenly about that in the Great

Lakes. As a matter of fact, nationally we have insisted that our

Great Lakes Governors have veto authority over diversion of water

from the Great Lakes. So it is a very sensitive issue, I think, for

all of our States.

The non–Federal portions of the program are voluntary. It is intended to be a voluntary program, so no State has to accept any

of the funding or any of the programs that are in here. We do however, when it comes to water coming into this country in ballast

water in foreign ships or in U.S. ships that might bring in an
12

invasive species, require that that ballast water be exchanged, but

ballast water exchange has not worked well enough.

So the fundamental issue that we address here is whether or not

we have an interim standard which would promote technology as

the alternative to ballast water exchange, and that would be something the Coast Guard would have to implement. But I don’t see

how that would be in any way a detriment to the power of States

to control their own waters. I think that could only be seen as a

plus.

Beyond that, I am not sure I can address the specific question

of the Chairman, and I don’t know on this specific issue whether

there is anything, frankly, in our bill which would be detrimental

to the power of the States over their own waters. I think it would

be viewed by most States as a plus, as something which would

have the Federal Government be offering something to the States,

but not be demanding that the States accept the offer in any way,

or that there be any unfunded mandates or anything like that in

here.

I hope that is an accurate answer. It is the best I can give you

without getting back into that 135-page bill, which I did not do last

night, I am afraid.

Senator CRAPO. Well, we are all going to get into it very carefully. I do appreciate your answer and your attitude on those

issues. It is a critical issue that we will need to address as we move

forward.

Senator Allard?

Senator ALLARD. I just have one simple question for the Senator.

We in Colorado frequently see, particularly on invasive species, the

State willing to do the work and the property owner willing to do

the work and people affected doing it, but the Federal Government

has a stake there and they do not do it. Do we in any way reduce

the responsibility of the Federal Government, that you are aware

of, in your bill? Do we expect them to be treated like everybody

else?

Senator LEVIN. Right. Quite the opposite. I think we finally

would put in enough funding on the funding side of that issue so

that the Federal Government could carry out its responsibility. Because on that one particular issue alone, it is a major growing

issue, and the Federal role should be a real one. It ought to be a

partnership role. It should not be imposed, but it surely ought to

be carried out so that we carry out our side of the commitments.

Senator ALLARD. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Senator CRAPO. Thank you very much.

Any other questions?

Senator VOINOVICH. Mr. Chairman, Mr. Hill is going to be testifying here from the Office of Environment and Natural Resources

at the U.S. General Accounting Office. He is going to be getting involved in his testimony in the fact that State officials have identified the lack of legal requirements for control of invasive species as

a legislative gap in dealing with them. He is going to try and explain to us how you fill the gap without imposing an unfunded

mandate on the States. So I am anxious to hear his testimony.

Senator CRAPO. Yes, we are very much.

Senator LEVIN. That is our goal.
13

Senator CRAPO. Without any further questions, if there are none,

we will excuse you, Senator Levin, and we will move to the next

panel.

Senator LEVIN. Thank you very much.

Senator CRAPO. Before we do so, I wanted to note that Mr. Hill,

you may be coming up while I make this announcement. Senator

Murkowski was very interested in making an opening statement

and I believe she is presiding on the floor of the Senate right now.

When she arrives, we will at an appropriate breaking point, allow

her to make her opening statement.

I note that we have been joined by Senator Warner. Senator

Warner, before we start this next panel, would you like to make

any opening statement?

Senator WARNER. Mr. Chairman, I eventually will, but I need a

few minutes to talk to staff.

Senator CRAPO. All right. I understand that entirely.

With that, we will go to our second panel then, Mr. Barry Hill,

who is the Director of Interior Issues with the Office of Environment and Natural Resources at the U.S. General Accounting Office.

Mr. Hill, I will tell you and all of the other witnesses on the panels

for the rest of this hearing, we have given you instructions that we

would like you to keep your oral testimony to 5 minutes.

We do have your written testimony and your reports, and for

other witnesses we have your written testimony and we will review

it and in most cases have already reviewed it, but we like to keep

as much time as we can for questions and answers. So we encourage you to watch that clock and try to keep your remarks to 5 minutes.

With that, Mr. Hill, please proceed.

STATEMENT OF BARRY HILL, DIRECTOR, INTERIOR ISSUES,

OFFICE OF ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES, U.S.

GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE; ACCOMPANIED BY TRISH

McCLURE, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF ENVIRONMENT

AND NATURAL RESOURCES

Mr. HILL. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee. Before I do begin, let me introduce my colleague. With

me today is Trish McClure, who led the work we will be presenting

today on the Invasive Species Program.

We are pleased to be here today to discuss the issue of managing

invasive species. My testimony today is based on our October 2002

report on the Federal Government’s national management plan for

invasive species, as well as new work that you requested on State

perspectives regarding invasive species management.

As you know, States and over 20 different Federal agencies operate a variety of invasive species-related programs and activities. In

1999, Executive Order 1312 established the National Invasive Species Council to provide national leadership in this area and to develop a national management plan to serve as a blueprint for Federal invasive species actions. Our evaluation of that plan found

that it lacks a clear, long-term desired outcome and quantifiable

measures of performance. While the actions called for in the plan

are likely to contribute to controlling invasive species, it is unclear

how implementing them will move the United States toward a spe-
14

cific outcome such as reducing the number of new invasive species

or the spread of established species by a certain amount.

Moreover, we reported that implementation of the plan has been

slow. As of September 2002, Federal agencies had completed less

than 20 percent of the 65 actions that the plan had called for by

that date. We recommended that the Council clarify the goals and

objectives in the national management plan and improve reporting

on the progress of its implementation.

We also reported in October 2002 that Federal efforts are not

adequate to prevent the introduction of invasive species into the

Great Lakes via the ballast water of ships. Despite Federal regulations requiring ships that enter the Great Lakes to exchange their

ballast water in the open ocean, aquatic invasive species are still

establishing themselves in that ecosystem.

We found two factors that contribute to this problem. First, the

Coast Guard classifies about 70 percent of the ships that enter the

Great Lakes as having no ballast on board and are therefore exempt from open ocean exchange requirements. However, these

ships may in fact carry thousands of gallons of residual ballast

water that may contain invasive organisms and that may be discharged into the Great Lakes.

Second, the open ocean exchange conducted by ships that have

ballast does not effectively remove or kill all organisms in the

tanks. Federal officials believe it could be a decade or more before

standards and technologies are developed to effectively treat ballast

water. In the meantime, the introduction of aquatic invasive species into the Great Lakes will continue to be a problem.

Now let me turn to our most recent work gathering State perspectives on the invasive species problem. According to the State

officials we surveyed, a key gap noted in both aquatic and terrestrial legislation is the lack of legal requirements for controlling

invasives that are already established or widespread. In addition,

many State officials frequently cited as ineffective the current Federal standards for ballast water, which only impose requirements

for ships entering the Great Lakes and not other U.S. waters.

Regarding barriers to addressing invasive species, most State officials were concerned with the lack of Federal funding for State efforts and the lack of public awareness, outreach and education activities. A majority of the States also said that there are less control techniques available to combat aquatic species than there are

for terrestrial species and that there is a need for more species-specific research to identify effective measures.

S. 525 appears to address many of the issues we have discussed

today. For example, among other things, the bill sets forth a much

more aggressive program for ballast water and related pathways by

requiring ballast water standards for ships in all U.S. waters, and

authorizing substantially more funding for research on pathways of

likely aquatic invaders and the development of treatment technologies.

Second, the bill provides better outreach and education to various

industries that can serve as pathways for invasives, such as the pet

trade, recreational boaters and marina operators. Finally, S. 525

would authorize a grant program for research, development, demonstration and verification of environmentally sound, cost-effective
15

technologies and methods to control and eradicate aquatic invasive

species.

Mr. Chairman, this concludes my statement. We would be more

than pleased to respond to any questions that you or other members may have.

Senator CRAPO. Thank you very much, Mr. Hill.

Your testimony states at the outset that the data we need to set

long-term goals and performance measures is not available currently. If I understand correctly, it is going to be a number of years

before we are at a point where we can do that. What sorts of research data and collection need to be completed before we would

have a comprehensive picture to enable us to do this well?

Mr. HILL. This is almost like a chicken and an egg argument.

You almost have to decide what your performance goals and measures are going to be. How are you going to measure success or performance in this program? And then based on those measurements,

you have to determine what data is currently available and what

data gaps exist. I think that is something that the Council is currently wrestling with.

Senator CRAPO. The question I am getting at is, are we in a position right now where we, through legislation, can make progress in

this arena? Or are we simply getting the cart before the horse? Do

we need to get more data collection before we can proceed?

Mr. HILL. I am going to let Ms. McClure comment on this as

well. I think the bill does provide for many nice things, one of the

things being conducting of more additional research to hopefully

study the situation and identify what the problem is so that you

can determine what kind of data you are going to need to collect.

Ms. MCCLURE. I think the big concern is that you do not want

to set a goal, for example, reducing or eliminating the invasions of

invasive species to our environment, because many people recognize that that is an incredibly difficult thing to do. So I think the

concern is setting an appropriate goal, and therefore identifying

performance measures that are actually achievable, and the concern of gathering that data is to be sure you are reporting on the

appropriate things.

Senator CRAPO. So establishment of the goal is going to drive the

kind of data collection and research that we will need to conduct?

Ms. MCCLURE. Yes, definitely.

Senator CRAPO. Thank you very much.

Mr. Hill, currently there are, if I understand it correctly, 11 Federal agencies on the Invasive Species Council. The obvious question

that that brings to my mind from the outset is whether we have

too many cooks in the invasive species kitchen. Do we have too

broad an issue here? Or is it the kind of situation where we have

such a broad impact from this problem that we have to bring that

many agencies to bear in the Council to address the issue?

Mr. HILL. It is certainly a situation that affects not only a lot of

agency programs and missions, as well as many States, obviously

as well. So it is difficult to single out one or two agencies that you

could consolidate this thing into. I think the concept of a council

is a good one, where you basically have all the responsible Federal

agencies conceptually working together and coordinating their ac-
16

tivities to assist States and the Federal agencies to address the

problem.

Senator CRAPO. I noted in your report that there was some discussion with the States about whether integration was a good idea

or not. The States seem to be in a slight margin in favor of that.

What are we talking about by ‘‘integration’’?

Ms. MCCLURE. That would be providing a single legislative authority that would be very broad and provide quite a bit of flexibility in terms of how to address invasives or pathways, what type

of data to collect, and what types of controls would be implemented.

Senator CRAPO. As opposed to a number of different statutory authorities? And what was the concern of the States that did not support integration?

Ms. MCCLURE. There was concern that there would be reduced

State flexibility. As my colleague was saying, some of the concerns

that we have many existing programs in place that have been

working well, and that if you start to integrate and force agencies

to change what they have historically been doing, you may be losing some of that expertise and some of the goals or the achievements that have already been made.

Senator CRAPO. My last question, then, and I will go on to Senator Allard, but did any of the States raise federalism issues or

State sovereignty issues with regard to this issue?

Ms. MCCLURE. That is an interesting point. The State results actually indicate some degree of conflict on that. While they say there

is a need for some legal requirements in many areas, and really

need that to be able to address things, they also recognize the lack

of Federal funding in many areas. So it does seem to be a mixed

point.

Senator CRAPO. Thank you.

Senator Allard?

Senator ALLARD. It seems to me that if we are going to meet all

these varied types of species and everything, there is so much difference in how you might attack reducing those invasive species’

populations. You almost have to rely on the States to come up with

a program. Would it possible, do you think, to make this a successful program if we just provided the dollars and set some general

guidelines that say that you have got to show within the first 3

years of funding that you reduced whichever species it is by 5 percent within the State?

Could we be as effective doing that as we could with any kind

of a mandate that we currently have in law? This report is probably one of the weakest reports as far as administering a program

as I have probably seen since I have been in the Congress. It just

doesn’t seem to be able, like you say, measure results. I think you

were right in pointing that out. Can we do that through the appropriation process and make it voluntary on the States?

Mr. HILL. That would be challenging for them in that in many

cases the invasive species are not contained within one State. It is

becoming a national issue. It certainly affects multiple States. In

order to effectively control or prevent these species from entering,

it is going to take some coordination on the part of States working

together to address the problem. If they could do that, yes, it would
17

be effective. But if the States have different priorities or they are

focusing on different species, and one State is focusing on one species and the adjacent State is not, it is going to be very difficult

to control that species and certainly to do it cost-effectively.

Senator ALLARD. For example, the mussel problem that we have

in the Great Lakes or the problems we have there, those species

would not be a problem to other States, but perhaps regionally we

could put a program in place where those States that are all impacted by that mussel, for example, could set up a program.

We could provide the money, but again direct them to do specific

things in order to qualify for the funding and manage the program.

Maybe we would not do it strictly by a State basis, but say if the

States have a common problem, then part of the responsibility of

getting this money in this program is to form a coalition of States

that are willing to be a part of that coalition to get the job done.

Mr. HILL. That could be done, and certainly for the zebra mussel

where it is becoming widespread and States are recognizing if we

do not work together to do something, it is going to be even a bigger problem. There is a common interest there perhaps in addressing that particular issue. But there are so many species out there,

and there are so many that still could enter the United States. I

think what you are talking about here, and I think Senator Levin

used the correct term, what you need to be looking for is basically

a partnership here between Federal agencies, the States themselves, working together cooperatively where it makes sense to address common problems that they have.

Senator ALLARD. If you are going to work cooperatively, it seems

like you have to make it voluntary. They have to feel they are part

of the team, but you have to have responsibility to the taxpayers

to make sure the money that it gets is spent responsibly. It seems

to me that the proper role for the Federal Government here is to

provide the money, make sure, like you said, that the program they

come up with has measurable results, and that that money is well

spent.

I know that, for example, a lot of foreign species that come into

the United States are restricted at certain ports of entry. Is that

program working or not? Did you cover that in your GAO evaluation?

Ms. MCCLURE. No, we did not.

Senator ALLARD. OK. Thank you.

Senator CRAPO. Thank you.

Senator Jeffords?

Senator JEFFORDS. Mr. Hill, regarding the agency’s work implementing the management plan, does it appear that the agencies

are coordinating their efforts to address actions called for by the

plan?

Mr. HILL. When we did our work back in October of 2002, we did

find instances where there was not effective coordination going on,

where there were particular actions that were designated that

needed to be done. It seemed as though the agencies were doing

things that were related to that particular action, but they really

weren’t coordinated or integrated, and did not seem to be directed

in a way that would have a successful outcome.
18

Since we have done that report, on a positive note, one thing that

we are aware of is that the agencies now have a cross-cutting budget which should help in coordinating future efforts, since they are

basically identifying budgetary things that can be done and pooling

money in a way where they can coordinate some activities in the

future.

Senator JEFFORDS. What is a cross-cutting budget?

Ms. MCCLURE. The cross-cutting budget that they put together

for fiscal year 2004 deals with activities related to prevention, detection and control for Agriculture, Commerce and Interior. Basically, it is the starting point of something that would help them integrate, as Mr. Hill said, their programs, identify where they have

actions that are related, and ensure that those activities are coordinated and they are working toward more efficient outcomes.

Senator JEFFORDS. What does GAO believe should be done in regard to ballast water management?

Mr. HILL. Clearly, there is a need for more research and technology development there. Right now, I think it was mentioned earlier by Senator Levin, that there is a need for a standard to be developed. Until that standard is developed, the companies that develop the technology are kind of reluctant, I think, to go ahead and

develop those technologies because they do not know what standard or what level that those technologies need to be developed to.

So you need a standard that will hopefully spur on some technology

development. Once the technologies are available, you can incorporate them into ships.

Now, the other thing that is important to consider here is the

longer this goes on, the longer that this standard is not developed,

the longer that the technology is not put in place, ships that are

currently being built will have to be retrofitted in the future to upgrade them to that standard.

Senator JEFFORDS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Senator CRAPO. Thank you.

Senator Warner, and you may make an opening statement if you

choose, and then follow with questions.

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN W. WARNER,

U.S. SENATOR FROM THE COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA

Senator WARNER. [holds up a marine mollusk shell about six

inches long.] The reason I did want to speak is that I want to introduce everybody to this. I collected this yesterday when I traveled

to the Chesapeake Bay with our former colleague and dear friend,

Senator Mathias, who spent much of his career here in the Senate

working to clean up the Chesapeake Bay.

I am going to read what this is. I really did not know much about

it. Here it is. It is called a Rapa welk. Whoever heard of that before? It apparently came in through the ballast tanks and into the

Chesapeake Bay some years ago. Today, it eats everything in its

path, including oysters which we are appropriating significant

sums of money trying to restore. So with one hand, the taxpayer

is putting in money to develop oysters in my State, and this joker

is running around eating them up as fast as we can get them started. In between, he devours the clams and the mussels and everything else.
19

Now, when I first saw it, I thought it was one of those fancy

things called a conch, and all of us have been down to the islands

in the middle of winter and we get conch stew and everything is

quite nice. No human can eat it. It is practically poisonous. So what has Virginia done? It has put a $5 bounty on this rascal.

Even the kids can go along the seashore and pick up the shells,

which they are doing, and get some bounty, but if you can get one

live, it is $5 and the fishermen are almost making more money

scooping these fellow up then they are the products of the sea.

So we have got to do something about it. There are a number of

firms in Virginia that have developed technologies to help solve it,

but precisely what you said, they are not going to move with their

capital and take the risks until we decide on these interim standards. That is why I joined the Levin bill in hopes that Congress can

impress upon the Federal Government that all of the various players in this, and we have a full list of all the various government

agencies and so forth that have been enumerated this morning, can

get together and at least hold a quiet election somewhere in a room

and elect one agency to go ahead. I think the Coast Guard is eminently qualified to spearhead the effort.

So I am going to go down and put this on my shelf and watch

as we work on this legislative process as a reminder to me that we

have got to do something because my State is suffering greatly

from this. I thank our witnesses this morning. I thank the Chairman and our distinguished Ranking Member. Now let’s go get

something done. This beast has got to be stopped.

Thank you very much.

Senator CRAPO. Thank you very much, Senator Warner. When

you brought that in here, I thought you were bringing us something from the islands. So we appreciate that lesson.

Senator Murkowski, you may make an opening statement. Then

if you choose when you are finished, you can follow up with questions.

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. LISA MURKOWSKI,

U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF ALASKA

Senator MURKOWSKI. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I appreciate the opportunity again to participate in the hearing

that has substantial impact on my State of Alaska. We have been

relatively fortunate in Alaska due to the distance, climate and a little bit of foresight, to be protected from some of these invasive species. We do not have this monster that apparently has invaded the

great Chesapeake Bay. We have some pretty strong laws regarding

the importation of exotic species, and have had them for many

years.

Despite that, we have had a number of invasive aquatic species

and non-aquatic species that have hitchhiked to Alaska. We have

others that are near our border and appear to be working toward

our direction. In the port of Valdez in Prince William Sound, we

receive the third-largest volume of ballast water of any U.S. port

due to the regular arrival of very large oil tankers, many of which

arrive to the port of Valdez already infested with invasive species.

This is a significant and a continuing threat, although to date only

a small number of problems have been detected.
20

We are working on technologies and practices to meet this.

Among the most promising is this new method of introducing ozone

into the ballast water, both when it is pumped aboard and when

it is discharged. So far, we understand that there have been excellent results in removing these biological hitchhikers. I want to note

that this research has been funded actually by the oil and gas industry, British Petroleum, and the industry’s willingness to step

forward on this issue should be recognized. But the government’s

obligation to address this issue should not be overlooked. I hope

this committee will agree that this research is very worthy and we

need to give it our strong support.

There has been a variety of both animal and plant organisms

that have shown up in Alaskan waters. The Northern Pike, which

has been introduced illegally into areas where it is not native, and

is a very serious threat to our native Pacific salmon and other fish.

We have Atlantic salmon escaping from salmon farms in other

areas, which we have also seen from Southeastern Alaska up to

Prince William Sound, and in ocean waters as far away as the Bering Sea. Natural reproduction of escaped Atlantic salmon has been

observed in British Columbia, and it is possible that this species

could find a foothold in Alaska, again, posing serious threat to our

native stocks.

Plants such as Japanese knotweed, Reed Canary grass and Foxtail barley are also colonizing, posing a threat to our naturally occurring species. There are several other species which have not yet

been observed in Alaska, but are considered to be a danger and we

are watching carefully in the hopes of intercepting them before

they do become a problem.

The European green crab is an example. It became established

in California and has already moved as far north as Vancouver Island. Although small, it is highly aggressive, preys on juveniles of

other crab species, as well as on clams, mussels, urchins and other

fish and plants. So in Alaska, all the major crab species, king, Dungeness and Tanner, could be at risk from this European green crab.

Another small crab, again, of concern is the Chinese mitten crab,

which has become established in San Francisco and may be moving

northward. One specimen has been found near the mouth of the

Columbia River, but because this little creature comes to the freshwater to spawn, potentially moving hundreds of miles upriver, we

view it as a serious threat.

This is by no means an exhaustive list, and it is not meant to

be. It is just an example of those things that we are keeping an

eye on very attentively.

I also need to make mention of another creature that has become

a serious problem. It is not an aquatic animal. It is the Norway rat.

It shares one of the common characteristics with many aquatic nuisance species, and that is the mode of travel. Rats arriving via

shipwrecks and in transferred cargo are now considered a significant threat to sea bird colonies in the Aleutian Islands Maritime

Wildlife Refuge. I am hoping that when we begin to work on specific changes to the Act, it is possible to address this matter, perhaps in the same way that the Brown Tree snake, which was another terrestrial species, that will be addressed again in the original Act.
21

Mr. Chairman, I look forward to continuing discussion on this

issue.

At this time, just a very quick question of you, Mr. Hill. I mentioned the ozone treatment into the ballast waters. We seem to

think that it has shown some success. Your thoughts on this as a

possible treatment?

Mr. HILL. We did not do an analysis of the various treatments

being attempted. In the work we have done, we have identified

that there is a need for new treatment technology and new treatments to be developed, but I am not aware of any work that we

have done specifically on any treatment developments.

Senator MURKOWSKI. Perhaps we can share ours with you.

Mr. Chairman, thank you.

Senator CRAPO. Thank you very much.

Any further questions? If not, Mr. Hill and Ms. McClure, we appreciate your being with us. Thank you.

We will now move to our third panel. The panelists may come

up. This panel includes Ms. Lori Williams, the Executive Director

of the National Invasive Species Council; Mr. Joseph Angelo, Director of Standards at the U.S. Coast Guard; Mr. Matthew Hogan,

Deputy Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Mr. Timothy

Keeney, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Oceans and Atmosphere at

the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; and

Mr. Tracy Mehan, Assistant Administrator for Water at the U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency.

We welcome you all with us. Ms. Williams, we will start with

you. Please proceed.

STATEMENT OF LORI WILLIAMS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR,

NATIONAL INVASIVE SPECIES COUNCIL

Ms. WILLIAMS. Thank you.

Thank you for the opportunity to discuss the National Invasive

Species Council’s efforts to deal with the problem of invasive species and comment on S. 525, the National Aquatic Invasive Species

Act of 2003.

Last summer, efforts to eradicate the snakehead fish in Maryland put the problem of aquatic invasive species on the front page.

The threat that this voracious predator, discovered in a small pond,

could easily have spread to the entire Chesapeake Bay if quick action was not taken by the State of Maryland and local officials,

graphically demonstrates the risk of invasive species and their potential destructive capacity.

The apparent success of Maryland officials in eradicating the

snakehead fish and quick action by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Service, moving swiftly to regulate the fish under Federal law, has

unfortunately been the exception, rather than the rule in the past.

Too often, invasive species have become well established and difficult, if not impossible, to eradicate or contain by the time action

is taken. When these species to become established, as you have

heard in graphic detail, they cause environmental economic harm

and some harm to animal and human health as well.

The Council is charged with coordinating Federal activities relating to all invasive species, including aquatic and terrestrial species.

Although our focus today is on aquatic invasive species, many of
22

the issues and proposed solutions are common to all types of

invasive species.

As you heard from the GAO, the Council was created by Executive Order 13112, not only to address the growing problem of

invasive species, but the need for coordination. There are over 20

Federal agencies in 11 different departments and agencies that

have important invasive species programs, and it is vital that they

be coordinated. The Council is co-chaired and provided leadership

by the Secretaries of Interior, Agriculture and Commerce, and

many of the other departments that are members of the Council

are represented here today.

The Executive Order provides for an Invasive Species Advisory

Committee. This committee is composed of non–Federal experts

and stakeholders. They advise the Council and provide vital non–

Federal perspective and input. The key tasks and some of the accomplishments of the Council are listed in my full statement, but

one of the most important activities of the Council is to draft and

implement the National Invasive Species Management Plan. The

executive summary is attached for your information, to this testimony.

I would like to now turn to comment on S. 525. The subcommittee requested that I provide a general overview of the Federal agencies’ comments and concerns regarding the reauthorization bill. At that point, following my testimony, the other departments and officials will provide more detail on their specific concerns.

First, we support the reauthorization of the Aquatic Invasive

Species legislation. It is a vital and important step in addressing

this problem. There is broad support among councilmembers for

the bill’s comprehensive approach to dealing with aquatic invasive

species problems. This approach is very similar to that taken in the

National Invasive Management Plan.

Regarding concerns, first, in terms of ballast water, it is critical

that any treatment standard adopted for ballast water be biologically meaningful, based on science, and enforceable. It has not

been demonstrated that the standard based on a kill rate meets

these criteria as currently proposed in S. 525. The Coast Guard

and other agencies will elaborate on the specifics in terms of ballast water.

In general, there is concern that some of the provisions of S. 525

are administratively burdensome and inflexible. The Department of

Commerce notes in their testimony that 31 separate deadlines for

administrative actions all fall within a relatively short timeframe.

Some of the bill’s provisions, including the areas of rapid response

and screening, are overly prescriptive and do not allow the agencies

and the Council the flexibility needed to develop and test new

methods and provide for adequate stakeholder input, recognizing

the complexity and difficulty in dealing with some of these issues

and policies involved. Some of these issues involve international

trade and need to be dealt with very, very carefully.

Along the lines we noted, new spending authorized by S. 525 is

currently not in the President’s 2004 budget, and thus the proposal

must be considered within the existing resources and priorities.
23

New requirements included in the bill, such as those for education,

should be integrated into existing efforts.

As with any comprehensive and complex legislation, there are

areas that need improvement. The other Federal representatives on

the panel will provide additional detail and the Council is ready to

assist the committee in addressing these general concerns and providing additional technical comments.

Thank you and I would be glad to address questions at the end

of the panel.

Senator CRAPO. Thank you very much, Ms. Williams.

Mr. Angelo?

STATEMENT OF JOSEPH J. ANGELO, DIRECTOR OF

STANDARDS, U.S. COAST GUARD

Mr. ANGELO. Good morning, Mr. Chairman and distinguished

members of the subcommittee. I am Joe Angelo, the Director of

Standards for the Coast Guard. I also serve as the head of the

United States delegation to the International Maritime Organization which is negotiating an international treaty on ballast water

management.

It is a pleasure to appear before you today to provide our views

on S. 525. The Commandant of the Coast Guard, Admiral Collins,

has stated that ballast water management is the No. 1 environmental protection issue for the U.S. Coast Guard. Working under

existing legislation, the Coast Guard’s ongoing regulatory efforts

are addressing many of the ballast water management provisions

contained in S. 525. These include establishing a mandatory national ballast water management program, which would include

ballast management plans and records of ballast operations; setting

a ballast water treatment standard; and establishing a process for

the development, testing, and evaluation of experimental treatment

systems.

Nevertheless, we believe that reauthorization and amendment of

the aquatic nuisance species legislation is necessary to effectively

address this growing environmental problem. However, we do have

some concerns regarding S. 525 which we believe should be considered. In developing a ballast water standard, we have established

three major criteria that we believe are essential in protecting U.S.

waters. The standard must be biologically meaningful, scientifically

sound, and enforceable. We are particularly concerned with the inclusion of an interim ballast water treatment standard in this bill.

The interim standard in the bill that requires at least 95 percent

removal or kill of organisms in the ballast water does not meet any

of the above criteria, and from our perspective, especially the enforceability aspect.

Another concern is that the bill has the Coast Guard issuing regulations for an interim standard and EPA issuing the final standard. We believe that the responsibility to develop and promulgate

a single ballast water discharge standard should remain with one

agency. The Coast Guard stands ready, willing and able to do so

in full consultation with those sitting at this table.

Our third concern is the proposed timelines for implementing

many aspects of the ballast water management regulatory regime.

We fully recognize the need to issue regulations on this important
24

issue quickly, but in view of the fact that the current state of ballast water management technology is very much in its infancy, we

firmly believe that stakeholder input and participation throughout

the regulatory process is absolutely essential. The timelines contained in the bill may inhibit full and complete stakeholder participation.

The final concern I will mention is that we believe that the prescriptive nature of the bill has the potential for delaying the implementation of an effective Federal ballast water management regime.

In closing, I would like to thank you for the opportunity to

present some of our views on this bill. The Coast Guard looks forward to working with Congress on the reauthorization of aquatic

nuisance species legislation as we continue our ongoing efforts to

implement an effective ballast water management regime for the

United States.

I would be happy to answer any questions that you have when

we are done. You asked for 5 minutes, and I kept it to three. I have

always wanted to say this, sir, I yield my 2 minutes to the remaining panel members.

[Laughter.]

Senator CRAPO. We appreciate your keeping it to three, but we

are not going to let you yield those minutes to anybody else.

[Laughter.]

Senator CRAPO. Thank you very much, Mr. Angelo.

Mr. Hogan?

STATEMENT OF MATTHEW HOGAN, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, U.S.

FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE

Mr. HOGAN. Good morning, Mr. Chairman, and members of the

subcommittee. I am Matt Hogan, Deputy Director of the U.S. Fish

and Wildlife Service. I thank you for inviting the Department of Interior to give you our comments on S. 525.

There is no question that the introduction and establishment of

aquatic invasive species have significantly impacted our natural

areas. The United States continues to see an increase in the number of aquatic species crossing our borders, and we expect these

trends to continue if preventive action is not taken. The Department supports the overall direction of this bill and is encouraged

by the leadership and foresight shown by Congress in introducing

legislation that is so comprehensive.

One of the purposes of the original legislation was to encourage

Federal and State agencies to work with partners to enhance our

collective efforts. We believe that the partnerships and cooperative

entities established through the ANS Task Force and the National

Invasive Species Council have been instrumental in making significant progress to prevent and control aquatic invasive species. While

aquatic invasive species continue to be a significant threat to our

natural resources, we believe our efforts to prevent and control

them has resulted in fewer species introduced and reduced impacts

for those that have become established.

I would like to take a moment to briefly address some of our concerns with S. 525. Let me begin by saying that we support reauthorization and look forward to working with you, Mr. Chairman,
25

to address the Department’s concerns. One specific concern we

have is the proposed deadlines required by S. 525. We hope to have

the opportunity to work with you and your staff to ensure that the

deadlines are manageable, while still ensuring that we continue to

deal aggressively with these issues.

We are encouraged to see that additional emphasis is being

placed on aquatic pathways other than ballast water. This additional emphasis will encourage the development of management actions which may minimize the threats from new aquatic invasive

species that have the potential to impact our fish and wildlife populations and associated habitats.

The Department supports the development of a screening process

for planned importations of live aquatic organisms. Having the opportunity to evaluate new non-native species that are proposed to

be imported into the United States will be a valuable tool to ensure

that we are proactive in preventing the introduction of new aquatic

invasive species into U.S. waters.

However, we are concerned about the provisions that delegate

authority to screen species imported for use in aquaculture to the

U.S. Department of Agriculture. Because of the risk to fish and

wildlife, we believe that the Service should also have a role in this

type of screening.

We are also concerned that the deadlines are nondiscretionary

and that we will not have adequate resources to develop and implement the screening process to accomplish these tasks within the

stated deadlines. We have a few technical corrections and would

like to work with you to address these issues.

Education and outreach continue to be critical elements to the

success of invasive species prevention and control. Within the Department, the Fish and Wildlife Service has been actively working

for many years on the 100th Meridian Initiative to stop the westward spread of zebra mussels and other aquatic invasive species.

We support the proposed enhancement of these efforts through increased and targeted outreach and education efforts.

In closing, Mr. Chairman, I want to thank you for providing the

Department with an opportunity to comment on this important legislation. As I stated earlier, we would be happy to work with you

and your staff to address issues related to deadlines and implementation. We believe that the comprehensive approach outlined in

this legislation will result in a more balanced, holistic effort to address the problems caused by aquatic invasive species.

Mr. Chairman, that concludes my statement. I would be happy

to respond to any questions at the appropriate time.

Senator CRAPO. Thank you very much, Mr. Hogan. You did it in

three-and-a-half minutes. That is good.

Mr. Keeney?

STATEMENT OF TIMOTHY R.E. KEENEY, DEPUTY ASSISTANT

SECRETARY FOR OCEANS AND ATMOSPHERE, U.S. NATIONAL OCEAN AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION

Mr. KEENEY. Good morning, Chairman Crapo and distinguished

members of the subcommittee. I am Tim Keeney, Deputy Assistant

Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and co-chair of the
26

Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force. I certainly appreciate the opportunity to present NOAA’s views on S. 525.

Senator Levin’s bill, Mr. Chairman, addresses some gaps in our

existing programs. NOAA strongly supports existing program and

reauthorization of the program. Nevertheless, we have significant

concerns with some provisions of the pending legislation and I am

happy to have my staff work with the committee staff to address

these concerns.

NOAA believes that some of the elements dealing with ballast

water need to be revised. Ultimately, there needs to be a ballast

water discharge standard based on sound science that is biologically meaningful and enforceable. We do not believe that the 95

percent kill or removal rate meets these criteria. NOAA fully supports the provision which would allow approval of experimental

technologies for ballast water treatment, but wonders if the intent

of Congress was really for such authority to expire after 18 months.

NOAA believes that a provision for on-board testing of promising

technologies should remain in place until final standards become

effective.

We do not believe that having a rapid response contingency plan

as one of the components of State management plans should be a

prerequisite for receiving matching funds for rapid response to serious invaders. If an invader presents a serious enough threat to

warrant a rapid response action, the response should be made

whether a State has developed a contingency plan or not. Similarly,

while any activities to improve early detection should be encouraged, NOAA does not believe that an early detection strategy

should be a prerequisite for a rapid response plan.

Recently, considerable attention has been given to the economic

difficulties facing State governments. The monitoring necessary for

an effective early detection strategy can be quite costly. Such a provision actually may discourage States from developing rapid response plans. The result could be a situation of being unable to respond to a serious invasion because a State does not have a monitoring program set up. NOAA is providing funding during the current fiscal year to help regional panels develop contingency plans

for rapid response. NOAA suggests that the Task Force, which includes the Coast Guard, is the appropriate entity for approval of

such plans.

It is important that management agencies are included in this

process, which would be accomplished by giving the Task Force responsibility for formal approval. NOAA supports the increasing emphasis on research in the bill, as virtually every activity from prevention to control to restoration needs, to have a scientific underpinning.

Despite significant advances, there are still areas in which our

knowledge is seriously deficient. I would like to discuss two areas

as an illustration of our current limitations. First, there is inadequate monitoring in aquatic systems. In many instances, we do

not even have baselines so that we know when a serious new invader has been introduced. Both the Task Force and NOAA have

taken first steps to correct the deficiencies in monitoring. We are

pleased that the bill would take further steps by requiring the development of protocols in setting up a monitoring standard.
27

Second, our scientific knowledge of control methods in aquatic

environments is still in its infancy and control in aquatic ecosystems presents unique problems. It is much more difficult to localize biocide applications in the aquatic environment because

water transports chemicals so readily. We have just begun to look

at bio-control agents and some promising early results with a

pathogen that could be used for zebra mussel control and may be

species-specific.

Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to testify on behalf

of NOAA and the Department of Commerce. That concludes my

testimony and I would be happy to answer any questions you may

have.

Senator CRAPO. Thank you very much, Mr. Keeney.

Mr. Mehan?

STATEMENT OF G. TRACY MEHAN, ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR FOR WATER, U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY

Mr. MEHAN. Good morning, Mr. Chairman, members of the committee. I am Tracy Mehan, Assistant Administrator for Water at

EPA. I appreciate the opportunity to comment on S. 525.

This is a great day, as somebody who has been laboring as a

State official on this issue for a decade or so. It is really wonderful

to have this hearing and put the spotlight on an issue which most

biologists and ecologists would say is second only to habitat loss.

I would go so far as to say that at least in the Great Lakes ecosystem, one I am very familiar with, that it is probably the paramount threat to the integrity of the ecosystem.

I will make some brief remarks, pretty much echoing a lot of the

technical comments of my colleagues today. I would ask that my

full written statement be entered into the record.

Senator CRAPO. Without objection. The testimony of all witnesses

today will be put into the record.

Mr. MEHAN. Section 101(a) of the Clean Water Act states that

the objective of this chapter is to restore and maintain the chemical, physical and biological integrity of the Nation’s waters. The

fact is, 31 years after the passage of the Clean Water Act, most of

our focus, at least at EPA, has been on the chemical impacts on

the aquatic ecosystems. That is still important and will continue to

be, but we are clearly now in the 21st century at a point where biology has to come forward, and certainly as a priority as it relates

to aquatic nuisance species.

Again, as Senator Voinovich noted, in the Great Lakes ecosystem

we have somewhere between 135 and probably close to 160 exotics

that were not in the system last century, primarily due to ballast

water discharges. It is not uncommon in that region to hear academic scholars use the phrase ‘‘invasional meltdown’’ to describe

what has been going on there with all the introductions.

EPA has been working in a number of areas to try and address

invasive species, from research and monitoring to assisting in the

development of the ballast water standards. These kinds of regulatory actions are things we obviously have a lot of experience in,

whether it is on benefit-cost analysis or just the intricacies of the

Administrative Procedures Act. We appreciate that the bill recog-
28

nizes EPA’s role in addressing invasive species. We recognize the

hard work that has gone into the bill, commend the authors, and

look forward to working on a technical level to deal with some of

the concerns we have that are identical to those that my colleagues

have outlined today.

Again, we share the concerns about the 95 percent interim standard. I personally have spoken to the Chairman of the International

Joint Commission, who of course is interested in the Great Lakes

as he works to implement the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909. He

shares our concerns that we are really going to need something

much more geared to the science that is going to actually deal with

specific organisms. The broad-brush approach to a standard is not

going to really solve the problem. Again, we are more than willing

to put our technical expertise into the mix of other expertise here

today to try and work through these issues.

We also echo the concerns regarding the sheer number of activities required by the bill over the next 3 years. While it is not quite

the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, they are pretty daunting,

at least from the perspective of our program which has experienced

a 32 percent reduction in funding for core programs over the last

5 years.

The bill provides for sediment management in trans-oceanic vessels, which is very important as it relates to the NOBOB issue,

which was brought up by Mr. Hill. Again, we think this is necessary, but it is not sufficient to deal with NOBOB. Just so I can

emphasize that point again with respect to the great closed system

of the Great Lakes, I have heard figures as high as 85 percent from

various Coast Guard spokespersons as to the number of vessels

coming into the Great Lakes that are not carrying ballast water.

They are essentially NOBOB, which means there is this layer of

sediment in which aquatic nuisance species are in-dwelling and as

water is taken on within the Great Lakes and then it is re-discharged, we have got an introduction. The rate of introduction

today into the Great Lakes is the same as it was before the Ballast

Water Exchange Program was put in place. So clearly NOBOB is

a serious question as it relates to the Great Lakes, and for that

matter, all ecosystems which are exposed to these discharges. So

again, we look forward to working on that crucial issue.

Last, we are concerned that the research required in the bill is

too prescriptive, and we would love to bring in our colleagues at

EPA from the Office of Research and Development to work on that.

I am going to conclude with just a quote from a towering figure

in Great Lakes policy and Michigan conservation, Dr. William Cooper, a former member of EPA’s Science Advisory Board, Professor

Emeritus of Zoology at Michigan State University, who made this

provocative statement not too long ago: ‘‘If one wished to allocate

scarce monetary and human resources so as to maximize the reduction in ecological risk per unit resource expended, one would do

more good by regulating and/or limiting the introductions of exotics

than by obtaining marginal reductions in trace levels of existing

toxicants.’’

I do not offer that statement to prove the truth of the matter asserted, but I think he does present a challenging statement as to
29

how biology is coming up on the agenda of issues pertaining to protecting our ecosystems.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Senator CRAPO. Thank you very much, Mr. Mehan.

I commend the entire panel, all of you, for keeping your testimony within the limits and saving us a few minutes along the way.

Mr. Mehan, I would like to begin my questioning with you. You

indicated something that I had not thought of in that context, and

I am not going to quote you directly here, I would like you to flesh

out your thought. You indicated that you thought this issue of

invasive species was second only to habitat loss as a threat to our

ecosystems in the country. Could you explain that?

Mr. MEHAN. Again, I consider myself a layperson in terms of the

science of this, having degrees in law and history. But every scientist, every ecologist, every biologist that I have talked to for at

least the last decade or more continually comes back to the destabilizing impact that these introductions, these exotics, if you will,

aquatic nuisance species, terrestrial species, have, whether it is destroying native populations, out-competing native populations, disrupting natural flow regimes in a more arid climate if you are talking terrestrial species.

There is just no good that comes of these things. And these ecosystems have evolved over millennium, if not millions of years, and

the whole system becomes disrupted at a foundational level. Therefore, a lot of things stem from this. Senator Voinovich talked about

the possible tie-in to zebra mussels in the hypoxia areas in Lake

Erie. In Grand Traverse Bay in Michigan, we are creating a biological desert there because of this substratum of zebra mussels.

We would not have a Great Lakes fishery today without the millions if not billions of dollars that have been spent by the U.S. and

Canada just controlling sea lampreys, which did not come in

through ballast water, but through the Welland Canal. Again,

without that foundation program, a huge investment annually run

through the State Department’s budget and the Canadian counterpart budget, we just would not have any fishery system at all.

So whether it is the zebra mussel or the sea lamprey, what we

are seeing now, say, with the melaleuca in the Everglades, the

tamarisk in Colorado; one threat after another is just presenting

colossal challenges to the integrity of our ecosystems.

Senator CRAPO. Thank you.

Do the other members of the panel agree with that perspective?

Ms. WILLIAMS. Yes, I would agree with that. I just wanted to add

one variation on it, that invasive species have been documented as

the second-leading cause of species being listed as endangered or

threatened under the Endangered Species Act, after habitat loss.

So that would support what he is saying. Also, when we talked

about tamarisk, the water regime, it takes a lot of water out of the

system. That also changes the whole ecology of the area. So there

are quite a few examples of these species having broad impact

across the ecosystems.

Senator CRAPO. I think that perspective is a very important perspective and one that we need to make certain is understood by the

public as we address this issue. It is one that I do not think is

being focused on that closely in the United States right now, at
30

least in terms of the public perception of the kinds of issues that

we are dealing with in terms of our ecosystems, our environment,

and the protection of species.

An issue that I suspect will be raised by at least some of the next

panel is how do we determine what is a good or a bad invasive species? I mean, there are some species that are being introduced on

purpose in certain circumstances, or in the past have been. In fact,

a question has been raised in some of the papers that I have read

about the rainbow trout, which we love to fish for out in the West

where I come from. In certain places, that could be considered an

introduced or an invasive species.

How do we approach this question of defining what it is that we

are seeking to eradicate or to prevent?

Ms. Williams?

Ms. WILLIAMS. I will tackle that in terms of the definition in the

Executive Order. One of the things I always talk about is you need

to give your definition of ‘‘invasive species’’ when you start talking

about it, because there is a variation in how people talk about

invasive species. The way that the Federal Government defines

‘‘invasive species’’ in the Executive Order is to say the species has

to be both alien to the ecosystem or region under consideration,

and harmful to the economy, the environment, or to animal or

human health.

There is some subjectivity in that definition. Invasive species are

not necessarily regulated just because they are called or determined to be harmful and invasive species. They also have to be regulated under specific statutes in the Federal Government. So there

is no master list of invasive species that we have compiled, nor do

I think that would be wise or appropriate because it does change

and it does vary. An invasive species in Florida may not be

invasive in another region of the country or Alaska or whatever. So

you do have to look at the particular area involved to determine

if it is a problem.

Senator CRAPO. Thank you.

My time has expired, so if you had a comment that you wanted

to make on this, hold it, because we are going to come back and

do another round here and I will come back to this.

Senator Allard, would you like to go ahead?

Senator ALLARD. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

It seems like the general concern for many members on this

panel at least is the requirement in the bill that there are 31 separate actions, each with deadlines that must be completed by members of the Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force within 18 months

of passage. Do you feel like you could prioritize these actions for

the committee, and determine which ones are the best and which

ones are least important in your mind? And if you could share

those now, or if you can’t, perhaps make those available to the committee?

Mr. KEENEY. Certainly. We at Commerce would be more than

willing to work with your committee and committee staff to provide

that priority.

Senator ALLARD. Yes, but I am not asking that you work with

us. I want to know what your priorities are for the members of this

panel. So I don’t think our committee staff should be a part of that.
31

They are not part of the Council. What I want to know is what

your priorities are, and the Council needs to come up and provide

those priorities to this committee.

Mr. KEENEY. I will provide that for the record.

Senator ALLARD. Yes.

Mr. HOGAN. Senator, we would be glad to do the same thing.

Just a couple of comments, I think those activities associated with

screening and prevention would be right at the top of the list, and

then certainly early detection and rapid response. But we would be

happy to provide a more detailed list to the committee and to you.

Senator ALLARD. What we struggle with in this committee is

then what, and again, your comments tend to be kind of general.

We need to have some specifics on GPRA, you know, the Government Procedures and Results Act where we get measurable ways

to quantify things so that we can measure them so we can measure

results. I am of the view, and I think maybe other members of this

committee, we do not necessarily want to get into the day-to-day

operations, but we want to see results.

If you can reduce the mussel population in the Great Lakes by

10 percent in 5 years, that is a measurable quantity, maybe, if you

can figure out how to measure the number of mussels in the lake.

Those kind of things are helpful. I know what the bill sponsor is

trying to do. He is trying to fix up some measurable goals there,

and if you think these are too tight, maybe some of them need to

be dropped, and if we know where the priorities are and where

they are not, then that helps us determine where to focus your attention to get the best results.

Ms. WILLIAMS. Senator, the Council would be willing to help coordinate the priorities of the different agencies and work with everyone here and provide to the committee.

Senator ALLARD. Let me bring up another concern if I have time

here. Some people are concerned about an apparent multiplicity of

reporting requirements. These people allege that each report will

require a significant commitment of resources that could actually

inhibit implementation of activities. NOAA recommends that there

be a single reporting requirement and the committee identified elements to be included in the report. I am wondering if I can have

a comment from each of you. I don’t know if we need a comment

from Mr. Keeney, but from the rest of you on the panel here. Do

you have any thoughts on this suggestion?

Mr. HOGAN. Senator, I will take the first crack at that. I think

that makes eminent sense and we would be glad to fall in line with

that if other folks were agreeable as well.

Ms. WILLIAMS. I would agree.

Senator ALLARD. Everybody? All right.

Third question, this legislation requires that each State have a

rapid response contingency plan. If the Federal Government requires such a plan, how can we ensure that all ships that discharge

ballast waters are aware of each State’s plan?

Mr. KEENEY. Senator, I might say first of all that each State is

working on a management plan, and NOAA is working closely with

them to assist them in putting those plans together. We also have

regional panels. I think we have a total of five of them, all of which

have State leadership that run those panels. The States have em-
32

braced a Federal coordinating role to assist them to come up with

adequate and appropriate response plans.

Senator ALLARD. So how do you inform these ships that are coming in? As a veterinarian, we write health certificates. We get a

booklet with all the States’ requirements on health certificates and

whatnot. So are you planning on making these available to the

shipping companies so that they know what these requirements

are? How do you make that available? They are foreign as well as

native?

Mr. MEHAN. If I might just take a shot at that. Obviously, the

details of that need to be worked out collaboratively, but I think

certainly again, speaking about an ecosystem I have some familiarity with, every ship that comes into the Great Lakes comes

through Messina, New York and the Coast Guard jumps on that

ship and checks out its salinity levels and does all sorts of things.

So at least for that region, that eight–State region, I think it is

pretty clear you can control it. I think posting things on a Web site,

providing things in a manual. I think with the information technologies available, that is doable.

The question will be more what is the content of the rapid response plans and what is their role. A lot of this will get down to

site-specific areas, what ports are you talking about, and where

and under what circumstances do the protocols allow a discharge

or not.

So I think it is a solvable problem, but it will take some puzzling

out of the details to make it efficient and not a burdensome requirement.

Senator ALLARD. Yes?

Mr. ANGELO. If I might just add one comment here, Senator. You

focused on the States’ response plans. Where we see the bigger emphasis with the international shipping community would be

through the prevention side. We believe that by making sure that

the shipping that comes to the United States is complying from a

prevention standpoint, that would significantly diminish the need

for anything in the response area. Once it is in the water, there

is little the ship can do itself. It then turns into a response between

the Federal Government and the States. But if we focus on the prevention side, we think we can have a bigger bang for our buck

there.

Mr. KEENEY. Just to follow up what was just stated by the Coast

Guard, NOAA opposed the rapid response plans for ships in our

testimony.

Senator CRAPO. Thank you very much.

Senator Murkowski?

Senator MURKOWSKI. Thank you.

I would like to go back to the discussion we were having about

the definition of ‘‘invasive species.’’ I think it was you, Ms. Williams, that mentioned that as part of the definition you looked to

whether or not the species was alien to the region, and I think you

said harmful to the economy or the environment. We have been focusing on a lot of those species that are coming in through ballast

waters, but as I mentioned in my statement, one of the concerns

that we have in Alaska right now is the farm salmon that are coming out of British Columbia or coming out of the State of Wash-
33

ington, and are essentially being found as far north as the Bering

Sea.

We view this as increased competition, then, with our wild salmon for prey, for habitat, for predation. We view this as a significant

threat to our wild stocks. Certainly our fishermen are feeling the

economic pinch, if you will, as a consequence of these farmed fish.

Is it your opinion that if we are talking about a plan of attack

for invasive species, that farmed salmon versus the wild stocks,

that that would be part of your plan?

Ms. WILLIAMS. You would certainly want to address that one of

the possible pathways for invasive species is farmed fish or aquaculture. It does have to be looked at in terms of not only the economic value of that industry. Aquaculture also is a very important

industry, but what affects if these fish are escaping is it having on

other regions?

One of the things we have looked at, actually GAO made this

recommendation as well, is getting better economic impact data.

Besides one very large study from Cornell, which everyone quotes,

there is not a lot of good data on what the impact of some of these

species are on the economy broadly, especially in certain regions.

So we are looking to enhance that throughout the Council, getting

better economic impact data.

Senator MURKOWSKI. Mr. Keeney or Mr. Hogan, do you have any

additional comments?

Mr. KEENEY. Senator Murkowski, NOAA’s Northwest Fisheries

Science Center and our Fisheries Science Lab in Manchester,

Washington have been analyzing the impacts with regards to aquaculture and bringing foreign salmon into an ecosystem, and also

the potential of introducing diseases along with those salmon. With

NOAA moneys, the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission is

sponsoring a workshop this fall of 2003 to bring together commercial fishermen and those in the aquaculture industry together to

assess the extent of problems and potential solutions for those

problems.

Senator MURKOWSKI. Thank you.

Mr. Hogan?

Mr. HOGAN. Senator, I guess I would just add that I agree with

what Lori Williams said, that definitely there is a need to get more

economic data and find out exactly what impact these species are

having. I think you raise an excellent point, and it relates to your

point, Senator Crapo. Some of these species were introduced with

the best of intentions, in some cases mistakenly and in some cases

on purpose, and it is not until later that we have found that they

have a detrimental impact. One of the provisions in the bill actually moves us toward a more proactive approach where we would

do some initial screening before the species was imported, rather

than having to deal with it once it has already been introduced and

established, and oftentimes when it is too late to completely control

or eradicate it.

Senator MURKOWSKI. Thank you. I appreciate your responses.

Thank you.

Senator CRAPO. Thank you.

Senator Jeffords, do you have any questions?
34

Senator JEFFORDS. Mr. Hogan, you say in your testimony that

the nature of the Lacey Act makes your actions more reactive than

proactive. While the screening process proposed in S. 525 is

proactive, would you give us some suggestions and other ideas that

we might want to apply to the Lacey Act to make it more

proactive?

Mr. HOGAN. Senator, when you talk about opening the Lacey Act,

it comes with a potential host of problems. We would rather suggest to you for your consideration some additional legislative remedies outside of the Lacey Act that could be used to make our

screening more proactive, while not necessarily approaching it

through the Lacey Act. I would be happy to provide those details

to you for the record following this meeting, with some specific

ideas.

Senator JEFFORDS. S. 525 shifts the Federal agencies’ focus from

reacting to new invasions to a more preventive strategy where our

policy will be to stop invasions before they happen. Could the witnesses comment generally on that strategy? Is it wise to focus our

resources on more preventive efforts?

Mr. MEHAN. Senator, I would be happy to take a shot at that.

Senator JEFFORDS. Go ahead, Mr. Mehan.

Mr. MEHAN. Let’s take the zebra mussel as a case in point. Millions of dollars have been spent by researchers examining its impacts, but the fact is we really do not have any way to deal with

it. We are coping with it. I wanted to engage with Senator Allard

a bit, we are not going to reduce that biomass. It is here to stay

and the system is adapting and coping with it. So it seems to me,

again using the Great Lakes as an example, there are predictions

of 16 or 17 more introductions coming from places like the Caspian

Sea by way of ballast water. I think our energies are much more

prudently directed toward preventing new introductions.

Coping is always something we have to do, but it is exactly that,

coping. Whether we really can put the genie back in the bottle, I

think is doubtful in many cases. Maybe on a smaller watershed

basis you might be able to control terrestrial species or maybe use

biocides to beat back something to allow native species to come

back, but in terms of a large system like the Great Lakes, prevention is the only way to go.

Mr. ANGELO. From the Coast Guard’s perspective, we fully support the emphasis on prevention. We think that is the proper action to be taking and that is the program that we are trying to put

in place right now.

Ms. WILLIAMS. Under the plan, we talk about prevention as the

first line of defense. Obviously, some things get through, and having some capability for early detection and rapid response is really

a responsible way to go. Also, prevention is the largest responsibility for the Federal Government. Often when these species become established, it does tend to fall to the States and these tremendous control costs tend to fall to the States to deal with these

species. So it really makes the Federal responsibility under prevention all that more important. But I would not want to ignore early

detection rapid response where it is possible. In the aquatic area,

it is very, very difficult.
35

Mr. KEENEY. I would just like to say in response again to the

principle that was originally asked about the importance of these

invasive species, the fact of the matter is that once non-indigenous

species are established in an ecosystem, that ecosystem changes

forever. You can never get back to where you were before the species was introduced. That is an important concept, because if you

are talking about investing dollars, the best return on the investment is from prevention to begin with. Early detection rapid response and other control mechanisms are important parts of the

equation, but prevention is where you get your most bang for the

buck.

Senator JEFFORDS. Mr. Angelo, the International Maritime Organization, IMO, is currently debating many of the same issues that

are before us here in S. 525. Can you please describe the United

States’ position on ballast water standards during these negotiations? Are we pursuing a strategy that will lead to a strong domestic program?

Mr. ANGELO. Senator, I would say that the United States is taking the leadership role in the International Maritime Organization

in developing a worldwide international treaty on ballast water

management. From our perspective, there are four key elements to

this treaty. We believe that the treaty must have a ballast water

treatment standard. We believe that there must be mandatory ballast water exchange. And to bridge the two, we believe the treaty

must also have provisions for allowing experimental technologies to

develop so we can progress from ballast water exchange to a very

rigorous treatment.

The fourth element, Senator, is perhaps the most important from

the United States’ perspective. That is that we believe the treaty

should also have the provision that allows any country, including

the United States, to take any additional measures it needs to take

above and beyond the treaty to protect its waters. As of right now,

the latest draft of this instrument contains provisions, all four of

those provisions that I have just mentioned.

It will be our approach as we go through the negotiations, which

will be at the upcoming Marine Environmental Protection Committee meeting in July, to make sure that those provisions are retained in the convention. And then when we go forward hopefully

to an international conference sometime early next year, to make

sure that they are retained in the outcome of the conference. If

they are not, then we would have serious reservations about

whether we want to have the United States even become party to

that instrument, sir.

Senator JEFFORDS. Thank you. I hope you will keep us apprised

as you go along to make sure that we are aware of any problems

that you can alert us to.

Mr. ANGELO. Yes, we will, sir.

Senator CRAPO. Thank you very much, Senator.

Before we go to the next panel, I just wanted to come back and

see if anybody had any further comments on the line of questioning

I was pursuing, which was this notion of how do we define what

is an invasive species and what is not in the context of the nature

of this threat to our ecosystem. Anybody want to elaborate on that,

or shall we go on?
36

Mr. Keeney?

Mr. KEENEY. Thank you. Some of the points have already been

made with regards to the need for initial screening. I think that research is another important element here with regards to the potential impact of the species. The alewife, for instance, is a species

introduced into the Great Lakes, which actually seems to have a

positive effect because, again, the ecosystem has changed. The alewife has now become a valuable part of the ecosystem.

But I think we also need to focus on the prevention element; the

fact that we need to look at vectors that are bringing these species

in. That is about it.

Senator CRAPO. Thank you.

Mr. Mehan?

Mr. MEHAN. It is interesting talking about the alewife. Then the

salmon were brought in to control the alewife. So the problem is

that we are doomed to play God; that the systems have been so altered in many cases that we even when we don’t want to allow

these introductions, we have to deal with them. For instance, I

know in the upper Midwest, they are looking at an exotic beetle to

control purple loosestrife, so there are some bio-control efforts.

So the question comes down to, is it an intended or unintended

introduction? A lot of these problems, as we have noted earlier, are

due to unintended introductions. So I think you start with some

presumptions, and the presumption is against introducing an exotic

or non-native species. But based on where the science is and how

it progresses, we are looking at a non-native oyster in Chesapeake

Bay and waiting for an NAS report on that. We may make prudential judgments that an introduction is worth the risk. But again,

I think you have to start with a presumption that it is a very dicey

proposition whenever you are introducing or allowing to be introduced a non-native species.

Senator CRAPO. Thank you.

As I wrap up, I just had one other question to ask, and it kind

of springs from the point made by Ms. Williams. I want to be sure

I understood you correctly. Did you say that the second-leading

cause of threatening species and leading to endangered species is

invasive species?

Ms. WILLIAMS. Under the Endangered Species Act, what they

found is the second-leading threat; they list species and then they

say these are the threats to these species. To endangered species,

after habitat loss, causing them to be listed as endangered or

threatened, are invasive species. So they are getting preyed on or

crowded out or they are having some effect that is leading them to

be leading them to be listed as endangered or threatened.

Senator CRAPO. OK. I think that is a very remarkable piece of

information. It tells us a lot about what we are dealing with here.

The last question I had is, and this is just for clarification in

terms of the relationship between the invasive species statutes and

the Endangered Species Act, is I am assuming that a non-indigenous invasive species cannot become threatened or endangered

under the Endangered Species Act. Am I correct?

Ms. WILLIAMS. I know of no case. I think they kind of are opposite ends of the spectrum. What you have is an invasive species is

partly invasive because its populations are either exploding or way
37

beyond what would be normally expected. So that would be counter

to the fact that that would usually cause an endangered species to

be listed, but I will let the Fish and Wildlife Service respond.

Mr. HOGAN. That is correct, Senator. It does not have to be a native species in order to be listed.

Senator CRAPO. How far back do we go to define ‘‘native’’?

[Laughter.]

Mr. HOGAN. Now you are getting into a little bit more difficult

area. That is a good question and I don’t know that I am really

equipped to answer it right now, but I would be glad to provide

that.

[The information referred to follows:]

Question. Would the Fish and Wildlife Service ever list a non-indigenous invasive

species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA)?

Response. Although the ESA provides for the protection of any species, both foreign and domestic, except for insect pests that pose a significant threat to humans,

it is unlikely that the Service would ever list a non-indigenous invasive species.

Invasive species by their very nature are not likely to become threatened or endangered, and therefore to require protection under the ESA. Invasive species generally

are successful competitors for resources and adaptable to a variety of habitats, including those that have been significantly modified by humans for agriculture or

other purposes. Typically, species that qualify for listing under the ESA have restricted habitat requirements, are intolerant of human presence and activities, or

may be out-competed by other species, although other factors may contribute to a

listing

Senator CRAPO. Any help you can give on that would be appreciated. I think that it is an intuitive answer, but I would like to

be sure that it is correct.

I would like to thank this panel for your participation and the

information you have provided. You are excused and we will move

on to our fourth panel. We invite our fourth panel to come forward.

Our fourth panel is composed of Mr. Jim Beers, the Science Advisor to the American Land Rights Association; Mr. Sebastian Hargrove, the Government Relations Associate from the Nature Conservancy of Idaho; Mr. Michael Hauser, the Aquatic Nuisance Species Specialist from the Vermont Department of Environmental

Conservation; and Mr. James Weakley, the President of Lake Carriers’ Association.

Gentlemen, as you are taking your seats, I would like to remind

you also to try to pay attention to that clock and the 5-minute rule

so we will have time for some interaction. I appreciate your appearance today to present your testimony on this issue.

Mr. Beers, as soon as you are ready, we will start with you.

STATEMENT OF JIM BEERS, SCIENCE ADVISOR, THE

AMERICAN LAND RIGHTS ASSOCIATION

Mr. BEERS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for inviting me to testify

at your hearing today. I represent the American Land Rights Association, an organization of small property owners in all 50 States.

I worked for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for 30 years in four

States and Washington, DC. I was a wildlife biologist, special

agent, and refuge manager.

I have enforced injurious wildlife regulations, investigated endangered species cases both here and in Europe. I worked on

invasive species control programs for nutria and purple loosestrife,

attended U.N. wildlife conferences, and represented State wildlife
38

agencies fighting a threatened European fur embargo. I currently

write and speak extensively about both endangered and invasive

species.

The National Aquatic Invasive Species Act of 2003 is based on

erroneous assumptions. Briefly, it is wrong to characterize all recently arrived plants and animals as having only exaggerated bad

effects and reducing biodiversity. This striped bass right here is an

invasive species in numerous lakes, rivers and reservoirs across the

Nation, as well as in West Coast estuaries. This rainbow trout is

another invasive species in lakes, rivers and reservoirs throughout

the United States.

Fishing license money, State fishery management staffs, charter

boat revenues, and boating equipment sales, fishing tackle sales,

tourist revenues, annual sport fish restoration dollars in the millions, taxidermy business, as well as millions of hours of family

recreation and many fine meals will all be reduced under this legislation.

These fish are typical of many desirable invasive plants and animals that increase biodiversity while benefiting us all. It is wrong

to infer a Federal concern for plants and animals outside the historic range of the species of which the organism is a member. This

applies directly to these two fish that have been widely and purposely introduced for the many direct and indirect benefits to citizens and aquatic habitats that they create.

What does historic range mean? When Asians arrived 10,000

years ago, when Columbus arrived, when the Constitution was

signed? Camels, horses and elephants once thrived here. Are they

native or invasive species? It is wrong to define Federal aquatic authority as including estuarine and inland waters and wetlands.

These waters are nearly all under State jurisdiction. Given the current court case involving a decade-long dumping of toxic sludge by

the United States Army Corps of Engineers through a national

park under an EPA permit reviewed by the National Marine Fisheries Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on a spawning

grounds of endangered shortnose sturgeon in the Potomac River as

it passes Washington, DC, it does not appear prudent to expand

Federal authority in this manner.

It is wrong to infer Federal jurisdiction over invasive species and

non-indigenous species that may cause harm, so broadly defined as

to permit any biological competition or increase in biodiversity to

be declared harmful. These two fish, for instance, eat other fish

and compete with yet others for space and good.

It is wrong to claim authority over any fundamental category of

taxonomic classification below a genus or subgenus. This enshrines

the unwritten Endangered Species Act principle that authorizes all

manner of Federal intervention to the smallest flock, school or

stand of any species. This has caused increasing friction with property owners and many others as the level of Federal concern descended below that of species to races, varieties, distinct populations and even beyond.

Using the need for the Federal Government to regulate ballast

water, a penumbra of Federal authorities and tasks are being created to mimic the Endangered Species Act. That Act has caused

havoc with much more than property rights, and has gone unau-
39

thorized for 15 years while its reach and annual appropriations

continue to grow. The authority to manage, control and eradicate

plants and animals is one of those powers reserved to the States

in the 10th Amendment.

The Federal Government is responsible for the management of

the import, export, interstate and foreign aspects of these matters.

It is proper that the Federal Government ensures clean ballast

water discharges, manages imports and exports, and cooperates

with State governments in the management, control, and eradication of harmful plants and animals regardless of their origins or

arrival dates.

The American Land Rights Association joins with all citizens

concerned about the loss of not only land property rights, but also

the rights of fish owners, aquarium hobbyists, florists, gardeners,

landscapers, boaters, horseback riders, pet owners, hikers, trappers, duck hunters, fishermen and scores of others whose property

rights, outdoor activities, property rights held in trust by State governments, and public land access are directly threatened by this

proposed expansion of Federal authority and diminishment of State

authority over aquatic habitats.

The task being proposed, encouragement of native species, is not

desirable, not beneficial, not achievable, not measurable, neverending, and a public expense beyond comprehension.

Please consider a revised bill that controls ballast water discharge, controls harmful aquatic plants and animals on the Federal

estate, and cooperates with the States to fulfill the fish, wildlife

and plant responsibilities assigned them in the Constitution. Otherwise, S. 525 will, like the Endangered Species Act, radically modify our basic freedoms, while enriching only Federal bureaucracies,

universities, and the agendas of environmental and animal rights

organizations.

One last observation. The bill’s proposed whitelist approach in

Section 1105 for controlling imports is fraught with pitfalls. It is

causing problems in Australia and had it been in effect here 200

years ago, we would not now have brown trout, tulips, Holsteins,

or even house cats here today. Definitions like ‘‘organism’’ and

‘‘trade’’ in Section 1003, which does not even mention ‘‘aquatic,’’ appear designed to stop all trade in plants and animals. Including,

quote, ‘‘aesthetic degradations’’ in Section 1003 has an undesirable

impact and likewise seems designed to maximize serious mischief.

The authority given an agency director in Section 1105(d)(2) exceeds authorities formerly reserved only for secretaries. Assigning

penalties of a class C felony, 10 to 25 years, as in Section 1105, especially for violating, quote, ‘‘regulation’’ in Section 1101 that have

not even been drafted, suggests agendas one could only speculate

about.

Five minutes is not enough time for me to explain this, but I

would offer to point out there is a better approach that does not

impair the trade and freedoms we cherish, while minimizing future

harmful U.N. controls which are likely with invasive species, as

they have been with endangered species under CITES.

Thank you. I am ready to answer any questions.

Senator CRAPO. Thank you very much, Mr. Beers.

Mr. Hargrove? We welcome you here from Idaho.
40

STATEMENT OF SEBASTIAN HARGROVE, GOVERNMENT RELATIONS ASSOCIATE, THE NATURE CONSERVANCY OF IDAHO

Mr. HARGROVE. Thank you, Chairman Crapo and Senator Jeffords, for the opportunity to be here today and speak in support of

S. 525. I am appearing here today on behalf of the Nature Conservancy and as a concerned citizen of Idaho.

I will cover two major points in my comments today. First,

aquatic invasive species are a major threat to the Nation’s economy

and environment, including the inland West; and second, S. 525 is

an effective tool for addressing the threat.

To illustrate the immediacy of the danger of non-native aquatic

invasive species, I would like to recount what happened in Spokane, Washington 2 years ago yesterday, on June 16, 2001. On that

mild June day, a trailered 40-foot sailboat en route from the Great

Lakes to Seattle pulled into the Washington port-of-entry on Interstate 90 a few miles west of the Idaho border. State inspectors,

alerted to the danger of aquatic invaders, examined the boat closely. What they found were live zebra mussels encrusted on the rudder flaps and the screens and the cooling system of that boat.

We have heard many people talk about what a scourge zebra

mussels are in the Great Lakes and Eastern watersheds. So far as

we know, they have not arrived in the West yet. Officials quarantined and cleaned the boat before allowing it to enter Washington waters.

I think this story really illustrates two key points. First, aquatic

invaders are not only a problem for the coastal and Great Lakes

States. The waters in the inland West are at risk from zebra mussels and a host of other aquatic invaders. Second, the modest investment that Washington State made in training its employees to

prevent aquatic invaders paid big dividends in that one find that

they had there. But Washington’s prevention program is really the

exception, rather than the rule. We can only assume that no inspectors in other States found these zebra mussels as that boat

traveled west across the northern tier of the U.S. In fact, if the

boat had put into Lake Coeur d’Alene or Payette Lake in Idaho, we

could have zebra mussels established in the Upper Columbia River

basin, with potentially devastating impacts to irrigation, hydropower and recreation.

This story is not an isolated example of the risks these invaders pose. Idaho communities already spend $250,000 a year controlling

Eurasian water milfoil in some of Idaho’s most important recreational waters, as you alluded to earlier, Senator Crapo, including Payette and Hayden Lakes. This fast-growing weed is really

choking our shorelines and it is spreading fast.

You might also be surprised to learn, although Senator Crapo

also talked about this, that the first known infestation of New Zealand mudsnails occurred not at one of our major port cities, but in

the Snake River, hundreds of miles from the coast, near Hagerman,

Idaho. These invasive mollusks grow in dense colonies. They have

now spread up the Snake River into the Madison in Yellowstone

Park, with unknown consequences for our native fish populations.

The danger is clear. We need to get prepared, and NAISA is an

essential step in that direction. It will provide critical tools for

States like Idaho and their partners in the battle to manage aquat-
41

ic invasives. It is particularly noteworthy that S. 525 adopts the

most cost-effective approach by focusing on prevention, early detection and rapid response, areas where we all need to improve. The

bill will cover all waters of the U.S., including inland lakes and

streams. Critical elements from our perspective include grants for

State management plans, prevention of introduction by vessels and

other pathways, early detection and rapid response funding, and

education and outreach. Those are some of the keys.

Passage of NAISA will provide important financial and technical

help to States such as Idaho that are just beginning to address

aquatic invaders. Like many States, we have established an

invasive species council that will address or deal with all the whole

spectrum of invasive species, but we need more help. We need

strengthened leadership. We need better coordination and we need

more resources.

This bill goes a long way to providing the tools that States need,

but the Conservancy would be pleased to work with the committee

to strengthen the provisions dealing with inland States even more.

Thank you for the opportunity to comment. I have provided additional comments in my written testimony, and would be happy to

take any questions.

Senator CRAPO. Thank you very much, Mr. Hargrove.

Mr. Hauser?

STATEMENT OF MICHAEL HAUSER, AQUATIC NUISANCE SPECIES SPECIALIST, VERMONT DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION

Mr. HAUSER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Senator Jeffords, for

the opportunity to provide this testimony. I am here on behalf of

the State of Vermont in support of this bill.

I consider myself fortunate to live and work in Vermont, a small

State, but with a tremendous reputation for its natural beauty, environmental integrity and recreational opportunities. Unfortunately, these qualities are threatened by a large and very real

problem, the introduction and spread of aquatic invasive species.

The zebra mussel, water chestnut, Eurasian water milfoil, shown

here on my left, and purple loosestrife, among others, have significant negative economic and ecological impacts.

More than $2 million of local, State and Federal funds are spent

annually in Vermont to manage and prevent the spread of these

species. More than one-quarter of this goes to the water chestnut

management program on southern Lake Champlain. There is another photo here that you will see shortly that shows that. These

totals do not include the costs associated with the degradation of

the environment, reduction of lakeshore property values, or the

protection of boats, water intake systems, or other infrastructure.

There are currently four staff positions within the Department of

Environment and Conservation dedicated to the management of

aquatic invasive species. It is fair to say we cannot keep up. Aquatic invaders continue to displace native species, impede boating,

fishing and swimming, and strain State and local budgets.

Despite these problems, Vermont and the other Northeastern

States are relatively fortunate to have had only a fraction of the

non-native species introductions experienced in other parts of the
42

country. We must seize this opportunity to prevent more invasive

aquatic species from coming our way, and they are coming. The

round goby, the Asian carp, Eurasian ruffe, quagga mussel, spiny

water flea are all non-native species that have proven to be extremely invasive in other regions of this country, and are poised to

enter water systems of the Northeast. It is imperative that we prevent this from happening, and the National Aquatic Invasive Species Act can help.

As you well know, invasive species do not recognize political

boundaries. We in Vermont cannot expect an invasive species to

stop at our border, and experience tells us we cannot wait for it to

cross the border before we take action. By then it is too late. We

must work with other States throughout the region to build a unified defense.

The National Invasive Species Act is helping us do this through

its authorization and funding of the Northeast Aquatic Nuisance

Species Panel. This panel, which includes representatives from all

the New England States, New York and Canada, meets regularly

to coordinate aquatic nuisance species spread prevention and management efforts throughout the region. S. 525 would ensure the

continuation of the critical work of this panel, as well as that of

the other panels representing regions throughout this country.

Provisions of this bill that prevent new introductions of potentially invasive species to this country will have perhaps the greatest long-term benefit for Vermont. For example, although Vermont

does not have significant issues directly related to ballast water

dumping, it is vulnerable to non-native species introduced to the

Great Lakes via ballast water. Lake Champlain along Vermont’s

western border is directly connected to the Great Lakes by several

canal systems. The zebra mussel used these routes to enter Lake

Champlain from the Great Lakes in 1993.

Other provisions of this bill would facilitate the transfer of

knowledge gained from the dispersal barrier deployed on the Chicago River ship and sanitary canal to other canal systems throughout the country, including those mentioned before. We welcome

this. Authorized and funded under the National Invasive Species

Act, the Lake Champlain Basin Aquatic Nuisance Species Management Plan has enabled many significant accomplishments in the

fight against aquatic invaders in the Lake Champlain basin of

Vermont and New York, accomplishments too numerous to list at

this time.

While the continued development and approval of State and

interstate management plans is a positive contribution to the nationwide effort to address invasive species, funding levels for such

plans have not grown for the last several years. This has resulted

in a smaller share for each State with an approved plan. To be effective, the funding for State and interstate plans must grow proportionate to the number of approved plans, not get sliced into

smaller and smaller portions. This bill provides the funding authorization to enable this to happen, provided of course the actual appropriations are equivalent.

In conclusion, I would like to say that the passage of S. 525 will

greatly assist Vermont and I believe the Nation as a whole in continuing to build on the substantial gains made under the Non-in-
43

digenous Aquatic Nuisance Species Prevention and Control Act of

1990 and that of the reauthorization of the National Invasive Species Act of 1996.

Thank you again for the opportunity to speak with you this

morning.

Senator CRAPO. Thank you, Mr. Hauser.

Mr. Weakley?

STATEMENT OF JAMES WEAKLEY, PRESIDENT, LAKE

CARRIERS’ ASSOCIATION

Mr. WEAKLEY. Thank you for the opportunity to testify on this

legislation so crucial to both the maritime industry and to the marine environment. We are generally supportive of S. 525.

The Lake Carriers’ Association is a member of the Ballast Water

Coalition, although I do not testify on behalf of that coalition today.

I will focus on concerns of the shipping industry.

The Lake Carriers’ Association represents 11 American corporations operating 57 vessels exclusively on the Great Lakes. Foreignflag operators move cargo into the region from across the oceans.

We do not. Our vessels typically move more than 100 million tons

of cargo each year. Those commodities include iron ore for the steel

industry, coal for power generation, and limestone for the construction industry. As you can see, tens of thousands of family sustaining jobs depend on the efficient movement of cargo on the

Great Lakes. We not only earn our wages here, we relax along the

shores and we drink from the world’s largest supply of fresh water.

It is a place we call home.

The Lake Carriers’ Association has been leading efforts to find

an invasive species solution for more than a decade. In partnership

with government agencies, nongovernment agencies and shippers,

we have invested more than $4 million researching this complex

problem. The Lake Carriers’ Association is committed to finding a

solution to the worldwide problem of ballast water transport of

non-indigenous species.

Upon learning of the discovery of the ruffe in the Duluth–Superior harbor in the late 1980’s, LCA produced the voluntary ballast

water management program. Deemed, quote, ‘‘the cutting edge of

technology’’ by the Fish and Wildlife Service, our voluntary efforts

have largely contained the ruffe. In addition, we have installed

other voluntary practices. These practices represent our industry’s

commitment to slowing what is inevitable, the migration of newly

arrived exotic species. For example, the ruffe has migrated along

the southern shore of Lake Superior of its own volition.

Therefore, we must focus our energies on prevention of new

exotics into the Lakes and all of the U.S. waterways. The Lakes,

like many waterways, are naturally connected, so absent a natural

predator any fish, insect or plant introduced into one of the Great

Lakes can and will migrate to the others. Like it or not, the ruffe,

zebra mussels and sea lamprey, to mention a few, are here to stay.

I must emphasize that this issue is not limited to the Great

Lakes basin. The West Coast of the United States, Alaska and the

Chesapeake Bay have been significantly threatened and remain

vulnerable to new invasions. Vessels engaged in international voyages and foreign-flag vessels sailing between U.S. ports pose a risk
44

to our ecosystems. Internationally, the topic is being debated at the

International Maritime Organization. Much of that debate in the

international community seems to be focused on what the standard

will be and how it will be implemented.

In addition to prevention, there are several other themes for addressing this issue: a clearly defined practical treatment standard,

a Federal solution with worldwide application, a robust data collection and technological research system, and the grandfathering of

treatment systems and vessels. I believe that the above approach

will lead to a variety of solutions. From a shipboard perspective,

the critical variables include the volume of ballast water, the

pumping rate, the length of the voyage, the time in port, trade pattern, and vessel design. The complexity of these variables make a

single solution difficult, if not impossible.

Although we respect the role of the State governments, an appropriate Federal solution would not only adequately address this

problem, it would save the States enforcement dollars. This is exactly the type of problem that requires a regional and therefore a

Federal solution. Can you imagine the complexities of trying to

comply with different regulations promulgated by the eight different States that share the Lakes?

I want to thank the committee for your commitment to finding

a solution to this problem, and conclude by saying that we must

recognize that those exotics that have established themselves in

the Great Lakes basin are now citizens in all but name. Even the

very sophisticated and very successful efforts of the Great Lakes

Fisheries Commission have resulted in the control, but not the

elimination of the sea lamprey. Therefore, our goal must be prevention. It must be prevention of additional invasions via ballast water

from ocean-going vessels.

I thank you for your time.

Senator CRAPO. Thank you very much, Mr. Weakley.

Mr. Beers, I want to start with you. I think you raised some very

important issues relating to federalism, States’ rights, private property, sovereignty over water and questions of the like. You indicated toward the end of your testimony that a revised bill would

be more preferable, one which focuses specifically on ballast water

discharge which controls harmful aquatic plants and animals on

the Federal property and cooperates with States in their responsibilities over fish and wildlife and plants.

Could you elaborate a little bit on that third part there, the cooperating with the States? What types of activities there do you

think would be appropriate and helpful?

Mr. BEERS. Recognizing that the States have constitutional authority over the fish, wildlife and plants, and looking at what is

considered harmful or problematic in the environment that a State

has jurisdiction over. The Federal Government owns property in

some of those States and should I think agree with the State on

what is harmful or not harmful, and if not, deal with them, but

then work to manage, control or even eliminate those species where

appropriate, where the Federal jurisdiction enters into the State.

There is also the role for national research like we used to have

land grant colleges for, and a lot of international and import-export

responsibilities of the Federal Government that can be coordinated
45

with the States overall to help everyone meet the private property

owners, the Federal landowners, the State landowners and the

State Governors property rights and responsibilities for plants and

animals that are under their concern, which affect others.

Senator CRAPO. I think that is very helpful. Would you also agree

that Federal support in the area of education or even Federal

grants to help the States is appropriate?

Mr. BEERS. Sir, that always sounds good and who can argue

against education, of course not. And who can argue against

grants? But we look at the Endangered Species Act, and we see

where grants under the Endangered Species Act not only have

changed the way universities look at science, but has changed the

way a lot of State departments look at the Federal Government’s

jurisdiction expansion regarding those endangered species. So that

the States become grant applicants the same as the universities do,

and that affects their perspective on what they support, what they

say.

We saw earlier today the sort of ‘‘we can tell that you like rainbow trout, so we are not thinking about rainbow trout,’’ ‘‘we can

tell you don’t like pike up in Alaska, and the Atlantic salmon and

of course we are going to be concerned there,’’ but the test comes

with the court taking the words that you enact and then having it

applied by a judge. That is what we have seen with the Endangered Species Act and what we are concerned about.

Senator CRAPO. Thank you.

Mr. Hargrove, in this vein, as you are probably aware, I have

been a long-time advocate of State sovereignty over water management and allocation and use. In fact, I have been concerned that

there has just been over the last few decades, in fact more than

that, a gradual creep of Federal jurisdiction over State sovereignty

in that arena. This is another statute where there is a very valid

need, but one in which if we do not do it correctly could represent

or accomplish a further creep of Federal control and jurisdiction in

areas that traditionally have been State responsibilities.

I would just like you to comment on that generally and tell me

if you have any ideas about how we can make certain that we do

not extend Federal sovereignty over matters which traditionally

are State issues, water quality, water management and the like,

while we still achieve the objectives that we need to achieve to protect ourselves.

Mr. HARGROVE. Chairman Crapo, I would start off by just saying

that the risks are so grave that we need to weigh those against the

potential misuse of this bill. I would cite as an example that the

concerns over irrigation are valid. The Idaho Water Users Association came out in support of an invasive species bill that Governor

Kempthorne had in the State legislature this year, so they are very

concerned about it.

I would agree that the more that we can empower the States and

even at the lower local level to deal with these invasive species, the

better. With Senator Craig’s bill that is in Congress for terrestrial

weeds, we are seeing the approach where we are dealing with cooperative weed management areas at a very local level, where local

folks who know the issues are being empowered by receiving grants
46

that help them fund their programs, and really get things done on

the ground.

Senator CRAPO. Thank you very much.

Mr. HAUSER AND MR. Weakley, do you have a thought on this?

Mr. WEAKLEY. Well, sir, there is a good model that I am involved

with, the Council of Great Lakes Governors, which is not addressing the aquatic nuisance species, but the usage of waters throughout the Great Lake basin. The Great Lakes Commission is a similar forum, but not necessarily respectful of the Governors.

If I may add, it is also an issue not just for the States, but for

the mayors. I was at a meeting of the mayors from the Great Lakes

region yesterday, and aquatic nuisance is very much on their agenda.

Senator CRAPO. Mr. Hauser?

Mr. HAUSER. There is very little from the Vermont perspective

in this bill that would threaten our sovereignty as a State. If anything, we feel that many of the problems we are faced with are

problems that arise from things outside of our control, and greater

Federal leadership in addressing those problems would help us

greatly on the State end.

Senator CRAPO. Thank you.

I think I will go to Senator Jeffords now. Senator Jeffords, do you

have any questions?

Senator JEFFORDS. Yes, I do.

Mr. Hauser, from the State perspective, do you have any concerns about the rapid response requirements proposed in the bill?

Mr. HAUSER. Not really. We consider rapid response planning to

be a very critical need, and the provisions of this bill would facilitate the development, implementation and coordination of rapid response plans at the regional and Federal level, and would provide

much-needed assistance of both technical and funding to the States

for doing their own rapid response planning.

I would concur with earlier testimony by Mr. Keeney on the previous panel that it would probably be best to de-link it from the

State management plans as far as the funding goes, just to ensure

that funding is not delayed to the States for rapid response if in

fact the State does not have a management plan. But we think it

is a very important piece of this bill.

Senator JEFFORDS. This is perhaps related, but critics of this bill

complain that it will be very expensive to fund all of the programs

and initiatives required of the Federal agencies. What would be

your response to this complaint?

Mr. HAUSER. I think it is much more expensive to not properly

fund or require proper action on the part of the Federal agencies.

Inaction costs much more. This is clearly an area and an issue

where being proactive is much more cost-effective. For example,

you saw an earlier photo of the Eurasian water milfoil. Perhaps

some time ago, a single action on the part of the Federal agency

could have prevented the introduction of the Eurasian water milfoil

through a screening process. It did not, so instead in Vermont

alone we are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars every year

to address problems with the Eurasian water milfoil.

We as a Nation clearly need to get ahead of the curve on invasive

species, and we will not do that unless we invest a considerable
47

amount of money up front and resources up front. I think the longterm payoffs will be great, however.

Senator JEFFORDS. Thank you. I thank all the witnesses. I thank

the Chairman. I have to go to the floor on the Medicare bill, so I

just appreciate this hearing. It has been very, very helpful to us,

and thank you to the witnesses for their participation. Thank you.

Senator CRAPO. Thank you very much, Senator Jeffords.

I am going to just conclude with a line of questioning that is

similar to what I was discussing with the previous panel, and that

is, in terms of the nature of the threat that invasive species

present to our ecosystems. Sometimes I am not sure that we generally in the public understand the level of threat that certain circumstances present to us. I think that some of the testimony today

has indicated how serious the threat to our ecosystems and to species the introduction, whether it be voluntarily or involuntarily, of

invasive species can represent.

First of all, let me just ask the panel generally, I am sure you

heard the testimony earlier that this is second to habitat as a

threat to the species and to the management of ecosystems in our

country. Do you agree with that, Mr. Beers?

Mr. BEERS. Not at all, not at all, Senator. Mr. Chairman, that

is so overblown. That is generated by a bunch of bureaucrats that

benefit from the endangered species programs, and a couple of university professors who also get a lot of grants for that stuff. It is

absolutely not true. Ecosystems have been changing everywhere

since time immemorial and will continue to do so. We have the

wherewithal to make our environment beneficial to us and to manage these species, but take the salt cedar thing which keeps popping up. Salt cedar is an nest tree for the endangered willow

flycatcher. They do fine in it. But here we can say, let’s do away

with that tree, when we would not do away with it if it was a native tree. Now, does that make sense? I do not think so.

And the purple loosestrife, another one that keeps being brought

up. I worked on that years ago, and we imported three insects from

over near Russia that feed on it and help keep it under control. It

will eventually fade into our environment. It makes good honey.

We could go on and on about they have a lot of bad effects and

they have some good effects, and things change; it used to be

worse, and now it is getting worse over here and it is getting better

over here. That will always be the situation. I think it is wrong to

think there is some kind of static arrangement biologically that depends on when the Asians got here or when Columbus got here or

some other imaginary date that somehow we need to get back to

because that was better. It was not better, it was only different.

Senator CRAPO. You are not saying, are you, that we should have

no concern about the introduction of invasive species?

Mr. BEERS. Sure, not at all, not at all. I think we can manage

that, but we are all so oriented to talking about this problem and

the Federal Government should have authority and educate people

and put money to it. In the meantime, you do just what happens

with endangered species. You have taking without compensation

problems; you have all kinds of running over and stopping of

projects and a bunch of things that nobody could have foreseen, or

if they had foreseen it and said that things would be like that, peo-
48

ple would say, well, that is silly. Nobody intends that. And I think

this is going to do more of the same.

Senator CRAPO. Thank you.

Mr. Hargrove?

Mr. HARGROVE. First of all, I would just say that in Idaho, we

believe that invasive species may pose the No. 1 threat to biodiversity in the State.

Senator CRAPO. Are you talking about the Nature Conservancy?

Mr. HARGROVE. The Nature Conservancy.

Senator CRAPO. OK.

Mr. HARGROVE. Looking across our plans and priority areas, we

believe that it may be the No. 1 threat there. If you take an example like cheat grass that has altered the whole sagebrush steppe

ecosystem and led to the decline of sage grouse, it has altered the

fire regime. We used to have fire return intervals of 70 to 100

years. They are now two to 5 years. That has just impoverished

that whole ecosystem, millions and millions of acres in Southwest

Idaho.

The other point I would just like to quickly make is that in terms

of natural resource issues, this is the one issue where practically

everyone in Idaho agrees and can come together. We are not seeing

the typical battles and polarization of this issue. We are having

Federal agencies, local agencies, private parties and the State work

together on these issues, from cooperative weed management areas

up to the Idaho Weed Coordinating Committee that I work on, and

the Invasive Species Council. So it is really an issue that has

brought people together to work across boundaries.

Senator CRAPO. Thank you.

Mr. Hauser?

Mr. HAUSER. Our situation in Vermont is very similar to that described by Mr. Hargrove in Idaho. It is not a polarizing issue. We

have strong support across all State agencies and local groups and

lake users and citizens for addressing this issue. It is seen as a

very big concern. We believe that it is very much one of the greatest, if not the greatest threat to biodiversity in the State.

Senator CRAPO. Mr. Weakley?

Mr. WEAKLEY. Senator, being a shipowner, I have to admit that

I have not studied it from a biological perspective. So where to

rank-order it, I do not feel qualified, but I will say it is a very important issue. If I may be so bold to add, it is an inadvertent result

of what shipowners do, and certainly the Lake Carriers’ Association

wants to see this halted, and I would believe other shipowners as

well would like to see this problem addressed. What we need is a

good Federal solution so that we can move forward in the process.

Senator CRAPO. Thank you very much, Mr. Weakley.

I appreciate the entire panel and the perspectives that you bring.

Obviously, we have a serious problem, and the proposed solution to

that problem could bring with it a set of its own problems, and that

is the kind of thing, whether it be intended or unintended consequences, that we must try to make ourselves aware of here as

we craft solutions to this legislation.

I think that the issues on all sides have been pretty squarely

brought forward today, both concerns about the bill as it is drafted,

concerns about what the issues need to be and what we need to ad-
49

dress, and concerns about the consequences that could come to

State sovereignty and to water management and to private property rights and the like if we do not address it properly.

So it is very clear that we have an issue that we need to address.

It is also very clear that we have our work cut out for us in terms

of making sure that we parse the issues well enough that we do

not create consequences that are unintended, either jurisdictionally

or in terms of the environment. I encourage you to give us your

continued input and support on this issue as the committee moves

forward.

Without anything further, then, we will excuse this panel and

adjourn the hearing. We thank you all for your attendance today.

[Whereupon, at 12:01 p.m. the committee was adjourned, to reconvene at the call of the Chair.]

[Additional statements submitted for the record follow:]

STATEMENT OF HON. JAMES M. INHOFE, U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF

OKLAHOMA

As global trade increases, so do the number of ships entering United States’ ports.

However, these ships not only carry freight, they come with unintended cargo,

aquatic invasive species. The number of damaging aquatic invasive species has increased in tandem with globalization having a negative impact on the United States

economically as well as environmentally.

The introduction of such aquatic invasive species as the zebra mussel has had

devastating repercussions. In the Great Lakes alone, it has cost millions annually

to mitigate the problem of clogged intake valves. Since their introduction from the

ballast water of ships, zebra mussels have spread to more than 20 States. I know

my colleague and Great Lakes congressional Member, Sen. Voinovich, has been

working on this issue for Ohio for quite some time, and I look forward to my continued work with him to reauthorize the National Invasive Species Act.

When Congress passed the Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act (NANPCA) of 1990, the legislation focused on problems specific to the Great

Lakes and encouraged increased cooperation between Federal and State agencies.

The reauthorization of this law, the National Invasive Species Act, took this effort

one step further and expanded ballast water guidelines to the rest of the Nation.

However, though these laws laid the foundation for mitigating the problem of aquatic invasive species, they failed to adequately address a number of issues that we

hope to remedy with the upcoming reauthorization.

One of the difficulties of trying to limit the impact of these destructive exotics is

that they do not recognize political boundaries. Therefore, cooperation and partnerships among not only the Federal agencies, but the States as well, is critical to minimizing the effects of harmful aquatic invasive species. The National Invasive Species Council has strengthened the partnerships and increased communication between the Federal agencies, but, as cited in the October 2001 GAO study, the Federal Government lacks a coordinated, comprehensive long-term plan.

Though I support the reauthorization of NANPCA, I have a number of concerns

regarding some of the language in S. 525. It is my hope that today’s hearing will

provide much needed insight into how the reauthorization should proceed. It is important that we tread carefully if we decide upon comprehensive reform. States play

an integral part in controlling invasive species, and it is critical that they are given

adequate flexibility to address problems affecting their region. I look forward to

hearing from the witnesses to provide insight into how best to approach this complicated issue and also to highlight their concerns with the proposed legislation.

STATEMENT OF HON. JAMES M. JEFFORDS, U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF

VERMONT

Good morning. And let me welcome all of our witnesses this morning. In particular, I would like to welcome Senator Levin, who has been a long-time champion

on the issue of invasive species, and all issues that will keep those Great Lakes as

beautiful as Vermont’s Lake Champlain.

I would also like to welcome Michael Hauser from Montpelier, Vermont, who will

be speaking on one of the later panels.
50

The waters of the United States continue to face threats from aquatic invasive

species. Invasive species take both an economic and an environmental toll. The

United States and Canada are spending $14 million a year just to try to control sea

lamprey, a species that has invaded Lake Champlain and the Great Lakes.

The environmental costs are also staggering. Invasive species usually have high

reproductive rates, they disperse easily, and can tolerate a wide range of environmental conditions, making them very difficult to eradicate. They often lack predators in their new environment and out-compete native species for prey and breeding

sites.

S. 525, the ‘‘National Aquatic Invasive Species Act of 2003’’, builds on existing

programs and would establish a mandatory National Ballast Water Management

Program and minimum requirements for all ships operating in the U.S. waters. Ballast water is considered the major pathway for invasive species introduction.

S. 525 would also address potential introduction of aquatic invasive species by

other pathways, including the pet trade. The discovery last year of ‘‘snakehead fish’’

in nearby Maryland likely came from the release of aquarium fish.

While this legislation deals with aquatic invasive species and calls for guidelines

to determine whether importing a live organism should be allowed, the recent outbreak of monkeypox, which has been traced to the importation of African rodents,

is further evidence that we must be vigilant when permitting imports than can

harm not only the environment, but human health.

The legislation also increases funding for dispersal barrier projects and research

to prevent the interbasin transfer of organisms. This is of particular importance in

my State of Vermont. We, along with New York, are home to one of this country’s

most beautiful lakes—Lake Champlain. However, zebra mussels, Eurasian water

milfoil, water chestnuts and sea lamprey have invaded Lake Champlain and are

having a devastating impact.

Like most who visit Lake Champlain, these species want to call it home, but we

cannot compromise the health of the lake.

Examining the feasibility and effectiveness of a dispersal barrier in the Lake

Champlain Canal to control invasive species in the lake is another way to prevent

further destructive dispersal of these species.

Thank you, Senator Crapo, for holding this hearing today and I look forward to

hearing from our witnesses.

STATEMENT OF HON. CARL LEVIN, U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF MICHIGAN

I want to thank Chairman Crapo and Ranking Member Graham for holding today’s hearing on S. 525, the National Aquatic Invasive Species Act, that Senator

Collins and I as well as 16 other Senators introduced in the Senate and Representatives Gilchrest and Ehlers introduced in the House. The purpose of this bill is to

reauthorize the Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act and

to take a more comprehensive approach toward addressing aquatic nuisance species

to protect the nation’s waters. This bill deals with the prevention of new introductions, the screening of new aquatic organisms coming into the country, the rapid response to new invasions, and the research to implement the provisions of this bill.

The problem of aquatic invasive species is a very real one to coastal and inland

waterways. More than 6,500 non-indigenous invasive species have been introduced

into the United States and have become established, self-sustaining populations

since the days of colonization. These species microorganisms, pathogens, plants, fish

and animals typically encounter few, if any, natural enemies in their new environments. The result are often ecologically and economically disastrous.

Some of my colleagues may remember that back in the late eighties, the zebra

mussel was released into the Great Lakes through ballast water. The Great Lakes

still have zebra mussels, and now, 20 States as far West as Idaho are fighting to

control them. Zebra mussels have changed the dynamics of the Great Lakes. They

have decimated native mussels, allowed toxins to reenter into the food chain, and

may be responsible for creating hypoxic conditions or a ‘‘Dead Zone’’ in Lake Erie.

Many of our beaches are littered by zebra mussel shells, and it is estimated that

electrical generation, water treatment, and industrial facilities spend tens of millions of dollars every year combating the zebra mussel.

The legislation before you is needed now. It’s needed to provide direction to the

U.S. negotiators at the International Maritime Organization, to create a national

ballast water standard rather than the patchwork of State efforts, and most importantly to move a ballast water management program forward.

The best effort that we have against invasive species is prevention. While the U.S.

Coast Guard has the authority under existing law to significantly increase the na-
51

tion’s efforts to prevent the introduction of aquatic invasive species through the

largest pathway of introduction ballast water there has been very little progress to

move toward technology that is as effective as ballast water exchange. By requiring

the Coast Guard and EPA to set interim and final ballast water management standards, this legislation allows ballast water technology to develop to a known standard. This bill requires the Coast Guard to set an interim standard that would require ships entering a U.S. port from outside the Exclusive Economic Zone to either

use ballast water exchange or use technology that reduces the number of living organisms in ballast tanks by 95 percent.

This interim standard in this bill is not intended to be implemented for the long

run, and it is not perfect. However, a final standard is difficult to set today or in

the near future because of the limited research that has been conducted on how

clean or sterile ballast water discharge should be and what is the best expression

of a standard. Rather than wait many more years before taking action to stop new

introductions, I believe that an imperfect but clear and achievable interim standard

for treatment technology is the right approach. This interim standard will lead to

the use of ballast treatments that are more protective of our waters than the default

method of ballast water exchange provides, and it can be implemented in the very

near future. Further, the bill provides the Coast Guard with the flexibility to promulgate the interim standard using a size-based standard or by whatever parameters the Coast Guard determines appropriate.

There are many other important provisions of the bill designed to prevent and respond to invasive species. All in all, the bill would cost between $160 million and

$170 million each year. This is a lot of money, but it is a critical investment. However, compared to the estimated $137 billion annual cost of invasive species, the cost

of this bill is minimal. As those of us facing the havoc caused by invasive species

know, the ecological and economic damage that invasive species can cause is high.

STATEMENT OF HON. SUSAN M. COLLINS, U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF MAINE

From Pickerel Pond to Lake Auburn, from Sebago Lake to Bryant Pond, lakes and

ponds in Maine are under attack. Aquatic invasive species threaten Maine’s drinking water systems, recreation, wildlife habitat, lakefront real estate, and fisheries.

Plants, such as Variable Leaf Milfoil, are crowding out native species. Invasive

Asian shore crabs are taking over Southern New England’s tidal pools, and just last

year, began their advance into Maine to the potential detriment of Maine’s lobster

and clam industries.

Maine and many other States are attempting to fight back against these invasions. Unfortunately, their efforts have frequently been of limited success. As with

national security, protecting the integrity of our lakes, streams, and coastlines from

invading species cannot be accomplished by individual States alone. We need a uniform, nationwide approach to deal effectively with invasive species. For this reason,

Senator Levin and I have introduced the National Aquatic Invasive Species Act

(NAISA) of 2003 to reauthorize the Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and

Control Act. This bipartisan legislation would create a comprehensive nationwide

approach to combating alien species that invade our shores.

I want to thank Chairman Crapo and Ranking Member Graham for holding a

hearing on this issue of national importance.

The stakes are high when invasive species are unintentionally introduced into our

nation’s waters. Invasive species endanger ecosystems, reduce biodiversity, and

threaten native species. They disrupt people’s lives and livelihoods by lowering property values, impairing commercial fishing and aquaculture, degrading recreational

experiences, and damaging public water supplies.

In the 1950’s, European Green Crabs swarmed the Maine coast and literally ate

the bottom out of Maine’s soft-shell clam industry by the 1980’s. Many clam diggers

were forced to go after other fisheries or find new vocations. In just one decade, this

invader reduced the number of clam diggers in Maine from nearly 5,000 in the

1940’s to fewer than 1500 in the 1950’s. European green crabs currently cost an estimated $44 million a year in damage and control efforts in the United States.

Past invasions forewarn of the long-term consequences to our environment and

communities unless we take steps to prevent new invasions. It is too late to stop

European green crabs from taking hold on the East Coast, but we still have the opportunity to prevent many other species from taking hold in Maine and the United

States.

Six months ago, in the Town of Limerick, Maine, one of North America’s most aggressive invasive species hydrilla was found in Pickerel Pond. Hydrilla can quickly

dominate its new ecosystem already hydrilla covers 60 percent of the bottom of Pick-
52

erel Pond from the shoreline out to six feet deep. Never before detected in Maine,

this stubborn and fast-growing aquatic plant threatens Pickerel Pond’s recreational

use for swimmers and boaters, and could spread to nearby lakes and ponds. Research in Vermont shows that invasive plants can cost shoreline owners over

$12,000 each in lost property values on infested lakes. Unfortunately, eradication

of hydrilla is nearly impossible, so we must now work to prevent further infestation

in the State.

The National Aquatic Invasive Species Act of 2003 is the most comprehensive ef- fort ever to address the threat of invasive species. By authorizing $836 million over

6 years, this legislation would open numerous new fronts in our war against

invasive species. The bill directs the Coast Guard to develop regulations that will

end the easy cruise of invasive species into US waters through the ballast water

of international ships, and would provide the Coast Guard with $6 million per year

to develop and implement these regulations. The bill also would provide $30 million per year for a grant program to assist State efforts to prevent the spread of invasive species. It would provide $12 million

per year for the Army Corps of Engineers and Fish and Wildlife Service to contain

and control invasive species. Finally, the Levin–Collins bill would authorize $30 million annually for research, education, and outreach.

The most effective means of stopping invading species is to attack them before

they attack us. We need an early alert, rapid response system to combat invading

species before they have a chance to take hold. For the first time, this bill would

establish a national monitoring network to detect newly introduced species, while

providing $25 million to the Secretary of the Interior to create a rapid response fund

to help States and regions respond quickly once invasive species have been detected.

This bill is our best effort at preventing the next wave of invasive species from taking hold and decimating industries and destroying waterways in Maine and

throughout the country.

One of the leading pathways for the introduction of aquatic organisms to U.S. waters from abroad is through transoceanic vessels. Commercial vessels fill and release

ballast tanks with seawater as a means of stabilization. The ballast water contains

live organisms from plankton to adult fish that are transported and released

through this pathway. NAISA would establish a framework to prevent the introduction of aquatic invasive species by ships. Since the last reauthorization of this legislation in 1996, there has been growing consensus about the value of a mandatory

national program to prevent movement of organisms by ships. NAISA will require

all ships to prepare Aquatic Invasive Management Plans, carry out Best Management Practices, and document all ballast operations and management activities related to this legislation. The legislation establishes interim standards for Ballast

Water Exchange and Ballast Water Treatment, which will apply to 2010 at the latest, and requires that a final standard be implemented by 2011. These measures

will ensure that the United States is taking the most effective actions possible to

protect our waters, ecosystems and industries.

While introduction of aquatic invasive species through ballast water poses the

greatest threat to our waters, non-native species imported for live food, aquaculture,

or the pet trade can escape and become invasive. The snakehead fish that invaded

a Maryland pond last summer is one example. Currently, there is no uniform, systematic process for screening or regulating the proposed importation of live organisms to prevent the introduction of harmful invasive species. The NAISA legislation creates a screening process for planned introductions of non-indigenous species

not already in trade. The legislation would prohibit the importation of species that

are determined to pose a high risk of becoming invasive or species with insufficient

information to determine the risk.

Prevention is key, but when it fails, we must respond rapidly to detect invasive

species and stop their spread. This legislation will help States and regional organizations detect and respond to future invasions through early detection and rapid response. The bill provides funding to support ecological surveys to rapidly detect recently established aquatic invasive species and to develop and implement rapid response plans to eradicate or control aquatic invasive species. This provision would

support efforts, such as those being undertaken by the New England Invasive Plant

Group, to compile an invasive plant atlas for the region and create an early warning

system to alert States to invasive plants.

The legislation also takes precautions to ensure that the methods we use to manage and control invasive species do not adversely affect health, public safety, or the

environment. Ensuring the environmental soundness of our response is critical if we

are to avoid unintended consequences. In the 1990’s, biologists in Maine found DDT

and other pesticides in the mudflats of Maine. In an attempt to eradicate the green

crab, the State and individuals had applied pesticides to the flats about 50 years
53

1S. 525, 108th Cong. (2003).

2Pub. L. No. 101–646, 104 Stat. 4761 (1990) (codified as amended at 16 U.S.C. §§4701–4751).

3U.S. General Accounting Office, Invasive Species: Clearer Focus and Greater Commitment

Needed to Effectively Manage the Problem, GAO–03–1 (Washington, DC: Oct. 2002). 4Executive Order 13112 created a National Invasive Species Council, now composed of 11

Federal departments and agencies, to provide national leadership on addressing invasive species

and to develop a plan for managing them.

earlier. We must be careful that our current attempts to remove invasive species

do not cause even more serious problems.

Information and education are essential mechanisms to inhibit the spread of

aquatic invasive species. The bill provides funding for education and information

programs to prevent the spread of invasive species through boating and other activities. This funding will augment aggressive State efforts to stop the invasion of

aquatic species. For example, Maine has passed two laws to prevent the spread of

invasive species and ban the sale or introduction of 11 invasive aquatic plants into

the State. In October 2002, Maine also adopted an action plan for managing

invasive aquatic species. Educating the public about the introduction and spread of

species is a primary goal of the State’s program. NAISA will support Federal, State

and local efforts to raise public awareness about invasive aquatic species and teach

how individuals can help prevent or stop the spread of these species.

Underpinning this bill is research. The legislation supports research into the prevention, control and eradication of aquatic invasive species. Finding effective methods to combat aquatic invasive species depends on good science. The legislation

would provide funds for research on ecological surveys to assess the rate and patterns of introductions; pathway surveys to analyze how non-native species may be

introduced into aquatic ecosystems and determine practices that contribute to the

introduction of these species; and technology development into environmentally

sound methods and treatments to detect, prevent, control and eradicate aquatic

invasive species. Each year, invasive species cost the United States $138 billion. Nonindigenous

species infest and degrade U.S. waterways and coastal areas in virtually every region of the United States. We are losing the fight to protect the nation’s waters from

expensive and environmentally damaging invasions by aquatic nuisance species.

Every day that passes without protections to prevent new invasions increases the

threat that another exotic species will establish itself, altering the ecosystem in our

great waters.

The NAISA legislation provides the framework for a comprehensive and coordinated response at the Federal, State and local levels to prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species. I urge my colleagues to cosponsor this legislation and work to

move the bill swiftly through the Senate.

STATEMENT OF BARRY HILL, DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND

ENVIRONMENT, GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee: I am pleased to be here today

to discuss the difficult issue of managing invasive species as you deliberate Senate

Bill 525,1 which would reauthorize the Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention

and Control Act of 1990.2 Invasive species harmful, nonnative plants, animals, and

microorganisms are found throughout the United States and cause damage to crops,

rangelands, waterways, and other ecosystems that is estimated in the billions of dollars annually. In addition to their economic costs, invasive species can have a devastating effect on natural areas, where they have strangled native plants, taken

over wetland habitats, crowded out native species, and deprived waterfowl and other

species of food sources. Conservation biologists rank invasive species as the second

most serious threat to endangered species after habitat destruction. Overall, scientists, academicians, and industry leaders are recognizing invasive species as one

of the most serious environmental threats of the 21st century. In October 2002, we

issued a report on the Federal Government’s National Management Plan for managing invasive species, ballast water management, and other issues.3,4

My testimony today is based on our October 2002 report as well as new work that

you requested. Specifically, I will discuss the findings and recommendations of our

October 2002 report that address (1) progress made by Federal agencies implementing the National Management Plan and (2) the current state of ballast water

management as a pathway for invasive species. I will also discuss some of the results of new work we conducted to obtain State perspectives on (1) the gaps in, or

problems with, existing legislation and barriers to addressing terrestrial and aquatic

invasive species and (2) the Federal leadership structure for addressing invasive
54

species and integration of Federal legislation on terrestrial invasive species with legislation on aquatic invasives. To obtain State perspectives, we surveyed the State

agencies typically most involved with invasive species State agencies responsible for

agriculture and natural resources or fish and wildlife sending surveys to at least

two agencies within each of the 50 States. We received 68 responses from a total

of 45 States. We also surveyed the members of the Invasive Species Advisory Committee, a Federal advisory committee established to help the Federal Government

develop and implement its National Management Plan; we received responses from

about two-thirds of the 24 Committee members. We also interviewed officials in a

few States chosen because of their well-established invasive species programs or the

large number of invasive species present. We conducted our work in accordance with

generally accepted government auditing standards. We will provide to you the full

results of our survey in a separate product.

Summary

As we reported in October 2002, the National Management Plan for addressing

invasive species lacks a clear long-term desired outcome and quantifiable measures

of performance. While the actions called for in the plan are likely to contribute to

controlling invasive species in a general sense, it is unclear how implementing them

will move the United States toward a specific outcome, such as reducing new

invasive species by a specific number or reducing the spread of established species

by a specified amount. Federal officials recognize that the plan has deficiencies and

are working on improvements. Currently, the only performance measure that can

be assessed is the percentage of planned actions that have been completed. By this

measure, implementation has been slow. As of September 2002, Federal agencies

had completed less than 20 percent of the actions that the plan called for by that

date, although they had begun work on others. Reasons for the slow progress included delays in establishing teams to be responsible for guiding implementation of

the planned actions, the low priority given to implementation by the National

Invasive Species Council and Federal agencies, and the lack of funding and staff responsible for doing the work. Some stakeholders expressed the view that the low

priority given to implementing the plan and associated limited progress may be due

to the fact that the Council and plan were created by executive order and thus do

not receive the same priority as programs that are legislatively mandated. We made

several recommendations to the Council intended to clarify goals and objectives in

the National Management Plan and to improve reporting on the progress of its implementation; Council agencies generally agreed with our recommendations.

We also reported in October 2002 that current Federal efforts are not adequate

to prevent the introduction of invasive species into the Great Lakes via the ballast

water of ships. Despite Federal regulations requiring ships that enter the lakes from

more than 200 nautical miles off the U.S. coast to exchange their ballast water in

the open ocean (that is, in waters deeper than 2,000 meters and farther than 200

nautical miles from the U.S. coast); retain the ballast water on board; or use an alternative, environmentally sound, method of ballast water management, aquatic

invasive species are still entering the Great Lakes and establishing themselves in

the ecosystem. According to the experts we consulted, at least two factors contribute

to the failure of the existing regulations to prevent introductions. First, about 70

percent of the ships that enter the Great Lakes are classified by the Coast Guard

as having no ballast on board and, are therefore, exempt from open-ocean exchange

requirements. However, these ships may in fact carry thousands of gallons of residual ballast water and sediment in their drained tanks, and this water and sediment

may contain potentially invasive organisms that may be mixed with water later

taken from, and then discharged into, the Great Lakes. Second, the open-ocean exchange conducted by ships that have ballast does not effectively remove or kill all

organisms in the ballast tanks. Although Federal officials believe more should be

done to protect the Great Lakes from ballast water discharges, their plans for doing

so depend on the development of standards and technologies that will take many

years. In the meantime, the continued introduction of invasive species could have

major economic and ecological consequences.

According to our new work, State officials identified a number of legislative gaps

or problems, and other barriers related to addressing invasive species. A key gap

noted in both aquatic and terrestrial legislation is the lack of legal requirements for

controlling invasive species that are already established or widespread. State officials said that if there is no Federal requirement, there is often little money available to combat a species and that a legal requirement would raise the priority for

responding to it. For example, one State official complained about the lack of authority to control Eurasian ruffe, an invasive fish that has spread through several

Great Lakes and causes great harm to native fisheries. He compared this to the au-
55

5Convention on Great Lakes Fisheries, Sept. 10, 1954, U.S.–Can., 6 U.S.T. 2836.

6U.S. General Accounting Office, Invasive Species: Federal and Selected State Funding to Address Harmful Nonnative Species, GAO/RCED–00–219 (Washington, DC.: Aug. 24, 2000). 7Estimates are in 2001 dollars.

thorities available to control the sea lamprey, which has a mandated control program that is funded by the U.S. and Canada.5 In addition, many State officials frequently cited, as ineffective, the current Federal standards for ballast water, which

only impose requirements on ships entering the Great Lakes and not other U.S. waters. State officials also identified the lack of Federal funding for State invasive species efforts as another barrier they face. In particular, States were concerned about

not having sufficient funds to create management plans for addressing invasive species, and to conduct monitoring and detection, inspection and enforcement, and research activities. Finally, State officials were also concerned with the lack of costeffective control measures and insufficient public education and outreach efforts.

State officials’ opinions on effective Federal leadership structures for addressing

invasive species varied. A National Invasive Species Council specifically authorized

in legislation was most often identified as an effective leadership structure for managing invasive species, although many officials also thought that continuing with

the Council as established by executive order would also be effective. Several Federal agency officials thought that giving the Council authority in legislation would

make it easier for them to implement the National Management Plan. Regarding

the form legislation on invasive species should take, most State officials were in

favor of integrating legislation on terrestrial invasive species with legislation on

aquatic invasive species, but the margin was relatively small. Many State officials

indicated that the possible benefits of integrated legislative authority would be increased coordination between Federal agencies and States and an increased focus

on invasive species pathways, as opposed to specific species. The possible drawbacks

identified included concerns that a single piece of legislation would not be able to

address all possible situations dealing with invasive species and may result in reduced State flexibility in addressing invasives.

Background

As we have reported in the past, the impact of invasive species in the United

States is widespread, and their consequences for the economy and the environment

are profound.6 Invasive species affect people’s livelihoods and pose a significant risk

to industries such as agriculture, ranching, and fisheries. The cost to control

invasive species and the cost of damages they inflict, or could inflict, on property

and natural resources are estimated in the billions of dollars annually. For example,

according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), each year the Formosan

termite causes at least $1 billion in damages and control costs in 11 States; USDA

also estimates that, if not managed, fruit flies could cause more than $1.8 billion

in damage each year.7 Invasive species continue to be introduced in new locations,

with recent examples including the northern snakehead fish in Maryland, the emerald ash borer in Michigan, and the monkeypox virus in the Midwest.

Invasive species may arrive unintentionally as contaminants of bulk commodities,

such as food, and in packing materials, shipping containers, and ships’ ballast

water. Ballast water is considered a major pathway for the transfer of aquatic

invasive species. Ballast is essential to the safe operation of ships because it enables

them to maintain their stability and control how high or low they ride in the water.

Ships take on or discharge ballast water over the course of a voyage to counteract

the effects of loading or unloading cargo, and in response to sea conditions. The ballast that ships pump aboard in ports and harbors may be fresh, brackish, or salt

water. These waters could potentially contain various organisms that could then be

carried to other ports around the world where they might be discharged, survive,

and become invasive. Other invasive species may be introduced intentionally; kudzu,

for example a rapidly growing invasive vine that thrives in the southeastern United

States was intentionally introduced from Japan as an ornamental plant and was

used by USDA in the 1930’s to control soil erosion.

Federal agencies implement a variety of invasive species-related programs and activities pursuant to their specific missions and responsibilities. USDA, for example,

spends significant resources on prevention and control activities for invasive species

that harm agricultural and forest products. USDA is also responsible for preventing

infectious diseases, some of which are considered invasive, from spreading among

livestock. States also play a major role in addressing invasive species, either

through their own programs or through collaboration with or funding from Federal

programs. Such programs and the amount of resources expended on them vary considerably among the States.
56

In response to concerns that we were losing the battle against invasive species,

President Clinton signed Executive Order 13112 in February 1999 to prevent the

introduction of invasive species; provide for their control; and minimize their economic, environmental, and human health impacts. The executive order established

the National Invasive Species Council, which is now composed of the heads of 11

Federal departments and agencies, to provide national leadership on invasive species and to ensure that Federal efforts are coordinated and effective, among other

things. The executive order also required the Secretary of the Interior to establish

a Federal advisory committee to provide information and advice to the Council. To

achieve the goals of the executive order, the Council was to develop a national management plan that would serve as the blueprint for Federal action on invasive species. S. 525, if enacted, would call on the Council to carry out several other activities

such as implementing a strategy to share information collected under the proposed

legislation and to develop a program for educating the public about certain pathways for invasive species; it would also authorize funds for the Council to carry out

these activities.

NATIONAL MANAGEMENT PLAN LACKS MEASURABLE GOALS, AND ITS IMPLEMENTATION

HAS BEEN SLOW

The National Invasive Species Council’s management plan, Meeting the Invasive

Species Challenge, issued in January 2001, calls for actions that are likely to help

control invasive species, such as issuing additional regulations to further reduce the

risk of species introductions via solid wood packing material, developing methods to

determine rapid response measures that are most appropriate for specific situations,

and devoting additional resources to strengthening inspection services at ports of

entry. However, as we observed in our October 2002 report, the plan lacks a clear

long-term goal and quantifiable performance criteria against which to evaluate its

overall success. For example, the plan does not contain performance-oriented goals

and objectives, such as reducing the introduction of new species by a certain percentage or reducing the spread of established species by a specified amount. Instead,

the plan contains an extensive list of actions that, while likely to contribute to preventing and controlling invasive species, are not clearly part of a comprehensive

strategy. Similarly, many of the actions in the plan call for Federal agencies to take

certain steps rather than to achieve specific results and do not have measurable outcomes. For example, the plan calls for the Council to work with relevant organizations to ‘‘expand opportunities to share information, technologies, and technical capacity on the control and management of invasive species with other countries.’’ The

plan also calls for the Council to support international conferences and seminars.

These types of actions are more process-oriented than outcome-oriented; taken individually, the actions may be useful, but judging whether they are successful and

have contributed to an overall goal, will be difficult.

Federal officials involved in developing the plan told us that they recognize that

it has deficiencies and are working on improvements. The Council acknowledged in

the plan itself that many of the details of the actions called for would require further development in the implementation phase. The executive director of the Council staff told us that, in her opinion, given the scope of this first-time effort, it would

have been unrealistic and difficult to agree on specific measurable goals. She also

said that, in many areas, the Federal Government does not have the data on

invasive species conditions needed to set long-term goals and develop better performance measures. She said that many of the actions called for in the management

plan are designed to help develop needed data but pointed out that doing so for

some aspects of invasive species management will be difficult given the comprehensive data needed.

The management plan also called for the Council to establish a transparent oversight mechanism by April 2001 to report on implementation of the plan and compliance with the executive order. This mechanism, however, is just now being set in

place. Without this mechanism, the only available measure that could have be used

to assess overall progress in implementing the plan was the percentage of planned

actions that were completed by the dates set in the plan. By this measure, implementation has been slow. Specifically, Federal agencies had completed less than 20

percent of the 65 actions that were called for by September 2002. Council agencies

had started work on over 60 percent of the remaining planned actions, however, including some that have a due date beyond September 2002. Several actions in the

plan that were completed on time related to the development of the Council’s Web

site, which is found at www.invasivespecies.gov. In addition, the National Oceanic

and Atmospheric Administration, the Coast Guard, the Department of the Interior,

and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had sponsored research related to
57

ballast water management. Nevertheless, a vast majority of the members of the

Invasive Species Advisory Committee, which we surveyed for our October 2002 report, said that the Council was making inadequate or very inadequate progress.

We found several reasons for the slow progress in implementing the plan. First,

delays occurred in establishing the teams of Federal and nonFederal stakeholders

that were intended to guide implementation of various parts of the plan. Second,

our review of agencies’ performance plans (prepared pursuant to the Government

Performance and Results Act) indicated that while some agencies’ plans described

efforts taken to address invasive species under their own specific programs, none

of the plans specifically identified implementing actions called for by the plan as a

performance measure. Some stakeholders expressed the view that the low priority

given to implementing the plan and associated limited progress may be due to the

fact that the Council and plan were created by executive order, and thus do not receive the same priority as programs that are legislatively mandated. Finally, we

also noted a lack of funding and staff specifically devoted to implementing the plan.

To address these shortcomings, we recommended that the Council co-chairs (the

Secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce, and the Interior) • ensure that the updated management plan contains performance-oriented

goals and objectives and specific measures of success and • give high priority to establishing a transparent oversight mechanism for use

by Federal agencies complying with the executive order and reporting on implementation of the management plan.

We also recommended that all member agencies of the National Invasive Species

Council with assigned actions in the current management plan recognize their responsibilities in either their departmental or agency-level annual performance

plans. The agencies generally agreed with our recommendations.

Since we issued our report, the Council made significant progress on its first

crosscutting budget one of the planned actions in the management plan that should

help to develop performance measures and promote better coordination of actions

among agencies. The Office of Management and Budget is currently reviewing the

Council’s proposal for the fiscal year 2004 budget cycle. In addition, according to

Council staff, the oversight mechanism should be finalized in July 2003, and the

first revision to the management plan should be finalized later this summer.

Current Regulations Concerning Ballast Water Management Are Not Keeping

Invasive Species out of the Great Lakes

According to experts and agency officials we consulted, current efforts by the

United States are not adequate to prevent the introduction of aquatic invasive species into the Great Lakes via ballast water of ships, and they need to be improved.

Since 1993, Federal regulations have required vessels entering the Great Lakes

from outside the Exclusive Economic Zone a zone extending 200 nautical miles from

the shore to exchange their ballast water in the open ocean (that is, water deeper

than 2,000 meters) before entering the zone. Exchanging ballast water before arriving in the Great Lakes is intended to serve two purposes: to flush aquatic species

taken on in foreign ports from the ballast tanks and to kill with salt water any remaining organisms that happen to require fresh or brackish water. If a ship bound

for the Great Lakes has not exchanged its ballast water in the open ocean it must

hold the ballast in its tanks for the duration of the voyage through the lakes or conduct an exchange in a different approved location. Data from the Coast Guard show

that the percentage of ships entering the Great Lakes after exchanging their ballast

water has steadily increased since the regulations took effect in 1993 and averaged

over 93 percent from 1998 through 2001. Despite this, numerous aquatic invasive

species have entered the Great Lakes via ballast water and have established populations since the regulations were promulgated.

Experts have cited several reasons for the continued introductions of aquatic

invasive species into the Great Lakes despite the ballast water regulations. In particular, the Coast Guard’s ballast water exchange regulations do not apply to ships

with little or no pumpable ballast water in their tanks, which account for approximately 70 percent of ships entering the Great Lakes from 1999 through 2001. These

ships, however, may still have thousands of gallons of residual ballast and sediment

in their tanks that could harbor potentially invasive organisms from previous ports

of call and then be discharged to the Great Lakes during subsequent ballast discharges. There are also concerns that open-ocean ballast water exchange is not an

effective method of removing all potentially invasive organisms from a ship’s ballast

tank.

Federal officials believe that they should do more to develop treatment standards

and technologies to protect the Great Lakes from ballast water discharges. The

Coast Guard is now working to develop new regulations that would include a performance standard for ballast water that is, a measurement of how ‘‘clean’’ ballast
58

8A recent study analyzing the market for future treatment technologies reported that there

are over 47,000 vessels in the world fleet for which ballast water treatment technologies could

be applicable. 9The Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909 established the International Joint Commission to,

among other things, advise the U.S. and Canadian governments concerning transboundary

water quality issues. The Commission has six members: three appointed by the President of the

United States, with the advice and approval of the Senate, and three appointed by the Governor

in Council of Canada, on the advice of the Prime Minister. The Great Lakes Fishery Commission

was created in 1955 by a convention on Great Lakes fisheries between the U.S. and Canada.

water should be before discharge within U.S. waters. The Coast Guard is expecting

to have a final rule ready for interdepartmental review by the fall of 2004 that will

contain ballast water treatment goals and a standard that would apply not only to

ships entering the Great Lakes but to all ships entering U.S. ports from outside the

Exclusive Economic Zone. Once the Coast Guard sets a performance standard, firms

and other entities will be able to use this as a goal as they develop ballast water

treatment technologies. While several technologies are being investigated, such as

filtration and using physical biocides such as ultraviolet radiation and heat treatment, a major hurdle to be overcome in developing technological solutions is how

to treat large volumes of water being pumped at very high flow rates. In addition,

small container vessels and cruise ships, which carry a smaller volume of ballast

water, may require different technologies than larger container vessels. As a result,

it is likely that no single technology will address the problem adequately. Consequently, it could be many years before the world’s commercial fleet is equipped

with effective treatment technologies. Without more effective ballast water standards, the continued introduction of aquatic invasive species into the Great Lakes

and other aquatic systems around the country is likely to cause potentially significant economic and ecological impacts.

We reported in October 2002 that the Coast Guard and the Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration are developing programs to facilitate technology development. In addition, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have funded 20 ballast water technology

demonstration projects at a total cost of $3.5 million since 1998 under a research

program authorized under the National Invasive Species Act. Other programs also

support research, and the Maritime Administration expects to make available several ships of its Ready Reserve Force Fleet to act as test platforms for ballast water

technology demonstration projects. Once effective technologies are developed, another hurdle will be installing the technologies on the world fleet.8 New ships can

be designed to incorporate a treatment system, but existing ships were not designed

to carry ballast water technologies and may have to go through an expensive retrofitting process. With each passing year without an effective technology, every new

ship put into service is one more that may need to be retrofitted in the future.

Public and private interests in the Great Lakes have expressed dissatisfaction

with the progress in developing a solution to the problem of aquatic invasive species

introduced through ballast water. An industry representative told us that she and

other stakeholders were frustrated with the slow progress being made by the Coast

Guard in developing a treatment standard. More broadly, in the absence of stricter

Federal standards for ballast water, several Great Lakes States have considered

adopting legislation that would be more stringent than current Federal regulations.

In addition, in a July 6, 2001, letter to the U.S. Secretary of State and the Canadian

Minster of Foreign Affairs, the International Joint Commission and the Great Lakes

Fishery Commission stated their belief that the two governments were not adequately protecting the Great Lakes from further introductions of aquatic invasive

species.9 They also noted a growing sense of frustration within all levels of government, the public, academia, industry, and environmental groups throughout the

Great Lakes basin and a consensus that the ballast water issue must be addressed

now. The two commissions believe that the reauthorization of the National Invasive

Species Act is a clear opportunity to provide funding for research aimed at developing binational ballast water standards.

S. 525 sets forth a more aggressive program against the introduction of aquatic

invasive species through ballast water and related pathways. In particular, it would

require ballast water standards for ships in all waters of the U.S., instead of the

current voluntary program for waters outside of the Great Lakes. It also specifically

authorizes significantly more funding in the form of grants to States, and Federal

funding and grants for research, including research on pathways, likely aquatic invaders, and development of cost-effective control methods.

Now let me turn to our most recent work gathering State perspectives on invasive

species legislation and management.
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State Officials Cited Several Gaps in Existing Federal Legislation and Identified

Other Barriers to Addressing Invasive Species

State officials who responded to our survey identified several gaps in, or problems

with, existing Federal legislation on aquatic and terrestrial invasive species, as well

as other barriers to their efforts to manage invasive species.

Perceived Gaps in or Problems with Existing Legislation

According to our new work, the lack of legal requirements for controlling alreadyestablished or widespread invasive species was the gap in existing legislation on

aquatic and terrestrial species most frequently identified by State officials. Specifically, they said that this is a problem for species that do not affect a specific commodity or when a species is not on a Federal list of recognized invasives. Officials

noted that if there is no Federal requirement, there is often little money available

to combat a species and that a legal requirement would raise the priority for responding to it. For example, one State official complained about the lack of authority to control Eurasian ruffe, an invasive fish that has spread through several Great

Lakes and causes great harm to native fisheries. He compared this to the authorities available to control the sea lamprey, which has a mandated control program

that is funded by the U.S. and Canada. In addition, some State officials said that

in the absence of Federal requirements, differences among State laws and priorities

also pose problems for addressing established species, for example, when one State

may regulate or take actions to control a species and an adjacent State does not.

Some State officials noted that they have little authority to control or monitor some

species and that getting laws or regulations for specific species, such as those for

the sea lamprey, takes time.

Many State officials also identified ineffective Federal standards for ballast water

as a problem for addressing invasive species. Specifically, some State officials complained that standards and treatment technologies, regulations, compliance with reporting requirements, and penalties for noncompliance are lacking and say that research and legislation are needed to address the problem. As we reported in October

2002, Federal regulations for ballast water are not effective at preventing invasive

species from entering our waters and are only required for ships entering the Great

Lakes. Some State officials also said that Federal leadership is essential to fund efforts in these areas and to provide coordination among States. As I have already

noted, S. 525 would authorize a more aggressive program for developing standards

and technologies for regulating ballast water. Although some State officials believe

solving the ballast water problem is possible, some officials pointed to difficulties in

doing so with some methods. Specifically, these officials noted that some environmentalists are opposed to chemical treatments, while industry groups have objected

to the cost of some technologies. S. 525 would revise the definition of ‘‘environmentally sound’’ (as in environmentally sound control measures) to delete the emphasis on nonchemical measures.

Other Barriers to Addressing Invasive Species

State officials reported that inadequate Federal funding for State efforts was the

key barrier to addressing invasive species both aquatic and terrestrial. In particular,

State officials were concerned about having sufficient funds to create management

plans for addressing invasive species, particularly as more States begin to develop

plans, and for inspection and enforcement activities. State officials also identified

the need for additional funds to conduct monitoring and detection programs, research, and staffing. In particular, some State officials noted that uncertainty in obtaining grant funds from year to year makes it difficult to manage programs, especially when funding staff positions relies on grants. S. 525 would specifically authorize significantly more funding in grants to address invasive species than is specifically authorized under the current legislation.

Many State officials also identified a lack of public education and outreach as a

barrier to managing terrestrial invasive species. Public education and outreach activities are important components of the battle against invasive species, as many

invasives have been introduced through the activities of individuals, such as recreational boating, and the pet, live seafood, and plant and horticultural trades. For

example, the outbreak of the monkeypox virus that has sickened at least 80 people

in the Midwest is thought to have spread from a Gambian rat imported from Africa

to be sold as a pet. S. 525 includes efforts intended to provide better outreach and

education to industry, including the horticulture, aquarium, aquaculture, and pet

trades, and to recreational boaters and marina operators, about invasive species and

steps to take to reduce their spread.

State officials identified a lack of cost-effective control measures as a key barrier

to addressing aquatic invasive species. Some officials commented that there is a
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need for more species-specific research to identify effective measures. For example,

one successful control effort the sea lamprey control program costs about $15 million

per year. However, similar control programs for all invasive species would be problematic and officials told us that targeted research on control methods is needed,

particularly for aquatic invasive species. S. 525 would authorize a grant program

for research, development, demonstration, and verification of environmentally

sound, cost-effective technologies and methods to control and eradicate aquatic

invasive species.

State Officials’ Opinions Varied on Effective Leadership Structures for Managing

Invasive Species and Whether to Integrate Legislative Authority on Invasive Species

State officials’ opinions varied on the preferred leadership structure for managing

invasive species and whether to integrate legislative authority on invasive species.

Many State officials indicated that specifically authorizing the National Invasive

Species Council would be an effective management option and favored integrated

authority, but in both cases, the margins were relatively small.

Federal Leadership Structure for Invasive Species

Currently, no single agency oversees the Federal invasive species effort. Instead,

the National Invasive Species Council, which was created by executive order and is

composed of the heads of 11 Federal departments and agencies, is intended to coordinate Federal actions addressing the problem. State officials most often identified

specifically authorizing the Council in legislation as an effective leadership structure

for managing invasive species. Almost all of the Invasive Species Advisory Committee members that responded to our survey agreed with this approach. During

our work for our October 2002 report, the executive director of the Council noted

that legislative authority for the Council, depending on how it was structured, could

be useful in implementing the national management plan for invasive species by

giving the Council more authority and, presumably, authorizing more resources. Officials from USDA, the Department of Defense, and EPA also told us that legislative

authority, if properly written, would make it easier for Council agencies to implement the management plan, as implementing actions under the executive order are

perceived to be lower in priority than are programs that have been legislatively

mandated. Many State officials, however, also believed that keeping the current

Council authority as established by executive order is an effective option.

Integration of Federal Laws Addressing Invasive Species

As you know, Federal authorities for addressing invasive species are scattered

across a patchwork of laws under which aquatic and terrestrial species are treated

separately. Questions have been raised about whether this is the most effective and

efficient approach and whether the Federal Government’s ability to manage invasive

species would be strengthened if integrated legal authority addressed both types of

invasives. Some believe such an approach would provide for more flexibility in addressing invasive species; others are concerned that such an approach would disrupt

existing programs that are working well.

On the basis of the responses from State officials, no clear consensus exists on

whether legislative authority for addressing aquatic and terrestrial invasive species

should be integrated. Overall, State officials were in favor of integrating legislative

authority, but the margin was relatively small. Differences were more distinct, however, when we considered the State officials’ expertise. Specifically, we asked officials whether they considered themselves experts or knowledgeable in aquatic

invasive species, terrestrials, or both. A large majority of the State officials who

identified themselves as having expertise solely in aquatic invasive species were

against integrating aquatic and terrestrial authority. The terrestrial experts were

also against integrated authority, but with a smaller majority. These positions contrast with those of the State officials who said they were experts or knowledgeable

in both aquatic and terrestrial invasives; these officials favored integrated authority

by a large majority. About twice as many members of the Invasive Species Advisory

Committee who responded to our survey favored integrating legislation on aquatic

and terrestrial invasive species compared to those who did not.

Regarding the drawbacks of integrating authority for aquatic and terrestrial

invasive species, many State officials said that it could be difficult to address all

possible situations with invasive species and some species or pathways may get

overlooked, and were concerned that it may reduce State flexibility implementing

invasive species programs. Some State officials said that the two types of invasives

should be handled separately, since the ecological complexities of aquatics and

terrestrials are very different different pathways of entry and spread, and different

requirements for control methods and expertise. In addition, some officials stated
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that combining legislative authority would result in competition among various

invasive species programs for scarce resources. In particular, one official referred to

the ‘‘issue of the moment’’ phenomenon, where a specific invasive species becomes

the focus of great public attention and receives a large share of resources, while

many other species may get very few resources.

On the other hand, many State officials saw an increased focus on pathways for

invasive species as opposed to on specific species as a possible benefit of integrating

authority for aquatic and terrestrial invasive species. Such an approach could facilitate more effective and efficient efforts to address invasive species. Many State officials also believed that integration of legislative authority could result in increased

coordination between Federal agencies and States. Some State officials described the

efforts needed to address invasives as requiring broad, interdisciplinary coordination

and characterized the current Federal effort as fragmented and ineffective. In addition, some State officials said that the classification of species into aquatic or terrestrial types might not be clear-cut and that the current separation between them is

‘‘an artificial Federal construct,’’ citing, for example, the difficulty of classifying amphibians.

GAO CONTACTS AND STAFF ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

For further information about this testimony, please contact me at (202) 512–

3841. Mark Bondo, Mark Braza, Kate Cardamone, Curtis Groves, Trish McClure,

Judy Pagano, Ilga Semeiks, and Amy Webbink also made key contributions to this

statement.

RESPONSES OF BARRY T. HILL TO AN ADDITIONAL QUESTION FROM SENATOR ALLARD

Question 1. The legislation proposes that the Coast Guard will promulgate the

regulations for an interim standard, while the EPA will develop the final standard.

The Coast Guard supports a single standard that is scientifically sound and enforceable, and EPA has concerns that they should be the ones in charge, as well as issues

of rule promulgation sharing. Some before this committee believe that the responsibility to develop and promulgate a ballast water discharge standard should remain

with one agency. How should this be addressed? Who is the right agency?

Response. GAO does not have a view regarding which is the ‘‘right’’ agency to develop and promulgate a ballast water discharge standard. GAO believes that the

rulemaking process for ballast water management should be a cooperative one involving, to some degree, the Federal agencies with related expertise or a stake in

the outcome such as the Coast Guard, U.S. Maritime Administration, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,

and Department of the Interior. We have not analyzed whether the Coast Guard

or EPA is the more appropriate lead agency for this effort although there are reasons why each might be considered the better choice. For example, the Coast Guard

has been dealing with ballast water for many years and has valuable experience

with the shipping industry. The EPA, on the other hand, has extensive experience

in developing and promulgating environmental standards, such as those issued

under the authority of the Clean Water Act. We are concerned about switching

agency responsibility for developing a standard midstream-with the Coast Guard

starting the process and EPA finishing it-because the experience and expertise developed in the first part of the process would need to be transferred during the transition, possibly delaying the process. Several precedents exist for two agencies jointly issuing regulations; in other cases, the Congress has directed an agency to consult

with others when developing specific regulations. These approaches could be considered for ballast water regulations. In addition, regardless of which agency-or agencies-actually promulgates a final standard, it is likely that other agencies will be

responsible for implementing and/or enforcing the standard. In our view, the critical

success factors for issuing ballast water regulations is ensuring effective coordination among the agencies that are stakeholders to the outcome and/or have relevant

expertise, and adequate resources to develop and promulgate a standard expeditiously.

RESPONSES OF BARRY T. HILL TO ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS FROM SENATOR VOINOVICH

Question 1. Does S. 525 provide clear lines of authority and accountability to enable State and Federal agencies to work together?

Response. GAO did not conduct a comprehensive legal analysis of S. 525 to determine the sufficiency of the lines of authority and accountability between Federal
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1For example, under the executive order each Federal agency whose actions may affect the

status of invasive species, to the extent practicable and permitted by law, is not to ‘‘authorize,

fund, or carry out actions that it believes are likely to cause or promote the introduction or

spread of invasive species . . . unless . . . the agency as determined and made public its determination that the benefits of such actions clearly outweigh the potential harm caused by

invasive species; and that all feasible and prudent measures to minimize risk of harm will be

taken in conjunction with the actions.’’ S. 536 includes a similarly worded provision but without

the ‘‘to the extent practicable and permitted by law’’ caveat.

agencies and States. Federal and State cooperation in efforts to deal with invasive

species is extremely important, as the States have a key role in managing invasive

species within their borders. Executive Order 13112 and the national management

plan for invasive species recognize the importance of Federal/State cooperation; S.

525 continues that theme. However, the bill addresses only aquatic nuisance species

so its potential impact on Federal/State authority is limited in this way.

GAO has reported generally on different approaches for balancing Federal and

State responsibilities for standard setting and implementation, and on how the Federal/State relationship differs among these approaches. For example, regulations

that set forth minimum Federal standards, thereby allowing States to impose stricter standards, may include a mix of Federal and State implementation as well as

provisions to hold States accountable to Federal requirements. Standards that are

developed jointly by Federal agencies and States, however, may result in significant

State autonomy regarding how and what is implemented, with accountability stopping at the State level. See Regulatory Programs: Balancing Federal and State Responsibilities for Standard Setting and Implementation, GAO–02–495 (Washington,

DC: Mar. 20, 2002), for more details.

Question 2. As you mentioned in your testimony, the GAO reported last year that

implementation of the national invasive species management plan developed by the

Council is possibly being hampered by the fact that the Council does not have a congressional mandate. Please provide comments on S. 536.

Response. Some of the Federal officials that GAO interviewed for the report said

that legislative authority, if properly written, would make it easier for Council departments to implement the management plan. In addition, the Council recognized

in the management plan that without significant additional resources for existing

and new programs it would not be possible to accomplish the goals of the plan within the specific timeframes. If passed, S. 536 would legislatively establish the National Invasive Species Council and authorize funding for the purposes outlined in

the bill. It would also establish a process for monitoring progress implementing the

plan that would include reporting requirements to the Congress. The components

of S. 536 appear very similar to those of the executive order. However, while the

language in the executive order addressing Federal responsibilities for avoiding the

introduction and spread of invasive species is similar to that in S. 536, the level

of effort necessary to carry out these responsibilities may change if it becomes a legislative requirement.1

Question 3. What do you think is the best way to focus research dollars on aquatic

invasive species in general, and more specifically, the ballast water standard issue?

Response. GAO has not done specific work on research needs for aquatic invasive

species or ballast water standards. Clearly, the development of a ballast water

standard and related technology will require scientific support from research. Regarding addressing invasive species in general, overall, the consensus appears to be

that prevention is the most cost-effective method. Identifying successful preventive

measures will require conducting research to identify the most important pathways

for species as well as the species that are most likely to enter the United States.

Question 3a. You stated in your testimony that State officials identified ‘‘the lack

of legal requirements for controlling invasive species’’ as a legislative gap in dealing

with invasive species. First, can you explain how we fill that gap without imposing

an unfunded mandate on States and localities while providing them with flexibility

to deal with their specific problems?

Response. We reported in our testimony that the lack of legal requirements for

controlling already-established or widespread species was the gap in existing legislation on invasive species most frequently identified by State officials. Specifically,

State officials said that this was a problem for species that do not affect a specific

commodity or are not on a Federal list of recognized invasives. State officials noted

that if there is no Federal requirement to control such species, there is often little

money available to do so. These officials believe that a legal requirement would

raise the priority for addressing these species. State officials also identified inadequate Federal funding for State efforts as the key barrier to addressing invasive

species. Therefore, while States indicated a need for additional requirements for ad-
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dressing invasives, there was also a clear call for additional funds to carry out needed programs to tackle this difficult problem. Additional legal requirements for control, however, would not necessarily be directed solely at States as Federal agencies

implement a wide variety of invasive species control programs and could be given

additional responsibilities.

Regarding States’ flexibility, in Regulatory Programs: Balancing Federal and

State Responsibilities for Standard Setting and Implementation, GAO–02–495, we

discuss different approaches to developing and implementing Federal regulations

and the amount of flexibility these approaches provide to States.

Question 3b. Does, or how can, S. 525 address this issue?

Response. GAO did not comprehensively review S. 525. However, there are several sections of S. 525 that propose increasing authorizations to States to carry out

specific programs and activities included in the bill.

Question 4. You stated in your testimony that ‘‘most State officials were in favor

of integrating legislation on terrestrial invasive species with legislation on aquatic

invasive species.’’ What are the advantages and disadvantages of such an approach?

Response. Regarding the drawbacks of integrating authority for aquatic and terrestrial invasive species, many State officials said that such an approach could

make it difficult to address all possible situations with invasive species, with the

result that some species or pathways could get overlooked. These officials were also

concerned that integrating legislation could reduce State flexibility in implementing

invasive species programs. Some State officials also said that the two types of

invasives should be handled separately because the ecological complexities of

aquatics and terrestrials are very different-different pathways of entry and spread,

and different requirements for control methods and expertise. In addition, some officials stated that combining legislative authority could result in competition among

various invasive species programs for scarce resources. In particular, one official referred to the ‘‘issue of the moment’’ phenomenon, where a specific invasive species

becomes the focus of great public attention and receives a large share of resources,

while many other species get very few resources.

On the other hand, many State officials saw an increased focus on pathways for

invasive species-as opposed to focusing on specific species-as a possible benefit of integrating authority for aquatic and terrestrial invasive species. Such an approach

could facilitate more effective and efficient efforts to address invasive species. Many

State officials also believed that integration of legislative authority could result in

increased coordination between Federal agencies and States. Some State officials described the efforts needed to address invasives as requiring broad, interdisciplinary

coordination and characterized the current Federal effort as fragmented and ineffective. In addition, some State officials said that classifying species into aquatic or terrestrial types might not be clear-cut and that the current separation between them

is ‘‘an artificial Federal construct,’’ citing, for example, the difficulty of classifying

amphibians.

RESPONSES OF BARRY T. HILL TO ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS FROM SENATOR

MURKOWSKI

Question 1. In your testimony, you mention that there is a lack of cost-effective

control measures for cargo ships and cruise ships to address their ballast water discharge. Would setting a specific standard for the removal of organisms from ballast

water tend to spur technological development?

Response. Technology-forcing standards are designed to induce an industry to develop and implement technology that would otherwise not be forthcoming, or that

would be implemented at a far slower pace. In past work, we found that technology

equipment manufacturers have little incentive to develop new technologies when

there is no specific environmental standard or requirement (Environmental Protection: Wider Use of Advanced Technologies Can Improve Emissions Monitoring,

GAO–01–313 (June 22, 2001)). For example, in the case of technology for measuring

the emissions of pollutants into the air by industrial sources, most air emissions

technology improvements had been focused on making existing technology more reliable and less expensive because there was no regulatory requirement forcing more

advanced technologies. In these cases, the burden falls on Federal agencies to conduct needed research and development on new technologies. However, if a standard

or requirement is imposed, technology manufacturers and regulators we interviewed

believed that technology would be developed to meet those standards or requirements. As an industry trade association representative noted, ‘‘if regulations are imposed, the technology will follow.’’ However, in some cases, technology development

may take longer than provided for in regulation. For example, while the Clean Air
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2Joseph A. Grundfest, The Future of United States Securities Regulation: An Essay on Regulation in an Age of Technological Uncertainty, Saint John’s Law Review, Winter 2001.

Act required specific automobile emission reductions within 5 years, the technology

was not ready until 6 years after the deadline.2

Question 2. What are your thoughts on the introduction of ozone to treat ballast

water?

Response. GAO has not conducted an analysis of the treatment options for ballast

water.

STATEMENT OF LORI WILLIAMS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INVASIVE SPECIES

COUNCIL

Introduction

Thank you for the opportunity to discuss the National Invasive Species Council’s

efforts to deal with the problem of invasive species and comment on S. 525, the ‘‘National Aquatic Invasive Species Act of 2003’’. The Council’s mission is to enhance

coordination and improve the effectiveness of Federal efforts, by working cooperatively with affected stakeholders, to prevent and reduce the damage caused by

invasive species to the economy, the environment and in some cases animal and

human health.

Today, as requested by the Subcommittee, I will briefly outline the role and activities of the Council and present and summarize the views and concerns of the Council member departments regarding S. 525, a bill to reauthorize the National Aquatic

Nuisance Prevention and Control Act of 1990.

Last summer, efforts to eradicate the snakehead fish in Maryland put the problem

of aquatic invasive species on the front page. The threat that this voracious, predator, discovered in a small pond, could easily have spread to the Chesapeake Bay

if quick action was not taken by the State of Maryland and local officials, graphically demonstrated the risks of invasive species and their potential destructive capacity. The apparent success of Maryland officials in eradicating the snakehead and

Fish and Wildlife Service moving swiftly to regulate the fish under Federal law has

unfortunately been, in the past, the exception rather than the rule. Too often

invasive species have become well-established and difficult if not impossible to

eradicate or contain by the time action is taken.

The rate of introduction of invasive species has increased significantly because of

increases in travel, trade, and tourism. Invasive species have caused billions of dollars of economic damage. Invasive species are the second leading factor in the listing

of species as endangered or threatened. In some cases they are known to degrade

ecosystems and harm animal and human health. Invasive species do not respect jurisdictional or bureaucratic boundaries. They impact Federal land and water resources, States, tribal interests, and private landowners, as well as, other nations.

Therefore, an effective response to these biological invasions must be coordinated,

inter-departmental, and multi-jurisdictional.

The Council is charged with coordinating Federal activities relating to all invasive

species, including aquatic and terrestrial species. Although our focus today is on

aquatic invasive species, many of the issues and proposed solutions are common

across all types of invasive species. A comprehensive approach including prevention,

early detection and rapid response, research, control, education and outreach, and

international cooperation are key elements in any strategy to address this complex

issue and are included as components of the National Invasive Species Management

Plan (discussed below).

Overview of the National Invasive species Council (Council)

The Council was created by executive order in 1999, Executive Order 13112,

(E.O.) not only to address the growing problem of invasive species but the need for

coordination among Federal programs and the lack of a comprehensive Federal plan

to deal with the issue. The Council is co-chaired by the Secretaries of the Interior,

Agriculture, and Commerce and includes the Secretaries of the Treasury, State,

Health and Human Services, Defense, Transportation, and (most recently) Homeland Security, as well as, the Administrators of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the US Agency for International Development. The E.O. also provides

for an Invasive Species Advisory Committee (ISAC), which includes a wide variety

of nonFederal experts and stakeholders to advise the council and provide nonFederal perspective and input. The key tasks of the Council, in addition to extensive

coordination on invasive species programs and budgets are:
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1) drafting and guiding implementation of the National Invasive Species Management Plan; (executive summary attached)

2) working with Department of State to enhance international cooperation to prevent and control invasive species;

3) building partnerships with local, State, and tribal governments;

4) organizing and providing enhanced public access to invasive species information; and

5) enhancing public education and outreach on invasive species issues.

The Council operates with a small staff—currently four staff with plans for seven

positions—and depends on the work of departmental liaisons, agency staff and

detailees. The Council has no separate legal and regulatory authority and works

through the member departments and agencies to address invasive species issues

on a cooperative basis with significant stakeholder involvement.

Early in 2001, the Council issues the first edition of the National Invasive Species

Management Plan. The Plan, which includes 57 action items, is a comprehensive

blueprint to address invasive species. Recent accomplishments include: drafting

guidelines for early detection and rapid response systems; listing significant pathways for introduction of invasive species; establishing (working with USDA’s National Agricultural Library) an invasive species website that provides information

about all Federal invasive species programs; enhancing international cooperation by

co-sponsoring international invasive species regional workshops, and beginning

work on a North American invasive species strategy. In addition, the Council has

proposed modifications to the Executive Order (now under review) to enhance the

role of States and tribal interests with the Council. Finally, the Council has completed the first, performance-based invasive species crosscut budget for fiscal year

2004 in order to leverage Federal invasive species programs and resources in three

targeted areas, and proposes to further strengthen budget coordination in fiscal year

2005.

Relationship between the Council and ANSTF

While the Council coordinates invasive species issues at the departmental level

for all types of invasive species, the Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force (ANSTF)

provides agency-level coordination solely for aquatic species. To avoid any duplication of effort, the Council is mandated under E.O. 13112 to coordinate with the

ANSTF. Currently, NOAA assists this coordination by having Deputy Assistant Secretary Tim Keeney serve as their representative to both the Task Force and the

Council. The Council and ANSTF are considering further ways to consolidate and

combine similar activities in the area of prevention to ensure continued close cooperation and leverage scarce resources.

General comments on S. 525

S. 525 would reauthorize the Non-indigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and

Control Act of 1990. In my remarks, as requested by the Subcommittee, I will provide a brief overview of the Federal agencies general comments and concerns regarding the reauthorization bill. Following my testimony agency and departmental

officials will provide additional comments related to their specific concerns.

We support the reauthorization of aquatic invasive species legislation as an important component of addressing aquatic invasive (nuisance) species. S. 525 wisely

address the full array of aquatic pathways (such as hull-fouling, live bait, etc.) in

addition to the critical problem of ballast water. There is broad support among

Council members for the bill’s comprehensive approach to dealing with aquatic

invasive species problem that is similar to the approach taken in the National

Invasive Species Management Plan. In addition to emphasizing prevention, it recognizes the need to include a variety of approaches, including early detection and

rapid response, research and monitoring, control, and education. The bill also recognizes the important coordination provided by the Aquatic Nuisance Species Task

Force for solely aquatic issues and the broader level of coordination provided by the

Council.

The bill would, for the first time, address planned or intentional introductions of

invasive species in the aquatic arena by calling for the development of a screening

process. This process would evaluate whether a species being proposed for introduction into the U.S. for the first time is likely to become invasive. Screening is also

an element of the Management Plan and is critical to prevention efforts.

The bill recognizes and supports important State and regional efforts through

State aquatic nuisance plans and regional panel activities. Partnerships and multijurisdictional efforts are essential for prevention and control activities. The bill also

proposes an appropriate role for the Council in providing overall guidance on policy
66

(regarding screening), as well as close coordination on policy formulation with

ANSTF.

Concerns

Addressing the issue of ballast water, the bill appropriately supports Federal efforts to make ballast water standards mandatory. Other the provisions of the bill

dealing with ballast water are problematic in a number of ways that will be addressed in more detail by the Coast Guard and other agencies. Most importantly,

while recognizing the importance of dealing with this issue and the frustration with

progress to date, it is critical that any treatment standard adopted for any ballast

water be biologically meaningful, based on science and enforceable. It has not been

demonstrated that a standard based on a kill-rate meets these standards, as is currently proposed in S. 525.

In general, there is concern that some of the provisions of S. 525 are administratively burdensome and inflexible. DOC notes in their testimony that 31 separate

deadlines for administrative action within a short timeframe (18 months) are included in the bill. In addition, numerous reporting requirements raise concerns that

scarce resources will be taken up filling out reports. Some of the bills provisions (in

the areas of rapid response and screening for example) are overly prescriptive and

do not allow the agencies and the Council the flexibility needed to develop and test

new methods and provide for adequate stakeholder input—given the complexity of

some of the issues and policies involved. Reporting requirements for the States may

also be burdensome or create possible barriers to rapid action (such as the requirement that every State have a rapid response contingency plan in place—including

a provision dealing with education—before being eligible to receive response matching funds).

The language regarding dissemination of information should be clarified. While

the Council can and should assist with the coordination and dissemination of information, the action agencies should remain responsible for dissemination of the information that they are charged with collecting. Several agencies involved in this effort

have particular expertise and infrastructure to disseminate information not available to a coordinating body such as the Council.

Along these lines we note that new spending authorized by S. 525 is not currently

included in the President’s fiscal year 2004 Budget and thus the proposal must be

considered within existing resources and priorities. New requirements included in

the bill, such as those for education programs, should be integrated into existing efforts.

As with any comprehensive and complex legislative proposal there are areas that

need improvement. The other Federal representatives on the panel will provide additional detail and discuss their specific concerns. The Council is ready to assist the

committee with addressing these general concerns and additional technical issues

to improve the legislation.

I thank the Subcommittee for addressing this important and complex issue. Working together is our only means to prevent and mitigate the extensive damage caused

by invasive aquatic species. Thank you and I will be pleased to answer any questions.
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STATEMENT OF JOSEPH A. ANGELO, U.S. COAST GUARD, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND

SECURITY

Good morning, Mr. Chairman and distinguished members of the Subcommittee.

It is a pleasure to appear before you today to provide our views on Senate Bill 525

(S. 525), to amend the Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act

of 1990 and to reauthorize and improve that Act.

The Coast Guard is a leader in ensuring America’s marine environment is protected, and we take great pride in providing valuable services to the American people that make our nation cleaner, safer, more mobile, and more secure.

Today, the spread of non-native aquatic species throughout our waterways remains a serious and growing national problem. We know all too well that once introduced, many of these species are capable of disrupting native ecosystems, resulting

in lost natural resources, and significant mitigation costs. Aquatic nuisance species

invasions can also cause damage to coastal infrastructure and threaten coastal industries.

In reauthorizing and amending existing Federal aquatic nuisance species (ANS)

legislation, S. 525 would, among other things, provide detailed guidance and requirements for the conduct of a Federal ballast water management program and the

establishment of a research program to support efforts to prevent the introduction

of any ANS. We believe this bill appropriately identifies significant issues related

to improving the nation’s defense against the introduction of ANS, and that reauthorization and amendment of the legislation is necessary to effectively address this

growing environmental problem. However, we do have some specific concerns re-
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garding implementation actions detailed in this bill, which we believe should be considered.

Working under the broad authorities granted by current legislation, the Coast

Guard’s ongoing regulatory efforts are addressing many of the ballast water management provisions contained in S. 525. As detailed in the transmittal letter accompanying the Secretary of Transportation’s June 2002 voluntary ballast water management assessment report to Congress, mandated by the National Invasive Species

Act, the Coast Guard is establishing a mandatory national ballast water management program. Coast Guard efforts also include: (1) the setting of an enforceable

and scientifically supportable ballast water treatment standard, and (2) establishing

a process that will facilitate the development, testing and evaluation of promising

experimental treatment systems. We believe that our current regulatory strategy is

both sound and aggressive, especially when compared to the current state of ballast

water management technology, which is very much in its infancy. We further believe that the prescriptive requirements and new management arrangements contained in S. 525 would unnecessarily complicate and inevitably delay the implementation of an effective mandatory Federal ballast water management regime.

We are particularly concerned with the bill’s inclusion of a proposed interim ballast water treatment standard. However, the interim standard that requires the removal of 95 percent of the viable organisms taken in by the vessel as specified in

the bill, presents near insurmountable monitoring and enforcement challenges. In

consultation with other Federal agencies, the Coast Guard is currently assessing

various options for biologically protective treatment standards, including standards

that would be expressed as allowable concentrations of organisms in discharged ballast water. In order to support the treatment technology evaluation process for a

ballast water discharge standard, the Coast Guard is working under a cooperative

arrangement with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other technical

experts, to develop verification protocols for ballast water treatment technologies.

We are also tracking several complementary international efforts to develop effective management technologies and will use their findings as appropriate in developing our domestic program.

The legislation proposes that the Coast Guard will promulgate the regulations for

an interim standard, while the EPA will develop the final standard. The Coast

Guard supports a single standard that is scientifically sound and enforceable. The

responsibility to develop and promulgate a ballast water discharge standard should

remain with one agency, and we would like the opportunity to work further with

the Subcommittee in order to clarify specific agency roles.

Another area of concern is the proposed timelines for implementing various aspects of the ballast water management regulatory regime. While it is important to

promulgate regulations quickly, the timelines presented in the proposed legislation

may significantly inhibit the participation of the stakeholders. Appropriately, existing rulemaking procedures provide opportunity for stakeholder input, and accelerating the timelines would compromise these processes. The Coast Guard receives

valuable input from many sectors including the scientific community, water treatment technologists, the maritime industry, and Federal and State agencies, commenting both on the regulatory aspects of our rules, as well as the environmental

consequences of these rulemakings as agency actions. It is critical to continue to

permit this information exchange.

While the Coast Guard is not assigned responsibilities for conducting the ecological surveys described in S. 525, the results of these surveys will likely be used to

evaluate the efficacy of our efforts as well as the efforts of other Federal agencies

in reducing the rate of invasions by aquatic nuisance species. We believe it is important to coordinate the development of such surveys with the implementing agencies,

such as the Coast Guard.

Thank you for the opportunity to present some of our views on this bill today.

The Coast Guard looks forward to working with Congress on the reauthorization of

ANS legislation while we continue our ongoing efforts to implement an effective ballast water management regime. I will be happy to answer any questions you may

have.

STATEMENT OF MATT HOGAN, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE

SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Good morning, Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee. I am Matt

Hogan, Deputy Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Fish and Wildlife

Service). The Director of the Fish and Wildlife Service serves as a co-chair of the

Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force (ANS Task Force) and I thank you, on both
77

his and the Department of the Interior’s (Department) behalf, for the opportunity

to comment on S. 525, the ‘‘National Aquatic Invasive Species Act.’’ The Department, working primarily through the Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), has a long history of aggressively working on issues related

to aquatic invasive species.

There is no question that the introduction and establishment of aquatic invasive

species have significantly impacted our natural areas. We have only to look at a history of invasions, from the sea lamprey to the zebra mussel to the snakehead fish

last summer, to understand the broad scope of the problem. The United States continues to see a number of aquatic species, which may become invasive, crossing our

borders, and we expect this trend to continue. The Department supports the overall

direction of this bill and is encouraged by the leadership and foresight shown by

Congress in addressing this difficult issue. However, we have some concerns with

the bill, and offer to work with the Subcommittee on specific program details. We

also note that new spending authorized by these bills is not currently included in

the President’s Budget and, as such, these actions must be considered within existing priorities.

We agree with the continued focus on partnerships and cooperative efforts to address this nationally significant problem. One of the purposes of the original law,

the Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act of 1990, was to encourage Federal and State agencies to work with partners to enhance our collective

efforts. We believe that the partnerships and cooperative entities established

through the ANS Task Force and the National Invasive Species Council (Council)

have been instrumental in making significant progress to prevent and control aquatic invasive species.

We support inclusion of research agencies, such as the USGS and the Smithsonian Institution, as participants in the Task Force to encourage strong links between research and the management of non-indigenous aquatic species. The ANS

Task Force, authorized by the original Act, met recently in New Orleans, Louisiana

to discuss the aquatic invasive species issues specific to the Gulf of Mexico region.

Over the last 12 years, the Task Force has held meetings throughout the country

to better understand regional invasive species issues, increase awareness, and enhance coordination efforts with local and regional entities.

The Task Force has been successful in establishing additional Regional Aquatic

Nuisance Species Panels, bringing together governmental and private entities to coordinate aquatic invasive species activities at a regional level. The 1990 Act authorized the Great Lakes Panel, and the National Invasive Species Act of 1996 (NISA)

authorized the establishment of a Western Regional Panel. NISA also recommended

that the ANS Task Force establish additional panels. Three additional panels have

been established since 1997, the Gulf of Mexico Panel in 1999, the Northeast ANS

Panel in 2001, and the Mississippi River Basin Panel in 2002. The ANS Task Force

is also encouraging the establishment of a Mid–Atlantic Panel and a Pacific Islands

Panel. The ANS Task Force is proud of many of the accomplishments made over

the last decade including enhancement of regional coordination on aquatic invasive

species issues. While invasive aquatic species continue to be a significant threat to

our natural resources, we believe our efforts to prevent and control aquatic invasive

species have resulted in fewer species introduced and reduced impacts from those

that have become established.

In General

Let me begin by saying that, while we have some concerns with the bill, we support reauthorization and want to work with you and your staff to address some technical details. As this bill is very comprehensive, we will limit our comments today

to several general areas. One general area of concern relates to the number of reports and proposed deadlines required by

S. 525. We hope to have the opportunity to work with you and your staff to try

to consolidate some of these reporting requirements to ensure that we can implement the activities outlined in the Act aggressively, but also that the timeframes

established are meaningful and manageable.

Ballast Water

We believe that substantial progress has been made regarding the management

of ballast water; however, much remains to be done. Through NISA, Congress required that the Coast Guard develop voluntary guidelines for ballast water management, and that those guidelines be made mandatory if the industry did not comply

with the guidelines or did not adequately report on compliance. In 1996, as required

by NISA, the ANS Task Force provided the Coast Guard with a report outlining the

criteria for determining the adequacy and effectiveness of the voluntary guidelines.
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The Coast Guard utilized the input from the ANS Task Force and submitted their

report to Congress on the Voluntary Guidelines for Ballast Water Management,

which outlined a process to transition to a mandatory program. The Department

supports the Coast Guard’s ongoing efforts to transition from the voluntary national

program to a mandatory program, as well as efforts to establish a standard to serve

as the benchmark for ballast water management options, and we urge a continuation and emphasis for research on ballast water management to assure that the

resulting standards are effective and environmentally sound.

Pathways

While ballast water has been acknowledged as one of the leading vectors of introduction, we are encouraged to see that additional emphasis is being placed on other

aquatic pathways. Some of these other pathways include bait fish, the aquarium

and pet trade, horticulture, and live food. This additional emphasis will encourage

the development of management actions, which may minimize the threats from new

aquatic invasive species that have the potential to impact our fish and wildlife populations and associated habitats. We support interagency priority pathway research

and management efforts to identify high risk pathways and develop management

strategies to address them. In developing its strategic plan last year, the ANS Task

Force also identified the management of pathways by which invasive species are introduced as a vital action to prevent future establishment of aquatic invasive species. A number of the actions called for in this bill are similar to those included in

the ‘‘Prevention’’ section of the Council’s National Invasive Species Management

Plan (Plan). A copy of that plan is available at the following web address: http://

www.invasivespecies.gov/council/nmp.shtml

Screening of Planned Importations

The Department has recognized the need for the development of a screening process for planned importations of live aquatic organisms. Having the opportunity to

evaluate new non-native species that are proposed to be imported into the United

States is an invaluable tool to ensure that we are proactive in preventing the introduction of new aquatic invasive species into United States waters. An example of

the need for such a tool is the discovery last summer of a population of snakehead

fish in a pond in Maryland.

Snakehead fish are an aquatic invasive species that are sold live for food or as

aquarium pets. Snakeheads are top predators that multiply quickly and have several special features that enhance their ability to survive in wild. In addition to the

population found in Maryland, another population was found a year ago in Florida.

After the discovery in Florida during the summer of 2001, the Fish and Wildlife

Service and the USGS initiated a risk assessment to gather scientific information

to determine the injurious nature, and potential impacts, of snakeheads. Data from

this risk assessment indicated that the snakeheads were indeed detrimental and the

Fish and Wildlife Service began the process of listing snakeheads as injurious wildlife. That process was completed when a final rule was published on October 4,

2002. That rulemakes it illegal under the Lacey Act to import into the United States

or transport across State lines all members of the Channidae family, including the

28 currently recognized species and any species that may be classified under the

Channidae family in the future.

While the Injurious Wildlife provisions of the Lacey Act give the Fish and Wildlife

Service the ability to evaluate and list species as injurious, the nature of the law

makes our efforts more reactive than proactive. The screening process outlined in

the proposed legislation is an example of a more proactive and effective approach

to preventing introductions of aquatic invasive species.

Having recognized the need for improved screening, the Council’s Plan, which I

previously mentioned, also calls for working with key stakeholders to develop and

test a screening process for intentionally introduced species. Preliminary work to develop this system has begun in conjunction with the ANS Task Force. We also recommend the development of risk assessment methods to evaluate the potential

threat of species that have not yet been introduced. This will be critical in making

our screening efforts effective. The Department, the Council, and the ANS

Task Force would like to work with the Subcommittee to consider whether the

specifics of this proposal should be revised during the legislative process.

We are concerned about the provisions in section 105 (b) that delegate authority

to screen species for use in aquaculture only to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Because of the risk to native fish and wildlife, we believe that both the Fish and

Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

in the Department of Commerce, should also have a role in screening species imported to be used in aquaculture.
79

In addition to evaluating potentially invasive species through the screening process, the Fish and Wildlife Service would also be responsible for enforcement of the

resulting regulations. Currently, the Fish and Wildlife Service has 92 uniformed

Wildlife Inspectors at 32 staffed ports. In 2002, there were 121,171 wildlife shipments that were imported or exported through the United States. Of those, 27,218

or 22.5 percent were physically inspected. The added workload associated with developing the guidelines and regulations, conducting the evaluations, and ensuring

effective compliance will be substantial. Given the comprehensive nature of this provision, it will be necessary to work cooperatively with other agencies that may also

have responsibility for aquatic invasive species. We embrace the opportunity to work

with these other agencies to develop an effective and efficient screening process that

is protective of both the human and natural environment.

State ANS Plans

The State ANS Management Plan provisions have been very successful and we

are happy to see that the program is continued. The ANS Task Force developed

guidelines to help States develop ANS plans, and made those guidelines available

to the States in 2000. As outlined in the bill, the ANS Task Force will update and

enhance those guidelines to address additional components related to early detection

and rapid response, aquatic plant control and screening of planned importations. We

look forward to continuing collaborative work with the States on their efforts to

more effectively address invasive species issues. The ANS Task Force provides us

with an excellent venue to pursue these collaborative partnerships. In fact, the ANS

Task Force and its Regional Panels have encouraged the continued development of

State and Interstate ANS Management Plans. There are currently 13 State and

Interstate Plans approved by the ANS Task Force and a number of other States are

in the process of developing plans. The Fish and Wildlife Service provided cost-share

grants to 15 States and tribes to implement those approved plans in Fiscal Year

2003. Several additional States are expected to submit their plans to the ANS Task

Force for approval in 2004.

Cooperative Control/Management Plans

The ANS Task Force also has a long history of developing and implementing cooperative control and management plans. For example, plans for brown tree snake and

Eurasian ruffe were developed in the mid–1990’s, and the ANS Task Force is currently developing management/control plans for the Chinese mitten crab and

Caulerpa taxifolia, a marine algae. The objectives of these plans are to outline strategies and actions to control or manage aquatic invasive species. These plans are developed and implemented cooperatively by Federal, State, and regional entities

where appropriate.

Early Detection and Monitoring

We support the objectives addressed in Section 301. An early detection network

based on the best available science is important to reducing the impacts of invasive

aquatic species.

Information, Education and Outreach

Education and outreach continue to be critical elements to the success of invasive

species prevention and control. Within the Department, the Fish and Wildlife Service has been actively working for many years on a 100th Meridian Initiative to stop

the westward spread of zebra mussels and other aquatic invasive species. The bill

proposes to enhance these efforts through increased and targeted outreach and education efforts. The ANS Task Force and the Fish and Wildlife Service have established a public awareness campaign known as Stop Aquatic Hitchhikers! that targets aquatic recreation users and promotes voluntary guidelines to ensure that

aquatic invasive species are not spread through recreational activities. Stop Aquatic

Hitchhikers! complements the 100th Meridian Initiative and was designed to unify

the conservation community to inform recreation users about the issue and encourage them to become part of the solution to prevent the spread of aquatic invasive

species.

The National Park Service also provides information to millions of visitors every

year regarding conservation of natural and cultural resources. The Act, as amended,

recognizes the vital role that the National Park Service has in education and outreach on resource conservation and, more specifically, during the commemoration of

the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Expedition. Invasive species education and information, integrated within ongoing educational efforts, will provide critical context

to increase understanding of the impacts of invasive species on natural resources.

Again, we applaud the legislation’s multi-agency approach to education and outreach as there are already significant efforts to coordinate the dissemination of in-
80

formation. One example is the National Biological Information Infrastructure

(NBII), an extensive information network already in wide public use, which can be

utilized as a means to facilitate public access to survey, monitoring, and risk assessment information.

Aquatic Invasive Species Research

We are encouraged by the increased emphasis on research and monitoring efforts

in the bill. In its strategic planning effort, the Task Force determined that additional actions were needed and restructured its committees to better address these

problems. Key areas addressed in the legislation, including pathways, ballast water

management, early detection and monitoring and control, can only be successful if

they are based on sound research.

We recognize the need for methods for rapid assessment of newly detected aquatic

species, and recommend that adequate resources for conducting such assessments

be included as an integral component of coordinated planning for rapid responses.

We recommend that particular attention be given to expanding and coordinating existing data bases, such as the USGS’s National Non-indigenous Aquatic Species

Data base, which provides basic scientific information for addressing invasive species threats. Finally, we recommend that the legislation ensure better coordination

among the agencies and organizations that collect and store invasive aquatic species

information, and we offer our assistance to the Subcommittee in this regard.

Conclusion

In closing, I want to thank you for providing the Department with an opportunity

to comment on this legislation. As I stated earlier, we are happy to work with you

and your staff on programmatic and other technical issues.

Mr. Chairman, this concludes my prepared remarks. I am happy to respond to

any questions you or the other Committee members may have.

STATEMENT OF TIMOTHY R.E. KEENEY, DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF COMMERCE

FOR OCEANS AND ATMOSPHERE, NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINIS- TRATION, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Good morning, Chairman Crapo and Members of the Subcommittee. I am Timothy

Keeney, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and

the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) co-chair of the

Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force. I appreciate the opportunity to present NOAA

views on S. 525, which would reauthorize the Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act as amended by the National Invasive Species Act of 1996.

I begin my testimony with some observations on the evolution of the Act which

mirrors our current state of understanding of aquatic invasive species. I will then

comment on some general concerns with the legislation as currently drafted, and finally I will touch on some specific provisions of the bill.

When the Act was first passed, the focus was on a single species the zebra mussel,

a single region the Great Lakes, and a single pathway ballast water. It subsequently

became obvious that the problems caused by invasive species generally, and aquatic

invasive species specifically, are broader than originally envisioned and this was reflected in the 1996 amendments. This recognition is further reflected in S. 525, and

the bill would constitute a major rewrite of the existing law if it is enacted.

Last year, the Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force adopted a 5-year strategic

plan in which we assessed current activities and looked at areas requiring additional attention. In several areas, the Task Force’s conclusions are similar to issues

addressed in this legislation. S. 525 addresses some gaps in our existing programs.

Even though ballast water continues to be the most significant pathway for new

introductions into coastal waters, there is a need to systematically assess other

pathways to determine how best to interdict them as well as prevent invasions from

occurring. Finally, the Task Force recognized that education and research are important supporting elements for all invasive species activities. The importance of

these activities is emphasized in the pending legislation.

There is a need to develop an early detection and rapid response mechanism in

order to detect invasions while they are still localized and to control them before

they spread. Recognizing this, the Task Force already has asked its Regional Panels

to prepare rapid response contingency plans. The first of these plans, prepared by

the Western Regional Panel, was approved by the Task Force in November. The

Northeast Regional Panel began to work on its plan at a meeting last month, and

the Great Lakes Panel will work on its plan at a meeting next week.

NOAA is acutely aware of both the economic and environmental impacts of aquatic invasives and strongly supports the existing program. We also support reauthor-
81

ization of the program. Nevertheless, we have significant concerns about both general and specific provisions of the pending legislation.

Our first general concern is that the bill requires 31 separate actions each with

deadlines that must be completed by members of the Aquatic Nuisance Species Task

Force within 18 months of passage. It will be difficult to simultaneously give all of

these actions the level of attention they deserve in the time allowed. In some instances, the Task Force has already initiated action and the deadlines are reasonable. In other cases, it will be necessary to develop capacity to implement the activities. We recommend that the Committee assess the priority level of each of these

actions and allow for additional time for lower level priority activities. We would be

happy to work with the Committees on such an assessment.

Similarly there is a multiplicity of reporting requirements. Each report will require a significant commitment of resources that could actually inhibit implementation activities. NOAA recommends that there be a single reporting requirement and

that the Committee identify elements to be included in the report.

Title IV of the legislation contains several elements that are duplicated in other

sections of the legislation. In at least one instance, different agencies are identified

to implement the same activity. Areas that are duplicated include ecological surveys

and developing protocols for those surveys, pathway analysis, performance tests for

ballast water exchange, and dispersal barriers.

In addition to these general concerns, NOAA has concerns with a number of specific proposals.

Even though progress has been made, ballast water still remains the most significant pathway for new introductions of nonindigenous species into coastal waters.

Title I of the legislation recognizes that we still have work to do in this area. Nevertheless, NOAA believes that some of the elements in Title I need to be revised.

During the last re-authorization in 1996, the need to develop more effective ballast water management was recognized. As the Coast Guard’s report to the Congress last June pointed out, compliance with the voluntary guidelines, even to the

extent of reporting, has not been satisfactory. Since 1996, we have continued to see

the introduction of non-native species into coastal areas, and the situation has been

serious enough that west coast States have acted independently to require ballast

water management measures. The Federal Government should develop a coordinated nationwide response to ensure that the shipping industry is not burdened by

a variety of standards in different geographic locations. Such action is possible

under existing law, and the Coast Guard, in its report to Congress on compliance

with voluntary guidelines, has indicated that it would take steps to issue national

standards. We support the Coast Guard’s efforts to establish mandatory guidelines

and appreciate the Committees’ support of such efforts.

The bill requires that rapid response measures be included in a ship’s invasive

species management plan. As I indicated earlier, NOAA supports additional efforts

on rapid response. We cannot envision, however, that all ships would be aware of

each State’s rapid response contingency plan. Since such plans are likely to vary

among the States, preparation for compliance with such provisions by the shipping

companies may be unnecessarily problematic. The primary purpose behind a ballast

water management plan should be to reduce the risk that a ship will be the source

of new inoculations. The major responsibility for a ship during a rapid response is

likely to be either not entering an area where a rapid response action is occurring,

not loading ballast water which could contribute to the spread of an invasive species, or not discharging water known to have originated from a rapid response area.

Rather than require a rapid response plan for unknown organisms in a multiplicity

of areas, the better approach would be to require that a ship cooperate with State

governments during a rapid response effort.

NOAA is aware of the frustration in developing a standard for new ballast water

treatment technologies. We believe that ultimately there needs to be a discharge

standard based on sound science that is biologically meaningful and enforceable.

NOAA is concerned about a ‘‘kill rate’’ being used as a standard. Although a 95 percent kill rate may reduce the risk of new invasions, there may be difficulties posed

with verification and enforcement. In addition to verification and enforcement difficulties, there is no scientific evidence that a 95 percent ‘‘kill rate’’ reduces the risk

of new invasions. Verification of kill rates may also be impractical because in order

to prove such a kill rate both the departure point and the discharge point must be

sampled. There also could be a significant gap in coverage by this standard. What

is killed can be as important, if not more so, then what percentage is killed (e.g.,

the phytoplankton that cause harmful algal blooms). Some algal blooms in other

countries have been attributed to ballast water introductions. Concentrations of up

to 10 million cells per liter have been documented during some blooms. For such

species, the normal maximum for shellfish safety is 5,000 cells per liter. A tech-
82

nology could successfully kill 95 percent of the organisms and still be at an order

of magnitude above what is safe for human health. The Coast Guard, in cooperation

with other Federal Agencies, is currently assessing various options for the standards, including standards based on allowable concentrations of organisms. This process should be allowed to continue in order to ensure that the standards are biologically meaningful and technologically feasible.

NOAA fully supports the provision in §1101(b)(4) which would allow approval of

experimental technologies for ballast treatment, but we wonder if it was really the

intent of the Congress that such authority expire after 18 months. NOAA believes

that a provision for onboard testing of promising technologies should remain in

place until final standards become effective, and we suggest that it may be useful

to allow testing of experimental technologies on board ships even after the standard

is in place.

In Title II Section 1105(e)(2), the Congress may intend that there be a permitting

requirement for exceptions to a prohibition on importation, but NOAA suggests that

such a procedure be made explicit. A formal permitting process would enable the

Federal agency of jurisdiction to place restrictions on handling of organisms after

they are imported. As examples, subsequent transfer of organisms to third parties

could be prohibited, or instructions for proper disposal could be included. NOAA also

suggests that, with a formal permitting requirement, the exception could be expanded to include entities such as commercial aquaria which might want to develop

educational displays on invasive species.

NOAA is also concerned about the provision that grants the Department of Agriculture the sole authority to screen species proposed for aquaculture use. NOAA believes that the end use of an importation is irrelevant to whether or not a species

is invasive. We are concerned because, in the case of aquaculture, what is most

often cultured are wild species normally under the jurisdiction of either NOAA or

the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In addition, aquaculture is not limited to closed

systems. Often species such as oysters and clams are released into natural ecosystems. We would also point out that much of the scientific expertise for making

determinations on aquatic imports is in the management agencies. In order to make

such determinations, information on life history and impacts on natural ecosystems

and native species is necessary. Finally, if end use helps to determine whether a

species should be prohibited, we could end up with contradictory decisions. The recent case of the northern snakehead is illustrative. The fish released into the local

pond were imported for human consumption and would presumably be under the

authority of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The same species has been cultured

in Hawaii and a determination of invasiveness would presumably be made by the

Department of Agriculture.

As I indicated above, NOAA recognizes that an additional effort needs to be made

on rapid response. We also recognize rapid response activities must involve State

and Local governments. Finally, as co-chair of the Aquatic Nuisance Species Task

Force, we are more than willing to add a rapid response contingency plan as one

of the components of State Management Plans. We do not believe, however, that

having such a plan in place should be a prerequisite for receiving matching funds

for rapid response to serious invaders. If an invader presents a serious enough

threat to warrant a rapid response action, the response should be made whether a

State has developed a contingency plan or not.

Similarly, while any activities to improve early detection should be encouraged,

NOAA does not believe that an early detection strategy should be a prerequisite for

a rapid response plan. Recently, considerable attention has been given to the economic difficulties facing State governments, and the monitoring necessary for an effective early detection strategy can be quite costly. Such a provision actually may

discourage States from developing rapid response plans. As indicated above, we

could be in the incongruous situation of being unable to respond to a serious invasion because a State does not have a monitoring program set up.

Finally, while education and outreach is an essential part of prevention and control activities and could be an important element of a response and is already included in the guidelines for State Management Plans, a rapid response is essentially

an emergency response and requirements to have education and outreach provisions

in place for addressing pathways and industries which may introduce species is not

an appropriate requirement for a response strategy.

The Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force is already working with its Regional

Panels to develop regional rapid response plans, and NOAA is providing funding

during the current fiscal year to help the Panels develop such plans. The first plan,

developed by the Western Regional Panel, has been completed and approved by the

Task Force. As currently written, the Task Force would be responsible for encouraging development of such plans, but the Coast Guard would be responsible for for-
83

mal approval. NOAA suggests that the Task Force, which includes the Coast Guard,

is the appropriate entity for approval of such plans. It is important that management agencies are included in this process which would be accomplished by giving

the Task Force responsibility for formal approval.

NOAA supports the increasing emphasis on research in Title IV and elsewhere

in the bill. The science involved with aquatic invasives is much less advanced than

the science dealing with terrestrial invasives particularly as they relate to livestock

and crops. While some of our colleagues in the Department of Agriculture have been

dealing with weed and insect problems for most of the last century, the science of

biological invasions in aquatic ecosystems is still very young. The Aquatic Nuisance

Species Task Force has recognized that virtually every activity from prevention to

control to restoration needs to have a scientific underpinning. Over the last decade,

considerable progress has been made much of which has been the result of the competitive grant program administered by the National Sea Grant Program under

§1202(f), but there are still areas in which our knowledge is seriously deficient.

I would like to discuss two areas as an illustration of our current challenges.

First, there is inadequate monitoring in aquatic systems. In many instances, we

do not even have baselines so that we know when a serious new invader has been

introduced. This also hampers efforts to characterize invasion rates, and without

monitoring activities, early detection and rapid response occur only by chance. It

should be noted that there are exceptions, but they are limited to specific geographic

areas. As an example, the Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force sponsored study of

San Francisco Bay by Cohen and Carlton is outstanding in documenting nonindigenous species occurrence in that ecosystem and is often cited even in terrestrial studies. A similar study of Chesapeake Bay sponsored by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

and performed by the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center provides a very

good baseline for Chesapeake Bay. Both the Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force

and NOAA recognize this shortcoming and have taken first steps to correct the deficiency in monitoring. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service sponsored a workshop on

developing protocols and requirements for an effective monitoring program in aquatic ecosystems, and earlier this year, NOAA’s National Ocean Service conducted a

similar workshop for monitoring within the National Estuarine Research Reserve

System. Title IV of the bill would take steps to address this gap by requiring the

development of protocols and setting up a monitoring system.

Second, our scientific knowledge of control methods in aquatic environments is

still in its infancy, and control in aquatic ecosystems present unique problems. Because water is a medium which will move chemicals from one place to another, it

is much more difficult to localize biocide applications. In addition, there is special

concern that available chemicals are not species specific. Last summer when the

State of Maryland used rotenone to eradicate the northern snakehead from a pond

near Washington DC, it should be noted that the application was in a small body

of water and that all other fish species were also killed. Obviously, there are only

limited circumstances when such a method can be used. There are even taxonomic

groups for which there is no scientific knowledge of control methods. NOAA confronted this issue two summers ago when there was a bloom of spotted jellyfish in

the Gulf of Mexico. We recognized that the species was having a major impact in

localized areas and was affecting commercial fisheries, but we were in a situation

where nobody had ever tried to control jellyfish in the past.

With the exception of aquatic weeds, where the Army Corps of Engineers and the

Agriculture Research Service have had some notable successes, we also have just

begun to look at biocontrol agents. We do have some promising results, though, with

a pathogen that could be used for zebra mussel control. In a project funded by

NOAA Sea Grant and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, a researcher has found

that a pseudomonas bacterium causes extremely high mortality in zebra mussels

and preliminary results indicate that it may be species specific. To show the difficulty in finding an acceptable biocontrol agent, it should be noted that the researcher looked at over 600 different pathogens. In addition, once such a pathogen

is found, it is necessary to make sure that the biocontrol agent will not affect native

species. This is particularly important in this case because many of our native bivalves are already listed as threatened and endangered.

Chairman Crapo and Members of the Subcommittee, the legislation before you

builds on the previous Act and addresses some gaps that have already been identified by the Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force. S. 525 would be major rewrite of

existing law, and as with any complicated piece of legislation, there are some technical difficulties, and we would be happy to work with the Subcommittee to address

them. Among these issues, we note that new spending authorized by this bill is not

currently included in the President’s Budget, and as such, these actions must be

considered within existing priorities. As one of the trustees for marine and coastal
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resources, NOAA has been aware of the problems caused by aquatic invasive species

and recognized that we have a responsibility to help prevent these invasions and

reduce the impact if such invasions occur. NOAA also recognizes that we cannot be

successful without partnerships with other Federal agencies, State and local governments, and the private sector. We are pleased that the proposed legislation places

an increasing emphasis on such partnerships. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to present the Department of Commerce’s views on this topic. This concludes

my testimony, and I would be happy to answer any questions you may have.

RESPONSES OF TIMOTHY R.E. KEENEY TO ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS FROM SENATOR

ALLARD

Question 1. This legislation requires that each State have a rapid response contingency plan. If the Federal Government requires such a plan, how do we ensure that

all ships that discharge ballast waters are aware of each State’s plan?

Response. As I indicated in my testimony, NOAA is opposed to the provision that

States that a ship will have a rapid response plan as part of its ballast water management plan. It would be problematic to develop a plan that would take into account different State contingency plans. The major responsibilities for a ship during

a rapid response are likely to be: (1) not entering an area where a rapid response

action is occurring, (2) not loading ballast water which could contribute to the

spread of an invasive species, or (3) not discharging ballast water known to have

originated from a rapid response area. In the case of a rapid response effort, the

major requirement for ships should be to cooperate rather than to have some sort

of rapid response plan specific to an individual ship in place. Port authorities currently have authority to place conditions on a ship entering its port and thus, if necessary, it can place specific conditions on a particular ship in the event that it is

necessary to facilitate rapid response efforts. Therefore, under such conditions, a

State specific plan may not be necessary.

Question 2. The legislation proposes that the Coast Guard will promulgate the

regulations for an interim standard, while the EPA will develop the final standard.

The Coast Guard supports a singe standard that is scientifically sound and enforceable, and EPA has concerns that they should be the ones in charge, as well as issues

of rule promulgation sharing. Some before this committee should believe that the

responsibility to develop and promulgate a ballast water discharge standard should

remain with one agency. How should this be addressed? Who is the right agency?

Response. NOAA believes that the Coast Guard is the appropriate agency to develop the ballast water discharge (BWD) standard. The Coast Guard is well along

in the process, having already begun developing the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) required under the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) for

a BWD standard. EPA, NOAA, and FWS are cooperating agencies under the Council

on Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations.

RESPONSE OF TIMOTHY R.E. KEENEY TO AN ADDITIONAL QUESTION FROM SENATOR

MURKOWSKI

Question 1. As you know, there are other sources of invasions besides ballast

water. In Alaska, State authorities consider Atlantic Salmon a serious threat to

Alaska species such as salmon and trout due to competition for prey, possible competition for habitat, and predation. These fish commonly escape from fish farms in

British Columbia and Washington and have been recovered in Alaska as far north

as the Bering Sea. Is it appropriate for a national plan of attack against invasive

species to address this source? If so, how?

Response. It is appropriate that the legislation place additional emphasis on pathways other than ballast water, and certainly aquaculture is a potential pathway.

Historically, movement of species from one area to another for commercial purposes

has been a significant source of introductions. To cite just a couple of examples, the

Japanese oyster drill was introduced with oyster stocks, and net profits in areas

where the oyster drill is present in the State of Washington are reduced by 50 percent. Genetic studies indicate that MSX—one of the two diseases that has devastated oysters in the Chesapeake Bay—probably was introduced from Asia. It

should be noted, however, that actions taken by the aquaculture industry have reduced the risk of such introductions in the future. As an example, the Atlantic

States Marine Fisheries Commission has set up a protocol on the movement of shellfish from one area to another.
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As a first step in addressing the issue of Atlantic salmon escapes on the west

coast, NOAA has provided funding to the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission for a workshop on Marine Aquaculture: Effects on the West Coast and Alaska

Fishing Industry. The purpose of this meeting was to bring together representatives

from both the commercial fishing industry and the aquaculture industry to determine how a series of issues can best be addressed. The meeting was held in Seattle

on November 17–19, 2003.

STATEMENT OF G. TRACY MEHAN III, ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR FOR WATER, U.S.

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

Good morning, Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee. I am Tracy Mehan,

Assistant Administrator for Water at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

(EPA). I appreciate and welcome this opportunity to discuss the provisions of S. 525,

and to consider the continuing challenges ahead to protect water quality, human

health and the environment against invasive species.

INTRODUCTION

The Environmental Protection Agency shares the Subcommittee’s concerns about

protecting the Nation’s waters against invasive species. We commend the Subcommittee and others for bringing attention to the problems and threats created by

invasive species. As you may know, I came to EPA from Michigan, the Great Lakes

State, where interactions among over 160 known aquatic invaders have severely affected the local ecosystem structure. Introductions can create new competition,

change trophic levels, alter habitat and impact species interaction. Invasive species

have become one of the greatest threats to U.S. waters and ecosystems. In fact,

invasive species are regarded by biologists worldwide as the second greatest threat

to biodiversity, behind habitat loss. Invasive species are also a costly economic problem, causing the United States billions of dollars worth of damage each year.

The complexity of the freshwater, estuarine and marine ecosystems, combined

with the increased rate of unwanted introductions and more susceptible environments, contributes to making invasive species a major challenge in U.S. waters.

Invasive species can successfully invade aquatic ecosystems through a wide variety

of pathways, including but not limited to vessel activities, aquaculture, aquarium

trade, fish stocking, live bait, and research activities.

Most recently, vessels have been the major focus for invasive species issues. As

ballast water is drawn into a ship, living organisms are removed from their native

water environment and brought on board the vessel. Then these organisms may be

discharged into a new environment. Survival in a new environment is based on a

number of physical, chemical and biological factors, such as temperature, salinity,

and the presence of other organisms that might prey upon the invaders. Advanced

ship technology is also playing a role in invasive species survival by allowing ships,

and any hitch-hiking organisms, to travel faster and farther. It is estimated that

more than 10,000 marine species (e.g., zebra mussel, Asian clam, green crab) are

transported each day in ballast water, allowing new invasions to occur regularly in

coastal waters.

Other vessel vectors that are of great importance are hull fouling, i.e., organisms

attached to the hull, and No Ballast on Board or (NOBOB) vessels. NOBOB vessels

contain sediments and water slurry that is unpumpable and may get resuspended

and discharged. Studies indicate that NOBOB vessels can carry viable organisms

in the sediment and residual ballast water, creating additional opportunities for the

establishment of invasive species. Over the past 9 years, approximately 85 percent

of all ships entering the Great Lakes via the St. Lawrence Seaway have been

NOBOB vessels. The remaining 15 percent of the vessels entering the Great lakes

were required to perform ballast water management. However, the Great Lakes are

still being invaded by non-indigenous species, at an average of one invader every

8 months. Approximately 15 new species have invaded the Great Lakes since mid

oceanic exchange of ballast water was mandated in 1993. This is the same number

of invasions that occurred during the 1970’s and 1980’s, indicating that current ballast water management efforts are not completely effective. Overall, the current rate

of invasions in the Great Lakes is 66 percent higher than one hundred years ago.

The impacts of invasive species are immediate and often irreversible. If left unchecked, the number, density, and rates of species transfers are expected to increase, and along with them, impacts on our ecosystem, socio-economic well-being,

and human health. Prevention, reduction, and eradication are all integral parts of

dealing with invasive species. Prevention is critical to success, as once invasive species have become established, eradication is often not an available or successful tool.
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In order to be most effective, we need an integrated national response. We need

management programs, including regulatory and non-regulatory approaches, rapid

response efforts, early warning systems, development of control technologies, research, monitoring and education. Aggressive efforts are vital, otherwise introductions will continue to destroy our native environments and our coastal resources.

EPA ACTIVITIES

Faced with the scope and magnitude of this threat, our collective efforts to develop policies, conduct research and make programmatic decisions, informed by rigorous scientific and technical studies, are crucial. The control of invasive species is

important to EPA, and we look to our partners in the U.S. Coast Guard, other Federal agencies, States and Tribes, and the port and shipping industries to move expeditiously to help us meet this major challenge to the health of our nation’s coastal

and ocean resources. We look forward to expanding our partnerships as we make

progress against these invaders.

EPA continues to work with the Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force, chaired by

U.S. National Ocean and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA) and U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Service (FWS), and the National Invasive Species Council on issues ranging from

the national and international control of ballast water discharges to the regional

management and control of individual invasive species. As a member of the U.S.

delegation on the Marine Environment Protection Committee to the International

Maritime Organization, EPA is helping to negotiate an international ballast water

treaty and standard to address ballast water discharges from ocean-going vessels.

EPA is also assisting the Coast Guard in the development of mandatory ballast

water management regulations and in the development of standards for ballast

water discharge. These regulations are vital to our ongoing efforts to prevent invasions from ballast water discharges. EPA has helped to prepare the environmental

analysis for the management rule, and we will be assisting in the development of

the EIS for the standards rule. This spirit of cooperation is not only mutually beneficial to our agencies, it enhances our ability to address this difficult problem.

EPA’s Office of Research and Development (ORD), in partnership with other agencies and organizations, is involved with numerous invasive species research activities, including developing models which could help to identify which ecosystems are

more susceptible to invasions. These models are being developed to identify the multiple stressors on a particular ecosystem that could increase its vulnerability.

The Environmental Technology Verification (ETV) Program is another example of

our cooperative efforts with Coast Guard and the private sector. The Coast Guard

is interested in developing testing protocols to support its efforts to establish treatment standards and the certification of ballast water treatment systems. Such treatment systems may allow for safer alternatives to the current practice of open ballast

exchange. The ETV Program will test new ballast water treatment and management

technologies as they become available in the market. This EPA program was created

as a means to accelerate the acceptance of new environmental technologies in the

marketplace through the independent verification of vendor performance claims of

any treatment system for any discharge of concern.

EPA also has developed partnerships for continued research and action regarding

invasive species. The partnerships involve State and local resource management

agencies, non-profits, the National Estuary Program (NEP), and universities. The

NEPs, in particular, have numerous activities that play a key role in targeting

many of the challenges from invasive species. NEPs have established partnerships

in education and outreach, and have contributed to the development of rapid assessments and baseline inventories for invasive species. NEPs also have played an integral role in developing model monitoring and rapid response programs for invasive

species. EPA has used Clean Water Act Funding for these and other activities that

address invasive species. We believe this is consistent with Section 101 (a) of that

Act, which states, ‘‘The objective of this chapter is to restore and maintain the

chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Nation’s waters.’’

Partnerships and collaborative efforts are key to combating invasive species. I am

encouraged by the multi-faceted opportunities for partnerships that we have within

EPA, among Federal agencies, with the States and Tribes, and with multiple industry and community representatives.

S. 525

The bill under consideration by this Subcommittee introduces many actions intended to help address the issue of invasive species. For example, the bill addresses

the risk of invasion through vectors other than ballast water. The bill also acknowledges EPA’s expertise and involvement in responding to the challenge.
87

The goals and concepts behind the actions set forth in S. 525 are beneficial to

combating invasive species. However, the time lines and authorizations provided are

of significant concern. An average rule can take 4 to 7 years to complete and that

does not take into account the complexity of the invasive species issue. The bill introduces many actions in addition to the new regulations. If possible, the actions

should be prioritized to appropriately use the authorized funding in the bill. As the

bill stands now, it will be difficult to complete all of the actions, without at least

full appropriation of the authorized funding.

The bill appears to identify many of the same actions for a number of different

agencies. Although agencies need to work together to combat the issues of invasive

species, different agencies should have different responsibilities so as not to duplicate work efforts. In addition to the duplicative work efforts, it is difficult to determine which agency has the primary role in some of the actions.

The bill provides for sediment management in transoceanic vessels to be included

as a best management practice. The bill also recognizes the importance of addressing potential introductions of invasive species from no-ballast-on-board (NOBOB)

vessels, particularly in light of the volume of such vessels in the Great Lakes.

The bill also addresses the issues of ballast water standards. Specifically, it sets

an interim standard of 95 percent removal, which we believe raises a number of

technical issues. Removal relies on laboratory testing which raises technology maintenance and durability issues. Percent removal also does not adequately address

large volume discharges, because discharging 5 percent of a tanker ship’s volume

could still release millions of organisms per liter. We believe that the standards

should be based on concentration and size of organism, similar to discussions with

the international community. Having an interim and a final standard could have

the unintended effects of stalling development of a final standard or misdirecting

technology development away from more environmentally protective approaches.

EPA is also concerned that the Bill identifies and designates both EPA and the

Coast Guard as regulating authorities, one for each standard. EPA and the Coast

Guard would like the opportunity to work further with the Subcommittee in order

to clarify specific agency roles, and define a more appropriate schedule, and discuss

the need for an interim standard. We would also be happy to provide further technical assistance on this bill. We also note that new spending authorized by this bill

that is not currently included in the President’s Budget, and as such, these actions

must be considered within existing priorities.

CONCLUSION

Tremendous progress has been made by EPA and our many Federal, State, Tribal,

local, and private partners in cleaning up our waters over the last decade. EPA’s

experience in addressing difficult issues regarding the health of our environment

can help us protect them from these harmful invaders. We at EPA appreciate your

support and commitment to these vital goals, and look forward to continuing a collaborative effort to protect and restore our Nation’s waters.

This concludes my prepared remarks. I would be happy to address any questions

you may have at this time.

STATEMENT OF JAMES M. BEERS, SCIENCE ADVISOR, AMERICAN LAND RIGHTS

ASSOCIATION

Thank you Mr. Chairman for inviting me to testify at your hearing today.

I represent the American Land Rights Association, an organization of small property owners in all 50 States.

I worked for the US Fish and Wildlife Service for 30 years in four States and

Washington, DC as a wildlife biologist, special agent, and refuge manager. I have

enforced Injurious Wildlife regulations and investigated Endangered Species cases

both here and in Europe. I have worked on Invasive Species control programs for

nutria and purple loosestrife. I have attended U.N. Wildlife Conferences and represented State wildlife agencies fighting a threatened European fur embargo. I currently write and speak extensively about both Endangered and Invasive Species.

The National Aquatic Invasive Species Act of 2003, S. 525 is based on erroneous

assumptions. Briefly, it is wrong:

1. To characterize all recently arrived plants and animals as having only exaggerated bad effects and ‘‘reducing biodiversity’’ (Sec. 2 Findings 1–10). This striped bass

is an ‘‘Invasive Species’’ in numerous lakes, rivers and reservoirs across the Nation

as well as in west coast estuaries. This rainbow trout is another ‘‘Invasive Species’’

in lakes, rivers, and reservoirs throughout the United States. Fishing license money,

State fishery management staffs, charter boat revenues, boat and boating equip-
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ment sales, fishing tackle sales, tourist revenues, annual Sport Fish Restoration dollars in the millions, taxidermy business, as well as millions of hours of family recreation and many fine meals will all be reduced under this legislation. These fish are

typical of many desirable ‘‘Invasive’’ plants and animals that increase ‘‘biodiversity’’

while benefiting us all.

2. To infer a Federal concern for plants and animals ‘‘outside the historic range

of the species of which the organism is a member’’ (Sec. 1003 (15)). This applies directly to these two fish that have been widely and purposely introduced for the

many direct and indirect benefits to citizens and aquatic habitats that they create.

What does ‘‘historic range’’ mean? When Asians arrived 10,000 years ago? When Columbus arrived? When the Constitution was signed? Camels, horses, and elephants

once thrived here, are they native or ‘‘Invasive Species’’?

3. To define Federal aquatic authority as including ‘‘estuarine’’ and ‘‘inland waters

and wetlands’’ (Sec. 1003 (2)). These waters are nearly all under State jurisdiction.

Given the current court case involving the decade-long dumping of toxic sludge by

the US Army Corps of Engineers through a National Park under an EPA permit

reviewed by the National Marine Fisheries Service and the US Fish and Wildlife

Service on the spawning grounds of Endangered shortnose sturgeon in the Potomac

River as it passes Washington, DC, it does not appear prudent to expand Federal

authority in this manner.

4. To infer Federal jurisdiction over ‘‘invasive species’’ and ‘‘non-indigenous species’’ that ‘‘may cause harm’’ (Sec. 1003 (17)) so broadly defined as to permit any

biological competition or increase in biodiversity to be declared harmful. These two

fish for instance eat other fish and compete with yet others for space and food.

5. To claim authority over ‘‘any fundamental category of taxonomic classification

below a genus or subgenus’’ (Sec. 1003 (28)). This enshrines the unwritten Endangered Species Act principle that authorizes all manner of Federal intervention to the

smallest flock, school, or stand of any species. This has caused increasing friction

with property owners and many others as the level of Federal concern descended

below that of species to races, varieties, distinct populations, and even beyond.

Using the need for the Federal Government to regulate ballast water, a penumbra

of Federal authorities and tasks are being created to mimic the Endangered Species

Act. That Act has caused havoc with much more than property rights and has gone

unauthorized for 15 years while it’s reach and annual appropriations continue to

grow.

The authority to manage, control, and eradicate plants and animals is one of

those ‘‘powers’’ ‘‘reserved to the States’’ in the 10th Amendment. The Federal Government is responsible for the management of the import, export, interstate, and

foreign aspects of these matters. It is proper that the Federal Government assures

clean ballast water discharges, manages imports and exports, and cooperates with

State governments in the management, control, and eradication of harmful plants

and animals regardless of their origins or arrival dates.

11The American Land Rights Association joins with all citizens concerned about

the loss of not only land property rights but also the rights of fish owners, aquarium

hobbyists, florists, gardeners, landscapers, boaters, horseback riders, pet owners,

hikers, trappers, duck hunters, fishermen and scores of others whose property

rights, outdoor activities, property rights held in trust by State governments, and

public land access are directly threatened by this proposed expansion of Federal authority and diminishment of State authority over aquatic habitats. The task being

proposed (encouragement of ‘‘native species’’) is not desirable, not beneficial, not

achievable, not measurable, never-ending, and a public expense beyond comprehension.

Please consider a revised bill that controls ballast water discharge, controls harmful aquatic plants and animals on the Federal estate, and cooperates with the States

to fulfill the fish, wildlife, and plant responsibilities assigned them in the Constitution. Otherwise, S. 525 will, like the Endangered Species Act, radically modify our

basic freedoms while enriching only Federal bureaucracies, Universities, and the

agendas of environmental and animal rights organizations.

One last observation: The bill’s proposed ‘‘whitelist approach’’ (Sec. 1105 et al) for

controlling imports is fraught with pitfalls. It is causing problems in Australia and

had it been in effect here 200 years ago we would not have brown trout, tulips, Holsteins, or even house cats here today. Five minutes is not enough time for me to

explain this, but I would offer to point out there is a better approach that does not

impair the trade and freedoms we cherish while minimizing future, harmful U.N.

controls which are likely with Invasive Species as they have been with Endangered

Species under CITES.

Further explanation of these issues may be found on the American Land Rights

Association website, www.landrights.org.
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Thank you and I am ready to answer any questions you might have.

RESPONSES OF JAMES BEERS TO ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS FROM SENATOR MURKOWSKI

Question 1. ‘‘Mr. Beers, your testimony suggests that the Federal Government

should not attempt to exert control over State waters, but has an appropriate role

for ballast water. Many States are struggling with budget issues that may affect

their ability to implement their own invasive species plans. What role, if any, do

you suggest for the Federal Government in such circumstances?′′

Response. Exerting Federal authority over ballast water discharge, like regulation

of interstate commerce, neither involves nor requires Federal control over State waters or lands. Just as the prevention of smuggling or terrorism necessitates Federal

regulations and Federal agents while creating Federal requirements and enforcement regimes on and over State lands and waters without controlling the State

lands and waters; ballast water discharge and the prevention of harmful plant or

animal introduction requires no Federal taking of State authorities.

Any truly Harmful plant, animal, or infectious organism should be designated by

the Federal Government and prevented from entering the country. Proof of such demonstrable harm should demonstrate significant potential damage to human health,

agriculture, or certain plants or animals important to American citizens. Such biological entities should be (and are) prevented from entering the country as much as

is humanly possible. Where and when they breach these safeguards they should be

(and are) pursued and eradicated as quickly as possible by Federal and State authorities. State waters along the coasts or Great Lakes, like State lands bordering

Canada or Mexico are the busy battlegrounds in these legitimate and necessary Federal efforts.

The current ‘‘Injurious Wildlife List’’ provides a proven approach. When a species

like mongoose is proven (demonstrably and definitively) to be a danger and seriously

harmful it is listed; regulations direct Federal import regulators to exclude it; and

if it breaches the controls, lethal controls and Federal/State animal specialists eradicate it immediately. The fact of ‘‘nativeness’’ has nothing to do with it. The fact that

it is not established and that it would not require draconian government controls

and billions of dollars to ultimately not eradicate it has everything to do with it.

Applying this principle to say goldfish or carp (two well established ‘‘non-native’’ fish

that could be painted by any number of aquatic biologists as environmentally disruptive) would be incredibly expensive, ultimately ineffective, and further erode the

State authority over plants and animals while growing Federal authorities and the

tax burden—to no good purpose.

Regarding the issue of States ‘‘struggling with budget issues that may affect their

ability to implement their own invasive species plans.’’ If the Federal Government

stepped in and took State authority every time States were ‘‘struggling with budget

issues’’ over the past century; we would have long since ceased being a Republic and

become a centrally ruled nation like France, Australia, or Indonesia.

States Were given and should maintain authority over all plants and animals

within their jurisdiction. Current Invasive Species desires in many States are simply wishes expressed because of the rumors of imminent Federal funding availability and their continuing (and currently acute) desire for more tax money from

any source. Many States will gladly abdicate their Constitutional authorities in this

regard since they are unwilling to protect the rights of their residents from other

Federal intrusions from which they obtain Federal funding. An example of this

would be Endangered Species takings of private property under the guise of Critical

Habitat declarations by Federal bureaucrats who also approve grants and monetary

assistance to State bureaucrats and University professors in the same States. Another example is the forced closure of heavily used State highways in National

Parks by Transportation bureaucrats who dispense highway funding to States.

Invasive Species funding is likewise seductive to these same Federal and State bureaucrats, University professors, and environmental activists who together testified

so overwhelmingly before your Subcommittee in favor of new Invasive Species legislation. They aim to create new Federal authorities and begin an annually increasing

flow of Federal dollars for invented problems that will put Endangered Species

abuses and lawsuits to shame.

The role I suggest for the Federal Government in this matter is no different than

the one clearly envisioned when the final Constitutional Amendment in the Bill of

Rights (10th Amendment) was ratified. Federal authority over interstate and foreign

commerce provides all the Federal authority needed to prevent the introduction of

harmful and non-present plants, animals, or microbes. This entails research on potential threats; techniques for detecting, preventing, and eradicating harmful enti-
90

ties; and maintaining regulations and employees to enforce the Federal legislation

to do these things. Invasive Species authority should remain ‘‘reserved to the States

respectively, or to the people.’’

In addition, because the Federal Government owns more lands in the United

States than any other landowner, Federal lands (with the exception of those few

lands where Exclusive [of State authority] Jurisdiction prevails like the Washington

Mall and Yellowstone Park) should be exemplary units managed in accord with

State laws and the standards of the communities wherein they occur. Federal managers should manage and eradicate harmful plants like knapweed and yellow

starthistle on Federal properties and refrain from imposing urban standards like

the elimination of grazing or hunting in rural areas by imposing new Federal authorities. Invasive Species authority will certainly encourage such attempts.

Federal advocates of further involvement in the matter of Harmful Species (i.e.

‘‘Injurious’’) might consider Land Grant University research on controls for species

such as fire ants and kudzu. If the Environmental Protection Agency can be convinced to permit lethal control methods and agents, perhaps States would cooperate

with each other and at least reduce the density and distribution of such species.

Eradication is problematic in today’s world where agencies, laws, powerful environmental/animal rights organizations, and regulations discourage lethal controls generally and problem species once purposely eradicated, like wolves, are forcibly reintroduced over State objections by Federal edicts.

State governments can, and do, enforce the plant and animal standards and distributions desired by their residents. Whether such species have been in place for

12 months, 12 years, or 500 years; whether the species were introduced for agriculture, animal husbandry, hunting, fishing, gardens, or as pets; whether urban

residents despise them or rural people love them, the numbers, distribution, use,

management of, and all decisions involving plants and animals should remain a primary State responsibility.

Question 2. ‘‘You’ve suggested that rainbow trout and striped bass, both popular

recreational fish, could be considered invasive species in some of their present

range. Does that represent concern that this legislation may encourage lawsuits

similar to those involving various ESA and NEPA issues? If so please elaborate.’’

Response. Rainbow trout and striped bass greeted the first European explorers.

The striped bass occupied coastal waters and coastal streams along the Atlantic seaboard and rainbow trout were ubiquitous in clear, coldwater streams mainly in

mountains and northern (US) waters. They were found to be very desirable due to

their commercial abundance, their tasty flesh, and for the fishing enjoyment they

provided individual fishermen seeking a sporting challenge and a good meal. As a

result they have been ‘‘introduced’’ (i.e. transplanted) all over the US. Striped bass

have been placed in reservoirs, Pacific streams in California, and in streams where

they were formerly unknown. Even greater transplanting took place with rainbow

trout that are now found throughout the Nation in streams, ponds, reservoirs, the

Great Lakes, and even cold tailwaters below southern desert dams.

There is no way to distinguish these transplanted fish from brown trout (bought

from Europe) or goldfish (brought from China) or walking catfish released from an

aquarium and imported from Thailand. All are ‘‘Invasive’’, ‘‘non-native’’, and ‘‘nonindigenous’’ in most of the waters in which they occur today. Any attempt to refine

the ‘‘Invasive’’ definition (1492, 1776, etc.) highlights the total lack of data for such

an assertion and the foolishness of judging what should be on ‘‘that mountain slope’’

or in ‘‘those waters’’ based on past circumstances.

There is no doubt that however you define ‘‘Invasive’’ in any Federal legislation,

these and similar species that have been moved about for commercial purposes,

sport purposes, or as the result of water projects like the diversion of the Chicago

River or reservoir construction on the Missouri River will be targeted for extinction

over the majority of their current ranges. Just as court decisions, Federal regulations, and Universities were manipulated by environmentalists and animal rights

activists using Endangered Species legislative language and funding; so too will

these same entities be further utilized by the same people using Federal Invasive

Species authority.

Endangered Species legislative and regulatory language has been the tool used to

stop public works projects, logging, public land access, fishing, and many other legitimate American freedoms and needed improvements. One example of fishing reduction is the unjustified listing of the bull trout under the Endangered Species Act

to justify the eradication of rainbow trout in hundreds of miles of streams. Universities are influenced by the possibility of obtaining Federal grants for study. The

‘‘experts’’ on say bats or darters are rewarded with funds and attention (graduate

students, tenure, and recognition) if their biology asserts vague differences in races
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or populations as significant or habitat ‘‘requirements’’ as needing more study because of overblown environmental interactions.

Invasive Species legislation will provoke the same groups to utilize courts, bureaucrats, and professors in the same way. Meaningless competition between west coast

striped bass and some other predator will be pictured as very serious by a biology

professor. Courts, bureaucrats, professors (and sad to say, even State agencies eligible for Federal grants) will be prodded by groups opposed to sport fishing, commercial fishing, boating, gas engines, shoreline development, etc. to eradicate the

striped bass and replace them with far less desirable or less utilizable species. This

will all be presented as ‘‘restoring the balance of nature’’ and this scenario will be

repeated nationwide until there is no more private shoreline property, no sport fishing, no commercial fishing, and no boating. Anyone doubting these intended results

need only look at the extreme agendas and radical activities of environmental and

animal rights groups over the past 20 years. Historical facts speak for themselves.

For the sake of all the things Americans hold dear, from sport fishing to private

property to making a living from the sustainable harvest of renewable natural resources, please leave authority over plants and animals at the State level where the

Founding Fathers wisely placed it.

STATEMENT OF SEBASTIAN HARGROVE, GOVERNMENT RELATIONS ASSOCIATE, THE

NATURE CONSERVANCY OF IDAHO

Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to

testify today in support of S. 525, the National Aquatic Invasive Species Act or

NAISA. I am appearing here today on behalf of The Nature Conservancy. I will

cover three major points in my comments today:

1) the threat aquatic invasive species pose to the nation’s economy and environment, including the inland West;

2) use of NAISA as an effective tool for addressing this threat; and

3) improvements that can be made to the bill through a few technical and substantive amendments.

I. Introduction

The Nature Conservancy is dedicated to preserving the plants, animals and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on earth by protecting the land

and water they need to survive. The Conservancy has more than 1 million individual members and over 1,900 corporate associates. We currently have programs

in all 50 States and in 30 nations. To date our organization has protected more than

12 million acres in the United States and abroad, and has helped local partner organizations preserve millions of acres in other nations. The Conservancy itself owns

a network of more than 1,400 preserves in the United States the largest private system of nature sanctuaries in the world. Our conservation work is grounded on sound

science, strong partnerships with other landowners, and tangible results at local

places.

The Conservancy determines where and how to do its work through a planning

process that identifies areas in the country containing the most viable and important examples of plant and animal communities. This process further identifies the

principal threats to the integrity of the sites such as land conversion, non-point

source runoff, or repression of natural fire regimes. An overwhelming 94 percent of

our sites have identified invasive species as the most significant threat to the integrity of biodiversity.

II. The Threat of Aquatic Invasive Species

Non-native, invasive species cause significant economic and ecological damage

throughout North America. Recent estimates state that invasive species cost the

U.S. approximately $130 billion per year and that 42 percent of the species on the

Threatened and Endangered Species Lists are at risk primarily because of invasive

species. Once established, invasive species displace native species, impede municipal

and industrial water systems, degrade ecosystems, reduce recreational and commercial fishing opportunities, and cause public health problems.

Aquatic invasive species are a particular problem because they readily spread

through interconnected waterways and are difficult to treat safely. Hundreds of exotic species arrive in U.S. waters every day through a variety of pathways such as

ballast water, boat hulls, aquaculture and others. Our interest is to prevent these

new arrivals, or to rapidly detect and eradicate if prevention is not possible.

To illustrate the immediacy of the threat of aquatic invasive species, I would like

to recount what happened in Spokane, Washington 2 years ago yesterday on June

16, 2001. On that mild June day, a trailered 40-foot sailboat pulled into the State
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of Washington port of entry on Interstate 90, just a few miles west of the Idaho border. State inspectors, alerted to the danger of aquatic invasive species, examined the

boat closely and found live zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) encrusted on the

rudder flaps, screens, and engine cooling system. Zebra mussels are a scourge of the

Great Lakes and many eastern watersheds, where they have severely disrupted native ecosystems and caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage and control

costs. Officials quarantined and cleaned the boat before allowing it to enter Washington waters.

This story illustrates two key points. First, aquatic invasive species are not only

a problem for the coastal and Great Lakes States; the waters in the inland West

are at risk from zebra mussels and a host of other aquatic invasive species. Second,

the modest investment that Washington State made in training its employees to

prevent aquatic invasive species paid big dividends. But Washington’s prevention

program is the exception rather than the rule. We can only assume that no inspectors in other States found these zebra mussels as the sailboat traveled west across

the northern tier of the U.S. If the boat had put into Lake Coeur d’Alene or Payette

Lake in Idaho, we could have zebra mussels established in the upper Columbia

River Basin, with potentially devastating impacts on recreation, hydropower, and irrigation.

This story is not an isolated example of the risks posed by aquatic invaders. Idaho

communities already spend a quarter of a million dollars annually to control Eurasian water milfoil (Myriophyllum spicatum) in some of Idaho’s most important recreational waters, including Payette and Hayden lakes. This fast-growing weed is

choking our shorelines and spreading fast.

You might also be surprised to learn that the first known infestation of New Zealand mudsnails (Potamopyrgus antipodarum) in the United States occurred not in

one of our major port cities, but hundreds of miles inland on the Snake River, near

Hagerman, Idaho. These invasive mollusks grow in dense mats and have now

spread up the Snake and into the Madison River in Yellowstone National Park, with

unknown consequences for native fish populations. The danger is clear. We need to

get prepared, and NAISA is an essential step in that direction.

III. S. 525—The National Aquatic Invasive Species Act

The National Aquatic Invasive Species Act of 2003 will dramatically upgrade our

nation’s invasive species program in two very important ways.

First, NAISA will create new tools to protect and manage inland waters. Efforts

to date have been targeted at severe problems in the Great Lakes and on the coast.

However, aquatic invasive species such as giant salvinia, purple loosestrife, and

zebra mussels threaten inland waters as well. NAISA will provide tools and coordination to manage these threats in a broader geographic area.

Second, NAISA will implement the framework recommended by the National

Invasive Species Council for an effective invasive species management program.

This framework calls for a program—coordinated between all levels of government

and with the private sector—that includes:

• Prevention,

• Public Outreach and Education,

• Early Detection and Rapid Response,

• Research and Risk Analysis, and

• Control and Management.

S. 525 will provide critical tools for States like Idaho and their partners in the

battle to manage aquatic invasive species. It is particularly noteworthy that NAISA

adopts the most cost-effective approach by focusing on three areas where we all

need to improve: prevention, early detection, and rapid response. The bill will cover

all waters of the U.S., including inland lakes and streams. Critical elements of the

bill include:

• Grants for State Management Plans—Section 501 provides for State level planning for aquatic nuisance species and authorizes Federal grants for development

and implementation of those plans;

• Prevention of Introductions by Vessels—Section 101 will expand and strengthen existing programs governing ballast water management the Conservancy supports including a role for the U.S.E.P.A. in establishing standards;

• Priority Pathway Management—Section 201 will establish a system to help

more effectively target prevention efforts by identifying high-risk pathways for

aquatic invasive species introductions;

• Pre-screening of Intentional Introductions—Section 202 establishes a system

for pre-screening species newly in trade to limit importation of high-risk species and

help better target prevention efforts;
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• Early Detection and Monitoring—Section 301 directs the existing Aquatic Nuisance Species Task force to coordinate with States, local, and tribal governments to

establish an early detection monitoring network; • Rapid Response—Section 302 establishes a critical $30 million rapid response

fund for States, establishes regional interagency rapid response teams at the Federal level to provide assistance upon request to States in implementing rapid response strategies;

• Information, Education, and Outreach—Section 306 establishes public and industry outreach programs to identify high-risk pathways for introduction (such as

marinas), information on techniques to check and clean recreational vessels, information on how to properly dispose of live, non-native aquatic organisms in trade,

and directs outreach to maritime, horticultural, aquarium, aquaculture, and pet

trade industries to promote cooperation to prevent new introductions; and,

• Research Title 4 establishes a competitive, peer-reviewed research program to

support prevention, early detection and rapid response efforts, and evaluate effectiveness of existing programs. This section also supports research on control and

eradication methods and technology to support effective stewardship on the ground.

We support NISA reauthorization, and feel that this bill is an excellent starting

point. It embodies many principles that will move the Nation forward in a constructive manner and set a standard globally.

IV. Recommendations

The Conservancy has recommended a few technical and substantive changes to

the bill to better facilitate work on the ground. We would be happy to work with

the Committee on these amendments. In short, we recommend the Committee consider the following suggestions:

The legislation should recognize and clarify that treatments should have a long

term, net-positive effect on an ecosystem. We should not rule out some rapid response or other control, management, or restoration efforts because they may have

discrete, short-term adverse impacts to nontarget species, if that risk is balanced

against the ability to prevent greater harm in the long term. The Conservancy is

committed to working to develop effective, benign methods for treating aquatic invasions. But, as we have seen in the effort to control an invasion of Spartina anglica

in North Puget Sound in Washington—large populations of spartina are at present

only effectively controlled by a combination of mechanical treatment and herbicide

application. The Conservancy is working with partners to test mechanical control

techniques on smaller patches.

With regard to the cost-sharing provisions for grants, the Conservancy recommends that the Committee expand upon the current language to allow any match

required for activities under the Act to be met with in-kind activities. In addition,

the legislation should be clarified to State that the Federal share of grants to fund

rapid response contingency strategies should be at least 50 percent or 75 percent—

depending on the nature of the activity.

Passage of NAISA will provide important financial and technical help to States

such as Idaho that are just beginning to address aquatic invaders. Idaho, like many

States, has established an invasive species council that will address all invaders, including New Zealand mudsnails, Eurasian water milfoil, and zebra mussels, but we

need strengthened leadership, better coordination, and more resources. NAISA goes

a long way toward providing the States the tools they need to tackle aquatic invaders. The Conservancy would be pleased to work with the Committee to strengthen

the provisions dealing with inland States.

Thank you for the opportunity to comment on this important legislation. I would

be happy to answer any questions.

STATEMENT OF MICHAEL HAUSER, AGENCY OF NATURAL RESOURCES, VERMONT

DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION

Thank you Mr. Chairman and Committee members for the opportunity to provide

testimony on Senate Bill 525. I consider myself fortunate to live and work in

Vermont, a small State, but with a tremendous reputation for its natural beauty,

environmental integrity, and recreational opportunities. Unfortunately, these qualities are threatened by a large and very real threat—the introduction and spread of

aquatic invasive species. Nearly sixty species of aquatic non-native plants and animals are known to have taken up residence in Vermont. While not all of these species have become invasive, those that have, such as zebra mussels, water chestnut,

Eurasian water milfoil and purple loosestrife, have significant negative economic

and ecological impacts. More than $2 million of local, State and Federal funds are
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spent annually in Vermont to manage and prevent the spread of these species. Approximately one quarter of this goes to managing water chestnut in southern Lake

Champlain alone. These totals do not include the costs associated with the degradation of the environment; reduction of lakeshore property values; or the protection

of boats, water intake systems and other infrastructure. Currently within the Department of Environmental Conservation there are four staff positions dedicated to

the management of aquatic invasive species, and it is fair to say we cannot keep

up. These invaders continue to displace native species; impede boating, fishing and

swimming; and strain State and local budgets.

Despite these problems, Vermont, and the other northeastern States, are relatively fortunate to have had only a fraction of the nonnative species introductions

experienced in other parts of the country. This is not to say Vermont doesn’t have

major problems from invasive species, we do, but these problems are likely to increase significantly if we do not seize this opportunity to prevent more invasive

aquatic species from coming our way. And they are coming, the round goby, the

Asian carp, the Eurasian ruffe, the quagga mussel, the spiny water flea. Nonnative

species that have all proven to be extremely invasive in other regions of this country

are poised to enter water systems of the Northeast. It is imperative that we prevent

this from happening, and the National Aquatic Invasive Species Act can help us do

it.

As you well know, invasive species do not recognize political boundaries. We in

Vermont can’t expect a species to stop at our border. Experience tells us that we

also can’t wait for an invasive species to cross into the State before we take action—

by then it is too late. We must work with other States throughout the region to

build a unified defense. The National Invasive Species Act is helping us to do this.

In 2001 the Northeast Aquatic Nuisance Species Panel was formed under authority

of the Federal Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force. The Panel, with funding assistance from the Task Force, has developed a dedicated network of representatives

from all six New England States, New York, and Canada. We meet regularly to

share ideas and concerns, and to coordinate the use of our limited resources. For

example, the Panel is printing a card to assist boaters, resource managers and other

individuals throughout the Northeast in the identification of the extremely invasive

plant, hydrilla. Populations of hydrilla have recently been found in a few lakes in

Connecticut, Massachusetts and Maine. As a further example of regional coordination, the Panel recently held a workshop to develop a model aquatic nuisance species rapid response plan for the Northeast. When completed, the plan will establish

a coordinated region-wide early detection and warning system. It will also facilitate

the development of State aquatic invasive species rapid response plans that are consistent and coordinated throughout the region.

Additionally, the Northeast Aquatic Nuisance Species Panel and each of the other

four regional panels developed under the National Invasive Species Act give the respective regions a strong, unified voice on the national stage helping to level the

playing field. The regional panels, via the Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force, enable small States like Vermont to have their aquatic nuisance species concerns fairly presented to the Federal agencies distributing funds and making critical management decisions in this area.

Provisions of Senate Bill 525 that would lead to effective practices to prevent new

introductions of potentially invasive species to this country will have perhaps the

greatest long-term benefit for Vermont. For example, although Vermont does not

have significant issues directly related to ballast water, it is vulnerable to nonnative

species introduced to the Great Lakes via ballast water dumping. Lake Champlain,

along Vermont’s western border, is directly connected to the Great Lakes by the

Champlain Barge Canal, Erie Canal and Saint Lawrence Seaway systems. The

zebra mussel used these routes to enter Lake Champlain from the Great Lakes in

1993. Of direct relevance, provisions in Senate Bill 525 would facilitate the transfer

of knowledge gained from the dispersal barrier deployed on the Chicago Ship and

Sanitary Canal to other canal systems throughout the country. This specifically includes the Champlain Barge Canal which connects the south end of Lake Champlain to the Erie Canal system and has been implicated in the introduction of numerous invasive species to Lake Champlain.

The National Invasive Species Act has played a direct role in helping to address

aquatic invasive species issues throughout the Lake Champlain Basin of Vermont

and New York. Authorized under the National Invasive Species Act, the Lake

Champlain Basin Aquatic Nuisance Species Management Plan was developed and

subsequently approved by the Federal Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force in 2000.

Since then the Task Force has provided $370,000 for the Plan’s implementation.

While this represents a relatively small percentage of the total aquatic nuisance

species program costs in the Basin, the funds have enabled many significant accom-
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plishments that would have otherwise been unattainable. Specifically, Task Force

funding has assisted with the establishment of an Aquatic Nuisance Species Coordinator position for the Lake Champlain Basin, has enabled dedicated enforcement of

Vermont aquatic nuisance species laws, has contributed to the Lake Champlain

Water Chestnut Management program, has funded the printing of outreach/spread

prevention literature, and is helping with the development of an aquatic invasive

species rapid response plan for the Lake Champlain Basin.

Senate Bill 525 would significantly raise the authorized funding levels for State

and interstate aquatic nuisance species management plans. While the continued development and approval of State management plans is a positive contribution to the

nation-wide effort needed to address invasive species, funding levels for such plans

have not grown for the last several years. This has resulted in a smaller share for

each State with an approved plan. To be effective, the funding for State and interstate plans must grow proportionate to the number of approved plans, not get sliced

into smaller and smaller portions. This bill provides the funding authorization to enable this to happen.

Passage of Senate Bill 525 will greatly assist Vermont, and I believe the Nation

as a whole, in continuing to build on the substantial gains made under the Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Species Prevention and Control Act of 1990. I encourage you to support this bill and thank you again for the opportunity to speak with

you this afternoon. Time permitting, I will be happy to entertain questions.

RESPONSE OF MICHAEL HAUSER TO AN ADDITIONAL QUESTION FROM SENATOR

ALLARD

Question. This legislation requires that each State have a rapid response contingency plan. If the Federal Government requires such a plan, how do we ensure that

all ships that discharge ballast waters are aware of each State’s plan?

Response. The bill provisions require that portions of State rapid response contingency strategies involving actions by vessels conform to guidelines established by

the Coast Guard (Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating). I assume procedures for due notification of vessels would be part of those

requirements.

STATEMENT OF JAMES H.I. WEAKLEY, PRESIDENT, LAKE CARRIERS’ ASSOCIATION

Thank you for the opportunity to testify on this legislation that is so crucial to

both the maritime industry and the marine environment. It is Lake Carriers’ Association’s concern that this bill be crafted such that both are well served. We are generally supportive of S. 525.

LCA is a member of the Ballast Water Coalition. Although I do not testify today

on behalf of the Coalition, I will focus on the concerns of the shipping industry.

Lake Carriers’ Association represents 11 American corporations operating 57 U.S.-

flag vessels exclusively on the Great Lakes. Foreign-flag operators move cargo into

the region from across the oceans. We do not. Our vessels typically move more than

100 million tons of cargo each year. Those commodities include iron ore for the steel

industry, coal for power generation, and limestone for the construction industry. As

you can see, tens of thousands of family sustaining jobs depend on the efficient

movement of cargo on the Great Lakes. We not only earn our wages here, we recreate along the shores and drink from the world’s largest supply of fresh water. It

is a place we call home.

Lake Carriers’ Association has been leading efforts to find an invasive species solution for more than a decade. In partnership with Government agencies, non-governmental agencies, and shippers, we’ve invested more than $4 million researching

this complex problem. Our projects evaluated several ballast water treatment methodologies and engineering solutions using a barge specifically designed for this purpose, as well as operational ships and land-based facilities.

Lake Carriers’ Association is committed to finding solutions to the worldwide

problem of ballast water transport of nonindigenous species. Upon learning of the

discovery of the ruffe in Duluth/Superior Harbor in the late 1980’s, LCA produced

the Voluntary Ballast Water Management Program. Deemed the ‘‘cutting edge of

technology’’ by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, our voluntary efforts have largely

contained the ruffe. In addition, we have instituted other voluntary practices to reduce the threat of transferring other aquatic nuisance species within the Great

Lakes. These practices represent our industry’s commitment to slowing what is inevitable the migration of newly arrived exotics.
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For example, the ruffe is migrating along the southern shore of Lake Superior of

its own volition. Therefore, we must focus our energies on prevention of new exotics

into the Lakes and all U.S. waters. The Lakes, like many waterways, are naturally

connected; so absent a natural predator, any fish, insect, or plant introduced into

one Great Lake can and will migrate to the others. Like it or not, the ruffe, the

zebra mussel, and the sea lamprey, to mention a few, are here to stay.

I must emphasize that this issue is not limited to the Great Lakes Basin. The

West Coast of the United States and the Chesapeake Bay have been significantly

threatened and remain vulnerable to new invasions. Vessels engaged on international voyages and foreign-flag vessels sailing between U.S. ports also pose a risk.

Internationally, the topic is being debated at the International Maritime Organization. Australia struggles with the same issues and continues to deal with invasive

species. Since the United States is the world’s largest trading partner, what we do

impacts the world shipping community in ways that no other country can. Much of

the debate in the international community seems to be focusing on what the standard will be and how to implement it. An alternative to the percent based standard

in S. 525, a standard based on the number of organisms living above a certain size

in the treated ballast water has been proposed at IMO.

It is my sense that this alternative standard is growing in support at IMO and

in the international community. I think that standard does have merit as an alternative and it seems to be where the debate is moving to, for the following reasons:

a) It is more clearly defined and, from an engineering perspective, easier to design

to engineers like tight design definitions.

b) From a testing and verification perspective, it may also be easier to measure

and enforce.

c) Also, it may be more practical for manufacturers to build to that standard.

The primary problem with the 95 percent approach is its vagueness. Ninety-five

percent of what? Even the biologists and scientists may have a hard time agreeing.

With all of the biological differences in various water samples across a wide spectrum of sizes from different ecosystems, engineers would find it difficult to develop

a system to meet the requirement.

It also may be byzantine to design a testing protocol to evaluate equipment based

on the 95 percent standard.

At IMO, I think there is a good chance that the standard may be changed from

that of a percent approach to one of an organisms alive above a size in a standard

volume of water. It makes sense for the U.S. standard to be compatible with the

international standard. I also believe we will act on this long before IMO reaches

consensus and enacts anything. If we lead, others will follow.

From a risk perspective, the question is: Is there a greater risk by allowing 5 percent of all the biota to remain alive or some unknown amount below a certain size

and a specific number of organisms above that size to enter the ecosystem? Either

methodology does a better job of protecting the ecosystem than what we have now,

and both focus on prevention.

In addition to prevention, there are several other themes for addressing this issue:

a clearly defined and practical treatment standard; a Federal solution with worldwide application, robust data collection and technological research systems; and the

grandfathering of treatment systems and vessels. I believe that the above approach

will lead to a variety of solutions. From a shipboard perspective, the critical variables include: the volume of ballast water; pumping rate; length of voyage; time in

port; trade pattern; and vessel design. The complexity of these variables makes a

single solution difficult, if not impossible.

Although we respect the role of State Governments, an appropriate Federal solution would not only adequately address the problem, it would save the States’ enforcement dollars. This is exactly the type of problem that requires a regional and,

therefore, Federal solution. Can you imagine the complexities of trying to comply

with different regulations promulgated by the eight States that share the Lakes?

I want to thank the Committee for your commitment to finding solutions to this

problem and conclude by saying we must recognize those exotics that have established themselves in the Great Lakes are now citizens in all but name. Even the

very successful and sophisticated efforts of the Great Lakes Fishery Commission

have resulted in the control of but not the elimination of the sea lamprey. Therefore,

our goal MUST BE the prevention of additional introductions via the ballast water

on ocean-going vessels.

Thank you.
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RESPONSES OF JAMES H.I. WEAKLEY TO ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS FROM SENATOR

ALLARD

Question 1. This legislation requires that each State have a Rapid Response Contingency Plan. If the Federal Government requires such a plan, how do we ensure

that all ships that discharge ballast waters are aware of each State’s plan?

Response. It would be difficult to ensure that all ships discharging ballast are

aware of each individual State’s response plan. That is why we favor a Federal solution based on international agreements and protocols. The Oil Pollution Act of 1990

implemented a response approach that clearly designated the Federal Government

as the response leader while allowing for State and Local input into the response

plan and execution. I believe that the structure for responding to invasive species

should follow the same pattern. That approach would ensure that all involved parties understood their role, responsibility, and authority.

Question 2. The legislation proposes that the Coast Guard will promulgate the

regulations for an interim standard, while the EPA will develop the final standard.

The Coast Guard supports a single standard that is scientifically sound and enforceable, and the EPA has concerns that they should be the ones in charge, as well as

issues of rule promulgation and sharing. Some before this Committee believe that

the responsibility to develop and promulgate a ballast water discharge standard

should remain with one agency. How should this be addressed? Who is the right

agency?

Response. LCA strongly agrees that the responsibility to develop and promulgate

a ballast water discharge standard should lie with one agency and, further, that the

U.S. Coast Guard is best suited to be that agency. If more than one agency is involved, the potential for conflicts and contradictions rises dramatically. I mean no

disrespect to other Federal agencies, but regulations that govern ballast water procedures must be developed by individuals who are highly knowledgeable of the marine environment and vessel operations. If ballast tanks are filled or emptied too

quickly or in the wrong sequence, the resulting stresses can crack or even break the

hull, a result that puts both lives and the environment at risk. We strongly urge

that the U.S. Coast Guard be the sole agency responsible for development and implementation of a ballast water discharge standard.

RESPONSES OF JAMES H.I. WEAKLEY TO ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS FROM SENATOR

VOINOVICH

Question. It is my understanding that there is an ongoing lawsuit between several

groups and the EPA on whether the agency should regulate ballast water under the

Clean Water Act. What effect would regulation of this kind have on the shipping

industry?

Response. Regulation of ballast water by the EPA under the Clean Water Act

could have a devastating effect on the marine industry. Operationally, the process

for applying for permits, certifying and testing effluent, and the permutations of

ballasting operations could significantly impact the industry. Our ability to move

cargo demands a regulatory scheme that is streamlined and efficient. Introducing

the EPA into the process would be counter to both of those goals. The U.S. Coast

Guard, steeped in maritime history and knowledge, serves the best interest of marine transportation without compromising the best interest of our Nation. The industry could easily be issued contradictory requirements by the U.S. Coast Guard

and the EPA, effectively catching the ship and the vessel operator in a bureaucratic

tug-of-war for control. The sheer number of ballasting operations could overwhelm

the EPA and divert attention from their current duties and responsibilities. The resulting regulatory gridlock would negatively impact the environment and the economy. The U.S. Coast Guard, from both a domestic and international perspective, remains the most qualified and effective agency for addressing the ballast water issue.

Question 2. What have you learned from your Association’s process of trying to

find a solution to the ballast water problem? Please describe some of your research.

Response. Through our research, we gained a greater appreciation of the complexity of the problem. We have also been able to focus in on some of the key variables and concluded that there likely will not be a single solution or technology that

works for every vessel. Volume of ballast water and rate of flow appear to be the

key engineering variables for treatment systems. Vessel design and trade pattern

also play a role in determining the need for ballast water treatment and the success

of that treatment. More research must be done to understand the problem before

solutions are found.
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In the end, there will probably be different solutions for treatment, depending on

the application. There may also be systems employing a series of treatment at the

water intake, water discharge and during transit or a technological breakthrough

may result in a single system with multiple applications. One thing is clear, there

remains much work to do.

To date, we have evaluated filtration systems, cyclonic separator systems, and

ultra-violet light. We have even evaluated filtrations systems in combination with

ultra-violet light. Our testing environments have included a Canadian laker trading

between the St. Lawrence Seaway and the Lakes; an American barge moored in Duluth (Minnesota) Harbor; and an ocean-going tanker.

Question 3. It is my understanding that attendees at the recent International

Conference on Aquatic Invasive Species held in Windsor, Ontario, thought it would

be a good idea to dedicate a test ship to full-scale, on-board ballast water technologies and treatment. Is this something the government can do to promote research and help find a solution to the ballast water problem?

Response. At some point, ballast water treatment and equipment evaluation must

be done aboard ship. However, it may not be the best use of government money to

provide a ship dedicated to this purpose. With research in its infancy, more needs

to be done to develop possible solutions in the laboratory before testing shipboard

implementation. Rather than a single ship dedicated to testing different applications

at different times, a better approach may be to fund specific tests on multiple ships

at the same time. That approach would result in a larger body of research in a

shorter timeframe. The vessel operator, not the government, would then pay the

fixed costs of operating the ship. The government would only be funding the marginal costs of the ballast water research. Operational tests could also be done on

barges specifically designed for the test or modified at significantly less cost for the

same information. The government should stimulate research by funding as much

testing as possible with the limited money available.

STATEMENT OF THOMAS W. SHERMAN, PRESIDENT, AQUACIDE LLC

Thank you, Chairman Inhofe and Members of the Committee, for the opportunity

to present Aquacide’s views on certain aspects of the Bill, especially as they pertain

to Ballast Water Management.

Aquacide is a ballast water engineering firm consisting of engineers and scientists

with expertise in thermodynamics, fluid/gas handling, metallurgy, marine biology,

naval architecture, marine engineering, biochemistry, toxicity, waste water treatment, marine law, patents and licensing. We have been involved in the invasive species problem for more than 10 years, and participated in the preparation of Sen.

Glenn’s Bill, the National Invasive Species Act of 1996.

The invasion of our waters has been going on for years. Congress took note of it

and passed, in 1990, the Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control

Act (NANPCA). During the intervening years, scientists have been driving the

Invasive Species train, and while this has resulted in the accumulation of much

needed data, little has actually been accomplished to stem the tide of invaders. I

should add here that my use of the term ‘‘stem the tide’’ is not original. ‘‘Stemming

the Tide’’ is the title of a book published in 1996 by the National Research council,

which is considered to be the ‘‘bible’’ for those involved in this business.

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has been addressing the issue

with numerous international meetings, exchanges of papers, etc. Also, for years, the

Coast Guard has been publishing for comment proposals for regulating ballast

water. The ‘‘community’’ of scientists, shipowners, regulators and others have actively participated, and the volumes of paperwork accumulated in this process are

a matter of public record.

There is no shortage of data.

But in 13 years, nothing concrete has been achieved. So every day, thousands of

tons of unregulated ballast water containing invasive species and disease causing

pathogens are being discharged into our waters. Action is clearly required, and that

is the thrust of my remarks today.

Other than voluntary ballast water exchange (BWE), there are no controls over

ballast water being discharged into U.S. waters. We believe that it is time, as Congress addresses the present legislation, to move forward and establish mandatory

requirements which will actually begin to stem the tide. In the process of moving

forward, decisions will have to be made, some of which may be painful, but these

decisions must be made. We view the legislation before you as a crossroads a golden

opportunity to transition the process from being problem oriented to solution oriented.
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The scientists and the regulators have had their day in court (thirteen years of

them), and it is now time for the owners, the builders, the innovators and the engineers to make things happen. While they are at work, the scientists will continue

their work on the evolving threat.

As Aquacide sees things, the main order of business before this Committee, as

pertaining to ballast water treatment, and where the decisions need to be taken, is

the establishment of mandatory standards and a timetable for their implementation.

This action, which will lead to consideration and passage by the Congress, should

be completed in a timely fashion. When one considers those thousands of tons of

unregulated ballast water being discharged into our waters, the need for prompt action is apparent

Only after Congress has set the standards and the timetable can the owners commit resources needed to get the engineers and builders to configure the ships to

meet the standards. Proper ‘‘grandfathering’’ must be built into the process to protect the owners’ investments, which will involve billions of dollars.

The stated goal of Congress is to eliminate the risk of introduction of non-native

species, and plant, animal, or human pathogens by vessels. This is often called zero

discharge. To our knowledge, Aquacide’s thermal pasteurization process is the only

existing technology able to approach this theoretical limit. But whatever standards

are adapted should not limit research which might lead to alternative treatment

methods which, given the evolving threat, may be required. At this point it is appropriate to point out that the invasive species threat has already evolved into a public

health threat, given that pathogens are now recognized as part of the invasion. I

note that some of the members of this Committee are also members of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. The public health policy aspects

of invasive species require decisionmakers to lean toward the worst-case scenarios.

The public, as they become more informed about the issue, will demand action rather than inaction.

The first required step of the process is to establish Interim Standards and we

urge the Committee to act promptly to get these established as soon as possible. At

this point, I’m going to borrow an example from the aerospace world to help view

Interim Standards in the proper perspective.

When, say, the Air Force procures a new aircraft, it doesn’t go immediately into

full-scale production. It starts with a prototype, which is everybody’s best estimate

as to what the final product will be. When the prototype is fielded for test, many

things show up that nobody had thought about. The Law of Unintended Consequences plays large here, as does Murphy’s Law. After the prototype is wrung out

and fixed, only then is full-scale production begun. Some call this ‘‘fly before buy.’’

There probably will still be some bugs left, but usually they are minor. The main

thing is not to get set into concrete too soon in the process. I equate Interim Standards to prototypes. With proper wording, the bugs in the Interims and there will

be some can be worked out with a minimum of time and effort. These, in turn, will

lead to solid, workable Final Standards. As you probably recall, the Draft of the Bill

before us contains a time line which includes this logical approach.

Given the importance of Interim Standards, I will lay them out in a step-by-step

format:

1. They should be viewed as the first step toward the congressional goal of zero

discharge.

2. They should be better than Ballast Water Exchange (BWE), or at least as effective. This will require an arbitrary decision (and the ‘‘community’’ knows why it

must be arbitrary) as to what is meant by ‘‘as effective as BWE.’’ The Coast Guard

should, by law, make this decision, but if there are legal concerns in that Agency

over making such a decision, Congress can make it. In any event, this decision must

be made promptly.

3. They should be viewed as they are titled: Interim. All concerned parties shippers, Coast Guard, scientists, engineers, etc. will learn by doing. The prototype analogy.

4. The measurement protocols must be stated and must use commonly accepted

yardsticks. Without these protocols, standards are meaningless. Physical size (so

many microns) is one such measure and there are also commonly accepted biological

measures, (which we favor) used in the field by Agencies like the EPA, such as Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) and Oxygen Uptake Rate (OUR). These measures

have been studied by the Coast Guard and if approved, would be given Type Approval, which is in the draft language of the Bill.

5. They should not be stated in terms subject to interpretation, like ‘‘as clean as

drinking water.’’ There are many legitimate definitions of this term. Also, they

should not be contingent on future activity, i.e., using language like ‘‘to be developed.’’ They should be based on data in hand now, which exists in abundance. Final
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Standards (including measurement protocols) will be based on lessons learned from

the Interim Standards. Standards must be established which reduce uncertainty to

the absolute minimum. Uncertainty puts an unreasonable burden on those who

must bear the costs of ballast water treatment, the shipowners.

The above specifics apply to Interim Standards in general. The Regulatory Agencies appear to be reluctant to accept them as they require decisionmaking, enforcement, and schedules on their part. But to comply with the stated intent of Congress

in 1990, this action must be taken. Those who State that the current process is

working OK are clearly unwilling to take the action, because, as stated earlier, in

the 13 years that the current process has been operating, the invasion continues.

There is still nothing on the books.

Hopefully, this hearing will lead to action which, as a minimum, will result in the

establishment of Interim Standards and a schedule. After all these years, the first

steps will have been taken to Stem the Tide.

We appreciate the opportunity to contribute to this important legislation.

Thank you

STATEMENT OF KATHY J. METCALF, DIRECTOR, MARITIME AFFAIRS, CHAMBER OF

SHIPPING OF AMERICA

The Chamber of Shipping of America (CSA) appreciates the opportunity to provide

written testimony to the Senate Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, and Water to

the record of the subcommittee’s June 17, 2003 hearing on the National Aquatic

Invasive Species Act of 2003 (S. 525). Our testimony focuses on potential strategies

relative to marine vessels entering US waters from outside the exclusive economic

zone (EEZ).

CSA represents 23 U.S. based companies that own, operate or charter oceangoing

tankers, container ships, and other merchant vessels engaged in both the domestic

and international trades and represents other entities that maintain a commercial

interest in the operation of such oceangoing vessels.

CSA has been involved in the issue of aquatic invasive species for over a decade

at the international, national and sub-national (local and regional) levels. We have

served as an industry advisor to the US delegation to the International Maritime

Organization’s (IMO) Marine Environment Protection Committee working closely

with the US Coast Guard, Environmental Protection Agency and other Federal

agencies in the development of the US position at the IMO. We have also worked

with our international maritime trade association colleagues in identifying practical

and environmentally beneficial solutions to the continuing problem of aquatic

invasive species transportation in the ballast water of marine vessels.

CSA strongly supports the implementation of a mandatory national ballast water

management program and believes that S. 525 is an excellent framework within

which to design such a system with due regard to environmental protection, technological feasibility and the realities of the marine transportation industry. We do

have some concerns with specific aspects of the bill and would be pleased to discuss

these in detail with you at your convenience. However, the majority of these specific

details fall within the purview of several broad categories which we discuss in further detail below. In addition to these discussions, we close our comments with responses to particular issues raised at the June 17, 2003 hearing. We hope you find

this information valuable and informative as we all move forward together in meeting this environmental challenge.

CSA has identified four key issues associated with the creation and implementation of a mandatory national ballast water management program in the United

States. The four key issues explained below are seen as the most critical elements

to a practical and environmentally protective national ballast water management

program which minimizes the disruption to the free flow of maritime commerce.

Technology Performance Standards/Standardized Test Protocols

For over a decade, the challenges associated with the transport of aquatic nuisance species in ballast water have been recognized. During this time, a number of

technology developers have approached various segments of the industry with the

ultimate goal of installing these technologies aboard vessels for ‘‘real world’’ testing.

As a result of the significant financial investment required for transition from concept to laboratory to pilot plant to full shipboard installation (conservatively estimated at US $1,000,000 minimum), stakeholders in these discussions have asked

the obvious question as to whether a particular technology could be expected to

meet future legal requirements. In the absence of any performance standards, industry and technology experts have acknowledged the impossibility of answering
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this threshold question, which if answerable in the affirmative could justify the expenditure of the significant financial resources necessary to take a particular technology from concept to shipboard installation.

Furthermore, in the absence of any standardized test protocols, technology developers and some ship owners have borne the cost of laboratory and prototype testing

which have produced promising results but which, unfortunately, are not comparable from one technology to another. Standardized test protocols which outline

scientifically acceptable test methods are necessary to provide the necessary comparability among various tested technologies. These standard test protocols are currently the subject of a joint public/private effort organized by EPA under its environmental technology verification program and in which CSA participates.

While we do not claim any scientific expertise in establishing the quantitative aspects of a biological standard (which must necessarily balance achievability with environmental protection), we do propose that any established standard, whether experimental, interim or final, should be achievable based on existing or reasonably

expected technology and capable of being installed and operated on new and existing

vessels with a minimum of disruption to ship operations. The current bill proposes

95 percent kill, inactivation and/or removal interim standard. We believe that a

standard based on size of organism is far preferable to a format which establishes

a particular percentage for the following reasons. A size based standard would meet

the necessary criteria of biological meaningfulness, scientific soundness and enforceability. To fully comprehend the necessity of establishing a standard meeting these

criteria requires a review of the problems created if such criteria were not met, as

would be the case with the 95 percent kill, inactivation and/or removal standard

proposed.

First, the 95 percent number was chosen as a surrogate equivalency for the 95

percent volumetric efficiency associated with ballast water exchange. We do not believe that a direct correlation between biological and volumetric efficiency is justifiable, particularly when one notes that various studies attempting to quantify the

biological effectiveness of ballast water exchange have ranged from 29 99 percent,

with variations attributable to the wide range in biological components of the loaded

ballast water, methods of exchange (empty/refill, dilution) and the criteria organisms which were measured in the loaded and then exchanged ballast water. Second, a standard based on percent reduction does not adequately take into account

the risk introduced into the receiving water body. Ballast water loaded from a water

body rich in native organisms and then treated to a 95 percent kill, inactivation

and/or removal criteria, presents a far different risk to a receiving ecosystem than

ballast water loaded in a relatively ‘‘benign’’ water body. Third, enforcement and

compliance programs utilizing a percent reduction, presuppose that a sample of

water taken at the load port would then later be analyzed at the discharge port to

enable the determination that a particular percentage of organisms were in fact

killed, inactivated or removed. The reliability of such a measurement is problematic

as the biological composition of the sample during transit will naturally change as

certain organisms may die off during transit, while others may thrive, based on the

environment in the sample container.

Creation of a performance standard based on size of organism killed, removed or

inactivated eliminates these problems. Removal based on organism size can be directly related to risk reduction in the discharged ballast water. Additionally, compliance is more easily verified since the ballast water would only need be analyzed for

organism size rather than the potentially wide range of organism types and their

concentrations found in ecosystems worldwide.

Experimental Shipboard Testing Program

The key to successful implementation of a national (and international for that

matter) ballast water management program that transitions from the use of ballast

water exchange to ballast water treatment systems requires a program which provides incentives for participants to go beyond the status quo (currently exchange)

and results in the installation of a number of ‘‘in test’’ technologies aboard ship.

Laboratory and shore side prototypes can only go so far. It is these shipboard installations operated in the sometime severe marine environment on a variety of ship

types and with ballast water loaded in a wide range of ports worldwide that will

provide us with the data necessary to establish what is practically achievable and

what is not. Furthermore, such test programs will provide valuable data to invasion

biologists relative to what types of organisms from specific geographical regions

present the greatest threat to US waters. A robust incentivized experimental shipboard testing program with appropriate agency oversight and reporting requirements is absolutely critical to a successful ballast water management program.

Grandfathering Provisions
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Most international and US regulations pertaining to shipboard equipment include

grandfathering provisions which provide that compliance with a standard in place

at the time the vessel is constructed (or undergoes major modification) establishes

compliance for that equipment for the life of the vessel. Such provisions need to be

considered within the context of ballast water treatment systems which carry significant initial costs and present challenges to retrofitting new equipment on an already existing vessel. At the very minimum, compliance life of the treatment system

should be linked to expected return on an investment of this significance and the

(in)ability of an existing vessel to install a new system on an existing vessel.

Grandfathering provisions will also play a critical role in accelerating the move from

ballast water exchange to treatment, where the outlay for treatment system installation far exceeds the operating expenses of maintaining the status quo (ballast

water exchange).

International/National/Sub-national Consistency

In the ideal world, requirements established by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the US, States and local/regional jurisdictions would mirror one another. Compliance with one would constitute compliance with the others and provide

assurance that vessels, most of which are engaged in international trade, would not

be subject to different sets of requirements in each port of call. Current direction

at the IMO suggests that the international standards may not be viewed as sufficiently stringent for US waters, although the US delegation to IMO is working very

hard at achieving that level of stringency in treaty text which is expected to be finalized at a Diplomatic Conference in early 2004. Recognizing the limited ability

any one country has to influence the final outcome in international treaty negotiations, we turn to the ability to at least create this consistency within US waters,

noting the large number of vessels which call in multiple US ports. Language preempting State programs would be the ideal solution to this dilemma. However, recognizing the political baggage which accompanies such preemption text, States, at

a minimum, should be urged to the maximum extent practical, to adopt the national

program as their respective State programs. Based on discussions with representatives of a number of States’ environmental agencies, it is expected that States’

would gladly ‘‘buy in’’ to a sufficiently strong national program which did not place

them in the precarious position of choosing environmental protection at the expense

of port competitiveness.

Recommendations

• Establishment of an achievable and environmentally protective ballast water

treatment performance standard utilizing organism size as the criteria for compliance.

• Establishment of a standardized testing protocol for developing technologies

which will enable comparability among test results for various technologies.

• Development of an incentivized experimental shipboard testing program to

maximize the number of technology types being tested on a wide variety of ship

types and over a wide geographic range.

• Develop appropriate grandfathering provisions for treatment systems taking

into account the significant investment required for installation and operation of

such systems and (in) ability to retrofit new systems aboard existing vessels.

• Maximize consistency among international, national and sub-national requirements.

CSA Responses to Issues Raised During the Hearing

Issue: A number of Members expressed concern about enacting a strong Federal

program within the context of traditional States’ rights in control and protection of

their waters.

Response: CSA recognizes and supports the notion of States’ rights over control

of their marine environment. However, CSA also recognizes the international nature

of marine transportation and the transfer of aquatic invasive species which necessarily demands a strong international and national template for controls on which

the States may rely. CSA recommends that Federal preemption language be included in the bill limited only to those programs addressing prevention namely,

Title I, Section 101 which addresses prevention of ANS introductions into US waters

by vessels. The remaining sections of the legislation addressing research, early detection, rapid response, control and outreach would not be subject to Federal preemption and would be implemented through coordinated Federal/State/private partnerships.

Issue: A number of witnesses expressed concern over the proposed 95 percent kill,

inactivation or removal format for the performance standard.
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Response: We agree with the expressed concerns. As indicated above, the performance standard must be biologically meaningful, scientifically sound and enforceable

(readily measurable). A standard based on size of organism meets this criteria,

while one based on percent kill, inactivation or removal does not. In addition, we

believe the standard should also be technologically achievable and practical taking

into account the harsh marine environment in which ballast water treatment systems must operate.

Issue: A number of Members and witnesses discussed the relative importance of

the various aspects of a national program which must necessarily include prevention, early detection, response, control, eradication and outreach.

Response: We believe that prevention of invasions is the lodestone of a successful

program. While appropriate focus should be placed on early detection, response,

eradication and outreach, primary focus should be placed on keeping the invaders

out of our waters in the first place. History is the unfortunate witness as to the

practical impossibility of eradicating an already invasive species once entrenched in

an ecosystem in all but a very few cases where the geographic range of the invasion

has been limited either through natural phenomenon or early human intervention.

It is also important to note that the need for attention to program components other

than prevention is necessary due to the fact that the development of technologies

addressing the various vectors of ANS transmission is in its infancy and, while expected to improve substantially over time, is not capable of reducing the risk of invasions to zero.

Issue: Several witnesses noted that the proposed legislation is unclear in some

portions as to which, if any, Federal agency is the ‘‘lead’’ agency on a particular

issue.

Response: We agree that responsibilities of Federal agencies should be clearly and

consistently identified. We also recognize the complexity of dealing with the aquatic

invasive species problem and the need for all agencies with expertise in a given area

to be involved in the decisionmaking which leads to regulations implementing the

provisions of the bill. It is our understanding that an existing interagency review

process is well equipped to vet proposed regulations among the interested agencies

prior to promulgation. With this system in place, the responsibilities and roles assigned to the various agencies under the bill should be clear, consistent with agencies’ known expertise and provide for a single agency to take the lead on a given

initiative. For example, the bill as proposed would require the Coast Guard to establish the interim standard with the concurrence of the EPA and in consultation with

the ANS Task Force. However, the bill then proposes that the final standard be established by the EPA with the concurrence of the Coast Guard and in consultation

with the ANS Task Force. Such inconsistency is difficult to fathom since all three

of these entities (and quite likely other agencies) should be involved in the development of standards (whether they be interim or final). CSA believes that a single

agency be recognized as the lead agency for standards development and we assert

that agency should be the US Coast Guard, but only after due consultation with all

Federal agencies with expertise in this area.

Issue: Two witnesses addressed the issue of interim and final standards in their

written testimony and specifically, questioned whether both an interim and final

standard is needed (versus establishment of a final standard only).

Response: CSA recognizes the inherent difficulties placed before Federal agencies

in transitioning from an interim standard to a final standard, particularly with regard to what benefits should accrue to a proactive shipowner who has early on in

the process, invested heavily in an experimental shipboard system which proves to

exceed the effectiveness of ballast water exchange but fails to meet the final standard. On the other hand, vendors and shipowners absolutely require now some quantitative criteria, a target if you will, which if met, qualifies their equipment and the

shipboard installation for favorable compliance treatment under the experimental

shipboard testing program and beyond the final standard implementation date, in

order to provide adequate incentives for early action. Without such incentives, vendors cannot justify bench and shore scale testing programs and vessel owners cannot justify the significant outlay to move the technology to full shipboard installation and testing, a critical step in the development of promising and increasingly

more effective technologies. With such incentives, entities with proactive programs

will be appropriately rewarded while those who remain in the wings waiting for others to incur the shipboard testing costs will be required to meet the final standard

by the legislatively mandated implementation date. This issue has been the subject

of much discussion in both international and national fora and CSA believes that

the issue is one more related to semantics than substance, at least from the industry’s perspective. If the concept of an interim standard is problematic for the en-
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forcement of the ballast water management program, then CSA suggests inclusion

of a performance standard within the body of the experimental shipboard testing

program. Such inclusion, while not mandatory for participation in the shipboard

testing program, would provide that vessels which do not meet this standard during

the course of the testing, would be subject to final standard requirements at the implementation date. Technologies that do meet this (interim or experimental) performance standard prior to or during the course of the experimental shipboard testing program would be afforded the benefits of a compliance designation beyond the

final standard implementation date and for an appropriate term to be determined.

Based upon the expected life of large marine vessel systems, CSA proposes that a

20 year life is an appropriate starting point. Providing such an incentive is well justified in light of the need to get a number of promising technologies installed and

under test aboard vessels as such tests will not only permit a determination of the

capabilities of existing technology but will also begin to provide the much needed

data relating to biological profiles of ballast water loaded at locations around the

world.

We thank you for the opportunity to provide these comments and would be

pleased to address any questions or discuss any other related issues in which you

have an interest.

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY,

June 20, 2003.

Senator MICHAEL CRAPO,

Senate Office Building,

Washington, DC 20510–1204.

SENATOR: On June 17, Senator Crapo chaired the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on

Fisheries, Wildlife & Water at hearing on S. 525, a bill ‘‘To amend the Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act of 1990 to reauthorize and improve that Act.’’ In connection with this important topic, I wanted to give you some

information and a fact sheet on the work done by the U.S. Geological Survey’s

(USGS) Western Fisheries Research Center in Seattle, Washington.

The Western Fisheries Research Center and its six associated laboratories in California, Oregon, Washington and Nevada are involved in a number of scientific studies related to the impact of aquatic invasive species. We work in partnership with

a variety of State and local governments, Tribes and land management agencies to

assess the damage, vulnerabilities and future risks imposed by aquatic invasive species. We do this work in coastal ecosystems like Puget Sound, large rivers like the

Columbia, sensitive inland desert waters, and many other estuaries, rivers, wetlands and reservoirs.

One particular concern is the risks posed by ballast water introduction, and the

need to develop effective and economical treatment methods for ballast water. Zebra

mussels, red tide plankton and human cholera pathogens are just some of the bioinvasives identified in ballast water discharge. The States of California and Washington have recently passed laws to regulate discharge of ballast water, laws that

will require sound science underpinning their implementation. USGS’ Marrowstone

Marine Station in northern Puget Sound is actively involved in developing treatment methods, assessing species transportation risks and other ballast water research.

USGS feels that reliable science is essential to predict and assess aquatic invasive

species risks, and to define and manage problems once they occur. We assist our

partners in determining why and how aquatic invaders are successful, identifying

methods to control populations and short-stop initial invasions, and in approaches

to anticipate new threats. Our partners include States, Tribes, local governments,

State and private universities, and Federal partners such as the U.S. Army Corps

of Engineers, NOAA and our sister agencies within the Department of the Interior

the National Park Service, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management and the Bureau of Reclamation.

I invite you to contact me to learn more about the USGS invasive species science

underway in Senator Crapo’s District or to visit the Western Region Fisheries Center or one of our Laboratories.

Sincerely,

Anne Kinsinger

Regional Executive for Biology

USGS Western Region

909 First Avenue, Suite 804
105

Seattle, WA 98104

Non-Indigenous Species Invasions in the Western United States

More than 6,500 non-indigenous species are now established in the United States,

causing huge economic losses and disrupting valued American ecosystems. Biological invaders pose risks to native species, human and wildlife health, and the productivity of agricultural food supplies. Losses caused by just 79 of these taxa were conservatively estimated in 1993 by the U.S. Office of Technology Assessment to be

more than $97 billion and increasing. Bio-security protection from dangerous biological introductions—is important to Americans.

The vast mosaic of western U.S. habitats is welcoming to potential biological newcomers. The invaders include plants, animals and microbial pathogens. Weeds like

cheatgrass and medusahead now dominate over 3 million acres of public land over

5 western States, fueling many of the nation’s largest wildfires. More than 230 nonnative species have colonized San Francisco Bay, completely altering estuarine food

chains and ecosystem processes. Red tide plankton and human cholera pathogens

have been identified in ballast water discharges. Once established, these invasive

species can degrade habitats of critically declining native wildlife -- indeed, non-indigenous species are often the most critical problem facing western threatened and

endangered species, particularly on Pacific islands.

Current USGS research on nonindigenous species cannot fulfill information needs

expressed by western resource managers in the Bureau of Land Management, US

Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, and numerous tribes, States, and

private institutions. Gaps in the USGS program exist for many of the vulnerable

habitats of the west -- many of which are on Federal lands. Risks posed by the invaders are frequently unknown, so managers can’t act to prevent damage. Knowledge regarding how to restore native communities once they are degraded by

invasive species is largely nonexistent.

In order to fill these gaps, the USGS needs to enhance science activity in the

west, working within the bureau’s Invasive Species and Emerging Diseases Program. The science would be focused through partnerships with resource managers

and conducted using multidisciplinary or integrated approaches depending on the

nature of the problem. The initiative would include:

Major Thrusts

Predicting and assessing risks: provide USGS partners with tools and models to

anticipate problems; help to better define and manage problems once they occur.

Prevention and control: develop strategies and methods to shortstop initial introductions and cost-effectively control invaders once established, based on research to

determine how and why invaders are successful.

Information management: serve data and information to inform all aspects of

invasive species management; reveal trends through monitoring to guide adaptive

ecosystem management.

High Priority Topics

Fresh Water/Aquatic: define risks posed by aquatic invertebrates; identify exotic

fishes and their effects upon declining natives; determine non-native species influences on amphibians; define risks posed by wetland and riparian weed invaders.

Coastal/Marine: determine the vulnerability of estuarine benthic communities and

planktonic food webs; identify high risk foreign species in advance; determine

threats to estuarine ecology.

Ballast Water: research and develop effective ballast water treatment methods;

assess species transport risks (e.g. by season; biogeographic region of origin); predict

vulnerability to invasion for particular valued habitats, ecosystems, and native species complexes.

Pacific Islands: develop potential biological controls (e.g. brown tree snakes); assess risks to island habitats for particular invaders by region of origin; provide recovery science for threatened and endangered native species depressed by exotics.

Arid and Semiarid Rangeland: identify changes to fire regimes caused by non-indigenous invasions; develop restoration technologies; determine habitat impacts for

native wildlife; determine how bio-invasions interact with human habitat perturbations and climate change.

Microbial pathogens and parasites: develop genetic tools to identify/diagnose novel

pathogens; conduct biocontainment laboratory disease challenges for novel or incipient pathogens to determine virulence and assess risk of epizootics; develop treatment tools and methods.

Process understanding: develop information about the ecological processes and

mechanisms that foster invasiveness of plants, animals, and pathogens; develop

science-based control strategies.
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