I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 266

To establish the National Invasive Species Council, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 8, 2003

Mr. EHLERS (for himself and Mr. GILCHREST) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Resources 

A BILL

To establish the National Invasive Species Council, and for 

other purposes.

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Invasive Spe5 cies Council Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF POLICY REGARDING FEDERAL DU7 TIES. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—No Federal agency may author9 ize, fund, or carry out any action that would likely cause 

10 or promote the introduction or spread of an invasive spe11 cies in the United States or any other location, unless the 
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1 head of the Federal agency, at his or her sole discretion 

2 and pursuant to guidelines developed under subsection (b), 

3 determines that—

4 (1) the benefits of the action under consider5 ation clearly outweigh the potential harm to the en6 vironment, economy, or human health caused by the 

7 introduction or spread of the invasive species; and 

8 (2) all feasible and prudent measures to mini9 mize risk of harm to the environment, economy, or 

10 human health will be taken in carrying out the ac11 tions. 

12 (b) GUIDELINES.—The Council for Environmental 

13 Quality, in conjunction with the Invasive Species Council, 

14 shall develop guidelines for Federal agencies to analyze ac15 tions pursuant to this section. 

16 SEC. 3. NATIONAL INVASIVE SPECIES COUNCIL. 

17 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established as an 

18 independent entity within the executive branch the Na19 tional Invasive Species Council. The Council shall provide 

20 leadership and coordination among Federal agencies, and 

21 between the Federal Government and State and local gov22 ernments, with respect to effort to minimize the economic, 

23 ecological, and human health impacts that invasive species 

24 cause and reduce the threat of further invasions. 

25 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Council shall consist of 

2 the following members: 

3 (A) The Secretary of the Interior. 

4 (B) The Secretary of Agriculture. 

5 (C) The Secretary of Commerce. 

6 (D) The Secretary of State. 

7 (E) The Secretary of the Treasury. 

8 (F) The Secretary of Defense. 

9 (G) The Secretary of Transportation. 

10 (H) The Secretary of Health and Human 

11 Services. 

12 (I) The Administrator of the Environ13 mental Protection Agency. 

14 (J) The Administrator of the United 

15 States Agency for International Development. 

16 (K) Such additional members as may be 

17 appointed under paragraph (2). 

18 (2) ADDITIONAL MEMBERS.—With the concur19 rence of a majority of the members of the Council, 

20 the Chair of the Council may appoint additional 

21 members to the Council from among individuals who 

22 are officers or employees of the Federal Government 

23 with significant responsibilities concerning invasive 

24 species. 
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1 (c) CHAIR.—The Secretary of the Interior shall serve 

2 as chair of the Council for the three-year period beginning 

3 on the date of the enactment of this Act. Thereafter, the 

4 chair shall rotate every three years among the following 

5 members, in the order stated: 

6 (1) The Secretary of Agriculture. 

7 (2) The Secretary of Commerce. 

8 (3) The Secretary of the Interior. 

9 (d) MEETINGS.—The Council shall meet at least 

10 semiannually, at the call of chair. 

11 (e) EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR.—

12 (1) APPOINTMENT.—The President shall ap13 point the Executive Director of the Council, by and 

14 with the advice and consent of the Senate. 

15 (2) CONSULTATION.—Before appointing an in16 dividual under paragraph (1), the President shall 

17 consult with the Secretary of the Interior, the Sec18 retary of Agriculture, and the Secretary of Com19 merce. 

20 (3) QUALIFICATIONS.—An individual appointed 

21 under this subsection must have legal or scientific 

22 experience and training in the area of natural re23 sources, ecology, or agriculture, and experience in 

24 dealing with public policy matters regarding aquatic 

25 and terrestrial invasive species. 
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1 (4) TERM.—The Executive Director of the 

2 Council shall serve a term of six years, unless re3 moved earlier by the President. 

4 (5) COMPENSATION.—The Executive Director 

5 shall be paid at the maximum rate of basic pay for 

6 GS–15 of the General Schedule. 

7 SEC. 4. DUTIES. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Council shall ensure that 

9 Federal agency efforts concerning invasive species are co10 ordinated, effective, complementary, and cost-efficient. 

11 (b) SPECIFIC FUNCTIONS.—To carry out subsection 

12 (a) the Council shall perform the following functions: 

13 (1) Coordinate with existing organizations ad14 dressing invasive species, such as the Aquatic Nui15 sance Species Task Force, the Federal Interagency 

16 Committee for the Management of Noxious and Ex17 otic Weeds, regional panels established under the 

18 Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and 

19 Control Act of 1990 (16 U.S.C. 4701 et seq.), and 

20 the White House Office of Science and Technology 

21 Policy, to implement the National Management 

22 Plan. 

23 (2) Develop recommendations for international 

24 cooperation between Federal and State Governments 

25 and other nations on tools, policies, and methods to 
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1 prevent the introduction and export of invasive spe2 cies into and from, respectively, the United States. 

3 (3) Develop guidelines for Federal agency ef4 forts to ensure that Federal programs concerning 

5 invasive species, including outreach programs, are 

6 coordinated with State, local, and tribal govern7 ments. 

8 (4) Develop, in consultation with the Council on 

9 Environmental Quality, guidance to Federal agencies 

10 pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act 

11 of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) on prevention, con12 trol, and eradication of invasive species. 

13 (5) Establish and maintain a publicly acces14 sible, coordinated, up-to-date information sharing 

15 system that—

16 (A) allows the access to and exchange of 

17 information among Federal agencies and the 

18 public; and 

19 (B) utilizes, to the greatest extent prac20 ticable, the Internet. 

21 (6) Ensure that Federal agencies implement the 

22 plans, programs, and policies adopted by the Council 

23 in the National Management Plan through appro24 priate actions, including working in cooperation with 

25 Federal agencies on development of budgets pursu-
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1 ant to the President’s annual budget submission to 

2 the Congress. 

3 (7) Evaluate Federal programs that are likely 

4 to cause or promote the introduction or spread of 

5 invasive species in the United States, and rec6 ommend actions Federal agencies can take to mini7 mize the risk of introductions or further spread of 

8 invasive species. 

9 (8) Develop and submit to the appropriate 

10 Committees of the House of Representatives and 

11 Senate and the Director of the Office of Manage12 ment and Budget an annual list of priorities, ranked 

13 in high, medium, and low categories, of Federal ef14 forts and programs in the following areas: 

15 (A) Prevention. 

16 (B) Eradication. 

17 (C) Control. 

18 (D) Monitoring. 

19 (E) Research. 

20 (F) Outreach. 

21 SEC. 5. NATIONAL INVASIVE SPECIES MANAGEMENT PLAN. 

22 (a) DEVELOPMENT.—

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Council shall develop a 

24 National Invasive Species Management Plan that de25 tails and recommends performance-oriented goals 
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1 and specific measures of success for carrying out 

2 each of the Federal agency activities related to 

3 invasive species. 

4 (2) DEVELOPMENT PROCESS.—The National 

5 Management Plan shall be developed through a pub6 lic process and in consultation with Federal agen7 cies, appropriate State and local entities, and other 

8 appropriate stakeholders. 

9 (3) CONTENTS.—The National Management 

10 Plan shall include recommendations of effective, 

11 cost-efficient, environmentally sound, and science12 based approaches for the following: 

13 (A) Prevention of the introduction of 

14 invasive species, including approaches for iden15 tifying pathways by which invasive species are 

16 introduced and for minimizing the risk of intro17 ductions via those pathways. Recommended ap18 proaches under this subparagraph shall provide 

19 for—

20 (i) a process to evaluate risks associ21 ated with the introduction and spread of 

22 invasive species; and 

23 (ii) a coordinated and systematic risk24 based process to identify, monitor, and 
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1 interdict pathways that may be involved in 

2 the introduction of invasive species. 

3 (B) Cooperating with other nations to in4 crease their capacity to control their invasive 

5 species and to prevent the spread of invasive 

6 species across international borders. 

7 (C) Rapidly detecting and responding to 

8 incipient invasions of invasive species. 

9 (D) Managing new and established popu10 lations of invasive species by eradicating them 

11 or controlling their spread. 

12 (E) Accurately and reliably monitoring new 

13 and established populations of invasive species. 

14 (F) Restoring native species and habitat 

15 conditions in ecosystems that have been invaded 

16 by invasive species. 

17 (G) Evaluating and documenting the im18 pacts of invasive species on the economy, the 

19 environment, and human health. 

20 (H) Conducting research on the matters 

21 referred to in subparagraphs (A) through (F). 

22 (I) Developing technologies to prevent the 

23 introduction and provide for the management of 

24 invasive species. 
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1 (J) Promoting public education on invasive 

2 species and the means to address them. 

3 (4) IDENTIFICATION OF NEEDED PERSONNEL, 

4 ETC.—The National Management Plan shall identify 

5 the personnel, other resources, and additional levels 

6 of coordination needed to achieve the goals included 

7 in the plan. 

8 (b) EXISTING PLAN.—The Management Plan of the 

9 National Invasive Species Council adopted in 2001 shall 

10 be treated as the National Management Plan required 

11 under subsection (a) until the date of the issuance of the 

12 National Management plan in accordance with subsection 

13 (c). 

14 (c) ISSUANCE AND UPDATE OF NATIONAL MANAGE15 MENT PLAN.—The Council shall—

16 (1) issue the National Management Plan re17 quired under subsection (a) by not later than De18 cember 31, 2003; 

19 (2) update the National Management Plan by 

20 not later than December 31 biennially; and 

21 (3) concurrently with the process of updating 

22 the National Management Plan, evaluate and report 

23 to the Congress on success in achieving the goals set 

24 forth in the National Management Plan. 
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1 (d) AGENCY REPORTS.—Within 18 months after the 

2 date of the issuance of any edition of the National Man3 agement Plan that recommends action by a Federal agen4 cy, the head of such agency shall report to the Congress 

5 any of such actions that the agency has not taken, with 

6 an explanation of why the action is not feasible. 

7 SEC. 6. INVASIVE SPECIES ADVISORY COMMITTEE. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Council shall have an advi9 sory committee to provide information and advice for con10 sideration by the Council, which shall be known as the 

11 Invasive Species Advisory Committee. Except as otherwise 

12 provided in this section, the advisory committee shall be 

13 organized, perform the functions, and have the authorities 

14 specified in the charter for such advisory committee signed 

15 by the Secretary of the Interior on October 30, 2001. 

16 (b) APPOINTMENT.—Members of the advisory com17 mittee shall be appointed by the chair of the Council, after 

18 consultation with the other members of the Council, from 

19 among individuals representing stakeholders with respect 

20 to Federal programs for minimizing the economic, ecologi21 cal, and human health impacts that invasive species cause. 

22 (c) FUNCTIONS.—In addition to the functions speci23 fied in the charter referred to in subsection (a), the advi24 sory committee shall recommend to the Council plans and 

25 actions at local, tribal, State, regional, and ecosystem-
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1 based levels to achieve the goals of the National Manage2 ment Plan required under section 5. 

3 (d) CONTINUING OPERATION OF EXISTING COM4 MITTEE.—Any advisory committee appointed before the 

5 date of the enactment of this Act pursuant to the charter 

6 referred to in subsection (a) may continue in effect under 

7 this section. 

8 SEC. 7. BUDGET CROSSCUT. 

9 The Director of the Office of Management and Budg10 et shall prepare and submit to the Congress and the Coun11 cil, by not later than March 31 of 2003 and of each year 

12 thereafter, a budget analysis and summary of all Federal 

13 programs relating to invasive species 

14 SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS. 

15 In this Act: 

16 (1) COUNCIL.—The term ‘‘Council’’ means the 

17 National Invasive Species Council established by sec18 tion 3(a). 

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

20 species’’ means a species—

21 (A) that is nonnative to the ecosystem 

22 under consideration; and 

23 (B) the introduction of which causes or 

24 may cause harm to the economy, the environ25 ment, or human health. 
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1 (3) NATIONAL MANAGEMENT PLAN.—The term 

2 ‘‘National Management Plan’’ means the National 

3 Invasive Species Management Plan developed by the 

4 Council under section 5(a). 

5 (4) SPECIES.—The term ‘‘species’’ means a cat6 egory of taxonomic classification ranking below a 

7 genus or subgenus and consisting of related orga8 nisms capable of interbreeding. 

9 SEC. 9. EXISTING EXECUTIVE ORDER. 

10 Executive Order 13112, dated February 3, 1999, 

11 shall have no force or effect. 

12 SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

13 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

14 this Act $2,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2004 through 

15 2006.

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