I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2636

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to make grants to State and 

tribal governments to assist State and tribal efforts to manage and 

control the spread of chronic wasting disease in deer and elk herds, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 26, 2003

Mr. GREEN of Wisconsin (for himself, Mr. MCINNIS, and Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to make grants 

to State and tribal governments to assist State and tribal 

efforts to manage and control the spread of chronic 

wasting disease in deer and elk herds, 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 ‘‘Chronic Wasting Dis5 ease Financial Assistance Act of 2003’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITION AND FINDINGS. 

2 (a) CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE DEFINED.—In this 

3 Act, the term ‘‘chronic wasting disease’’ means the animal 

4 disease afflicting deer and elk that— 

5 (1) is a transmissible disease of the nervous 

6 system resulting in distinctive lesions in the brain; 

7 and 

8 (2) belongs to the group of diseases known as 

9 transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, which 

10 group includes scrapie, bovine spongiform 

11 encephalopathy, and Cruetzfeldt-Jakob disease. 

12 (b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

13 (1) The States retain undisputed primacy and 

14 policy-making authority with regard to wildlife man15 agement, and nothing in this Act interferes with or 

16 otherwise affects the primacy of the States in man17 aging wildlife generally, or managing, surveying, and 

18 monitoring the incidence of chronic wasting disease 

19 in animal populations. 

20 (2) Chronic wasting disease is a fundamental 

21 threat to the health and vibrancy of deer and elk 

22 populations, and the increased occurrence of chronic 

23 wasting disease in the United States necessitates 

24 government action to manage and eradicate this le25 thal disease. 
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1 (3) As the States and tribal government move 

2 to manage existing incidence of chronic wasting dis3 ease and insulate non-infected wild cervid popu4 lations from the disease, it is appropriate for the 

5 Federal Government to support their efforts with fi6 nancial assistance. 

7 SEC. 3. STATE CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE MANAGEMENT 

8 CAPACITY BUILDING GRANTS. 

9 (a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary of the In10 terior shall make grants to State wildlife management 

11 agencies to assist States in developing and implementing 

12 long term management strategies to address chronic wast13 ing disease in wild cervids. 

14 (b) ELIGIBILITY.—A wildlife management agency of 

15 a State whose comprehensive wildlife conservation plan in16 clude chronic wasting disease management activities is eli17 gible for a grant under this section. 

18 (c) FUNDING PRIORITIES.—In determining the 

19 amount of grant funds to be provided to eligible applicants 

20 under this section, the Secretary shall prioritize applicants 

21 based on the following criteria: 

22 (1) States in which chronic wasting disease has 

23 been detected and States located adjacent or in 

24 proximity to States in which chronic wasting disease 

25 has been detected. 
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1 (2) States that have expended State funds for 

2 chronic wasting disease management, monitoring, 

3 surveillance, and research, with additional priority 

4 given to those States that have shown the greatest 

5 financial commitment to managing, monitoring, sur6 veying, and researching chronic wasting disease. 

7 (3) States with comprehensive and integrated 

8 policies and programs focused on chronic wasting 

9 disease management between involved State wildlife 

10 and agricultural agencies and tribal governments, 

11 with additional priority given to States that have in12 tegrated the programs and policies of all involved 

13 agencies related to chronic wasting disease manage14 ment. 

15 (4) States that are seeking to develop a rapid 

16 response capacity to address outbreaks of chronic 

17 wasting disease, whether occurring in States in 

18 which chronic wasting disease is already found or 

19 States with first infections, for the purpose of con20 taining the disease in any new area of infection. 

21 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

22 are authorized to be appropriated $7,500,000 to carry out 

23 this section. 
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1 SEC. 4. GRANTS FOR STATES WITH CHRONIC WASTING DIS2 EASE OUTBREAKS. 

3 (a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary of the In4 terior shall make grants to State wildlife management 

5 agencies to assist States in responding to chronic wasting 

6 disease outbreaks in wild cervids. 

7 (b) ELIGIBILITY.—A wildlife management agency of 

8 a State whose comprehensive wildlife conservation plan in9 clude chronic wasting disease management activities is eli10 gible for a grant under this section. 

11 (c) FUNDING PRIORITIES.—In determining the 

12 amount of grant funds to be provided to eligible applicants 

13 under this section, the Secretary shall prioritize applicants 

14 based on the following criteria: 

15 (1) State expenditures on chronic wasting dis16 ease management, monitoring, surveillance, and re17 search in response to management of an on-going 

18 outbreak. 

19 (2) The number of chronic wasting disease 

20 cases detected in the State. 

21 (3) The wild cervid population of the State. 

22 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

23 are authorized to be appropriated $10,000,000 to carry 

24 out this section. 
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1 SEC. 5. TRIBAL CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE MANAGEMENT 

2 GRANTS. 

3 (a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary of the In4 terior shall make grants to tribal wildlife management 

5 agencies to assist Indian tribes in developing and imple6 menting long term management strategies to address 

7 chronic wasting disease in wild cervids. 

8 (b) ELIGIBILITY.—A wildlife management agency of 

9 an Indian tribe whose comprehensive wildlife conservation 

10 plan include chronic wasting disease management activi11 ties is eligible for a grant under this section. 

12 (c) FUNDING PRIORITIES.—In determining the 

13 amount of grant funds to be provided to eligible applicants 

14 under this section, the Secretary shall prioritize applicants 

15 based on the following criteria: 

16 (1) Tribal governments managing lands on 

17 which cervids with chronic wasting disease have been 

18 detected, or managing lands located adjacent or in 

19 proximity to lands on which cervids with chronic 

20 wasting disease have been detected. 

21 (2) Tribal governments that have expended 

22 tribal funds for chronic wasting disease manage23 ment, monitoring, surveillance, and research, with 

24 additional priority given to tribal governments that 

25 have shown the greatest financial commitment to 
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1 managing, monitoring, and surveying chronic wast2 ing disease. 

3 (3) Tribal governments with cooperative ar4 rangements with Federal and State wildlife and ag5 ricultural agencies and State governments, with ad6 ditional priority given to tribal governments that are 

7 working with other involved agencies on issues of 

8 chronic wasting disease management. 

9 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

10 are authorized to be appropriated $3,000,000 to carry out 

11 this section. 

12 SEC. 6. ADMINISTRATION. 

13 The Secretary of the Interior shall carry out this Act 

14 acting through the Director, United States Fish and Wild15 life Service. Funds appropriated to carry out this Act shall 

16 be administered through the Federal Assistance Program 

17 in the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. Not more 

18 than three percent of such funds may be expended for ad19 ministrative expenses of the United States Fish and Wild20 life Service to carry out this Act.

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