H. R. 273

One Hundred Eighth Congress

of the

United States of America

AT THE FIRST SESSION

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,

the seventh day of January, two thousand and three

An Act

To provide for the eradication and control of nutria in Maryland and Louisiana.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of

the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Nutria Eradication and Control

Act of 2003’’.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following:

(1) Wetlands and tidal marshes of the Chesapeake Bay

and in Louisiana provide significant cultural, economic, and

ecological benefits to the Nation.

(2) The South American nutria (Myocastor coypus) is

directly contributing to substantial marsh loss in Maryland

and Louisiana on Federal, State, and private land.

(3) Traditional harvest methods to control or eradicate

nutria have failed in Maryland and have had limited success

in the eradication of nutria in Louisiana. Consequently, marsh

loss is accelerating.

(4) The nutria eradication and control pilot program authorized by Public Law 105–322 is to develop new and effective

methods for eradication of nutria.

(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to provide financial assistance to the State

of Maryland and the State of Louisiana for a program to implement

measures to eradicate or control nutria and restore marshland

damaged by nutria.

SEC. 3. NUTRIA ERADICATION PROGRAM.

(a) GRANT AUTHORITY.—The Secretary of the Interior (in this

Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’), subject to the availability of

appropriations, may provide financial assistance to the State of

Maryland and the State of Louisiana for a program to implement

measures to eradicate or control nutria and restore marshland

damaged by nutria.

(b) GOALS.—The goals of the program shall be to—

(1) eradicate nutria in Maryland;

(2) eradicate or control nutria in Louisiana and other

States; and

(3) restore marshland damaged by nutria.

(c) ACTIVITIES.—In the State of Maryland, the Secretary shall

require that the program consist of management, research, and
H. R. 273—2

public education activities carried out in accordance with the document published by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service

entitled ‘‘Eradication Strategies for Nutria in the Chesapeake and

Delaware Bay Watersheds’’, dated March 2002.

(d) COST SHARING.—

(1) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of the costs of

the program may not exceed 75 percent of the total costs

of the program.

(2) IN-KIND CONTRIBUTIONS.—The non-Federal share of the

costs of the program may be provided in the form of in-kind

contributions of materials or services.

(e) LIMITATION ON ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—Not more than

5 percent of financial assistance provided by the Secretary under

this section may be used for administrative expenses.

(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For financial assistance under this section, there is authorized to be appropriated

to the Secretary $4,000,000 for the State of Maryland program

and $2,000,000 for the State of Louisiana program for each of

fiscal years 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008.

SEC. 4. REPORT.

No later than 6 months after the date of the enactment of

this Act, the Secretary and the National Invasive Species Council

shall—

(1) give consideration to the 2002 report for the Louisiana

Department of Wildlife and Fisheries titled ‘‘Nutria in Louisiana’’, and the 2002 document entitled ‘‘Eradication Strategies

for Nutria in the Chesapeake and Delaware Bay Watersheds’’;

and

(2) develop, in cooperation with the State of Louisiana

Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and the State of Maryland

Department of Natural Resources, a long-term nutria control

or eradication program, as appropriate, with the objective to

significantly reduce and restore the damage nutria cause to

coastal wetlands in the States of Louisiana and Maryland.

Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.