108TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 273

AN ACT

To provide for the eradication and control of nutria

in Maryland and Louisiana.

108TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 273

AN ACT

To provide for the eradication and control of nutria in

Maryland and Louisiana.

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

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Nutria Eradication

3 and Control Act of 2003’’.

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

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

6 (1) Wetlands and tidal marshes of the Chesa7 peake Bay and in Louisiana provide significant cul8 tural, economic, and ecological benefits to the Na9 tion.

10 (2) The South American nutria (Myocastor

11 coypus) is directly contributing to substantial marsh

12 loss in Maryland and Louisiana on Federal, State,

13 and private land.

14 (3) Traditional harvest methods to control or

15 eradicate nutria have failed in Maryland and have

16 had limited success in the eradication of nutria in

17 Louisiana. Consequently, marsh loss is accelerating.

18 (4) The nutria eradication and control pilot

19 program authorized by Public Law 105–322 is to

20 develop new and effective methods for eradication of

21 nutria.

22 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to author23 ize the Secretary of the Interior to provide financial assist24 ance to the State of Maryland and the State of Louisiana

25 for a program to implement measures to eradicate or con26 trol nutria and restore marshland damaged by nutria.
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1 SEC. 3. NUTRIA ERADICATION PROGRAM.

2 (a) GRANT AUTHORITY.—The Secretary of the Inte3 rior (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’), subject

4 to the availability of appropriations, may provide financial

5 assistance to the State of Maryland and the State of Lou6 isiana for a program to implement measures to eradicate

7 or control nutria and restore marshland damaged by nu8 tria.

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

10 (1) eradicate nutria in Maryland;

11 (2) eradicate or control nutria in Louisiana and

12 other States; and

13 (3) restore marshland damaged by nutria.

14 (c) ACTIVITIES.—In the State of Maryland, the Sec15 retary shall require that the program consist of manage16 ment, research, and public education activities carried out

17 in accordance with the document published by the United

18 States Fish and Wildlife Service entitled ‘‘Eradication

19 Strategies for Nutria in the Chesapeake and Delaware

20 Bay Watersheds’’, dated March 2002.

21 (d) COST SHARING.—

22 (1) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of

23 the costs of the program may not exceed 75 percent

24 of the total costs of the program.

25 (2) IN-KIND CONTRIBUTIONS.—The non-Fed26 eral share of the costs of the program may be pro-
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1 vided in the form of in-kind contributions of mate2 rials or services.

3 (e) LIMITATION ON ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—

4 Not more than 5 percent of financial assistance provided

5 by the Secretary under this section may be used for ad6 ministrative expenses.

7 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For fi8 nancial assistance under this section, there is authorized

9 to be appropriated to the Secretary $4,000,000 for the

10 State of Maryland program and $2,000,000 for the State

11 of Louisiana program for each of fiscal years 2004, 2005,

12 2006, 2007, and 2008.

13 SEC. 4. REPORT.

14 No later than 6 months after the date of the enact15 ment of this Act, the Secretary and the National Invasive

16 Species Council shall—

17 (1) give consideration to the 2002 report for

18 the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries

19 titled ‘‘Nutria in Louisiana’’, and the 2002 docu20 ment entitled ‘‘Eradication Strategies for Nutria in

21 the Chesapeake and Delaware Bay Watersheds’’;

22 and

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

24 Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and

25 the State of Maryland Department of Natural Re-
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1 sources, a long-term nutria control or eradication

2 program, as appropriate, with the objective to sig3 nificantly reduce and restore the damage nutria

4 cause to coastal wetlands in the States of Louisiana

5 and Maryland.

Passed the House of Representatives April 8, 2003.

Attest:

Clerk.