108TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3479

AN ACT

To provide for the control and eradication of the

for other purposes.snake to other areas of the United States, andprevention of the introduction of the brown treebrown tree snake on the island of Guam and the

108TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3479

AN ACT

To provide for the control and eradication of the brown

tree snake on the island of Guam and the prevention

of the introduction of the brown tree snake to other

areas of the United States, 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,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Brown Tree Snake

3 Control and Eradication Act of 2004’’.

4 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

5 In this Act:

6 (1) BROWN TREE SNAKE.—The term ‘‘brown

7 tree snake’’ means the species of the snake Boiga

8 irregularis.

9 (2) COMPACT OF FREE ASSOCIATION.—The

10 term ‘‘Compact of Free Association’’ means the

11 Compacts of Free Association entered into between

12 the United States and the governments of the Fed13 erated States of Micronesia and the Republic of the

14 Marshall Islands, as approved by and contained in

15 Public Law 108–188 (117 Stat. 2720; 48 U.S.C.

16 1921 et seq.), and the Compact of Free Association

17 entered into between the United States and the gov18 ernment of the Republic of Palau, as approved by

19 and contained in Public Law 99–658 (100 Stat.

20 3673; 48 U.S.C. 1931 et seq.).

21 (3) FREELY ASSOCIATED STATES.—The term

22 ‘‘Freely Associated States’’ means the Republic of

23 Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the

24 Republic of the Marshall Islands.

25 (4) INTRODUCTION.—The terms ‘‘introduce’’

26 and ‘‘introduction’’ refer to the expansion of the
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1 brown tree snake outside of the range where this

2 species is endemic.

3 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary con4 cerned’’ means—

5 (A) the Secretary of the Interior, with re6 spect to matters under the jurisdiction of the

7 Department of the Interior; and

8 (B) the Secretary of Agriculture, with re9 spect to matters under the jurisdiction of the

10 Department of Agriculture.

11 (6) SECRETARIES.—The term ‘‘Secretaries’’

12 means both the Secretary of the Interior and the

13 Secretary of Agriculture.

14 (7) TECHNICAL WORKING GROUP.—The term

15 ‘‘Technical Working Group’’ means Brown Tree

16 Snake Technical Working Group established under

17 the authority of section 1209 of the Nonindigenous

18 Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act of

19 1990 (16 U.S.C. 4728).

20 (8) TERRITORIAL.—The term ‘‘territorial’’,

21 when used to refer to a government, means the Gov22 ernment of Guam, the Government of American

23 Samoa, and the Government of the Commonwealth

24 of the Northern Mariana Islands, as well as autono-
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1 mous agencies and instrumentalities of such a gov2 ernment.

3 (9) UNITED STATES.—The term ‘‘United

4 States’’, when used in the geographic sense, means

5 the several States, the District of Colombia, Amer6 ican Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the

7 Northern Mariana Islands, the Commonwealth of

8 Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, any

9 other possession of the United States, and any wa10 ters within the jurisdiction of the United States.

11 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING NEED FOR IM12 PROVED AND BETTER COORDINATED FED13 ERAL POLICY FOR BROWN TREE SNAKE IN14 TRODUCTION, CONTROL, AND ERADICATION.

15 It is the sense of Congress that there exists a need

16 for improved and better coordinated control, interdiction,

17 research, and eradication of the brown tree snake on the

18 part of the United States and other interested parties.

19 SEC. 4. BROWN TREE SNAKE CONTROL, INTERDICTION, RE20 SEARCH AND ERADICATION.

21 (a) FUNDING AUTHORITY.—Subject to the avail22 ability of appropriations to carry out this section, the Sec23 retaries shall provide funds to support brown tree snake

24 control, interdiction, research, and eradication efforts car25 ried out by the Department of the Interior and the De-
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1 partment of Agriculture, other Federal agencies, States,

2 territorial governments, local governments, and private

3 sector entities. Funds may be provided through grants,

4 contracts, reimbursable agreements, or other legal mecha5 nisms available to the Secretaries for the transfer of Fed6 eral funds.

7 (b) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—Brown tree snake

8 control, interdiction, research, and eradication efforts au9 thorized by this section shall include at a minimum the

10 following:

11 (1) Expansion of science-based eradication and

12 control programs in Guam to reduce the undesirable

13 impact of the brown tree snake in Guam and reduce

14 the risk of the introduction or spread of any brown

15 tree snake to areas in the United States and the

16 Freely Associated States in which the brown tree

17 snake is not established.

18 (2) Expansion of interagency and intergovern19 mental rapid response teams in Guam, the Common20 wealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Hawaii,

21 and the Freely Associated States to assist the gov22 ernments of such areas with detecting the brown

23 tree snake and incipient brown tree snake popu24 lations.
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1 (3) Expansion of efforts to protect and restore

2 native wildlife in Guam or elsewhere in the United

3 States damaged by the brown tree snake.

4 (4) Establishment and sustained funding for an

5 Animal Plant and Health Inspection Service, Wild6 life Services, Operations Program State Office lo7 cated in Hawaii dedicated to vertebrate pest man8 agement in Hawaii and United States Pacific terri9 tories and possessions. Concurrently, the Animal

10 Plant and Health Inspection Service, Wildlife Serv11 ices Operations Program shall establish and sustain

12 funding for a District Office in Guam dedicated to

13 brown tree snake control and managed by the Ha14 waii State Office.

15 (5) Continuation, expansion, and provision of

16 sustained research funding related to the brown tree

17 snake, including research conducted at institutions

18 located in areas affected by the brown tree snake.

19 (6) Continuation, expansion, and provision of

20 sustained research funding for the Animal Plant and

21 Health Inspection Service, Wildlife Services, Na22 tional Wildlife Research Center of the Department

23 of Agriculture related to the brown tree snake, in24 cluding the establishment of a field station in Guam
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1 related to the control and eradication of the brown

2 tree snake.

3 (7) Continuation, expansion, and provision of

4 sustained research funding for the Fort Collins

5 Science Center of the United States Geological Sur6 vey related to the brown tree snake, including the

7 establishment of a field station in Guam related to

8 the control and eradication of the brown tree snake.

9 (8) Expansion of long-term research into chem10 ical, biological, and other control techniques that

11 could lead to large-scale reduction of brown tree

12 snake populations in Guam or other areas where the

13 brown tree snake might become established.

14 (9) Expansion of short, medium, and long-term

15 research, funded by all Federal agencies interested

16 in or affected by the brown tree snake, into interdic17 tion, detection, and early control of the brown tree

18 snake.

19 (10) Provision of planning assistance for the

20 construction or renovation of centralized multi-agen21 cy facilities in Guam to support Federal, State, and

22 territorial brown tree snake control, interdiction, re23 search and eradication efforts, including office space,

24 laboratory space, animal holding facilities, and snake

25 detector dog kennels.
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1 (11) Provision of technical assistance to the

2 Freely Associated States on matters related to the

3 brown tree snake through the mechanisms contained

4 within a Compact of Free Association dealing with

5 environmental, quarantine, economic, and human

6 health issues.

7 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is

8 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretaries to carry

9 out this section (other than subsection (b)(10)) the fol10 lowing amounts:

11 (1) For activities conducted through the Animal

12 and Plant Health Inspection Service, Wildlife Serv13 ices, Operations, not more than $2,600,000 for each

14 of the fiscal years 2006 through 2010.

15 (2) For activities conducted through the Animal

16 and Plant Health Inspection Service, Wildlife Serv17 ices, National Wildlife Research Center, Methods

18 Development, not more than $1,500,000 for each of

19 the fiscal years 2006 through 2010.

20 (3) For activities conducted through the Office

21 of Insular Affairs, not more than $3,000,000 for

22 each of the fiscal years 2006 through 2010.

23 (4) For activities conducted through the Fish

24 and Wildlife Service, not more than $2,000,000 for

25 each of the fiscal years 2006 through 2010.
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1 (5) For activities conducted through the United

2 States Geological Survey, Biological Resources, not

3 more than $1,500,000 for each of the fiscal years

4 2006 through 2010.

5 (d) PLANNING ASSISTANCE.—There is authorized to

6 be appropriated to the Secretary of Agriculture and the

7 Secretary of the Interior such amounts as may be required

8 to carry out subsection (b)(10).

9 SEC. 5. ESTABLISHMENT OF QUARANTINE PROTOCOLS TO

10 CONTROL THE INTRODUCTION AND SPREAD

11 OF THE BROWN TREE SNAKE.

12 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF QUARANTINE PROTO13 COLS.—Not later than two years after the date of the en14 actment of this Act, but subject to the memorandum of

15 agreement required by subsection (b) with respect to

16 Guam, the Secretaries shall establish and cause to be oper17 ated at Federal expense a system of pre-departure quar18 antine protocols for cargo and other items being shipped

19 from Guam and any other United States location where

20 the brown tree snake may become established to prevent

21 the introduction or spread of the brown tree snake. The

22 Secretaries shall establish the quarantine protocols system

23 by regulation. Under the quarantine protocols system,

24 Federal quarantine, natural resource, conservation, and

25 law enforcement officers and inspectors may enforce State
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1 and territorial laws regarding the transportation, posses2 sion, or introduction of any brown tree snake.

3 (b) COOPERATION AND CONSULTATION.—The activi4 ties of the Secretaries under subsection (a) shall be carried

5 out in cooperation with other Federal agencies and the

6 appropriate State and territorial quarantine, natural re7 source, conservation, and law enforcement officers. In the

8 case of Guam, as a precondition on the establishment of

9 the system of pre-departure quarantine protocols under

10 such subsection, the Secretaries shall enter into a memo11 randum of agreement with the Government of Guam to

12 obtain the assistance and cooperation of the Government

13 of Guam in establishing the system of pre-departure quar14 antine protocols.

15 (c) IMPLEMENTATION.—The system of pre-departure

16 quarantine protocols to be established under subsection

17 (a) shall not be implemented until funds are specifically

18 appropriated for that purpose.

19 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is

20 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section the

21 following amounts:

22 (1) To the Secretary of Agriculture, not more

23 than $3,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2006

24 through 2010.
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1 (2) To the Secretary of the Interior, not more

2 than $1,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2006

3 through 2010.

4 SEC. 6. TREATMENT OF BROWN TREE SNAKES AS NON5 MAILABLE MATTER.

6 A brown tree snake constitutes nonmailable matter

7 under section 3015 of title 39, United States Code.

8 SEC. 7. ROLE OF BROWN TREE SNAKE TECHNICAL WORK9 ING GROUP.

10 (a) PURPOSE.—The Technical Working Group shall

11 ensure that Federal, State, territorial, and local agency

12 efforts concerning the brown tree snake are coordinated,

13 effective, complementary, and cost-effective.

14 (b) SPECIFIC DUTIES AND ACTIVITIES.—The Tech15 nical Working Group shall be responsible for the following:

16 (1) The evaluation of Federal, State, and terri17 torial activities, programs and policies that are likely

18 to cause or promote the introduction or spread of

19 the brown tree snake in the United States or the

20 Freely Associated States and the preparation of rec21 ommendations for governmental actions to minimize

22 the risk of introduction or further spread of the

23 brown tree snake.

24 (2) The preparation of recommendations for ac25 tivities, programs, and policies to reduce and eventu-
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1 ally eradicate the brown tree snake in Guam or

2 other areas within the United States where the

3 snake may be established and the monitoring of the

4 implementation of those activities, programs, and

5 policies.

6 (3) Any revision of the Brown Tree Snake Con7 trol Plan, originally published in June 1996, which

8 was prepared to coordinate Federal, State, terri9 torial, and local government efforts to control, inter10 dict, eradicate or conduct research on the brown tree

11 snake.

12 (c) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—

13 (1) REPORT.—Subject to the availability of ap14 propriations for this purpose, the Technical Working

15 Group shall prepare a report describing—

16 (A) the progress made toward a large-scale

17 population reduction or eradication of the

18 brown tree snake in Guam or other sites that

19 are infested by the brown tree snake;

20 (B) the interdiction and other activities re21 quired to reduce the risk of introduction of the

22 brown tree snake or other nonindigenous snake

23 species in Guam, the Commonwealth of the

24 Northern Mariana Islands, Hawaii, American

25 Samoa, and the Freely Associated States;
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1 (C) the applied and basic research activi2 ties that will lead to improved brown tree snake

3 control, interdiction and eradication efforts con4 ducted by Federal, State, territorial, and local

5 governments; and

6 (D) the programs and activities for brown

7 tree snake control, interdiction, research and

8 eradication that have been funded, imple9 mented, and planned by Federal, State, terri10 torial, and local governments.

11 (2) PRIORITIES.—The Technical Working

12 Group shall include in the report a list of priorities,

13 ranked in high, medium, and low categories, of Fed14 eral, State, territorial, and local efforts and pro15 grams in the following areas:

16 (A) Control.

17 (B) Interdiction.

18 (C) Research.

19 (D) Eradication.

20 (3) ASSESSMENTS.—Technical Working Group

21 shall include in the report the following assessments:

22 (A) An assessment of current funding

23 shortfalls and future funding needs to support

24 Federal, State, territorial, and local government
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1 efforts to control, interdict, eradicate, or con2 duct research on the brown tree snake.

3 (B) An assessment of regulatory limita4 tions that hinder Federal, State, territorial, and

5 local government efforts to control, interdict,

6 eradicate or conduct research on the brown tree

7 snake.

8 (4) SUBMISSION.—Subject to the availability of

9 appropriations for this purpose, the Technical Work10 ing Group shall submit the report to Congress not

11 later than one year after the date of the enactment

12 of this Act.

13 (d) MEETINGS.—The Technical Working Group shall

14 meet at least annually.

15 (e) INCLUSION OF GUAM.—The Secretaries shall en16 sure that adequate representation is afforded to the gov17 ernment of Guam in the Technical Working Group.

18 (f) SUPPORT.—To the maximum extent practicable,

19 the Secretaries shall make adequate resources available to

20 the Technical Working Group to ensure its efficient and

21 effective operation. The Secretaries may provide staff to

22 assist the Technical Working Group in carrying out its

23 duties and functions.

24 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is

25 authorized to be appropriated to each of the Secretaries
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1 not more than $450,000 for each of the fiscal years 2006

2 through 2010 to carry out this section.

3 SEC. 8. MISCELLANEOUS MATTERS.

4 (a) AVAILABILITY OF APPROPRIATED FUNDS.—

5 Amounts appropriated under this Act shall remain avail6 able until expended.

7 (b) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—Of the amounts

8 appropriated to carry out this Act for a fiscal year, the

9 Secretaries may expend not more than five percent to

10 cover the administrative expenses necessary to carry out

11 this Act.

Passed the House of Representatives September 28,

2004.

Attest:

Clerk.