II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 382 

To authorize a special resource study on the spread vectors of chronic wasting 

disease in Cervidae, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 7, 2019 

Mr. BARRASSO (for himself, Mr. BENNET, Mr. JONES, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. 

BOOZMAN, Mrs. CAPITO, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. CORNYN, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. 

ENZI, Mrs. FISCHER, Mr. GARDNER, Ms. HASSAN, Mr. HOEVEN, Mr. 

INHOFE, Mr. JOHNSON, Mr. KING, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. MANCHIN, Mr. 

PETERS, Ms. SMITH, Mr. THUNE, Mr. UDALL, Mr. WICKER, and Mr. 

WYDEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To authorize a special resource study on the spread vectors 

of chronic wasting disease in Cervidae, 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 Transmission in Cervidae Study Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 


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1 (1) ACADEMY.—The term ‘‘Academy’’ means 

2 the National Academy of Sciences. 

3 (2) CERVID.—The term ‘‘cervid’’ means any 

4 species within the family Cervidae. 

5 (3) CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE.—The term 

6 ‘‘chronic wasting disease’’ means the animal disease 

7 afflicting deer, elk, and moose populations that— 

8 (A) is a transmissible disease of the nerv9 ous system resulting in distinctive lesions in the 

10 brain; and 

11 (B) belongs to the group of diseases known 

12 as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, 

13 which group includes scrapie, bovine spongiform 

14 encephalopathy, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. 

15 (4) SECRETARIES.—The term ‘‘Secretaries’’ 

16 means— 

17 (A) the Secretary of Agriculture, acting 

18 through the Administrator of the Animal and 

19 Plant Health Inspection Service; and 

20 (B) the Secretary of the Interior, acting 

21 through the Director of the United States Geo22 logical Survey. 

23 SEC. 3. CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE TRANSMISSION IN 

24 CERVIDAE RESOURCE STUDY. 

25 (a) STUDY.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretaries shall enter 

2 into an arrangement with the Academy under which 

3 the Academy shall conduct, and submit to the Secre4 taries a report describing the findings of, a special 

5 resource study to identify the predominant pathways 

6 and mechanisms of the transmission of chronic wast7 ing disease in wild, captive, and farmed populations 

8 of cervids in the United States. 

9 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—The arrangement under 

10 paragraph (1) shall provide that the actual expenses 

11 incurred by the Academy in conducting the study 

12 under paragraph (1) shall be paid by the Secre13 taries. 

14 (b) CONTENTS OF THE STUDY.—The study under 

15 subsection (a) shall— 

16 (1) with respect to wild, captive, and farmed 

17 populations of cervids in the United States, iden18 tify— 

19 (A)(i) the pathways and mechanisms for 

20 the transmission of chronic wasting disease 

21 within live cervid populations and cervid prod22 ucts, which may include pathways and mecha23 nisms for transmission from Canada; 

24 (ii) the infection rates for each pathway 

25 and mechanism identified under clause (i); and 


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1 (iii) the relative frequency of transmission 

2 of each pathway and mechanism identified 

3 under clause (i); 

4 (B)(i) anthropogenic and environmental 

5 factors contributing to new chronic wasting dis6 ease emergence events; 

7 (ii) the development of geographical areas 

8 with increased chronic wasting disease preva9 lence; and 

10 (iii) the overall geographical patterns of 

11 chronic wasting disease distribution; 

12 (C) significant gaps in current scientific 

13 knowledge regarding the transmission pathways 

14 and mechanisms identified under subparagraph 

15 (A)(i); and 

16 (D) for prioritization the scientific research 

17 projects that will address the knowledge gaps 

18 identified under subparagraph (C); and 

19 (2) review and compare science-based best prac20 tices, standards, and guidance regarding the man21 agement of chronic wasting disease in wild, captive, 

22 and farmed populations of cervids in the United 

23 States that have been developed by— 


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1 (A) the National Chronic Wasting Disease 

2 Herd Certification Program of the Animal and 

3 Plant Health Inspection Service; 

4 (B) the United States Geological Survey; 

5 and 

6 (C) State wildlife and agricultural agen7 cies, in the case of practices, standards, and 

8 guidance that provide practical, science-based 

9 recommendations to State and Federal agencies 

10 for minimizing or eliminating the risk of trans11 mission of chronic wasting disease in the 

12 United States. 

13 (c) DEADLINE.—The study under subsection (a) shall 

14 be completed not later than 180 days after the date on 

15 which funds are first made available for the study. 

16 (d) DATA SHARING.—The Secretaries shall share 

17 with the entity conducting the study under subsection (a) 

18 data and access to databases on chronic wasting disease 

19 under the jurisdiction of— 

20 (1) the Veterinary Services Program of the Ani21 mal and Plant Health Inspection Service; and 

22 (2) the United States Geological Survey. 

23 (e) REPORT.—On completion of the study, the Secre24 taries shall submit to the Committee on Agriculture, Nu25 trition, and Forestry, the Committee on Energy and NatVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:36 Feb 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S382.IS S382

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1 ural Resources, and the Committee on Environment and 

2 Public Works of the Senate and the Committee on Agri3 culture and the Committee on Natural Resources of the 

4 House of Representatives a report that describes— 

5 (1) the findings of the study; and 

6 (2) any conclusions and recommendations that 

7 the Secretaries determine to be appropriate. 

Æ 


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