II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 949 

To amend the Plant Protection Act to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture 

to enter into cooperative agreements with States to augment the efforts 

of the States to conduct early detection and surveillance to prevent 

the establishment or spread of plant pests that endanger agriculture, 

the environment, and the economy of the United States, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 21, 2007 

Mrs. BOXER (for herself, Mr. LEVIN, and Mrs. FEINSTEIN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To amend the Plant Protection Act to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to enter into cooperative agreements with States to augment the efforts of the States 

to conduct early detection and surveillance to prevent 

the establishment or spread of plant pests that endanger 

agriculture, the environment, and the economy 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 ‘‘Early Plant Pest De3 tection and Surveillance Improvement Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. SUPPORT FOR COMMODITY INSPECTION EFFORTS 

5 TO PREVENT INTRODUCTION OR SPREAD OF 

6 PLANT PESTS. 

7 Subtitle B of the Plant Protection Act (7 U.S.C. 

8 7731 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol9 lowing: 

10 ‘‘SEC. 427. SUPPORT FOR COMMODITY INSPECTION EF11 FORTS TO PREVENT INTRODUCTION OR 

12 SPREAD OF PLANT PESTS. 

13 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

14 ‘‘(1) DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.—The 

15 term ‘department of agriculture’ means an agency of 

16 a State that has a legal responsibility to perform 

17 early plant pest detection and surveillance activities. 

18 ‘‘(2) EARLY PLAN PEST DETECTION AND SUR19 VEILLANCE.—The term ‘early plant pest detection 

20 and surveillance’ means the full range of activities 

21 undertaken to detect newly introduced plant pests, 

22 whether the plant pests are new to the United States 

23 or new to certain areas of the United States, be24 fore— 

25 ‘‘(A) the plant pests become established; or 


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1 ‘‘(B) pest infestations become too large or 

2 costly to eradicate or control. 

3 ‘‘(b) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS AUTHORIZED.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall enter 

5 into a cooperative agreement with each department 

6 of agriculture that agrees to conduct early plant pest 

7 detection surveillance activities in accordance with 

8 guidelines established under the Cooperative Agricul9 tural Pest Survey. 

10 ‘‘(2) ACTIVITIES.—The pest detection surveil11 lance activities of the department of agriculture of a 

12 State may include inspection and surveillance of do13 mestic plant shipments between that State and other 

14 States. 

15 ‘‘(c) APPLICATION.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A department of agri17 culture seeking to enter into a cooperative agree18 ment under this section shall submit an application 

19 to the Secretary containing such information as the 

20 Secretary may require. 

21 ‘‘(2) NOTIFICATION.—The Secretary shall no22 tify applicants of— 

23 ‘‘(A) the requirements to be imposed on a 

24 department of agriculture for auditing of, and 


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1 reporting on, the use of any funds provided by 

2 the Secretary under the cooperative agreement; 

3 ‘‘(B) the criteria to be used to ensure that 

4 early plant pest detection and surveillance ac5 tivities supported under the cooperative agree6 ment are based on knowledge, experience, and 

7 capabilities; 

8 ‘‘(C) the means of identifying pathways of 

9 pest introductions; amd 

10 ‘‘(D) the methods to be used to determine 

11 the level of support for proposed early plant 

12 pest detection and surveillance activities by pri13 vate and public interests adversely affected by 

14 plant pests. 

15 ‘‘(d) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out this section, 

16 the Secretary shall consult with the National Plant Board 

17 and the National Association of State Departments of Ag18 riculture. 

19 ‘‘(e) BASE FUNDS UNDER AGREEMENTS.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the availability 

21 of appropriated funds to carry out this section, each 

22 State department of agriculture with which the Sec23 retary enters into a cooperative agreement under 

24 this section shall receive a base level of funding of 


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1 $250,000 for each of fiscal years 2008 through 

2 2012. 

3 ‘‘(2) INSUFFICIENT FUNDS.—If the funds avail4 able for a fiscal year are insufficient to provide the 

5 full amount required under paragraph (1), the Sec6 retary shall reduce the amount provided to each 

7 State as necessary so that each State receives an 

8 equal amount of the available funds. 

9 ‘‘(f) DISTRIBUTION OF REMAINING FUNDS.—After 

10 the application of subsection (e), the Secretary shall dis11 tribute any remaining funds appropriated to carry out this 

12 section to departments of agriculture of States that are 

13 recognized as high-risk sentinel States for 1 or more plant 

14 pests, based on— 

15 ‘‘(1) the number of international airports and 

16 maritime facilities in the State; 

17 ‘‘(2) the volume of international passenger and 

18 cargo entry into the State; 

19 ‘‘(3) the geographic location of the State, tak20 ing into consideration whether the location of the 

21 State would be conducive to agricultural pest and 

22 disease establishment due to both the climate and 

23 crop diversity of the State; 

24 ‘‘(4) whether the State has received an emer25 gency declaration, as authorized by section 442, due 


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1 to an agricultural pest or disease of Federal concern; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(5) such other factors as the Secretary deter4 mines appropriate. 

5 ‘‘(g) USE OF FUNDS.— 

6 ‘‘(1) PEST DETECTION AND SURVEILLANCE AC7 TIVITIES.—A department of agriculture that receives 

8 funds under this section shall use the funds to carry 

9 out early plant pest detection and surveillance activi10 ties to prevent the introduction of a pest or facilitate 

11 the eradication of a pest. 

12 ‘‘(2) SUBAGREEMENTS.—Nothing in this sec13 tion prevents the department of agriculture of a 

14 State from using funds received under subsection (e) 

15 or (f) to enter into subagreements with political sub16 divisions in the State that have legal responsibilities 

17 relating to agricultural pest and disease surveillance. 

18 ‘‘(3) IMPLEMENTATION.—In carrying out this 

19 section, a department of agriculture of a State shall 

20 use funds provided under subsection (e) or (f) in a 

21 manner that— 

22 ‘‘(A) maximizes the use of the funds to 

23 carry out activities described in paragraph (1); 

24 and 


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1 ‘‘(B) minimizes the use of the funds for 

2 administrative or overhead costs. 

3 ‘‘(4) MAINTENANCE OF FUNDING.—Funds pro4 vided under subsection (e) or (f) shall supplement 

5 (and not supplant) other funding available to a de6 partment of agriculture to perform early plant pest 

7 detection and surveillance activities. 

8 ‘‘(h) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 

9 180 days after the date of completion of an early plant 

10 pest detection and surveillance activity conducted by a de11 partment of agriculture using funds provided under this 

12 section, the department of agriculture shall submit to the 

13 Secretary a report that describes the purposes and results 

14 of the activities. 

15 ‘‘(i) NO EFFECT ON PILT PAYMENTS.—The receipt 

16 of funds by the department of agriculture of a State under 

17 this section shall have no effect on the amount of any pay18 ment received by the State under chapter 69 of title 31, 

19 United States Code. 

20 ‘‘(j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 

22 appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this sec23 tion such sums as are necessary for each of fiscal 

24 years 2008 through 2012. 


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1 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION ON ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.— 

2 Not more than 5 percent of the funds appropriated 

3 for a fiscal year under paragraph (1) may be used 

4 by the Secretary for administrative costs of carrying 

5 out this section.’’. 

Æ 


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