II

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 3222

To require the Secretary of the Interior to establish a program to provide

assistance through States to eligible weed management entities to control

or eradicate harmful, nonnative weeds on public and private land.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

OCTOBER 19 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 22), 2000

Mr. CRAIG (for himself, Mr. DASCHLE, Mr. BAUCUS, Mr. BURNS, Mr. CRAPO,

Mr. JOHNSON, and Mr. SMITH of Oregon) introduced the following bill;

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

A BILL

To require the Secretary of the Interior to establish a program to provide assistance through States to eligible

weed management entities to control or eradicate harmful, nonnative weeds on public and private land.

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 ‘‘Harmful Nonnative

5 Weed Control Act of 2000’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—
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1 (1) public and private land in the United States

2 faces unprecedented and severe stress from harmful,

3 nonnative weeds;

4 (2) the economic and resource value of the land

5 is being destroyed as harmful nonnative weeds over6 take native vegetation, making the land unusable for

7 forage and for diverse plant and animal commu8 nities;

9 (3) damage caused by harmful nonnative weeds

10 has been estimated to run in the hundreds of mil11 lions of dollars annually;

12 (4) successfully fighting this scourge will re13 quire coordinated action by all affected stakeholders,

14 including Federal, State, and local governments, pri15 vate landowners, and nongovernmental organiza16 tions;

17 (5) the fight must begin at the local level, since

18 it is at the local level that persons feel the loss

19 caused by harmful nonnative weeds and will there20 fore have the greatest motivation to take effective

21 action; and

22 (6) to date, effective action has been hampered

23 by inadequate funding at all levels of government

24 and by inadequate coordination.

25 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are—
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1 (1) to provide assistance to eligible weed man2 agement entities in carrying out projects to control

3 or eradicate harmful, nonnative weeds on public and

4 private land;

5 (2) to coordinate the projects with existing

6 weed management areas and districts;

7 (3) in locations in which no weed management

8 entity, area, or district exists, to stimulate the for9 mation of additional local or regional cooperative

10 weed management entities, such as entities for weed

11 management areas or districts, that organize locally

12 affected stakeholders to control or eradicate weeds;

13 (4) to leverage additional funds from a variety

14 of public and private sources to control or eradicate

15 weeds through local stakeholders; and

16 (5) to promote healthy, diverse, and desirable

17 plant communities by abating through a variety of

18 measures the threat posed by harmful, nonnative

19 weeds.

20 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

21 In this Act:

22 (1) ADVISORY COMMITTEE.—The term ‘‘Advi23 sory Committee’’ means the advisory committee es24 tablished under section 5.
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1 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

2 the Secretary of the Interior.

3 (3) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of

4 the several States of the United States, the District

5 of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the

6 Virgin Islands, Guam, the Commonwealth of the

7 Northern Mariana Islands, and any other territory

8 or possession of the United States.

9 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.

10 The Secretary shall establish in the Office of the Sec11 retary a program to provide financial assistance through

12 States to eligible weed management entities to control or

13 eradicate harmful, nonnative weeds on public and private

14 land.

15 SEC. 5. ADVISORY COMMITTEE.

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish in

17 the Department of the Interior an advisory committee to

18 make recommendations to the Secretary regarding the an19 nual allocation of funds to States under section 6 and

20 other issues related to funding under this Act.

21 (b) COMPOSITION.—The Advisory Committee shall be

22 composed of not more than 10 individuals appointed by

23 the Secretary who—

24 (1) have knowledge and experience in harmful,

25 nonnative weed management; and
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1 (2) represent the range of economic, conserva2 tion, geographic, and social interests affected by

3 harmful, nonnative weeds.

4 (c) TERM.—The term of a member of the Advisory

5 Committee shall be 4 years.

6 (d) COMPENSATION.—

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—A member of the Advisory

8 Committee shall receive no compensation for the

9 service of the member on the Advisory Committee.

10 (2) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—A member of the Ad11 visory Committee shall be allowed travel expenses,

12 including per diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates

13 authorized for an employee of an agency under sub14 chapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United States

15 Code, while away from the home or regular place of

16 business of the member in the performance of the

17 duties of the Advisory Committee.

18 (e) FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT.—The

19 Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not

20 apply to the Advisory Committee.

21 SEC. 6. ALLOCATION OF FUNDS TO STATES.

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—In consultation with the Advisory

23 Committee, the Secretary shall allocate funds made avail24 able for each fiscal year under section 8 to States to pro25 vide funding in accordance with section 7 to eligible weed
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1 management entities to carry out projects approved by

2 States to control or eradicate harmful, nonnative weeds

3 on public and private land.

4 (b) AMOUNT.—The Secretary shall determine the

5 amount of funds allocated to a State for a fiscal year

6 under this section on the basis of—

7 (1) the seriousness of the harmful, nonnative

8 weed problem or potential problem in the State, or

9 a portion of the State;

10 (2) the extent to which the Federal funds will

11 be used to leverage non-Federal funds to address the

12 harmful, nonnative weed problems in the State;

13 (3) the extent to which the State has made

14 progress in addressing harmful, nonnative weed

15 problems in the State;

16 (4) the extent to which weed management enti17 ties in a State are eligible for base payments under

18 section 7; and

19 (5) other factors recommended by the Advisory

20 Committee and approved by the Secretary.

21 SEC. 7. USE OF FUNDS ALLOCATED TO STATES.

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—A State that receives an allocation

23 of funds under section 6 for a fiscal year shall use—
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1 (1) not more than 25 percent of the allocation

2 to make a base payment to each weed management

3 entity in accordance with subsection (b); and

4 (2) not less than 75 percent of the allocation to

5 make financial awards to weed management entities

6 in accordance with subsection (c).

7 (b) BASE PAYMENTS.—

8 (1) USE BY WEED MANAGEMENT ENTITIES.—

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—Base payments under

10 subsection (a)(1) shall be used by weed man11 agement entities—

12 (i) to pay the Federal share of the

13 cost of carrying out projects described in

14 subsection (d) that are selected by the

15 State in accordance with subsection (d); or

16 (ii) for any other purpose relating to

17 the activities of the weed management en18 tities, subject to guidelines established by

19 the State.

20 (B) FEDERAL SHARE.—Under subpara21 graph (A), the Federal share of the cost of car22 rying out a project described in subsection (d)

23 shall not exceed 50 percent.

24 (2) ELIGIBILITY OF WEED MANAGEMENT ENTI25 TIES.—To be eligible to obtain a base payment
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1 under paragraph (1) for a fiscal year, a weed man2 agement entity in a State shall—

3 (A) be established by local stakeholders—

4 (i) to control or eradicate harmful,

5 nonnative weeds on public or private land;

6 or

7 (ii) to increase public knowledge and

8 education concerning the need to control or

9 eradicate harmful, nonnative weeds on

10 public or private land;

11 (B)(i) for the first fiscal year for which the

12 entity receives a base payment, provide to the

13 State a description of—

14 (I) the purposes for which the entity

15 was established; and

16 (II) any projects carried out to accom17 plish those purposes; and

18 (ii) for any subsequent fiscal year for

19 which the entity receives a base payment, pro20 vide to the State—

21 (I) a description of the activities car22 ried out by the entity in the previous fiscal

23 year—
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1 (aa) to control or eradicate harm2 ful, nonnative weeds on public or pri3 vate land; or

4 (bb) to increase public knowledge

5 and education concerning the need to

6 control or eradicate harmful, non7 native weeds on public or private land;

8 and

9 (II) the results of each such activity;

10 and

11 (C) meet such additional eligibility require12 ments, and conform to such process for deter13 mining eligibility, as the State may establish.

14 (c) FINANCIAL AWARDS.—

15 (1) USE BY WEED MANAGEMENT ENTITIES.—

16 (A) IN GENERAL.—Financial awards under

17 subsection (a)(2) shall be used by weed man18 agement entities to pay the Federal share of

19 the cost of carrying out projects described in

20 subsection (d) that are selected by the State in

21 accordance with subsection (d).

22 (B) FEDERAL SHARE.—Under subpara23 graph (A), the Federal share of the cost of car24 rying out a project described in subsection (d)

25 shall not exceed 50 percent.
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1 (2) ELIGIBILITY OF WEED MANAGEMENT ENTI2 TIES.—To be eligible to obtain a financial award

3 under paragraph (1) for a fiscal year, a weed man4 agement entity in a State shall—

5 (A) meet the requirements for eligibility

6 for a base payment under subsection (b)(2);

7 and

8 (B) submit to the State a description of

9 the project for which the financial award is

10 sought.

11 (d) PROJECTS.—

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible weed manage13 ment entity may use a base payment or financial

14 award received under this section to carry out a

15 project relating to the control or eradication of

16 harmful, nonnative weeds on public or private land,

17 including—

18 (A) education, inventories and mapping,

19 management, monitoring, and similar activities,

20 including the payment of the cost of personnel

21 and equipment; and

22 (B) innovative projects, with results that

23 are disseminated to the public.

24 (2) SELECTION OF PROJECTS.—A State shall

25 select projects for funding under this section on a
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1 competitive basis, taking into consideration (with

2 equal consideration given to economic and natural

3 values)—

4 (A) the seriousness of the harmful, non5 native weed problem or potential problem ad6 dressed by the project;

7 (B) the likelihood that the project will pre8 vent or resolve the problem, or increase knowl9 edge about resolving similar problems in the fu10 ture;

11 (C) the extent to which the payment will

12 leverage non-Federal funds to address the

13 harmful, nonnative weed problem addressed by

14 the project;

15 (D) the extent to which the entity has

16 made progress in addressing harmful, nonnative

17 weed problems;

18 (E) the extent to which the project will

19 provide a comprehensive approach to the con20 trol or eradication of harmful, nonnative weeds;

21 (F) the extent to which the project will re22 duce the total population of a harmful, non23 native weed within the State; and

24 (G) other factors that the State determines

25 to be relevant.
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1 (3) SCOPE OF PROJECTS.—

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—A weed management

3 entity shall determine the geographic scope of

4 the harmful, nonnative weed problem to be ad5 dressed through a project using a base payment

6 or financial award received under this section.

7 (B) MULTIPLE STATES.—A weed manage8 ment entity may use the base payment or finan9 cial award to carry out a project to address the

10 harmful, nonnative weed problem of more than

11 1 State if the entity meets the requirements of

12 applicable State laws.

13 (4) LAND.—A weed management entity may

14 use a base payment or financial award received

15 under this section to carry out a project to control

16 or eradicate weeds on any public or private land

17 with the approval of the owner or operator of the

18 land, other than land that is devoted to the cultiva19 tion of row crops, fruits, or vegetables.

20 (5) PROHIBITION ON PROJECTS TO CONTROL

21 AQUATIC NOXIOUS WEEDS OR ANIMAL PESTS.—A

22 base payment or financial award under this section

23 may not be used to carry out a project to control or

24 eradicate aquatic noxious weeds or animal pests.
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1 (e) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—Not more than 5 per2 cent of the funds made available under section 8 for a

3 fiscal year may be used by the States or the Federal Gov4 ernment to pay the administrative costs of the program

5 established by this Act, including the costs of complying

6 with Federal environmental laws.

7 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

8 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums

9 as are necessary to carry out this Act.

Æ