I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2182 

To require the Comptroller General of the United States to submit a report 

to Congress on the alternatives for the final disposition of Plum Island, 

including preservation of the island for conservation, education, and 

research, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 26, 2017 

Mr. ZELDIN (for himself, Ms. DELAURO, Ms. MENG, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. KING

of New York, Mr. SUOZZI, Mr. LANGEVIN, and Mr. COURTNEY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security 

A BILL 

To require the Comptroller General of the United States 

to submit a report to Congress on the alternatives for 

the final disposition of Plum Island, including preservation of the island for conservation, education, and research, 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 ‘‘Plum Island Preserva5 tion Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) The Federal Government has owned Plum 

4 Island, New York, since 1899. 

5 (2) Since 1954, the Plum Island Animal Dis6 ease Center has conducted unrivaled scientific re7 search on a variety of infectious animal-borne dis8 eases, including foot-and-mouth disease, resulting, 

9 most recently, in the development of a new cell line 

10 that rapidly and reliably detects this highly debili11 tating disease of livestock. 

12 (3) Over 62 years, the Center has had a strong, 

13 proven record of safety. 

14 (4) $23,200,000 in Federal dollars have been 

15 spent on upgrades to, and the maintenance of, the 

16 Center since January 2012. 

17 (5) In addition to the Center, Plum Island con18 tains cultural, historical, ecological, and natural re19 sources of regional and national significance. 

20 (6) Plum Island is situated where the Long Is21 land Sound and Peconic Bay meet, both of which 

22 are estuaries that are part of the National Estuary 

23 Program and are environmentally and economically 

24 significant to the region. 

25 (7) The Federal Government has invested hun26 dreds of millions of Federal dollars over the last two 


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1 decades to make long-term improvements with re2 spect to the conservation and management needs of 

3 Long Island Sound and Peconic Bay. 

4 (8) In a report submitted to Congress on April 

5 11, 2016, entitled ‘‘National Bio- and Agro-Defense 

6 Facility Construction Plan Update’’ the Department 

7 of Homeland Security noted that the new National 

8 Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility under construction 

9 on such date in Manhattan, Kansas, is, as of such 

10 date, fully paid for through a combination of Fed11 eral appropriations and funding from the State of 

12 Kansas. 

13 SEC. 3. REPORT REQUIRED ON FINAL DISPOSITION OF 

14 PLUM ISLAND. 

15 Not later than one year after the date of the enact16 ment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United 

17 States shall submit to Congress a report containing the 

18 following: 

19 (1) The alternatives for the final disposition of 

20 Plum Island, including the transfer of ownership to 

21 another Federal agency, a State or local govern22 ment, a nonprofit organization, or a combination 

23 thereof for the purpose of education, research, or 

24 conservation. 


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1 (2) With respect to each such alternative final 

2 disposition, an analysis of— 

3 (A) the effect such disposition would have 

4 on the island’s resources; 

5 (B) the remediation responsibilities under 

6 such disposition; 

7 (C) any future legislation necessary to im8 plement such disposition; 

9 (D) the possible implications and issues, if 

10 any, of implementing such disposition; 

11 (E) the costs of such disposition, including 

12 any potential costs related to the transition, 

13 hazard mitigation, and cleanup of property that 

14 would be incurred by a recipient of the property 

15 under such disposition; and 

16 (F) the potential revenue from such dis17 position. 

18 SEC. 4. SUSPENSION OF ACTION. 

19 No action, including any pre-sale marketing activity, 

20 may be taken to carry out section 538 of title V of division 

21 D of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2012 (Public 

22 Law 112–74; 125 Stat. 976) until at least 180 days after 

23 the report required by section 3 has been submitted to 

24 Congress. 

Æ 


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