II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2182 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 26, 2017 

Received 

AN ACT 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Plum Island Preserva3 tion Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) The Federal Government has owned Plum 

7 Island, New York, since 1899. 

8 (2) Since 1954, the Plum Island Animal Dis9 ease Center has conducted unrivaled scientific re10 search on a variety of infectious animal-borne dis11 eases, including foot-and-mouth disease, resulting, 

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

13 that rapidly and reliably detects this highly debili14 tating disease of livestock. 

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

16 proven record of safety. 

17 (4) $23,200,000 in Federal dollars have been 

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

19 Center since January 2012. 

20 (5) In addition to the Center, Plum Island con21 tains cultural, historical, ecological, and natural re22 sources of regional and national significance. 

23 (6) Plum Island is situated where the Long Is24 land Sound and Peconic Bay meet, both of which 

25 are estuaries that are part of the National Estuary 


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1 Program and are environmentally and economically 

2 significant to the region. 

3 (7) The Federal Government has invested hun4 dreds of millions of Federal dollars over the last 2 

5 decades to make long-term improvements with re6 spect to the conservation and management needs of 

7 Long Island Sound and Peconic Bay. 

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

9 11, 2016, entitled ‘‘National Bio- and Agro-Defense 

10 Facility Construction Plan Update’’ the Department 

11 of Homeland Security noted that the new National 

12 Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility under construction 

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

14 date, fully paid for through a combination of Fed15 eral appropriations and funding from the State of 

16 Kansas. 

17 SEC. 3. REPORT REQUIRED ON FINAL DISPOSITION OF 

18 PLUM ISLAND. 

19 Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment 

20 of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 

21 shall submit to Congress a report containing the following: 

22 (1) The alternatives for the final disposition of 

23 Plum Island, including the transfer of ownership to 

24 another Federal agency, a State or local govern25 ment, a nonprofit organization, or a combination 


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1 thereof for the purpose of education, research, or 

2 conservation. 

3 (2) With respect to each such alternative final 

4 disposition, an analysis of— 

5 (A) the effect such disposition would have 

6 on the island’s resources; 

7 (B) the remediation responsibilities under 

8 such disposition; 

9 (C) any future legislation necessary to im10 plement such disposition; 

11 (D) the possible implications and issues, if 

12 any, of implementing such disposition; 

13 (E) the costs of such disposition, including 

14 any potential costs related to the transition, 

15 hazard mitigation, and cleanup of property that 

16 would be incurred by a recipient of the property 

17 under such disposition; and 

18 (F) the potential revenue from such dis19 position. 

20 SEC. 4. SUSPENSION OF ACTION. 

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

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

23 D of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2012 (Public 

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


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1 the report required by section 3 has been submitted to 

2 Congress. 

Passed the House of Representatives July 25, 2017. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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