I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1389 

To amend the Plant Protection Act for purposes of mitigating the threat 

of invasive species, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 25, 2021 

Mr. WELCH (for himself, Ms. KUSTER, Mr. PAPPAS, and Ms. STEFANIK) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 

A BILL 

To amend the Plant Protection Act for purposes of mitigating the threat of invasive species, 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 ‘‘Invasive Species Pre5 vention and Forest Restoration Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. EXPANDING EMERGENCY AUTHORITY WITH RE7 SPECT TO INVASIVE SPECIES. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (a) of section 442 of 

9 the Plant Protection Act (7 U.S.C. 7772) is amended by 


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1 striking ‘‘noxious weed threatens’’ and inserting ‘‘noxious 

2 weed directly or indirectly threatens’’. 

3 (b) EMERGENCY DEFINED.—Section 442 of the 

4 Plant Protection Act (7 U.S.C. 7772) is amended by add5 ing at the end the following new subsection: 

6 ‘‘(d) EMERGENCY DEFINED.—In this section, the 

7 term ‘emergency’ means an outbreak of a plant pest or 

8 noxious weed that the Secretary determines is occurring 

9 at a time during which insufficient Federal funds are 

10 available to timely achieve the arrest, control, eradication, 

11 or prevention of the spread of such plant pest or noxious 

12 weed.’’. 

13 (c) DISBURSEMENT OF FUNDS.—Subsection (b) of 

14 section 442 of the Plant Protection Act (7 U.S.C. 7772) 

15 is amended by adding at the end the following: ‘‘Any funds 

16 so transferred with respect to a designation of an emer17 gency under subsection (a) shall be transferred not later 

18 than 60 days after the date on which such designation 

19 is made.’’. 

20 SEC. 3. FOREST RECLAMATION GRANTS. 

21 Subtitle K of the National Agricultural Research, Ex22 tension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3310 

23 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following 

24 new section: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 1473H. FOREST RECLAMATION GRANTS. 

2 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—The Sec3 retary, for purposes of addressing the critical threat to 

4 numerous tree species posed by non-native plant pests and 

5 noxious weeds, shall award competitive grants to eligible 

6 institutions under which such eligible institutions— 

7 ‘‘(1) conduct research to promote the restora8 tion of affected tree species, including research on— 

9 ‘‘(A) biological control of plant pests or 

10 noxious weeds threatening native tree species 

11 heavily damaged by non-native pests; 

12 ‘‘(B) exploration of genetic manipulation of 

13 plant pests or noxious weeds; 

14 ‘‘(C) enhancement of host-resistance mech15 anisms; and 

16 ‘‘(D) development of other strategies for 

17 restoring individual tree species; and 

18 ‘‘(2) develop and disseminate to the public tools 

19 and information based on the research conducted 

20 under this section. 

21 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE INSTITUTIONS.—An entity eligible to 

22 receive a grant under this section is any of the following: 

23 ‘‘(1) An agency of the Federal Government. 

24 ‘‘(2) A State cooperative institution. 


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1 ‘‘(3) A college or university offering a bacca2 laureate or higher degree in the study of food, for3 estry, and agricultural sciences. 

4 ‘‘(4) A nonprofit entity described in section 

5 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (and exempt 

6 from tax under section 501(a) of such Code). 

7 ‘‘(c) APPLICATION.—Each eligible institution seeking 

8 to receive a grant under this section shall submit a com9 prehensive forest restoration research program to the Sec10 retary at such time, in such manner, and containing such 

11 information as the Secretary may require. 

12 ‘‘(d) USE OF FUNDS.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible institution re14 ceiving a grant under this section may use funds re15 ceived through such grant only to conduct research 

16 intended to address specific questions related to the 

17 recovery of tree species native to the United States 

18 suffering severe levels of mortality caused by non-na19 tive plant pests or noxious weeds. 

20 ‘‘(2) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—An eligible in21 stitution receiving a grant under this section shall 

22 provide matching funds from non-Federal sources in 

23 an amount equal to not less than 20 percent of the 

24 grant. Indirect costs charged against a grant award25 ed under this section shall not exceed 30 percent of 


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1 the total Federal funds provided under the grant 

2 award. 

3 ‘‘(3) MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF GRANTS.—The 

4 total amount of grant funding a grant recipient is 

5 eligible to receive under this section shall not exceed 

6 $400,000 per year. 

7 ‘‘(e) COOPERATION AMONG ELIGIBLE INSTITU8 TIONS.—The Secretary, to the maximum extent prac9 ticable, shall encourage eligible institutions to cooperate 

10 in setting research priorities under this section. 

11 ‘‘(f) ADMINISTRATION.—In carrying out this sub12 section, the Secretary shall— 

13 ‘‘(1) establish a committee of experts composed 

14 of representatives of the Forest Service, the Animal 

15 and Plant Health Inspection Service, the Agricul16 tural Research Service, and State forestry agencies 

17 to advise the Secretary on criteria appropriate for— 

18 ‘‘(A) defining research topics eligible for 

19 funding under this section; 

20 ‘‘(B) reviewing grant proposals’ adherence 

21 to the purposes specified in subsection (a)(1); 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(C) membership in scientific peer review 

24 panels to review grant applications; 


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1 ‘‘(2) establish an advisory committee composed 

2 of representatives of land-grant colleges and univer3 sities and affiliated State agricultural experiment 

4 stations, the forest products industry, recreationists, 

5 and conservation organizations to assist the com6 mittee of experts established under paragraph (1) 

7 with respect to the responsibilities of such committee 

8 specified in subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C) of such 

9 paragraph; and 

10 ‘‘(3) submit, beginning one year after the date 

11 on which the first grant is awarded under this sec12 tion, and annually thereafter, to the Committee on 

13 Agriculture of the House of Representatives and the 

14 Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

15 of the Senate a report on the use of funds under 

16 this section in the previous year. 

17 ‘‘(g) FUNDING.—Of the funds available to the Com18 modity Credit Corporation, the Secretary shall make avail19 able to carry out this section— 

20 ‘‘(1) $3,000,000 for fiscal year 2022; 

21 ‘‘(2) $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2023; 

22 ‘‘(3) $8,000,000 for fiscal year 2024; and 

23 ‘‘(4) $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2025. 

24 ‘‘(h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section and in section 

25 1473I, the terms ‘plant pest’ and ‘noxious weed’ have the 


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1 meanings given such terms in section 403 of the Plant 

2 Protection Act (7 U.S.C. 7702).’’. 

3 SEC. 4. FOREST RESTORATION IMPLEMENTATION GRANTS. 

4 Subtitle K of the National Agricultural Research, Ex5 tension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3310 

6 et seq.), as amended by section 3, is further amended by 

7 adding at the end the following new section: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 1473I. FOREST RESTORATION IMPLEMENTATION 

9 GRANTS. 

10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may award grants 

11 on a competitive basis under this section to eligible entities 

12 to support— 

13 ‘‘(1) the implementation of research conducted 

14 pursuant to section 1473H; or 

15 ‘‘(2) any other solution that the committee es16 tablished under subsection (f)(1) of such section de17 termines to be an effective solution to restore forest 

18 tree species native to forests in the United States 

19 that have suffered severe levels of mortality caused 

20 by non-native plant pests or noxious weeds. 

21 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—An entity eligible to re22 ceive a grant under this section is any of the following: 

23 ‘‘(1) A cooperating forestry school. 

24 ‘‘(2) A land-grant college or university. 

25 ‘‘(3) A State agricultural experimental station. 


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1 ‘‘(4) A non-profit, non-governmental organiza2 tion. 

3 ‘‘(c) APPLICATION.—Each eligible institution seeking 

4 to receive a grant under this section shall submit an appli5 cation to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and 

6 containing such information as the Secretary may require. 

7 Such application shall demonstrate to the satisfaction of 

8 the Secretary that the entity has a program in effect with 

9 a forest restoration strategy that incorporates a majority 

10 of the following components: 

11 ‘‘(1) Collection and conservation of native tree 

12 genetic material. 

13 ‘‘(2) Production of propagules of native trees in 

14 numbers large enough for landscape scale restora15 tion. 

16 ‘‘(3) Preparation of planting sites in former 

17 habitats of the native tree species that is the subject 

18 of the proposal. 

19 ‘‘(4) Planting of native tree seedlings. 

20 ‘‘(5) Post-planting maintenance of native trees. 

21 ‘‘(d) SELECTION CRITERIA.—The Secretary shall se22 lect an eligible entity to receive a grant under this section 

23 based on the degree to which the entity’s application ad24 dresses the following criteria: 


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1 ‘‘(1) Risk posed to the forests of the State in 

2 which the work is to be conducted by non-native 

3 plant pest or noxious weed species present in the 

4 State. 

5 ‘‘(2) The proportion of such State’s forest com6 posed of species vulnerable to non-native plant pests 

7 or noxious weeds present in the United States. 

8 ‘‘(3) The non-native plant pests or noxious 

9 weeds’ rate of spread via natural or human-assisted 

10 means. 

11 ‘‘(4) The environmental and public health safe12 ty of the proposed project, as demonstrated by sup13 porting research. 

14 ‘‘(e) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—An eligible institu15 tion receiving a grant under this section shall provide 

16 matching funds from non-Federal sources in an amount 

17 equal to not less than 10 percent of the grant. Indirect 

18 costs charged against a grant awarded under this section 

19 shall not exceed 30 percent of the total Federal funds pro20 vided under the grant award. 

21 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

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

23 appropriated to carry out this section $25,000,000 

24 for each fiscal years 2022 through 2025. 


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1 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—Of the funds made available 

2 under paragraph (1) for a fiscal year, not more than 

3 5 percent of such amounts may be used by the Sec4 retary for expenses related to administering the pro5 gram under this section.’’. 

6 SEC. 5. STUDY ON PROTECTION OF FORESTS FROM NON7 NATIVE PESTS AND PATHOGENS. 

8 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find9 ings: 

10 (1) many separate Federal agencies have impor11 tant roles to play in addressing non-native plant 

12 pests and pathogens for stewardship and manage13 ment of American forests; 

14 (2) because of a lack of national policy non-na15 tive pests of forests have a low priority within all 

16 Federal agencies; 

17 (3) efforts to prevent the introduction and 

18 spread of such pests and pathogens, and especially 

19 to reduce the resulting damage and restore tree spe20 cies to forests, lack coordination and action. 

21 (b) STUDY.—The Secretary of Agriculture shall enter 

22 into an agreement with the National Academy of Sciences, 

23 or another nongovernmental entity the Secretary deter24 mines to be most appropriate, under which the National 

25 Academy of Sciences (or such other entity) will analyze 


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1 available resources in Federal agencies for research of, 

2 and solutions to non-native forest pests and pathogens. 

3 Such study shall make recommendations with respect to— 

4 (1) establishing a national policy to counter ef5 fectively the threat posed by non-native insects and 

6 disease pathogens to tree species, including pre7 venting the introduction and spread of such pests, 

8 minimizing the damage caused by such pests, and 

9 restoring affected tree species to the forest; 

10 (2) correcting the lack of mission identification 

11 and leadership among Federal agencies with respon12 sibility for management and repair of the decimation 

13 of affected species and associated ecological destruc14 tion; 

15 (3) addressing the low prioritization by such 

16 agencies of non-native pests of forests; 

17 (4) identifying expertise and site and facility re18 sources within such agencies, and improving coordi19 nation among such agencies with respect to manage20 ment of such damage, including coordination with 

21 academic institutions and other appropriate non22 profits; and 

23 (5) the establishment within the Department of 

24 Agriculture of a center for forest pest control, pre25 vention, and species restoration, including potential 


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1 organizational structures of such a center, with an 

2 emphasis on including representation of a wide vari3 ety of appropriate agencies within the center, includ4 ing the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, 

5 the Agriculture Research Service, the National Insti6 tute of Food and Agriculture, the Natural Resources 

7 Conservation Service, the Forest Service, and any 

8 other agency the Secretary determines is appro9 priate. 

10 (c) CONSULTATION.—The agreement referred to in 

11 subsection (b) shall require the National Academy of 

12 Sciences (or such other entity), in conducting such study, 

13 to consult with specialists in entomology, genetics, forest 

14 pathology, tree breeding, forest and urban ecology, and 

15 invasive species management. 

16 (d) USE OF EXISTING RESOURCES.—The agreement 

17 referred to in subsection (b) shall require the National 

18 Academy of Sciences (or such other entity), in making rec19 ommendations pursuant to the study conducted under 

20 such subsection, to make recommendations that use exist21 ing Federal resources and may be implemented through 

22 further legislative and administrative action for authoriza23 tion of mission, hiring of leadership, and appropriate fund24 ing. 


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1 (e) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The agreement referred 

2 to in subsection (b) shall require the National Academy 

3 of Sciences (or such other entity) to, not later than one 

4 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, submit 

5 to the Congress a report of the results of the study con6 ducted pursuant to such agreement that contains rec7 ommendations for legislative action. 

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