I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 489 

To provide for an assessment of the extent of the invasion of Salt Cedar 

and Russian Olive on lands in the Western United States and efforts 

to date to control such invasion on public and private lands, including 

tribal lands, to establish a demonstration program to address the invasion 

of Salt Cedar and Russian Olive, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 1, 2005 

Mr. PEARCE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Agriculture, 

for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case 

for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 

committee concerned 

A BILL 

To provide for an assessment of the extent of the invasion 

of Salt Cedar and Russian Olive on lands in the Western 

United States and efforts to date to control such invasion 

on public and private lands, including tribal lands, to 

establish a demonstration program to address the invasion of Salt Cedar and Russian Olive, 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 ‘‘Salt Cedar and Rus3 sian Olive Control Assessment and Demonstration Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

5 In this Act: 

6 (1) SECRETARIES.—The term ‘‘Secretaries’’ 

7 means the Secretary of Agriculture, in cooperation 

8 with the Secretary of the Interior. 

9 (2) WESTERN UNITED STATES.—The term 

10 ‘‘Western United States’’ refers to the States de11 fined by the Act of June 17, 1902 (commonly known 

12 as the 1902 Reclamation Act; 43 U.S.C. 371 et 

13 seq.), which includes Arizona, California, Colorado, 

14 Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Kansas, Okla15 homa, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, Utah, 

16 Washington, and Wyoming. 

17 SEC. 3. ASSESSMENT OF SALT CEDAR AND RUSSIAN OLIVE 

18 INFESTATION IN WESTERN UNITED STATES. 

19 (a) ASSESSMENT.—Not later than one year after the 

20 date on which funds are first made available to carry out 

21 this section, the Secretaries shall complete an assessment 

22 of the extent of Salt Cedar and Russian Olive invasion 

23 in the Western United States. 

24 (b) CONTENT.—The assessment shall include the fol25 lowing: 
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1 (1) To the extent practicable, documentation of 

2 the quantity of water lost due to the infestation. 

3 (2) Documentation of the quantity of water 

4 saved due to various control methods, including the 

5 portion of saved water that returns to surface water 

6 or groundwater supplies and at what rates. 

7 (3) Determination of the optimum control 

8 method for the various land types and land uses. 

9 (4) Determination of what conditions indicate 

10 the need to remove such growth and the optimal 

11 methods for disposal or use of such growth. 

12 (5) Determination of methods to prevent the re13 growth and reintroduction of Salt Cedar and Rus14 sian Olive and to reestablish native species. 

15 (c) REPORT ON ASSESSMENT.— 

16 (1) PREPARATION AND CONTENT.—The Secre17 taries shall prepare a report containing the results 

18 of the assessment. The report shall identify long19 term management and funding strategies that could 

20 be implemented by Federal, State, Tribal, and pri21 vate land managers and owners on all land manage22 ment types to address the invasion of Salt Cedar 

23 and Russian Olive. The report shall also identify de24 ficiencies or areas for further study and where ac-
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1 tual field demonstrations would be useful in the con2 trol effort. 

3 (2) SUBMISSION.—The Secretaries shall submit 

4 the report to the Committee on Resources and the 

5 Committee on Agriculture of the House of Rep6 resentatives and the Committee on Agriculture, Nu7 trition, and Forestry and the Committee on Energy 

8 and Natural Resources of the Senate. 

9 (d) SUPPORT FOR IDENTIFICATION OF LONG-TERM

10 MANAGEMENT AND FUNDING STRATEGIES.—The Secre11 taries may make grants to institutions of higher education 

12 or nonprofit organizations (or both) with an established 

13 background and expertise in the public policy issues asso14 ciated with the control of Salt Cedar and Russian Olive 

15 to obtain technical experience, support, and recommenda16 tions related to the identification of the long-term manage17 ment and funding strategies required to be included in the 

18 report under subsection (c)(1). Each grant awarded under 

19 this subsection may not be less than $250,000. 

20 SEC. 4. DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM FOR CONTROL OF 

21 SALT CEDAR AND RUSSIAN OLIVE IN WEST22 ERN STATES. 

23 (a) DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS.— 

24 (1) PROJECTS REQUIRED.—Based on the re25 sults of the assessment and report in section 3, the 
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1 Secretaries shall initiate a program of not fewer 

2 than three demonstration projects in the Western 

3 United States designed to address the deficiencies 

4 and areas for further study to address the invasion 

5 of Salt Cedar and Russian Olive, including the test 

6 of additional control methods, identified by the re7 port. 

8 (2) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Secretaries may 

9 enter into an agreement with a State in the Western 

10 United States to carry out a demonstration project. 

11 If the Secretaries select a demonstration project for 

12 implementation on National Forest System lands, 

13 the Secretary of Agriculture shall be responsible for 

14 implementation of the project. 

15 (b) ELEMENTS OF PROJECTS.— 

16 (1) DESIGN AND SCALE.—Each demonstration 

17 project shall be designed with integrated methods 

18 and adaptive management strategies and carried out 

19 over time frames and spatial scales large enough to 

20 accomplish the goals laid out in the report. 

21 (2) SCIENTIFIC REVIEW.—Before being carried 

22 out, the methods and strategies proposed for each 

23 demonstration project shall be subject to review by 

24 scientific experts, including non-Federal experts, se25 lected by the Secretaries. The Secretaries may use 
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1 existing scientific review processes to the extent they 

2 comply with this requirement. 

3 (c) PROJECT COSTS AND COST SHARING.—The total 

4 cost of each demonstration project may not exceed 

5 $7,000,000, including the costs of planning, design, imple6 mentation, revegetation, maintenance, and monitoring. In 

7 the case of a demonstration project conducted on lands 

8 under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Interior or 

9 the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretaries may accept, 

10 but not require, funds or in-kind contributions, including 

11 State agency provided services. The Federal share of the 

12 costs of any activity on private lands funded under the 

13 project shall be no more than 75 percent of the total cost 

14 of the activity. 

15 (d) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—During the period 

16 in which the demonstration projects are carried out, the 

17 Secretaries shall submit to the congressional committees 

18 specified in section 3(c)(2) an annual report describing— 

19 (1) the demonstration projects; 

20 (2) the progress made in carrying out the 

21 projects during the period covered by the report; and 

22 (3) the costs of the projects under subsection 

23 (c). 

24 (e) MONITORING.—Demonstration projects shall in25 clude the following: 
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1 (1) Documentation of the quantity of water 

2 saved due to various control methods, including the 

3 portion of water saved that returns to surface water 

4 or groundwater supplies and at what rates. 

5 (2) Optimal revegetative states to prevent the 

6 regrowth and reintroduction of Salt Cedar and Rus7 sian Olive and to reestablish native species. 

8 (f) COOPERATION.—The Secretaries shall use the ex9 pertise of their various agencies, as well as other Federal 

10 agencies, institutions of higher education, State and local 

11 governments and political subdivisions thereof, including 

12 soil and water conservation districts, and Indian tribes, 

13 which are actively conducting assessments on or imple14 menting Salt Cedar and Russian Olive control activities. 

15 SEC. 5. RELATION TO OTHER AUTHORITY. 

16 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to affect, or 

17 otherwise bias, the use by the Secretaries of other statu18 tory or administrative authorities to plan or conduct Salt 

19 Cedar or Russian Olive control and eradication that is not 

20 planned or conducted under this Act. 

21 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

22 (a) ASSESSMENT.—There are authorized to be appro23 priated to the Secretaries $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2005 

24 to conduct the assessment required by section 3. 
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1 (b) GRANTS.—There are authorized to be appro2 priated to the Secretaries $1,000,000 for fiscal year 2005 

3 to award as grants under section 3(d). 

4 (c) DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS.—There are author5 ized to be appropriated to the Secretaries $18,000,000 for 

6 each of the fiscal years 2005 through 2009 to carry out 

7 the program of demonstration projects under section 4. 

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