II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1238 

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

of invasive species, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 20, 2023 

Mr. WELCH (for himself, Mr. BRAUN, and Ms. HASSAN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

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. EMERGENCY AUTHORITY WITH RESPECT TO 

7 INVASIVE SPECIES. 

8 Section 442 of the Plant Protection Act (7 U.S.C. 

9 7772) is amended— 


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1 (1) in subsection (a), by inserting ‘‘directly or 

2 indirectly’’ before ‘‘threatens’’; 

3 (2) in subsection (b)— 

4 (A) by striking ‘‘shall remain’’ and insert5 ing the following: ‘‘shall— 

6 ‘‘(1) remain’’; 

7 (B) in paragraph (1) (as so designated), by 

8 striking the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; 

9 and’’; and 

10 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(2) be transferred not later than 60 days after 

12 the date on which the Secretary determines that 

13 there is an emergency described in subsection (a).’’; 

14 (3) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub15 section (d); and 

16 (4) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol17 lowing: 

18 ‘‘(c) EMERGENCY DETERMINATION.—In determining 

19 whether there is an emergency described in subsection (a), 

20 the Secretary shall consider, but shall not treat as a dis21 positive factor, whether there are sufficient Federal funds 

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

23 or prevention of the spread of the applicable plant pest 

24 or noxious weed.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. FOREST RECLAMATION GRANTS. 

2 Subtitle K of the National Agricultural Research, Ex3 tension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3310 

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

5 ‘‘SEC. 1473I. FOREST RECLAMATION GRANTS. 

6 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

7 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en8 tity’ means any of the following: 

9 ‘‘(A) A Federal agency. 

10 ‘‘(B) A State cooperative institution. 

11 ‘‘(C) A college or university offering a bac12 calaureate or higher degree in the study of 

13 food, forestry, and agricultural sciences. 

14 ‘‘(D) An organization described in section 

15 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

16 and exempt from taxation under section 501(a) 

17 of that Code. 

18 ‘‘(2) NOXIOUS WEED; PLANT PEST.—The terms 

19 ‘noxious weed’ and ‘plant pest’ have the meanings 

20 given those terms in section 403 of the Plant Pro21 tection Act (7 U.S.C. 7702). 

22 ‘‘(b) GRANT AWARDS.—For purposes of addressing 

23 the critical threat to numerous tree species posed by non24 native plant pests and noxious weeds, the Secretary shall 

25 award competitive grants to eligible entities under which 

26 the eligible entities shall— 


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1 ‘‘(1) conduct research to promote the restora2 tion of affected tree species, including research on— 

3 ‘‘(A) biological control of nonnative plant 

4 pests or noxious weeds threatening or heavily 

5 damaging native tree species; 

6 ‘‘(B) exploration of genetic manipulation of 

7 plant pests or noxious weeds; 

8 ‘‘(C) enhancement of pest-resistance mech9 anisms of hosts; and 

10 ‘‘(D) development of other strategies for 

11 restoring individual tree species; and 

12 ‘‘(2) develop, and disseminate to the public, 

13 tools and information based on the research con14 ducted under paragraph (1). 

15 ‘‘(c) APPLICATIONS.—An eligible entity seeking to re16 ceive a grant under this section shall submit to the Sec17 retary an application at such time, in such manner, and 

18 containing such information as the Secretary may require, 

19 including a description of a comprehensive forest restora20 tion research program to be carried out by the eligible en21 tity using the funds received through the grant. 

22 ‘‘(d) USE OF FUNDS.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity receiving 

24 a grant under this section shall use the funds re25 ceived through the grant to conduct research inVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:07 Apr 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1238.IS S1238

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1 tended to address specific questions relating to the 

2 recovery of tree species that are native to the United 

3 States and suffering severe levels of mortality caused 

4 by nonnative plant pests or noxious weeds. 

5 ‘‘(2) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity re7 ceiving a grant under this section shall provide 

8 matching funds from non-Federal sources in an 

9 amount equal to not less than 20 percent of the 

10 grant. 

11 ‘‘(B) INDIRECT COSTS.— 

12 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Indirect costs 

13 charged against a grant awarded under 

14 this section shall not exceed 30 percent of 

15 the total Federal funds provided under the 

16 grant award. 

17 ‘‘(ii) INCLUSIONS.—Indirect costs de18 scribed in clause (i) shall include— 

19 ‘‘(I) equipment used in relation 

20 to the grant; 

21 ‘‘(II) capital improvements of fa22 cilities that are necessary to carry out 

23 the grant; 

24 ‘‘(III) accounting costs, personnel 

25 costs, and administrative costs inVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:07 Apr 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1238.IS S1238

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1 curred by an eligible entity necessary 

2 to carry out the grant; and 

3 ‘‘(IV) such other costs as the 

4 Secretary determines to be appro5 priate. 

6 ‘‘(3) MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF GRANTS.—An eligi7 ble entity may not receive more than a total of 

8 $400,000 per year in grant funding under this sec9 tion. 

10 ‘‘(e) COOPERATION AMONG ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.— 

11 To the maximum extent practicable, the Secretary shall 

12 encourage eligible entities to cooperate in setting research 

13 priorities under this section. 

14 ‘‘(f) COMMITTEES.—In carrying out this section, the 

15 Secretary shall— 

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

17 of representatives of the Forest Service, the Animal 

18 and Plant Health Inspection Service, the Agricul19 tural Research Service, and State forestry agencies 

20 to advise the Secretary on criteria appropriate for— 

21 ‘‘(A) defining research topics eligible for 

22 funding under this section; 

23 ‘‘(B) reviewing the adherence of grant pro24 posals to the purposes described in subsection 

25 (b)(1); and 


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1 ‘‘(C) membership in scientific peer review 

2 panels to review grant applications under this 

3 section; and 

4 ‘‘(2) establish an advisory committee composed 

5 of representatives of land-grant colleges and univer6 sities and affiliated State agricultural experiment 

7 stations, the forest products industry, recreationists, 

8 and professional forester, conservation, and con9 servation scientist organizations to assist the com10 mittee of experts established under paragraph (1) 

11 with respect to the responsibilities of that committee 

12 described in subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C) of that 

13 paragraph. 

14 ‘‘(g) REPORTS.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

15 on which the first grant is awarded under this section, 

16 and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to the 

17 Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives 

18 and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and For19 estry of the Senate a report describing the use of funds 

20 under this section in the previous year. 

21 ‘‘(h) FUNDING.—Of the funds of the Commodity 

22 Credit Corporation, the Secretary shall use to carry out 

23 this section— 

24 ‘‘(1) $3,000,000 for fiscal year 2023; 

25 ‘‘(2) $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2024; 


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1 ‘‘(3) $8,000,000 for fiscal year 2025; and 

2 ‘‘(4) $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2026.’’. 

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 amended by adding 

7 at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 1473J. FOREST RESTORATION IMPLEMENTATION 

9 GRANTS. 

10 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

11 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en12 tity’ means any of the following: 

13 ‘‘(A) A cooperating forestry school. 

14 ‘‘(B) A land-grant college or university. 

15 ‘‘(C) A State agricultural experimental sta16 tion. 

17 ‘‘(D) An organization described in section 

18 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

19 and exempt from taxation under section 501(a) 

20 of that Code. 

21 ‘‘(2) NOXIOUS WEED; PLANT PEST.—The terms 

22 ‘noxious weed’ and ‘plant pest’ have the meanings 

23 given those terms in section 403 of the Plant Pro24 tection Act (7 U.S.C. 7702). 


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1 ‘‘(b) GRANT AWARDS.—The Secretary may award 

2 grants on a competitive basis under this section to eligible 

3 entities to support— 

4 ‘‘(1) the implementation of research conducted 

5 under section 1473I; or 

6 ‘‘(2) any other solution that the committee es7 tablished under subsection (f)(1) of that section de8 termines to be effective in restoring forest tree spe9 cies native to forests in the United States that have 

10 suffered severe levels of mortality caused by non11 native plant pests or noxious weeds. 

12 ‘‘(c) APPLICATION.—An eligible entity seeking to re13 ceive a grant under this section shall submit to the Sec14 retary an application at such time, in such manner, and 

15 containing such information as the Secretary may require, 

16 including a demonstration that the eligible entity has a 

17 program in effect with a forest restoration strategy that 

18 incorporates a majority of the following components: 

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

20 genetic material. 

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

22 numbers large enough for landscape-scale restora23 tion. 


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

2 habitats of the native tree species that are the sub3 jects of the application. 

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

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

6 ‘‘(d) SELECTION CRITERIA.—The Secretary shall se7 lect an eligible entity to receive a grant under this section 

8 based on the degree to which the application submitted 

9 by the eligible entity under subsection (c) addresses the 

10 following criteria: 

11 ‘‘(1) The risk posed to the forests of the State 

12 in which the work is to be conducted using funding 

13 received through the grant by nonnative plant pest 

14 or noxious weed species present in the State. 

15 ‘‘(2) The proportion of the forest land of the 

16 State composed of species vulnerable to nonnative 

17 plant pests or noxious weeds present in the United 

18 States. 

19 ‘‘(3) The rate of spread in the State, through 

20 natural or human-assisted means, of nonnative plant 

21 pests or noxious weeds. 

22 ‘‘(4) The environmental and public health safe23 ty of the project proposed to be conducted using 

24 funding received through the grant, as demonstrated 

25 by supporting research. 


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1 ‘‘(e) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity receiving 

3 a grant under this section shall provide matching 

4 funds from non-Federal sources in an amount equal 

5 to not less than 10 percent of the grant. 

6 ‘‘(2) INDIRECT COSTS.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Indirect costs charged 

8 against a grant awarded under this section 

9 shall not exceed 30 percent of the total Federal 

10 funds provided under the grant award. 

11 ‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS.—Indirect costs de12 scribed in subparagraph (A) shall include— 

13 ‘‘(i) equipment used in relation to the 

14 grant; 

15 ‘‘(ii) capital improvements of facilities 

16 that are necessary to carry out the grant; 

17 ‘‘(iii) accounting costs, personnel 

18 costs, and administrative costs incurred by 

19 an eligible entity necessary to carry out the 

20 grant; and 

21 ‘‘(iv) such other costs as the Secretary 

22 determines to be appropriate. 

23 ‘‘(f) FUNDING.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Of the funds of the Com25 modity Credit Corporation, the Secretary shall use 


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1 to carry out this section $25,000,000 for each of fis2 cal years 2023 through 2026. 

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

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

5 5 percent may be used by the Secretary for expenses 

6 relating to the administration of this section.’’. 

7 SEC. 5. STUDY ON PROTECTION OF FORESTS FROM NON8 NATIVE PLANT PESTS AND PATHOGENS. 

9 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 

10 (1) many Federal agencies have important roles 

11 to play in addressing nonnative plant pests and 

12 pathogens in the stewardship and management of 

13 forests by those Federal agencies; 

14 (2) because of a lack of national policy, non15 native plant pests and pathogens of forests are a low 

16 priority for all Federal agencies; and 

17 (3) efforts to prevent the introduction and 

18 spread of nonnative plant pests and pathogens, and 

19 especially to reduce the resulting damage and re20 store tree species to forests, lack coordination and 

21 action. 

22 (b) STUDY.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture 

24 (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall 

25 seek to enter into an agreement (referred to in this 


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1 section as the ‘‘Agreement’’) with the National 

2 Academy of Sciences, or another nongovernmental 

3 entity that the Secretary determines to be most ap4 propriate, under which the National Academy of 

5 Sciences or other entity, as applicable, not later than 

6 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, shall 

7 conduct, and submit to Congress a report describing 

8 the results of, a study to analyze the available re9 sources that Federal agencies have to research, and 

10 find solutions to, nonnative plant pests and patho11 gens. 

12 (2) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The report sub13 mitted pursuant to paragraph (1) shall include rec14 ommendations— 

15 (A) with respect to— 

16 (i) establishing a national policy to ef17 fectively counter the threat posed by non18 native pests and disease pathogens to tree 

19 species, including preventing the introduc20 tion and spread of those pests and patho21 gens, minimizing the damage caused by 

22 those pests and pathogens, and restoring 

23 affected tree species to the forest; 

24 (ii) improving coordination and co25 operation among Federal agencies with reVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:07 Apr 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1238.IS S1238

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1 sponsibility for management and repair of 

2 the decimation of tree species affected by 

3 nonnative pests and disease pathogens and 

4 associated ecological destruction; 

5 (iii) addressing the low prioritization 

6 by the Federal agencies described in clause 

7 (ii) of nonnative plant pests and pathogens 

8 affecting forests and trees; 

9 (iv)(I) identifying expertise and site 

10 and facility resources within the Federal 

11 agencies described in clause (ii); and 

12 (II) improving coordination among 

13 those agencies with respect to the manage14 ment and repair described in clause (ii), 

15 including coordination with academic insti16 tutions and other appropriate nonprofit or17 ganizations; 

18 (v) the establishment of a center for 

19 nonnative forest pest control, prevention, 

20 and species restoration within the Depart21 ment of Agriculture, including potential or22 ganizational structures of such a center, 

23 with an emphasis on including representa24 tion of a wide variety of appropriate agen25 cies within the center, including the AniVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:07 Apr 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1238.IS S1238

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1 mal and Plant Health Inspection Service, 

2 the Agriculture Research Service, the Na3 tional Institute of Food and Agriculture, 

4 the Natural Resources Conservation Serv5 ice, the Forest Service, and any other 

6 agency that the Secretary determines is 

7 appropriate; and 

8 (vi)(I) giving priority to the emer9 gency response of the Department of Agri10 culture to an emergency relating to non11 native pests and disease pathogens; 

12 (II) clarifying the coordination of the 

13 Department of Agriculture with other Fed14 eral agencies in responding to those emer15 gencies; and 

16 (III) identifying funding levels suffi17 cient to carry out responses to those emer18 gencies; and 

19 (B) that— 

20 (i) take into account existing Federal 

21 resources; and 

22 (ii) may be implemented through fur23 ther legislative and administrative action. 

24 (3) CONSULTATION.—The Agreement shall re25 quire the National Academy of Sciences or other enVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:07 Apr 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1238.IS S1238

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1 tity, as applicable, to consult with specialists in ento2 mology, genetics, forest pathology, tree breeding, 

3 forest and urban ecology, and invasive species man4 agement. 

Æ 


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