I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1592 

To establish marine and freshwater research, development, and demonstration 

programs to support efforts to prevent, control, and eradicate invasive 

species, as well as to educate citizens and stakeholders and restore 

ecosystems. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 13, 2005 

Mr. EHLERS (for himself, Mr. GILCHREST, Mr. BOEHLERT, Mr. BAIRD, Mr. 

HONDA, and Mr. KIRK) introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Science, and in addition to the Committees on 

Transportation and Infrastructure, Resources, and House Administration, 

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 establish marine and freshwater research, development, 

and demonstration programs to support efforts to prevent, control, and eradicate invasive species, as well as 

to educate citizens and stakeholders and restore ecosystems. 

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 ‘‘Aquatic Invasive Spe5 cies Research Act’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 The Congress makes the following findings: 

3 (1) Aquatic invasive species damage infrastruc4 ture, disrupt commerce, outcompete native species, 

5 reduce biodiversity, and threaten human health. 

6 (2) The direct and indirect costs of aquatic 

7 invasive species to our Nation’s economy number in 

8 the billions of dollars per year. In the Great Lakes 

9 region, approximately $3,000,000,000 dollars have 

10 been spent in the past 10 years to mitigate the dam11 age caused by one invasive species, the zebra mussel. 

12 (3) Recent studies have shown that, in addition 

13 to economic damage, invasive species cause enor14 mous environmental damage, and have cited invasive 

15 species as the second leading threat to endangered 

16 species. 

17 (4) Over the past 200 years, the rate of de18 tected marine and freshwater invasions in North 

19 America has increased exponentially. 

20 (5) The rate of invasions continues to grow 

21 each year. 

22 (6) Marine and freshwater research underlies 

23 every aspect of detecting, preventing, controlling, 

24 and eradicating invasive species, educating citizens 

25 and stakeholders, and restoring ecosystems. 
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1 (7) Current Federal efforts, including research 

2 efforts, have focused primarily on controlling estab3 lished invasive species, which is both costly and often 

4 unsuccessful. An emphasis on research, development, 

5 and demonstration to support efforts to prevent 

6 invasive species or eradicate them upon entry into 

7 United States waters would likely result in a more 

8 cost-effective and successful approach to combating 

9 invasive species through preventing initial introduc10 tion. 

11 (8) Research, development, and demonstration 

12 to support prevention and eradication includes moni13 toring of both pathways and ecosystems to track the 

14 introduction and establishment of nonnative species, 

15 and development and testing of technologies to pre16 vent introduction through known pathways. 

17 (9) Therefore, Congress finds that it is in the 

18 United States interest to conduct a comprehensive 

19 and thorough research, development, and demonstra20 tion program on aquatic invasive species in order to 

21 better understand how aquatic invasive species are 

22 introduced and become established and to support 

23 efforts to prevent the introduction and establishment 

24 of, and to eradicate, these species. 
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1 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) ADMINISTERING AGENCIES.—The term ‘‘ad4 ministering agencies’’ means— 

5 (A) the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

6 Administration (including the Great Lakes En7 vironmental Research Laboratory); 

8 (B) the Smithsonian Institution (acting 

9 through the Smithsonian Environmental Re10 search Center); and 

11 (C) the United States Geological Survey. 

12 (2) AQUATIC ECOSYSTEM.—The term ‘‘aquatic 

13 ecosystem’’ means a freshwater, marine, or estuarine 

14 environment (including inland waters, riparian 

15 areas, and wetlands) located in the United States. 

16 (3) BALLAST WATER.—The term ‘‘ballast 

17 water’’ means any water (with its suspended matter) 

18 used to maintain the trim and stability of a vessel. 

19 (4) INVASION.—The term ‘‘invasion’’ means the 

20 introduction and establishment of an invasive species 

21 into an ecosystem beyond its historic range. 

22 (5) INVASIVE SPECIES.—The term ‘‘invasive 

23 species’’ means a species— 

24 (A) that is nonnative to the ecosystem 

25 under consideration; and 
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1 (B) whose introduction causes or may 

2 cause harm to the economy, the environment, or 

3 human health. 

4 (6) INVASIVE SPECIES COUNCIL.—The term 

5 ‘‘Invasive Species Council’’ means the council estab6 lished by section 3 of Executive Order No. 13112 

7 (42 U.S.C. 4321 note). 

8 (7) PATHWAY.—The term ‘‘pathway’’ means 1 

9 or more routes by which an invasive species is trans10 ferred from one ecosystem to another. 

11 (8) SPECIES.—The term ‘‘species’’ means any 

12 fundamental category of taxonomic classification or 

13 any viable biological material ranking below a genus 

14 or subgenus. 

15 (9) TASK FORCE.—The term ‘‘Task Force’’ 

16 means the Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force es17 tablished by section 1201(a) of the Nonindigenous 

18 Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act of 

19 1990 (16 U.S.C. 4721(a)). 

20 (10) TYPE APPROVAL.—The term ‘‘type ap21 proval’’ means an approval procedure under which a 

22 type of system is certified as meeting a standard es23 tablished pursuant to Federal law for a particular 

24 application. 
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1 SEC. 4. COORDINATION AND IMPLEMENTATION. 

2 (a) COORDINATION.—In carrying out this Act, the 

3 administering agencies shall coordinate with— 

4 (1) appropriate State agencies; 

5 (2) the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Environ6 mental Protection Agency, and other appropriate 

7 Federal agencies; and 

8 (3) the Task Force and Invasive Species Coun9 cil. 

10 (b) IMPLEMENTATION.—The administering agencies 

11 shall enter into a memorandum of understanding regard12 ing the implementation of this Act, which shall include the 

13 coordination required by subsection (a). 

14 (c) COOPERATION.—In carrying out this Act, the ad15 ministering agencies shall contract, as appropriate, or oth16 erwise cooperate with academic researchers. 

17 (d) STRUCTURE.—To the extent practicable, the ad18 ministering agencies shall carry out this Act working with19 in the organizational structure of the Task Force and 

20 Invasive Species Council. 

21 SEC. 5. ECOLOGICAL AND PATHWAY RESEARCH. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—The administering agencies shall 

23 develop and conduct a marine and fresh-water research 

24 program which shall include ecological and pathway sur25 veys and experimentation to detect nonnative aquatic spe26 cies in aquatic ecosystems and to assess rates and patterns 
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1 of introductions of nonnative aquatic species in aquatic 

2 ecosystems. The goal of this marine and freshwater re3 search program shall be to support efforts to prevent the 

4 introduction of, detect, and eradicate invasive species 

5 through informing early detection and rapid response ef6 forts, informing relevant policy decisions, and assessing 

7 the effectiveness of implemented policies to prevent the in8 troduction and spread of aquatic invasive species. Surveys 

9 and experiments under this subsection shall be commenced 

10 not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment 

11 of this Act. 

12 (b) PROTOCOL DEVELOPMENT.—The administering 

13 agencies shall establish standardized protocols for con14 ducting ecological and pathway surveys of nonnative 

15 aquatic species under subsection (a) that are integrated 

16 and produce comparable data. Protocols shall, as prac17 ticable, be integrated with existing protocols and data col18 lection methods. In developing the protocols under this 

19 subsection, the administering agencies shall draw on the 

20 recommendations gathered at the workshop under sub21 section (g). The protocols shall be peer reviewed, and re22 vised as necessary. Protocols shall be completed within 1 

23 year after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
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1 (c) ECOLOGICAL AND PATHWAY SURVEY REQUIRE2 MENTS.—(1) Each ecological survey conducted under sub3 section (a) shall, at a minimum— 

4 (A) document baseline ecological information of 

5 the aquatic ecosystem including, to the extent prac6 ticable, a comprehensive inventory of native species, 

7 nonnative species, and species of unknown origin 

8 present in the ecosystem, as well as the chemical 

9 and physical characteristics of the water and under10 lying substrate; 

11 (B) for nonnative species, gather information to 

12 assist in identifying their life history, environmental 

13 requirements and tolerances, the historic range of 

14 their native ecosystems, and their history of spread15 ing from their native ecosystems; 

16 (C) track the establishment of nonnative species 

17 including information about the estimated abun18 dance of nonnative organisms in order to allow an 

19 analysis of the probable date of introduction of the 

20 species; and 

21 (D) identify the likely pathway of entry of non22 native species. 

23 (2) Each pathway survey conducted under this sec24 tion shall, at a minimum— 
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1 (A) identify what nonnative aquatic species are 

2 being introduced or may be introduced through the 

3 pathways under consideration; 

4 (B) determine the quantities of organisms being 

5 introduced through the pathways under consider6 ation; and 

7 (C) determine the practices that contributed to 

8 or could contribute to the introduction of nonnative 

9 aquatic species through the pathway under consider10 ation. 

11 (d) NUMBER AND LOCATION OF SURVEY SITES.— 

12 The administering agencies shall designate the number 

13 and location of survey sites necessary to carry out marine 

14 and freshwater research required under this section. In 

15 establishing sites under this subsection or subsection (e), 

16 emphasis shall be on the geographic diversity of sites, as 

17 well as the diversity of the human uses and biological char18 acteristics of sites. 

19 (e) COMPETITIVE GRANT PROGRAM.—The National 

20 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the United 

21 States Geological Survey shall jointly administer a pro22 gram to award competitive, peer-reviewed grants to aca23 demic institutions, State agencies, and other appropriate 

24 groups, in order to assist in carrying out subsection (a), 

25 and shall include to the maximum extent practicable di-
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1 verse institutions, including Historically Black Colleges 

2 and Universities and those serving large proportions of 

3 Hispanics, Native Americans, Asian-Pacific Americans, or 

4 other underrepresented populations. 

5 (f) SHIP PATHWAY SURVEYS.—Section 

6 1102(b)(2)(B)(ii) of the Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance 

7 Prevention and Control Act of 1990 (16 U.S.C. 

8 4712(b)(2)(B)(ii)) is amended to read as follows: 

9 ‘‘(ii) examine other potential modes 

10 for the introduction of nonnative aquatic 

11 species by ship, including hull fouling.’’. 

12 (g) WORKSHOP.—In order to support the develop13 ment of the protocols and design for the surveys under 

14 subsections (b) and (c), and to determine how to obtain 

15 consistent, comparable data across a range of ecosystems, 

16 the administering agencies shall convene at least one 

17 workshop with appropriate researchers and representa18 tives involved in the management of aquatic invasive spe19 cies from Federal and State agencies and academic insti20 tutions to gather recommendations. The administering 

21 agencies shall make the results of the workshop widely 

22 available to the public. The workshop shall be held within 

23 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

24 (h) EXPERIMENTATION.—The administering agen25 cies shall conduct research to identify the relationship be-
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1 tween the introduction and establishment of nonnative 

2 aquatic species, including those legally introduced, and the 

3 circumstances necessary for those species to become 

4 invasive. 

5 (i) NATIONAL PATHWAY AND ECOLOGICAL SURVEYS

6 DATABASE.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The United States Geologi8 cal Survey shall develop, maintain, and update, in 

9 consultation and cooperation with the Smithsonian 

10 Institution (acting through the Smithsonian Envi11 ronmental Research Center), the National Oceanic 

12 and Atmospheric Administration, and the Task 

13 Force, a central, national database of information 

14 concerning information collected under this section. 

15 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—The database shall— 

16 (A) be widely available to the public; 

17 (B) be updated not less than once a quar18 ter; 

19 (C) be coordinated with existing databases, 

20 both domestic and foreign, collecting similar in21 formation; and 

22 (D) be, to the maximum extent practicable, 

23 formatted such that the data is useful for both 

24 researchers and Federal and State employees 

25 managing relevant invasive species programs. 
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1 SEC. 6. ANALYSIS. 

2 (a) INVASION ANALYSIS.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years after 

4 the date of the enactment of this Act, and every year 

5 thereafter, the administering agencies shall analyze 

6 data collected under section 5 and other relevant re7 search on the rates and patterns of invasions by 

8 aquatic invasive species in waters of the United 

9 States. The purpose of this analysis shall be to use 

10 the data collected under section 5 and other relevant 

11 research to support efforts to prevent the introduc12 tion of, detect, and eradicate invasive species 

13 through informing early detection and rapid re14 sponse efforts, informing relevant policy decisions, 

15 and assessing the effectiveness of implemented poli16 cies to prevent the introduction and spread of 

17 invasive species. 

18 (2) CONTENTS.—The analysis required under 

19 paragraph (1) shall include with respect to aquatic 

20 invasive species— 

21 (A) an analysis of pathways, including— 

22 (i) identifying, and characterizing as 

23 high, medium, or low risk, pathways re24 gionally and nationally; 

25 (ii) identifying new and expanding 

26 pathways; 
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1 (iii) identifying handling practices 

2 that contribute to the introduction of spe3 cies in pathways; and 

4 (iv) assessing the risk that species le5 gally introduced into the United States 

6 pose for introduction into aquatic eco7 systems; 

8 (B) patterns and rates of invasion and sus9 ceptibility to invasion of various bodies of 

10 water; 

11 (C) how the risk of establishment through 

12 a pathway is related to the identity and number 

13 of organisms transported; 

14 (D) rates of spread and numbers and types 

15 of pathways of spread of new populations of the 

16 aquatic invasive species and an estimation of 

17 the potential spread and distribution of newly 

18 introduced invasive species based on their envi19 ronmental requirements and historical distribu20 tion; 

21 (E) documentation of factors that influ22 ence an ecosystem’s vulnerability to a nonnative 

23 aquatic species becoming invasive; 
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1 (F) a description of the potential for, and 

2 impacts of, pathway management programs on 

3 invasion rates; 

4 (G) recommendations for improvements in 

5 the effectiveness of pathway management; 

6 (H) to the extent practical, a determina7 tion of the level of reduction in live organisms 

8 of various taxonomic groups required to reduce 

9 the risk of establishment to receiving aquatic 

10 ecosystems to an acceptable level; and 

11 (I) an evaluation of the effectiveness of 

12 management actions (including any standard) 

13 at preventing nonnative species introductions 

14 and establishment. 

15 (b) RESEARCH TO ASSESS THE POTENTIAL OF THE

16 ESTABLISHMENT OF INTRODUCED SPECIES.—Within 2 

17 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the ad18 ministering agencies shall develop a profile, based on the 

19 general characteristics of invasive species and vulnerable 

20 ecosystems, in order to predict, to the extent practical, 

21 whether a species planned for importation is likely to in22 vade a particular aquatic ecosystem if introduced. In de23 veloping the profile, the above agencies shall analyze the 

24 research conducted under section 5, and other research 

25 as necessary, to determine general species and ecosystem 
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1 characteristics (taking into account the opportunity for in2 troduction into any ecosystem) and circumstances that can 

3 lead to establishment. Based on the profile, the Task 

4 Force shall make recommendations to the Invasive Species 

5 Council as to what planned importations of nonnative 

6 aquatic organisms should be restricted. This profile shall 

7 be peer-reviewed. 

8 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

9 are authorized to be appropriated for carrying out this sec10 tion and section 5 of this Act, and section 1102(b)(2) of 

11 the Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Con12 trol Act of 1990 (16 U.S.C. 4712(b)(2)) for each of the 

13 fiscal years 2006 through 2010— 

14 (1) $4,000,000 for the Smithsonian Environ15 mental Research Center; 

16 (2) $11,000,000 for the United States Geologi17 cal Survey (including activities through the Coopera18 tive Fish and Wildlife Research Program), of which 

19 $6,500,000 shall be for the grant program under 

20 section 5(e), and of which $500,000 shall be for de21 veloping, maintaining, and updating the database 

22 under section 5(i); and 

23 (3) $10,500,000 for the National Oceanic and 

24 Atmospheric Administration, of which $6,500,000 

25 shall be for the grant program under section 5(e). 
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1 SEC. 7. DISSEMINATION. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Invasive Species Council, in 

3 coordination with the Task Force and the administering 

4 agencies, shall be responsible for disseminating the infor5 mation collected under this Act to the public, including 

6 Federal, State, and local entities, relevant policymakers, 

7 and private researchers with responsibility over or interest 

8 in aquatic invasive species. 

9 (b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 3 years 

10 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Invasive 

11 Species Council shall report actions and findings under 

12 section 6 to the Congress, and shall update this report 

13 once every 3 years thereafter, or more often as necessary. 

14 (c) RESPONSE STRATEGY.—The Invasive Species 

15 Council, in coordination with the Task Force, the admin16 istering agencies, and other appropriate Federal and State 

17 agencies, shall develop and implement a national strategy 

18 for how information collected under this Act will be shared 

19 with Federal, State, and local entities with responsibility 

20 for determining response to the introduction of potentially 

21 invasive aquatic species, to enable those entities to better 

22 and more rapidly respond to such introductions. 

23 (d) PATHWAY PRACTICES.—The Invasive Species 

24 Council, in coordination with the Task Force and the ad25 ministering agencies, shall disseminate information to, 

26 and develop an ongoing educational program for, pathway 
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1 users (including vendors and customers) on how their 

2 practices could be modified to prevent the intentional or 

3 unintentional introduction of nonnative aquatic species 

4 into aquatic ecosystems. 

5 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

6 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of the 

7 Interior for each of the fiscal years 2006 through 2010 

8 $500,000 for the Invasive Species Council for carrying out 

9 this section. 

10 SEC. 8. TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT, DEMONSTRATION, 

11 AND VERIFICATION. 

12 (a) ENVIRONMENTALLY SOUND TECHNOLOGY DE13 VELOPMENT, DEMONSTRATION, AND VERIFICATION.— 

14 (1) GRANT PROGRAM.—Not later than 1 year 

15 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the En16 vironmental Protection Agency, acting through the 

17 Office of Research and Development, in consultation 

18 with the Army Corps of Engineers, the admin19 istering agencies, and the Task Force, shall develop 

20 and begin administering a grant program to fund re21 search, development, demonstration, and verification 

22 of environmentally sound cost-effective technologies 

23 and methods to control and eradicate aquatic 

24 invasive species. 
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1 (2) PURPOSES.—Proposals funded under this 

2 subsection shall— 

3 (A) seek to support Federal, State, or local 

4 officials’ ongoing efforts to control and eradi5 cate aquatic invasive species in an environ6 mentally sound manner; 

7 (B) increase the number of environ8 mentally sound technologies or methods Fed9 eral, State, or local officials may use to control 

10 or eradicate aquatic invasive species; 

11 (C) provide for demonstration or dissemi12 nation of the technology or method to potential 

13 end-users; and 

14 (D) verify that any technology or method 

15 meets any appropriate criteria developed for ef16 fectiveness and environmental soundness by the 

17 Environmental Protection Agency. 

18 (3) PREFERENCE.—The Administrator of the 

19 Environmental Protection Agency shall give pref20 erence to proposals that will likely meet any appro21 priate criteria developed for environmental sound22 ness by the Environmental Protection Agency. 

23 (4) MERIT REVIEW.—Grants shall be awarded 

24 under this subsection through a competitive, peer-re25 viewed process. 
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1 (5) REPORT.—Not later than 3 years after the 

2 date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator 

3 of the Environmental Protection Agency shall pre4 pare and submit a report to Congress on the pro5 gram conducted under this subsection. The report 

6 shall include findings and recommendations of the 

7 Administrator with regard to technologies and meth8 ods. 

9 (b) SHIP PATHWAY TECHNOLOGY DEMONSTRA10 TION.— 

11 (1) REAUTHORIZATION OF PROGRAM.—Section 

12 1301(e) of the Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance 

13 Prevention and Control Act of 1990 (16 U.S.C. 

14 4741(e)) is amended by striking ‘‘$2,500,000’’ and 

15 inserting ‘‘$7,500,000 for each of the fiscal years 

16 2006 through 2010’’. 

17 (2) EXPANSION OF PROGRAM.—Section 1104(b) 

18 of the Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention 

19 and Control Act of 1990 (16 U.S.C. 4714(b)) is 

20 amended— 

21 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (4) and 

22 (5) as paragraphs (5) and (6), respectively; and 

23 (B) by inserting after paragraph (3) the 

24 following new paragraph: 
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1 ‘‘(4) ADDITIONAL PURPOSES.—The Secretary 

2 of the Interior and the Secretary of Commerce may 

3 also demonstrate and verify technologies under this 

4 subsection to monitor and control pathways of orga5 nism transport on ships other than through ballast 

6 water.’’. 

7 (3) CRITERIA AND WORKSHOP.—Section 1104 

8 of the Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention 

9 and Control Act of 1990 (16 U.S.C. 4714) is 

10 amended by adding at the end the following new 

11 subsections: 

12 ‘‘(d) CRITERIA.—When issuing grants under this sec13 tion, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra14 tion shall give preference to those technologies that will 

15 likely meet the criteria laid out in any testing protocol de16 veloped by the Environmental Protection Agency Office of 

17 Research and Development’s Environmental Technology 

18 Verification Program. 

19 ‘‘(e) WORKSHOP.—The National Oceanic and Atmos20 pheric Administration shall hold an annual workshop of 

21 principal investigators funded under this section and re22 searchers conducting research directly related to ship 

23 pathway technology development, for information ex24 change, and shall make the proceedings widely available 

25 to the public.’’. 
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1 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

2 are authorized to be appropriated for each of the fiscal 

3 years 2006 through 2010 $2,500,000 for the Environ4 mental Protection Agency to carry out subsection (a). 

5 SEC. 9. RESEARCH TO SUPPORT THE SETTING AND IMPLE6 MENTATION OF SHIP PATHWAY STANDARDS. 

7 (a) RESEARCH PROGRAM.—The Coast Guard and the 

8 Environmental Protection Agency, in coordination with 

9 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 

10 the Task Force, and other appropriate Federal agencies 

11 and academic researchers, shall develop a coordinated re12 search program to support the promulgation and imple13 mentation of standards to prevent the introduction and 

14 spread of invasive species by ships that shall include— 

15 (1) characterizing physical, chemical, and bio16 logical harbor conditions relevant to ballast dis17 charge into United States waters to inform the de18 sign and implementation of ship vector control tech19 nologies and practices; 

20 (2) developing testing protocols for determining 

21 the effectiveness of vector monitoring and control 

22 technologies and practices; 

23 (3) researching and demonstrating methods for 

24 mitigating the spread of invasive species by coastal 

25 voyages, including exploring the effectiveness of al-
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1 ternative exchange zones in the near coastal areas 

2 and other methods proposed to reduce transfers of 

3 organisms; 

4 (4) verifying the practical effectiveness of any 

5 type approval process to ensure that the process pro6 duces repeatable and accurate assessments of treat7 ment effectiveness; and 

8 (5) evaluating the effectiveness and residual 

9 risk and environmental impacts associated with any 

10 standard set with respect to the ship pathway 

11 through experimental research. 

12 (b) WORKING GROUP.—Not later than 2 years after 

13 the issuance by the Coast Guard of any standard relating 

14 to the introduction by ships of invasive species, the Coast 

15 Guard shall convene a working group including the Envi16 ronmental Protection Agency, the administering agencies, 

17 and other appropriate Federal and State agencies and aca18 demic researchers, to evaluate the effectiveness of that 

19 standard and accompanying implementation protocols. 

20 The duties of the working group shall, at a minimum, in21 clude— 

22 (1) reviewing the effectiveness of the standard 

23 in reducing the establishment of invasive species in 

24 aquatic ecosystems, taking into consideration the 

25 data collected under section 5; and 
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1 (2) developing recommendations to the Coast 

2 Guard for the revision of such standard and type ap3 proval process to ensure effectiveness in reducing in4 troductions and accurate shipboard monitoring of 

5 treatment performance that is simple and stream6 lined, which shall be made widely available to the 

7 public. 

8 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

9 are authorized to be appropriated for each of the fiscal 

10 years 2006 through 2010 $1,500,000 for the Coast Guard 

11 and $1,500,000 for the Environmental Protection Agency 

12 to carry out subsection (a). 

13 SEC. 10. RESEARCH IN SYSTEMATICS AND TAXONOMY. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—The National Science Foundation 

15 shall establish a program to award grants to researchers 

16 at institutions of higher education and museums to carry 

17 out research programs in systematics and taxonomy. 

18 (b) GOALS.—The goals of the program under this 

19 section are to— 

20 (1) encourage scientists to pursue careers in 

21 systematics and taxonomy to ensure a continuing 

22 knowledge base in these disciplines; 

23 (2) ensure that there will be adequate expertise 

24 in systematics and taxonomy to support Federal, 

25 State, and local needs to identify species; 
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1 (3) develop this expertise throughout the United 

2 States with an emphasis on regional diversity; and 

3 (4) draw on existing expertise in systematics 

4 and taxonomy at institutions of higher education 

5 and museums to train the next generation of system6 atists and taxonomists. 

7 (c) CRITERIA.—Grants shall be awarded under this 

8 section on a merit-reviewed competitive basis. Emphasis 

9 shall be placed on funding proposals in a diverse set of 

10 ecosystems and geographic locations, and, when applica11 ble, integrated with the United States Long Term Ecologi12 cal Research Network. Preference shall be given to pro13 posals that will include student participation, and to insti14 tutions and museums that actively train students to be15 come experts in taxonomy and systematics. 

16 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

17 are authorized to be appropriated to the National Science 

18 Foundation for carrying out this section $2,500,000 for 

19 each of the fiscal years 2006 through 2010. 

20 SEC. 11. STATE PROGRAMS. 

21 (a) PLAN.—The administering agencies, in coopera22 tion with the appropriate State agencies, shall develop a 

23 plan to— 
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1 (1) conduct a survey of methods States and 

2 Federal agencies are using to control or eradicate 

3 aquatic invasive species; 

4 (2) facilitate the exchange of information 

5 among States and Federal agencies on methods 

6 States or Federal agencies have found to be effective 

7 at controlling or eradicating aquatic invasive species 

8 and the costs of those methods; and 

9 (3) evaluate the cost-effectiveness of the various 

10 methods States and Federal agencies are using to 

11 control or eradicate aquatic invasive species. 

12 (b) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the date 

13 of enactment of this Act, the administering agencies shall 

14 jointly transmit to the Congress the plan described in sub15 section (a) and the expected costs of carrying out the plan. 

Æ