I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6276 

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to identify and declare wildlife 

disease emergencies and to coordinate rapid response to these emergencies, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 29, 2010 

Ms. SHEA-PORTER (for herself and Ms. BORDALLO) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural 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 authorize the Secretary of the Interior to identify and 

declare wildlife disease emergencies and to coordinate 

rapid response to these emergencies, 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 ‘‘Wildlife Disease Emer5 gency Act of 2010’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 

7 The purposes of this Act are to— 


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1 (1) authorize the Secretary of the Interior to 

2 identify and declare wildlife disease emergencies; 

3 (2) establish a fund through which the Sec4 retary may coordinate rapid response to these emer5 gencies; and 

6 (3) prepare for, identify, and address diseases 

7 adversely affecting wildlife populations and biodiver8 sity through strategic and coordinated actions be9 tween the Federal agencies and State and local 

10 agencies, Indian tribes, and nongovernmental organi11 zations. 

12 SEC. 3. DECLARATION OF WILDLIFE DISEASE EMERGENCY. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Interior, in 

14 consultation with the Governor of a potentially affected 

15 State or States, may declare within such State or States 

16 a wildlife disease emergency for disease that is— 

17 (1) occurring within the United States; or 

18 (2) occurring outside the United States with 

19 the potential to enter the United States. 

20 (b) CONSIDERATIONS.—In making a declaration 

21 under subsection (a), the Secretary shall consider— 

22 (1) the level of threat the disease poses to af23 fected wildlife populations, based on the— 

24 (A) relative threat to population levels; 


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1 (B) relative strength of the contagion and 

2 spread of the disease; 

3 (C) observed rate of morbidity or mortality 

4 of the disease; and 

5 (D) priority of affected species or eco6 systems, including— 

7 (i) species listed under the Endan8 gered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 

9 1531 et seq.); 

10 (ii) species protected by the Migratory 

11 Bird Treaty Act (16 U.S.C. 703 et seq.), 

12 Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 

13 (16 U.S.C. 1361 et seq.), or other Federal 

14 statutes; 

15 (iii) species and habitats identified as 

16 priorities through the National Fish and 

17 Wildlife Climate Adaptation Plan or other 

18 Federal, State or local laws, regulations, 

19 and conservation plans; and 

20 (iv) wildlife located on Federal lands; 

21 (2) the sufficiency of resources available in the 

22 Wildlife Disease Emergency Fund established under 

23 section 4; 

24 (3) the ability of the Department of the Interior 

25 and other Federal, State, and local agencies, tribal 


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1 governments, and other stakeholders to address and 

2 coordinate response to the disease through other au3 thorities; and 

4 (4) the request of any State Governor to make 

5 such a declaration. 

6 (c) RESPONSE COORDINATION.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Upon a declaration of a 

8 wildlife disease emergency by the Secretary, the Sec9 retary shall lead a coordinated response to the emer10 gency that shall include appropriate Federal agen11 cies, State and local governments, Indian tribes, 

12 nongovernmental organizations, or other stake13 holders. 

14 (2) GRANT PROGRAM.—The Secretary shall de15 velop and implement a grant program to provide 

16 funding to State wildlife agencies and Indian tribes 

17 to address wildlife disease emergencies. 

18 SEC. 4. WILDLIFE DISEASE EMERGENCY FUND. 

19 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

20 Treasury of the United States a separate account, which 

21 shall be known as the ‘‘Wildlife Disease Emergency Fund’’ 

22 and shall consist of— 

23 (1) such amounts as are appropriated to the 

24 Secretary for activities to address wildlife disease 

25 emergencies authorized by this Act; and 


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1 (2) any amounts received by the Secretary as 

2 donations, gifts, or contributions identified for use to 

3 address wildlife disease emergencies. 

4 (b) EXPENDITURES FROM FUND.—Subject to the 

5 availability of appropriations, amounts in the fund shall 

6 be available to the Secretary for use in carrying out activi7 ties authorized by this Act. 

8 SEC. 5. WILDLIFE DISEASE COMMITTEE. 

9 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary may establish 

10 a Wildlife Disease Committee. The purpose of the Com11 mittee shall be to assist the Secretary in increasing the 

12 level of preparedness of the United States to address 

13 emerging wildlife diseases. 

14 (b) PURPOSE.—The Committee shall— 

15 (1) advise the Secretary on risk assessment, 

16 preparation, monitoring, research, and response to 

17 wildlife diseases that may significantly impact the 

18 health and sustainability of wildlife populations; and 

19 (2) draft reports, recommendations, plans, or 

20 other documents toward accomplishment of these 

21 purposes as appropriate. 

22 (c) MEMBERSHIP.—Members of the Committee— 

23 (1) shall be appointed by the Secretary from 

24 among individuals who are qualified by education, 

25 training, and experience; and 


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1 (2) shall include— 

2 (A) individuals employed by Federal and 

3 State agencies and tribal entities who have ex4 pertise in wildlife health, biology, ecology, wild5 life conservation, and natural resource manage6 ment; and 

7 (B) representatives of public and private 

8 organizations who have such expertise. 

9 (d) COMMITTEE CHAIR.—The Committee shall be 

10 chaired by the Secretary or a designee of the Secretary. 

11 (e) STAFFING AND ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary 

12 shall make available to the Committee any staff, informa13 tion, administrative services, or assistance the Secretary 

14 determines is reasonably required to enable the Committee 

15 to carry out its functions. 

16 (f) RENEWAL.—Notwithstanding the Federal Advi17 sory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. 5 et al.), the Secretary may 

18 renew the Committee beyond the date it would otherwise 

19 terminate under that Act. 

20 SEC. 6. RAPID RESPONSE TEAMS. 

21 The Secretary, in consultation with the Committee as 

22 appropriate, may convene rapid response teams to address 

23 any particular wildlife disease emergency. 

24 SEC. 7. SAVINGS CLAUSE. 

25 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to— 


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1 (1) limit the Secretary’s authority to respond to 

2 wildlife disease events that are not declared wildlife 

3 disease emergencies under this Act; or 

4 (2) limit, repeal, supersede, or modify any pro5 vision of Federal, State, local, or tribal laws and reg6 ulations. 

7 SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS. 

8 In this Act: 

9 (1) DISEASE.—The term ‘‘disease’’ means an 

10 infectious or noninfectious, pathological condition oc11 curring in a susceptible population of wildlife, and 

12 that is not zoonotic. 

13 (2) FUND.—The term ‘‘fund’’ means the Wild14 life Disease Emergency Fund as established by sec15 tion 4. 

16 (3) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ 

17 has the meaning given that term in section 4 of the 

18 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 

19 Act (25 U.S.C. 450b). 

20 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

21 the Secretary of the Interior. 

22 (5) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means any 

23 State, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, 

24 Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana 


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1 Islands, Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin 

2 Islands. 

3 (6) UNITED STATES.—The term ‘‘United 

4 States’’ includes the States and the territories and 

5 possessions of the United States. 

6 (7) WILDLIFE.—The term ‘‘wildlife’’ means any 

7 species native to the United States including non8 domesticated mammals, fish, birds, amphibians, rep9 tiles, mollusks, and arthropods. 

10 (8) WILDLIFE DISEASE EMERGENCY.—The 

11 term ‘‘wildlife disease emergency’’ means a disease 

12 that is— 

13 (A) infectious and caused by a newly dis14 covered pathogen or a known infectious disease 

15 that is expanding its geographic range, species 

16 impacted, or other recognized impacts; 

17 (B) posing significant threats to the sus18 tainability of a wildlife species; 

19 (C) spreading rapidly; or 

20 (D) posing a significant threat to the 

21 health of a functioning ecosystem in a priority 

22 landscape identified as part of the National 

23 Fish and Wildlife Climate Change Adaptation 


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1 Plan or another Federal, State, local, or tribal 

2 law, regulation, or conservation plan. 

Æ 


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