I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2081 

To amend the Animal Health Protection Act to establish a grant program 

for research on chronic wasting disease, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 4, 2019 

Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania (for himself, Mr. VELA, Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania, and Mr. CUELLAR) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 

A BILL 

To amend the Animal Health Protection Act to establish 

a grant program for research on chronic wasting disease, 

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 ‘‘Chronic Wasting Dis5 ease Research Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE RESEARCH GRANT 

2 PROGRAM. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Animal Health Protection 

4 Act is amended by inserting after section 10409A (7 

5 U.S.C. 8308a) the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 10409B. CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE RESEARCH 

7 GRANT PROGRAM. 

8 ‘‘(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 

9 ‘‘(1) a focus on research into the transmission 

10 of, resistance to, and epidemiology of chronic wast11 ing disease is needed to inform future policies to 

12 combat the disease and ensure the health of cervid 

13 populations; 

14 ‘‘(2) because States have diverse policies for ad15 dressing chronic wasting disease, the Federal Gov16 ernment should coordinate financial and technical 

17 support to States, State departments of agriculture, 

18 institutions of higher education, and research cen19 ters conducting scientific research on chronic wast20 ing disease; 

21 ‘‘(3) under current policies, chronic wasting dis22 ease remains a systemic threat to cervids; and 

23 ‘‘(4) scientific advances that lead to the ability 

24 to stop transmission of chronic wasting disease are 

25 needed to ensure the long-term viability of cervids. 

26 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 ‘‘(1) CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE.—The term 

2 ‘chronic wasting disease’ means the animal disease 

3 afflicting deer, elk, and moose populations that— 

4 ‘‘(A) is a transmissible disease of the nerv5 ous system resulting in distinctive lesions in the 

6 brain; and 

7 ‘‘(B) belongs to the group of diseases 

8 known as transmissible spongiform encephalop9 athies, which includes scrapie, bovine spongi10 form encephalopathy, and Cruetzfeldt-Jakob 

11 disease. 

12 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en13 tity’ means— 

14 ‘‘(A) a State department of agriculture; 

15 ‘‘(B) a Tribal research facility; 

16 ‘‘(C) a Tribal department of agriculture; 

17 ‘‘(D) an institution of higher education (as 

18 defined in section 101 of the Higher Education 

19 Act (20 U.S.C. 1001)); and 

20 ‘‘(E) a research center conducting sci21 entific research on chronic wasting disease. 

22 ‘‘(c) GRANT PROGRAM.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days 

24 after the date of enactment of this section, the Sec25 retary shall establish a program under which the 


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1 Secretary shall award grants on a competitive basis 

2 to eligible entities to conduct research on the trans3 mission of, resistance to, and diagnosis of chronic 

4 wasting disease. 

5 ‘‘(2) CRITERIA FOR SELECTION.—In awarding 

6 grants under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall give 

7 priority to eligible entities that shall conduct re8 search relating to— 

9 ‘‘(A) methods and products— 

10 ‘‘(i) to effectively detect infectious 

11 chronic wasting disease prions in live 

12 cervids, the environment, and inorganic 

13 surfaces; and 

14 ‘‘(ii) to decontaminate those infectious 

15 prions; 

16 ‘‘(B) the long-term suppression or eradi17 cation of chronic wasting disease; or 

18 ‘‘(C) determination markers for genetic re19 sistance to chronic wasting disease and strate20 gies for using genetic resistance to combat the 

21 spread of the disease. 

22 ‘‘(3) NUMBER OF GRANT RECIPIENTS.— 

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—To the maximum ex24 tent practicable, subject to subparagraph (B), 

25 the Secretary shall select not fewer than 5 and 


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1 not more than 10 eligible entities to receive 

2 grants under paragraph (1). 

3 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—The Secretary may 

4 award grants under paragraph (1) to fewer 

5 than 5 eligible entities if not more than 5 eligi6 ble entities have submitted applications for a 

7 grant. 

8 ‘‘(4) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS BY ELIGIBLE EN9 TITIES.—Not greater than 15 percent of the amount 

10 of a grant awarded under paragraph (1) may be 

11 used by an eligible entity for administrative costs in12 curred by the eligible entity in carrying out the re13 search described in that paragraph. 

14 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 

16 appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this sec17 tion $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2020 and each fiscal 

18 year thereafter, to remain available until expended. 

19 ‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—The Secretary 

20 may use not greater than 3 percent of the funds 

21 made available under paragraph (1) for administra22 tive costs incurred by the Secretary in carrying out 

23 this section. 

24 ‘‘(e) EFFECT.—Nothing in this section shall interfere 

25 with or otherwise affect the authority of the Federal GovVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:27 Apr 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2081.IH H2081

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1 ernment or States to manage wildlife and livestock, includ2 ing managing, surveying, and monitoring the incidence of 

3 chronic wasting disease.’’. 

4 (b) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—Section 10403(8) of 

5 the Animal Health Protection Act (7 U.S.C. 8302(8)) is 

6 amended by striking ‘‘(25 U.S.C. 450b)’’ and inserting 

7 ‘‘(25 U.S.C. 5304)’’. 

Æ 


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