I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4782 

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to provide loans to certain organizations in certain States to address habitats and ecosystems and to address 

and prevent invasive species. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 4, 2010 

Mr. YOUNG of Alaska (for himself and Ms. BERKLEY) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to provide loans 

to certain organizations in certain States to address habitats and ecosystems and to address and prevent invasive 

species. 

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 Emer5 gency Response Fund Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 

2 The purpose of this Act is to encourage partnerships 

3 among Federal and State agencies, Indian tribes, aca4 demic institutions, and public and private stakeholders— 

5 (1) to prevent against the introduction and 

6 spread of harmful invasive species; 

7 (2) to protect, enhance, restore, and manage a 

8 variety of habitats for native plants, fish, and wild9 life; and 

10 (3) to establish early detection and rapid re11 sponse capabilities to combat incipient harmful 

12 invasive species. 

13 SEC. 3. INVASIVE SPECIES EMERGENCY RESPONSE FUND. 

14 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

15 (1) ECOSYSTEM.—The term ‘‘ecosystem’’ 

16 means an area, considered as a whole, that contains 

17 living organisms that interact with each other and 

18 with the non-living environment. 

19 (2) ELIGIBLE STATE.—The term ‘‘eligible 

20 State’’ means any State located in Region 4, as de21 termined by the Census Bureau. 

22 (3) FUND.—The term ‘‘Fund’’ means the 

23 Invasive Species Emergency Response Fund estab24 lished by subsection (b). 

25 (4) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ 

26 has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the 


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1 Indian Self-Determination Act and Education As2 sistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b). 

3 (5) INTRODUCTION.—The term ‘‘introduction’’, 

4 with respect to a species, means the intentional or 

5 unintentional escape, release, dissemination, or 

6 placement of the species into an ecosystem as a re7 sult of human activity. 

8 (6) INVASIVE SPECIES.—The term ‘‘invasive 

9 species’’ means a species— 

10 (A) that is nonnative to a specified eco11 system; and 

12 (B) the introduction to an ecosystem of 

13 which causes, or may cause, harm to— 

14 (i) the economy; 

15 (ii) the environment; or 

16 (iii) human, animal, or plant health. 

17 (7) QUALIFIED ORGANIZATION.— 

18 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘qualified or19 ganization’’ means an organization that— 

20 (i) submits an application for a 

21 project in an eligible State; and 

22 (ii) demonstrates an effort to ad23 dress— 

24 (I) a certain invasive species; or 


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1 (II) a certain habitat or eco2 system impacted by an invasive spe3 cies. 

4 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘qualified or5 ganization’’ includes any individual rep6 resenting, or any combination of— 

7 (i) public or private stakeholders; 

8 (ii) Federal agencies; 

9 (iii) Indian tribes; 

10 (iv) State land, forest, or fish wildlife 

11 management agencies; 

12 (v) academic institutions; and 

13 (vi) other organizations, as the Sec14 retary determines to be appropriate. 

15 (8) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

16 the Secretary of the Interior. 

17 (9) STAKEHOLDER.—The term ‘‘stakeholder’’ 

18 includes— 

19 (A) State, tribal, and local governmental 

20 agencies; 

21 (B) the scientific community; and 

22 (C) nongovernmental entities, including en23 vironmental, agricultural, and conservation or24 ganizations, trade groups, commercial interests, 

25 and private landowners. 


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1 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF FUND.—There is estab2 lished in the Treasury of the United States a revolving 

3 fund, to be known as the ‘‘Invasive Species Emergency 

4 Response Fund’’, consisting of— 

5 (1) such amounts as are appropriated to the 

6 Fund pursuant to subsection (h); and 

7 (2) interest earned on investments of amounts 

8 in the Fund under subsection (e). 

9 (c) EXPENDITURES FROM FUND.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), on 

11 request by the Secretary, the Secretary of the Treas12 ury shall transfer from the Fund to the Secretary 

13 such amounts as the Secretary determines are nec14 essary to provide loans under subsection (f)(1). 

15 (2) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—Of the 

16 amounts in the Fund— 

17 (A) not more than 5 percent shall be avail18 able for each fiscal year to pay the administra19 tive expenses of the Department of the Interior 

20 to carry out this section; 

21 (B) not more than 5 percent shall be avail22 able for each fiscal year to pay the administra23 tive expenses of offices of the Governors of eli24 gible States to carry out this section; and 


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1 (C) not more than 10 percent shall be 

2 available for each fiscal year to pay the admin3 istrative expenses of a qualified organization to 

4 carry out this section. 

5 (d) TRANSFERS OF AMOUNTS.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amounts required to be 

7 transferred to the Fund under this section shall be 

8 transferred at least monthly from the general fund 

9 of the Treasury to the Fund on the basis of esti10 mates made by the Secretary of the Treasury. 

11 (2) ADJUSTMENTS.—Proper adjustment shall 

12 be made in amounts subsequently transferred to the 

13 extent prior estimates were in excess of or less than 

14 the amounts required to be transferred. 

15 (e) INVESTMENT OF AMOUNTS.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Treas17 ury shall invest such portion of the Fund as is not, 

18 in the judgment of the Secretary of the Treasury, 

19 required to meet current withdrawals. 

20 (2) INTEREST-BEARING OBLIGATIONS.—Invest21 ments may be made only in interest-bearing obliga22 tions of the United States. 

23 (f) USE OF FUND.— 

24 (1) LOANS.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall use 

2 amounts in the Fund to provide loans to quali3 fied organizations to prevent and remediate the 

4 impacts of invasive species on habitats and eco5 systems. 

6 (B) ELIGIBILITY.— 

7 (i) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to re8 ceive a loan under this paragraph, a quali9 fied organization shall submit to the Gov10 ernor of the eligible State in which the 

11 project of the qualified organization is lo12 cated an application at such time, in such 

13 manner, and containing such information 

14 as may be required by application require15 ments established by the Secretary, after 

16 taking into account the recommendations 

17 of the Governors of eligible States. 

18 (ii) GUBERNATORIAL RECOMMENDA19 TIONS.—In reviewing the applications 

20 under clause (i), the Governor may rec21 ommend to the Secretary for approval any 

22 application of a qualified organization 

23 under clause (i) if the Governor determines 

24 that the qualified organization is carrying 

25 out or will carry out a project— 


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1 (I) designed to fully assess long2 term comprehensive severity of the 

3 problem or potential problem ad4 dressed by the project; 

5 (II) that uses early detection and 

6 response mechanisms that seek to pre7 vent— 

8 (aa) the introduction or 

9 spread of invasive species from 

10 outside the United States into an 

11 eligible State; or 

12 (bb) the spread of an estab13 lished invasive species into an eli14 gible State; 

15 (III) to prevent the regrowth or 

16 reintroduction of an invasive species, 

17 to the extent to which the qualified 

18 organization has achieved progress 

19 with respect to reduction or elimi20 nation of the invasive species; 

21 (IV) in rare or unique habitats, 

22 such as— 

23 (aa) desert terminal lakes; 

24 (bb) rivers that feed desert 

25 terminal lakes; 


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1 (cc) desert springs; 

2 (dd) alpine lakes; 

3 (ee) old growth forest eco4 systems; and 

5 (ff) special land allocations, 

6 such as wilderness, wilderness 

7 management areas, research nat8 ural areas, and experimental for9 ests; 

10 (V) that is likely to prevent or re11 solve a problem relating to invasive 

12 species; 

13 (VI) to remediate the spread of 

14 aquatic invasive species within impor15 tant bodies of water, as determined by 

16 the Secretary (including the Colorado 

17 River); 

18 (VII) to remediate the spread of 

19 terrestrial invasive species within im20 portant forest ecosystems, including 

21 wilderness, wilderness management 

22 areas, research natural areas, and ex23 perimental forests; 

24 (VIII) to assess and promote 

25 wildfire management strategies, inVerDate Nov 24 2008 21:25 Mar 05, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4782.IH H4782

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1 crease the supply of native plant ma2 terials, and reintroduce native plant 

3 species intended to limit or mitigate 

4 the impacts of invasive species; 

5 (IX) to assess and reduce 

6 invasive species-related changes in 

7 wildlife habitat and aquatic, terres8 trial, and arid ecosystems; 

9 (X) to assess and reduce negative 

10 economic impacts and other impacts 

11 associated with control methods and 

12 the restoration of a native ecosystem; 

13 (XI) to improve the overall ca14 pacity of the United States to address 

15 invasive species; 

16 (XII) to promote cooperation and 

17 participation between States that have 

18 common interests regarding invasive 

19 species; 

20 (XIII) that addresses or en21 hances the efforts of qualified organi22 zations, States, or landscape-level ini23 tiatives that have invasive species re24 sponsibility, authority, or prevention, 


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1 remediation and control strategies, 

2 and applicable plans in place; or 

3 (XIV) to educate the public re4 garding the negative effects of 

5 invasive species, to help prevent and 

6 mitigate the introduction and spread 

7 of invasive species into or near high8 risk aquatic, terrestrial, and arid eco9 systems. 

10 (iii) TRANSMISSION TO THE SEC11 RETARY.—The Governor shall transmit to 

12 the Secretary all applications received by 

13 the Governor under clause (i). 

14 (C) SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING

15 MULTISTATE COMPACTS.—It is the sense of 

16 Congress that— 

17 (i) Governors of States should enter 

18 into multistate compacts in coordination 

19 with qualified organizations to prevent, ad20 dress, and remediate against the spread of 

21 animals, plants, or pathogens, or aquatic, 

22 wetland, or terrestrial invasive species; 

23 (ii) the Secretary should give special 

24 consideration to multistate compacts de25 scribed in clause (i) in reviewing loan soVerDate Nov 24 2008 21:25 Mar 05, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4782.IH H4782

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1 licitations and applications of the States 

2 and qualified organizations that are parties 

3 to the compacts; and 

4 (iii) if a multistate compact is entered 

5 into under clause (i), the Governors of all 

6 States that are parties to the compact 

7 should combine to repay to the Secretary 

8 of the Treasury a total combined amount 

9 equal to not less than 25 percent of the 

10 amount of the loan provided under this Act 

11 (including interest at a rate less than or 

12 equal to the market interest rate). 

13 (D) PETITIONS.— 

14 (i) ACTION BY GOVERNOR.—Not later 

15 than 90 days after the receipt of an appli16 cation recommended for approval by the 

17 Secretary under subparagraph (B)(ii), the 

18 Governor of an eligible State shall submit 

19 to the Secretary, on behalf of all qualified 

20 organizations, a petition, together with 

21 copies of the recommended application, to 

22 receive a loan under this paragraph. 

23 (ii) APPROVAL.—Not later than 60 

24 days after the date of receipt of a petition 

25 under clause (i), the Secretary, at the sole 


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1 discretion of the Secretary, may approve 

2 the petition. 

3 (iii) ACTION ON APPROVAL.—Not 

4 later than 30 days after the date of ap5 proval of a petition under clause (ii) or the 

6 approval by the Secretary of an application 

7 otherwise transmitted by a Governor under 

8 subparagraph (B)(iii), the Secretary shall 

9 provide to the qualified organization a loan 

10 under this paragraph. 

11 (E) PRIORITY.—In providing loans under 

12 this paragraph, the Secretary shall give priority 

13 to applications of qualified organizations car14 rying out, or that will carry out, more than 1 

15 project described in subparagraph (B)(ii). 

16 (2) REQUIREMENTS.— 

17 (A) LOAN REPAYMENT.— 

18 (i) IN-KIND CONSIDERATION.—With 

19 respect to loan repayment under clause 

20 (ii), the Secretary may accept, in lieu of 

21 monetary payment, in-kind contributions in 

22 such form and such quantity as may be ac23 ceptable to the Secretary, including con24 tributions in the form of— 


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1 (I) maintenance, remediation, 

2 prevention, alteration, repair, im3 provement, or restoration (including 

4 environmental restoration) activities 

5 for approved projects; and 

6 (II) such other services as the 

7 Secretary considers to be appropriate. 

8 (ii) REPAYMENT.—Subject to clause 

9 (iv), not later than 10 years after the date 

10 on which a qualified organization receives 

11 a loan under paragraph (1), the qualified 

12 organization shall repay to the Secretary of 

13 the Treasury an amount equal to not less 

14 than 25 percent of the amount of the loan 

15 (including interest at a rate less than or 

16 equal to the market interest rate). 

17 (iii) WAIVER.—Not more frequently 

18 than once every 5 years, the Secretary, in 

19 consultation with the Secretary of the 

20 Treasury, may waive the requirements 

21 under clauses (i) and (ii) with respect to 1 

22 qualified organization. 

23 (B) LONG-TERM MANAGEMENT AND REME24 DIATION STRATEGIES.—The Secretary shall en25 sure that no loan provided under paragraph (1) 


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1 is used to carry out a long-term management or 

2 remediation strategy, unless the Governor or 

3 applicable qualified organization demonstrates 

4 either or both a reliable funding stream and in5 kind contributions to carry out the strategy 

6 over the duration of the project. 

7 (3) RENEWAL.—After reviewing the reports 

8 under subsection (g), if the Secretary, in consulta9 tion with the Governor of each affected State, deter10 mines that a project is making satisfactory progress, 

11 the Secretary may renew the loan provided under 

12 this subsection for a period of not more than 3 addi13 tional fiscal years. 

14 (g) REPORTS.— 

15 (1) REPORTS TO SECRETARY.—For each year 

16 during which a qualified organization receives a loan 

17 under subsection (f), the qualified organization, in 

18 conjunction with the Governor of the eligible State 

19 in which the qualified organization is primarily lo20 cated, shall submit to the Secretary a report describ21 ing each project (including the results of the project) 

22 carried out by the qualified organization using the 

23 loan during that year. 

24 (2) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 

25 September 30, 2011, and annually thereafter 


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1 through September 30, 2015, the Secretary shall 

2 submit a report describing the total loan amount re3 quested by each eligible State during the preceding 

4 fiscal year and the total amount of the loans pro5 vided under subsection (f)(1) to each eligible State 

6 during that fiscal year, and an evaluation on effec7 tiveness of the Fund and the potential to expand the 

8 Fund to other regions, to— 

9 (A) the Committees on Appropriations, 

10 Energy and Natural Resources, and Environ11 ment and Public Works of the Senate; and 

12 (B) the Committees on Appropriations and 

13 Natural Resources of the House of Representa14 tives. 

15 (3) REPORT BY BORROWER.— 

16 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each qualified organi17 zation that receives a loan under subsection 

18 (f)(1) shall submit to the Secretary a report de19 scribing the use of the loan and the success 

20 achieved by the qualified organization— 

21 (i) not less frequently than once each 

22 year until the date of expiration of the 

23 loan; or 

24 (ii) if the loan expires before the date 

25 that is 1 year after the date on which the 


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1 loan is provided, at least once during the 

2 term of the loan. 

3 (B) INTERIM UPDATE.—In addition to the 

4 reports required under subparagraph (A), each 

5 qualified organization that receives a loan under 

6 subsection (f)(1) shall submit to the Secretary, 

7 electronically or in writing, a report describing 

8 the use of the loan and the success achieved by 

9 the qualified organization, expressed in chrono10 logical order with respect to the date on which 

11 each project was initiated— 

12 (i) not less frequently than once every 

13 180 days until the date of expiration of the 

14 loan; or 

15 (ii) if the loan expires before the date 

16 that is 180 days after the date on which 

17 the loan is provided, on the date on which 

18 the term of the loan is 50 percent com19 pleted. 

20 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

21 authorized to be appropriated to the Fund $80,000,000 

22 for each of fiscal years 2011 through 2015. 

Æ 


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