I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5156 

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 

JULY 17, 2014 

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

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in 

addition to the Committees on Agriculture and the Budget, 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 2014’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 

2 The purposes of this Act are to— 

3 (1) authorize the Secretary of the Interior to 

4 identify and declare wildlife disease emergencies; 

5 (2) establish a fund through which the Sec6 retary may coordinate rapid response to these emer7 gencies; and 

8 (3) prepare for, identify, and address wildlife 

9 diseases adversely affecting wildlife populations and 

10 biodiversity through strategic and coordinated ac11 tions between the Federal agencies and State and 

12 local agencies, Indian tribes, and nongovernmental 

13 organizations. 

14 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

15 In this Act: 

16 (1) COMMITTEE.—The term ‘‘Committee’’ 

17 means the Wildlife Disease Committee established 

18 under section 6. 

19 (2) FUND.—The term ‘‘Fund’’ means the Wild20 life Disease Emergency Fund established by section 

21 5. 

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

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

24 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 

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


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

2 the Secretary of the Interior. 

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

4 State, the District of Columbia, and any other pos5 session of the United States. 

6 (6) 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 (7) WILDLIFE DISEASE.—The term ‘‘wildlife 

11 disease’’ means an infectious or noninfectious, path12 ological condition occurring in a susceptible popu13 lation of wildlife, that is not zoonotic. 

14 (8) WILDLIFE DISEASE EMERGENCY.—The 

15 term ‘‘wildlife disease emergency’’ means the occur16 rence of a wildlife disease that— 

17 (A) is infectious and caused by a newly 

18 discovered pathogen or a known infectious wild19 life disease that is expanding its geographic 

20 range, the species impacted by the disease, or 

21 other recognized impacts of the disease; 

22 (B) poses significant threats to the sus23 tainability of wildlife; or 

24 (C) poses a significant threat to the overall 

25 health of a functioning ecosystem. 


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1 SEC. 4. DECLARATION OF WILDLIFE DISEASE EMERGENCY. 

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

3 consultation with the Governor of a potentially affected 

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

5 a wildlife disease emergency for any wildlife disease that 

6 is— 

7 (1) occurring in the United States; or 

8 (2) occurring outside the United States with 

9 the potential to enter the United States. 

10 (b) CONSIDERATIONS.—In making a declaration 

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

12 (1) the level of threat the wildlife disease poses 

13 to affected wildlife populations, based on the— 

14 (A) relative threat to population levels; 

15 (B) relative strength of the contagion and 

16 spread of the disease; 

17 (C) observed rate of morbidity or mortality 

18 of the disease; and 

19 (D) importance of affected species or eco20 systems, including— 

21 (i) species and habitats identified as 

22 priorities by the Federal Government, a 

23 State, or local government, or a Federal, 

24 State, or local conservation plan; and 

25 (ii) wildlife located on Federal lands; 


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1 (2) the sufficiency of resources available in the 

2 Fund; 

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

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

5 governments, and other stakeholders to address and 

6 coordinate response to the disease through other au7 thorities; 

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

9 such a declaration; and 

10 (5) the economic consequences of a significant 

11 population decline in the impacted species due to the 

12 disease. 

13 (c) RESPONSE COORDINATION.—Upon a declaration 

14 of a wildlife disease emergency by the Secretary, the Sec15 retary shall lead a coordinated response to the emergency 

16 that shall include appropriate Federal agencies, State and 

17 local governments, Indian tribes, nongovernmental organi18 zations, or other stakeholders. 

19 (d) GRANT PROGRAM.—The Secretary shall develop 

20 and implement a grant program to provide funding to 

21 State wildlife agencies and Indian tribes to address wildlife 

22 disease emergencies. 

23 SEC. 5. WILDLIFE DISEASE EMERGENCY FUND. 

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

25 Treasury of the United States a separate account, which 


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

2 and shall consist of— 

3 (1) such funds as are appropriated to the Sec4 retary for activities authorized by this Act to ad5 dress a wildlife disease emergency; and 

6 (2) any funds received by the Secretary as a do7 nation, gift, or contribution identified by the person 

8 providing the funds for use to address wildlife dis9 ease emergencies. 

10 (b) PROHIBITION.—Amounts in the Fund may not be 

11 made available for any purpose other than to respond to 

12 a wildlife disease emergency declared under section 4. 

13 (c) ANNUAL REPORTS.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after 

15 the end of each fiscal year beginning with fiscal year 

16 2013, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee 

17 on Appropriations of the House of Representatives, 

18 the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate, the 

19 Committee on Environment and Public Works of the 

20 Senate, and the Committee on Natural Resources of 

21 the House of Representatives a report on the oper22 ation of the Fund during the fiscal year. 

23 (2) CONTENTS.—Each report shall include, for 

24 the fiscal year covered by the report, the following: 


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1 (A) A statement of the amounts deposited 

2 into the Fund. 

3 (B) A description of the expenditures made 

4 from the Fund, including the purpose of the ex5 penditures. 

6 (C) Recommendations of additional au7 thorities to fulfill the purpose of the Fund. 

8 (D) A statement of the balance remaining 

9 in the Fund at the end of the fiscal year. 

10 (d) SEPARATE APPROPRIATIONS ACCOUNT.—Section 

11 1105(a) of title 31, United States Code, is amended by 

12 adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(39) a separate appropriations account for the 

14 Wildlife Disease Emergency Fund established under 

15 section 5 of the Wildlife Disease Emergency Act of 

16 2013, which shall include the estimated amount of 

17 deposits into the Fund, and obligations and outlays 

18 from the Fund.’’. 

19 SEC. 6. WILDLIFE DISEASE COMMITTEE. 

20 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary may establish 

21 a Wildlife Disease Committee. The purpose of the Com22 mittee shall be to assist the Secretary in increasing the 

23 level of preparedness of the United States to address 

24 emerging wildlife diseases. 

25 (b) DUTIES.—The Committee shall— 


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1 (1) advise the Secretary on risk assessment, 

2 preparation, monitoring, research, and response to 

3 wildlife diseases that may significantly impact the 

4 health and sustainability of wildlife populations; and 

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

6 other documents to assist the Secretary in carrying 

7 out this Act. 

8 (c) MEMBERSHIP.— 

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

10 members of the Committee shall be appointed by the 

11 Secretary from among individuals who are qualified 

12 by education, training, or experience in topics such 

13 as wildlife health, biology, ecology, wildlife conserva14 tion, and natural resource management. 

15 (2) INCLUSIONS.—The Committee shall in16 clude— 

17 (A) qualified individuals who are employed 

18 by Federal agencies; 

19 (B) at least 8 qualified individuals who are 

20 employed by a State fish and wildlife agency, 

21 each of whom shall be employed in a different 

22 region of the 8 regions of the United States 

23 Fish and Wildlife Service; 

24 (C) qualified individuals employed by other 

25 State agencies and tribal entities; and 


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1 (D) qualified individuals who represent 

2 public and private organizations. 

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

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

5 (e) STAFFING AND ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary 

6 shall make available to the Committee any staff, informa7 tion, administrative services, or assistance the Secretary 

8 determines is reasonably required to enable the Committee 

9 to carry out its functions. 

10 (f) RENEWAL.—Notwithstanding the Federal Advi11 sory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.), the Secretary may 

12 renew the Committee beyond the date it would otherwise 

13 terminate under that Act. 

14 SEC. 7. RAPID RESPONSE TEAMS. 

15 The Secretary, in consultation with the Committee as 

16 appropriate, may convene rapid response teams to address 

17 any particular wildlife disease emergency. 

18 SEC. 8. ADMINISTRATION. 

19 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to— 

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

21 wildlife disease events that are not declared wildlife 

22 disease emergencies under this Act; 

23 (2) affect the authority, jurisdiction, or respon24 sibility of the States to manage, control, or regulate 


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1 fish and resident wildlife under any State laws and 

2 regulations; 

3 (3) grant authority to any public agency to ac4 quire private property or conservation easements or 

5 otherwise infringe any use of private property; or 

6 (4) limit, repeal, supersede, or modify any pro7 vision of Federal, State, local, or tribal laws and reg8 ulations. 

Æ 


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