II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1717 

To require the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Deputy Chief 

of the State and Private Forestry organization, to provide loans to 

eligible units of local government to finance purchases of authorized 

equipment to monitor, remove, dispose of, and replace infested trees 

that are located on land under the jurisdiction of the eligible units 

of local government and within the borders of quarantine areas infested 

by the emerald ash borer, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 27, 2007 

Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. LUGAR, Mr. OBAMA, Mr. BROWN, Mr. CARDIN, 

Mr. LEVIN, and Ms. STABENOW) introduced the following bill; which was 

read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and 

Forestry 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the 

Deputy Chief of the State and Private Forestry organization, to provide loans to eligible units of local government 

to finance purchases of authorized equipment to monitor, 

remove, dispose of, and replace infested trees that are 

located on land under the jurisdiction of the eligible 

units of local government and within the borders of quarantine areas infested by the emerald ash borer, and 

for other purposes. 


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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 ‘‘Emerald Ash Borer 

5 Municipality Assistance Act of 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. EMERALD ASH BORER REVOLVING LOAN FUND. 

7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

8 (1) AUTHORIZED EQUIPMENT.— 

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘authorized 

10 equipment’’ means any equipment necessary for 

11 the management of forest land. 

12 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘authorized 

13 equipment’’ includes— 

14 (i) cherry pickers; 

15 (ii) equipment necessary for— 

16 (I) the construction of staging 

17 and marshalling areas; 

18 (II) the planting of trees; and 

19 (III) the surveying of forest land; 

20 (iii) vehicles capable of transporting 

21 harvested trees; 

22 (iv) wood chippers; and 

23 (v) any other appropriate equipment, 

24 as determined by the Secretary. 


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1 (2) FUND.—The term ‘‘Fund’’ means the Em2 erald Ash Borer Revolving Loan Fund established 

3 by subsection (b). 

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

5 the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the 

6 Deputy Chief of the State and Private Forestry or7 ganization. 

8 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF FUND.—There is estab9 lished in the Treasury of the United States a revolving 

10 fund, to be known as the ‘‘Emerald Ash Borer Revolving 

11 Loan Fund’’, consisting of such amounts as are appro12 priated to the Fund under subsection (f). 

13 (c) EXPENDITURES FROM FUND.— 

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

15 request by the Secretary, the Secretary of the Treas16 ury shall transfer from the Fund to the Secretary 

17 such amounts as the Secretary determines are nec18 essary to provide loans under subsection (e). 

19 (2) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—An amount 

20 not exceeding 10 percent of the amounts in the 

21 Fund shall be available for each fiscal year to pay 

22 the administrative expenses necessary to carry out 

23 this section. 

24 (d) TRANSFERS OF AMOUNTS.— 


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

2 transferred to the Fund under this section shall be 

3 transferred at least monthly from the general fund 

4 of the Treasury to the Fund on the basis of esti5 mates made by the Secretary of the Treasury. 

6 (2) ADJUSTMENTS.—Proper adjustment shall 

7 be made in amounts subsequently transferred to the 

8 extent prior estimates were in excess of or less than 

9 the amounts required to be transferred. 

10 (e) USES OF FUND.— 

11 (1) LOANS.— 

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

13 amounts in the Fund to provide loans to eligible 

14 units of local government to finance purchases 

15 of authorized equipment to monitor, remove, 

16 dispose of, and replace infested trees that are 

17 located— 

18 (i) on land under the jurisdiction of 

19 the eligible units of local government; and 

20 (ii) within the borders of quarantine 

21 areas infested by the emerald ash borer. 

22 (B) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.—The maximum 

23 amount of a loan that may be provided by the 

24 Secretary to an eligible unit of local government 

25 under this subsection shall be the lesser of— 


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1 (i) the amount that the eligible unit of 

2 local government has appropriated to fi3 nance purchases of authorized equipment 

4 to monitor, remove, dispose of, and replace 

5 infested trees that are located— 

6 (I) on land under the jurisdiction 

7 of the eligible unit of local govern8 ment; and 

9 (II) within the borders of a quar10 antine area infested by the emerald 

11 ash borer; or 

12 (ii) $5,000,000. 

13 (C) INTEREST RATE.—The interest rate on 

14 any loan made by the Secretary under this 

15 paragraph shall be a rate equal to 2 percent. 

16 (D) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days 

17 after the date on which an eligible unit of local 

18 government receives a loan provided by the Sec19 retary under subparagraph (A), the eligible unit 

20 of local government shall submit to the Sec21 retary a report that describes each purchase 

22 made by the eligible unit of local government 

23 using assistance provided through the loan. 

24 (2) LOAN REPAYMENT SCHEDULE.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive 

2 a loan from the Secretary under paragraph (1), 

3 in accordance with each requirement described 

4 in subparagraph (B), an eligible unit of local 

5 government shall enter into an agreement with 

6 the Secretary to establish a loan repayment 

7 schedule relating to the repayment of the loan. 

8 (B) REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO LOAN

9 REPAYMENT SCHEDULE.—A loan repayment 

10 schedule established under subparagraph (A) 

11 shall require the eligible unit of local govern12 ment— 

13 (i) to repay to the Secretary of the 

14 Treasury, not later than 1 year after the 

15 date on which the eligible unit of local gov16 ernment receives a loan under paragraph 

17 (1), and semiannually thereafter, an 

18 amount equal to the quotient obtained by 

19 dividing— 

20 (I) the principal amount of the 

21 loan (including interest); by 

22 (II) the total quantity of pay23 ments that the eligible unit of local 

24 government is required to make durVerDate Aug 31 2005 07:39 Jun 28, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1717.IS S1717

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•S 1717 IS

1 ing the repayment period of the loan; 

2 and 

3 (ii) not later than 20 years after the 

4 date on which the eligible unit of local gov5 ernment receives a loan under paragraph 

6 (1), to complete repayment to the Sec7 retary of the Treasury of the loan made 

8 under this section (including interest). 

9 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

10 are authorized to be appropriated to the Fund such sums 

11 as are necessary to carry out this section. 

12 SEC. 3. COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS RELATING TO EMER13 ALD ASH BORER PREVENTION ACTIVITIES. 

14 Any cooperative agreement entered into after the 

15 date of enactment of this Act between the Secretary of 

16 Agriculture and a State relating to the prevention of emer17 ald ash borer infestation shall allow the State to provide 

18 any cost-sharing assistance or financing mechanism pro19 vided to the State under the cooperative agreement to a 

20 unit of local government of the State that— 

21 (1) is engaged in any activity relating to the 

22 prevention of emerald ash borer infestation; and 

23 (2) is capable of documenting each emerald ash 

24 borer infestation prevention activity generally carried 

25 out by— 


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1 (A) the Department of Agriculture; or 

2 (B) the State department of agriculture 

3 that has jurisdiction over the unit of local gov4 ernment. 

Æ 


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