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[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1694 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1694

 To authorize resources for sustained research and analysis to address 
colony collapse disorder and the decline of North American pollinators.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 26, 2007

Mrs. Boxer (for herself, Mr. Thune, Mr. Casey, Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Nelson 
    of Florida, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Brown, and Mr. Kerry) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
           Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
 To authorize resources for sustained research and analysis to address 
colony collapse disorder and the decline of North American pollinators.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Pollinator Protection Act of 2007''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) many of the crops that humans and livestock consume 
        rely on pollinators for healthy growth;
            (2) pollination by honey and native bees adds more than 
        $18,000,000,000 annually to the value of United States crops;
            (3) \1/3\ of the food supply of the United States depends 
        on bee pollination, which makes the management and protection 
        of pollinators an issue of paramount importance to the security 
        of the United States food supply system;
            (4) colony collapse disorder is the name that has been 
        given to the latest die-off of honey bee colonies, exacerbating 
        the continual decline of pollinators in North America;
            (5) honey bee colonies in more than 23 states have been 
        affected by colony collapse disorder;
            (6) if the current rate of decline continues, the United 
        States will be forced to rely more heavily on imported foods, 
        which will destabilize the food security of the United States 
        through adverse affects on the availability, price, and quality 
        of the many fruits, vegetables, and other products that depend 
        on animal pollination; and
            (7) enhanced funding for research on honey bees, native 
        bees, parasites, pathogens, toxins, and other environmental 
        factors affecting bees and pollination of cultivated and wild 
        plants will result in methods of response to colony collapse 
        disorder and other factors causing the decline of pollinators 
        in North America.

SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATIONS OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    (a) Agricultural Research Service.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the 
Agricultural Research Service--
            (1) $3,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2008 through 2012, 
        to be used for new personnel, facilities improvement, and 
        additional research at Department of Agriculture Bee Research 
        Laboratories;
            (2) $2,500,000 for each of fiscal years 2008 and 2009, to 
        be used for research on honey and native bee physiology, insect 
        pathology, insect chemical ecology, and honey and native bee 
        toxicology at other Department of Agriculture facilities in New 
        York, Florida, California, Utah, and Texas; and
            (3) $1,750,000 for each of fiscal years 2008 through 2010, 
        to be used for an area-wide research program to identify causes 
        and solutions for colony collapse disorder in affected States, 
        of which--
                    (A) $875,000 for each fiscal year shall be used to 
                carry out the program at the bee laboratory of the 
                Agricultural Research Service located in Beltsville, 
                Maryland; and
                    (B) $875,000 for each fiscal year shall be used to 
                carry out the program at the bee laboratory of the 
                Agricultural Research Service located in Tucson, 
                Arizona.
    (b) Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service.--
There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of Agriculture, 
acting through the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension 
Service, $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2008 through 2012 to be 
used to fund Department of Agriculture extension and research grants to 
investigate--
            (1) honey bee biology, immunology, and ecology;
            (2) honey bee genomics;
            (3) honey bee bioinformatics;
            (4) native bee crop pollination and habitat conservation;
            (5) native bee taxonomy and ecology;
            (6) pollination biology;
            (7) sublethal effects of insecticides, herbicides, and 
        fungicides on honey bees, native pollinators, and other 
        beneficial insects;
            (8) the effects of genetically-modified crops, including 
        the interaction of genetically-modified crops with honey bees 
        and other native pollinators; and
            (9) honey, bumble, and other native bee parasites and 
        pathogens and effects on other native pollinators.
    (c) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.--There is 
authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of Agriculture, acting 
through the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, $2,250,000 for 
each of fiscal years 2008 through 2012 to conduct a nationwide honey 
bee pest and pathogen surveillance program.

SEC. 4. ANNUAL REPORTS.

    The Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Agricultural 
Research Service and the Cooperative State Research, Education, and 
Extension Service, shall submit to the Committee on Agriculture of the 
House of Representatives and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, 
and Forestry of the Senate a report on the status and progress of bee 
research projects that are carried out by the Secretary.
                                 <all>
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