108TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2575

AN ACT

To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to conduct research,

monitoring, management, treatment, and outreach activities relating to sudden oak death syndrome and to convene regular meetings of, or conduct regular consultations with, Federal, State, tribal, and local government

officials to provide recommendations on how to carry

out those activities.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Sudden Oak Death

3 Syndrome Control Act of 2004’’.

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

5 Congress finds that—

6 (1) tan oak, coast live oak, Shreve’s oak, and

7 black oak trees are among the most beloved features

8 of the topography of California and the Pacific

9 Northwest and efforts should be made to protect

10 those trees from disease;

11 (2) the die-off of those trees, as a result of the

12 exotic fungal pathogen Phytophthora ramorum, is

13 approaching epidemic proportions;

14 (3) native plants and forests must be protected

15 from Phytophthora ramorum;

16 (4) more information is needed on—

17 (A) Phytophthora ramorum, including the

18 existence of Phytophthora ramorum throughout

19 the United States; and

20 (B) sudden oak death syndrome,

21 including—

22 (i) the causes;

23 (ii) the methods of transmittal; and

24 (iii) the best methods of treatment;

25 (5) the host list for Phytophthora ramorum in26 cludes 60 plant species in 32 genera, including—
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1 (A) some of the most popular and economi2 cally important landscape and garden plants in

3 the United States; and

4 (B) wild huckleberry plants, potentially en5 dangering the commercial blueberry and cran6 berry industries;

7 (6) sudden oak death syndrome threatens to

8 create major economic and environmental problems

9 in California, the Pacific Northwest, and other re10 gions, including—

11 (A) the increased threat of fire and fallen

12 trees;

13 (B) the cost of tree removal and a reduc14 tion in property values; and

15 (C) loss of revenue due to—

16 (i) restrictions on the movement of

17 forest products and nursery stock; and

18 (ii) the impact on the commercial

19 nursery and small fruit industries;

20 (7) in 2002, the Secretary of Agriculture im21 posed a quarantine on the exportation from 10 coun22 ties in northern California and Curry County, Or23 egon, of oak trees and nursery plants that serve as

24 hosts for Phytophthora ramorum;
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1 (8) on April 9, 2004, after the discovery of

2 Phytophthora ramorum in 2 nurseries in southern

3 California—

4 (A) restrictions were placed on the inter5 state movement of species that could potentially

6 serve as hosts to Phytophthora ramorum; and

7 (B) new restrictions were implemented on

8 the interstate movement of host plants and po9 tential host plants from all commercial nurs10 eries in the State of California that are outside

11 the 10 quarantined counties;

12 (9) on April 22, 2004, the restrictions referred

13 to in paragraph (8)(B) were expanded to include—

14 (A) all plants in the same genus as host

15 and potential host plants; and

16 (B) plants growing within 10 meters of a

17 host or potential host plant; and

18 (10) several States and Canada have placed re19 strictions on the importation of nursery plants from

20 California.

21 SEC. 3. RESEARCH, MONITORING, AND REGULATION OF

22 SUDDEN OAK DEATH SYNDROME.

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture (re24 ferred to in this Act as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall carry out

25 a sudden oak death syndrome research, monitoring, and
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1 regulation program to develop methods to control, man2 age, or eradicate sudden oak death syndrome from—

3 (1) trees and shrubs on both public and private

4 land; and

5 (2) host plants and potential host plants from

6 commercial nurseries.

7 (b) RESEARCH, MONITORING, AND REGULATION AC8 TIVITIES.—In carrying out the program under subsection

9 (a), the Secretary may—

10 (1) conduct open space, roadside, and aerial

11 surveys;

12 (2) provide monitoring technique workshops

13 with respect to—

14 (A) Phytophthora ramorum in wildland

15 and urban areas; and

16 (B) Phytophthora ramorum infestations in

17 nurseries;

18 (3) conduct a comprehensive and biologically

19 sound national survey of forests, plant nurseries,

20 and landscapes that may have been exposed to

21 Phytophthora ramorum, with priority given to sur22 veying and inspecting plants at commercial nurseries

23 and adjacent wildlands throughout the United

24 States;
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1 (4) develop a comprehensive risk assessment of

2 the threat posed by Phytophthora ramorum to nat3 ural and managed plant resources in the United

4 States, including modes of transmission and the risk

5 of infestation;

6 (5) conduct a study of a representative sample

7 of nursery plants imported into the United States

8 from Europe, where Phytophthora ramorum is

9 known to be found;

10 (6) develop baseline information on the dis11 tribution, condition, and mortality rates of oaks with

12 Phytophthora ramorum infestation;

13 (7) maintain a geographic information system

14 database of Phytophthora ramorum occurrences;

15 (8) conduct research on Phytophthora ramorum

16 ecology, pathology, and management in wildland,

17 urban, and nursery settings;

18 (9) evaluate the susceptibility of oak and other

19 vulnerable species in the United States, with priority

20 given to evaluating the susceptibility of commercially

21 important nursery species;

22 (10) conduct assessments of trees that could

23 pose a hazard due to infestation of Phytophthora

24 ramorum; and

25 (11) provide diagnostic services.
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1 SEC. 4. MANAGEMENT, TREATMENT, AND FIRE PREVEN2 TION.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall conduct sud4 den oak death syndrome management, treatment, and fire

5 prevention activities.

6 (b) MANAGEMENT, TREATMENT, AND FIRE PREVEN7 TION ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out subsection (a), the

8 Secretary shall—

9 (1) carry out activities to reduce the threat of

10 fire and fallen trees killed by sudden oak death syn11 drome;

12 (2) increase and improve firefighting and emer13 gency response capabilities in areas where fire haz14 ard has increased due to tree die-off;

15 (3) treat vegetation to prevent fire in areas

16 heavily infected with sudden oak death syndrome;

17 and

18 (4) provide grants to local units of government

19 for hazard tree removal, disposal and recycling, as20 sessment and management of restoration and miti21 gation projects, green waste treatment facilities, re22 forestation, and resistant tree breeding.

23 SEC. 5. EDUCATION AND OUTREACH.

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall conduct edu25 cation and outreach activities to make information avail26 able to the public on sudden death oak syndrome.
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1 (b) EDUCATION AND OUTREACH ACTIVITIES.—In

2 carrying out subsection (a), the Secretary may—

3 (1) develop and distribute educational materials

4 for homeowners, arborists, urban foresters, park

5 managers, public works personnel, recreationists,

6 nursery workers, landscapers, naturists, firefighting

7 personnel, and other individuals, as the Secretary

8 determines appropriate;

9 (2) design and maintain a website to provide in10 formation on sudden oak death syndrome; and

11 (3) provide financial and technical support to

12 States, local governments, and nonprofit organiza13 tions providing information on sudden oak death

14 syndrome.

15 SEC. 6. INTERGOVERNMENTAL COMMUNICATION.

16 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con17 gress that close communication between the affected agen18 cies at all levels of government is required for the pro19 grams authorized under this Act to be effective.

20 (b) REGULAR MEETINGS OR CONSULTATIONS.—

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—In accordance with section

22 204(a) of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of

23 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1534(a)), the Secretary shall con24 vene regular meetings of, or conduct regular con25 sultations with, Federal, State, tribal, and local gov-
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1 ernment officials for the purpose of providing a

2 means of exchanging information and recommenda3 tions on how to carry out this Act effectively.

4 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—Meetings or consulta5 tions conducted under paragraph (1) shall—

6 (A) be conducted in a manner that ensures

7 that the various regions of the United States

8 are represented; and

9 (B) include—

10 (i) representatives from the Animal

11 and Plant Health Inspection Service;

12 (ii) representatives from the Agri13 culture Research Service;

14 (iii) representatives from the Coopera15 tive State Research, Education, and Exten16 sion Service;

17 (iv) representatives from the Forest

18 Service;

19 (v) representatives from State forester

20 offices; and

21 (vi) State representatives from the

22 National Plant Board.

23 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

24 There are authorized to be appropriated for each of

25 fiscal years 2005 through 2009—
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1 (1) to carry out section 3, $25,000,000;

2 (2) to carry out section 4, $18,500,000; and

3 (3) to carry out section 5, $700,000.

Passed the Senate December 8, 2004.

Attest:

Secretary.
108TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2575

AN ACT

To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to conduct

those activities.to provide recommendations on how to carry outeral, State, tribal, and local government officialsof, or conduct regular consultations with, Feddeath syndrome and to convene regular meetingsand outreach activities relating to sudden oakresearch, monitoring, management, treatment,