II 

Calendar No. 224 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 572 

To amend the homeland security act of 2002 to give additional biosecurity 

responsibilities to the Department of Homeland Security. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 9, 2005 

Mr. AKAKA (for himself and Mr. DURBIN) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs 

SEPTEMBER 27, 2005 

Reported by Ms. COLLINS, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To amend the homeland security act of 2002 to give additional biosecurity responsibilities to the Department of 

Homeland Security. 

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 ‘‘Homeland Security 

5 Food and Agriculture Act of 2005’’. 
2 

•S 572 RS 

1 SEC. 2. AGRICULTURAL BIOSECURITY. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title VIII of the Homeland Secu3 rity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 361 et seq.) is amended by 

4 adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘Subtitle J—Agricultural 

6 Biosecurity 

7 ‘‘SEC. 899A. DEFINITIONS. 

8 ‘‘In this subtitle: 

9 ‘‘(1) AGRICULTURAL DISEASE.—The term ‘agri10 cultural disease’ means an outbreak of a plant or 

11 animal disease, or a pest infestation, that requires 

12 prompt action in order to prevent injury or damage 

13 to people, plants, livestock, property, the economy, 

14 or the environment. 

15 ‘‘(2) AGRICULTURE.—The term ‘agriculture’ in16 cludes— 

17 ‘‘(A) the science and practice of an activity 

18 relating to— 

19 ‘‘(i) food, feed, and fiber production; 

20 or 

21 ‘‘(ii) the processing, marketing, dis22 tribution, use, or trade of food, feed, or 

23 fiber; 

24 ‘‘(B) a social science, such as— 

25 ‘‘(i) family and consumer science; 

26 ‘‘(ii) nutritional science; 
3 

•S 572 RS 

1 ‘‘(iii) food science and engineering; or 

2 ‘‘(iv) agricultural economics; and 

3 ‘‘(C) an environmental or natural resource 

4 science, such as— 

5 ‘‘(i) forestry; 

6 ‘‘(ii) wildlife science; 

7 ‘‘(iii) fishery science; 

8 ‘‘(iv) aquaculture; 

9 ‘‘(v) floraculture; or 

10 ‘‘(vi) veterinary medicine. 

11 ‘‘(3) AGROTERRORIST ACT.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term 

13 ‘agroterrorist act’ means the criminal act, com14 mitted with the intent described in subpara15 graph (B), of causing or attempting to cause 

16 damage or harm (including destruction or con17 tamination) to— 

18 ‘‘(i) a crop; 

19 ‘‘(ii) livestock; 

20 ‘‘(iii) farm or ranch equipment; 

21 ‘‘(iv) material or property associated 

22 with agriculture; or 

23 ‘‘(v) a person engaged in an agricul24 tural activity. 
4 

•S 572 RS 

1 ‘‘(B) INTENT.—The term ‘agroterrorist 

2 act’ means an act described in subparagraph 

3 (A) that is committed with the intent to— 

4 ‘‘(i) intimidate or coerce a civilian 

5 population; or 

6 ‘‘(ii) influence the policy of a govern7 ment by intimidation or coercion. 

8 ‘‘(4) BIOSECURITY.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘biosecurity’ 

10 means protection from the risk posed by a bio11 logical, chemical, or radiological agent to— 

12 ‘‘(i) the agricultural economy; 

13 ‘‘(ii) the environment; 

14 ‘‘(iii) human health; or 

15 ‘‘(iv) plant or animal health. 

16 ‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘biosecurity’ 

17 includes the exclusion, eradication, and control 

18 of a biological agent that causes an agricultural 

19 disease. 

20 ‘‘(5) EMERGENCY RESPONSE PROVIDER.—The 

21 term ‘emergency response provider’ includes any 

22 Federal, State, or local— 

23 ‘‘(A) emergency public safety professional; 

24 ‘‘(B) law enforcement officer; 
5 

•S 572 RS 

1 ‘‘(C) emergency medical professional (in2 cluding an employee of a hospital emergency fa3 cility); 

4 ‘‘(D) veterinarian or other animal health 

5 professional; and 

6 ‘‘(E) related personnel, agency, or author7 ity. 

8 ‘‘(6) SUSPECT LOCATION.—The term ‘suspect 

9 location’ means a location that, as recognized by an 

10 element of the intelligence community— 

11 ‘‘(A) has experienced, or may experience, 

12 an agroterrorist act or an unusual disease; or 

13 ‘‘(B) has harbored, or may harbor, a per14 son that committed an agroterrorist act. 

15 ‘‘SEC. 899B. AGRICULTURAL SECURITY RESPONSIBILITIES 

16 OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECU17 RITY. 

18 ‘‘(a) COORDINATION OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURAL

19 SECURITY.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall estab21 lish and carry out a program to protect the agri22 culture and food supply of the United States from 

23 agroterrorist acts. 
6 

•S 572 RS 

1 ‘‘(2) PROGRAM INCLUSIONS.—The program es2 tablished pursuant to paragraph (1) shall include 

3 provisions for— 

4 ‘‘(A) advising and coordinating with Fed5 eral, State, local, regional, and tribal homeland 

6 security officials regarding— 

7 ‘‘(i) preparedness for and the response 

8 to an agroterrorist act; and 

9 ‘‘(ii) the detection, prevention, and 

10 mitigation of an agroterrorist act; and 

11 ‘‘(B) executing the agriculture security re12 sponsibilities of the Secretary described in 

13 Homeland Security Presidential Directive 7 

14 (December 17, 2003) and Homeland Security 

15 Presidential Directive 9 (February 3, 2004). 

16 ‘‘(b) RESPONSIBILITIES.— 

17 ‘‘(1) SECRETARY.—The Secretary shall have re18 sponsibility for— 

19 ‘‘(A) increasing communication and coordi20 nation among all Federal, State, local, regional, 

21 and tribal emergency response providers regard22 ing biosecurity; 

23 ‘‘(B) ensuring that each Federal, State, 

24 local, regional, and tribal emergency response 

25 provider understands and executes the role of 
7 

•S 572 RS 

1 that emergency response provider in response to 

2 an agroterrorist attack; 

3 ‘‘(C)(i) ensuring that State, local, and trib4 al officials have adequate access to information 

5 and resources at the Federal level; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) developing and implementing informa7 tion-sharing procedures by which a Federal, 

8 State, local, regional, or tribal emergency re9 sponse provider can share information regard10 ing a biological threat, risk, or vulnerability; 

11 ‘‘(D) coordinating with the Secretary of 

12 Transportation to develop guidelines for restric13 tions on the interstate transportation of an ag14 ricultural commodity or product in response to 

15 an agricultural disease; 

16 ‘‘(E) coordinating with the Administrator 

17 of the Environmental Protection Agency in con18 sidering the potential environmental impact of a 

19 response by Federal, regional, State, local, and 

20 tribal emergency response providers to an agri21 cultural disease; 

22 ‘‘(F) working with Federal agencies (in23 cluding the Department of Agriculture and 

24 other elements of the intelligence community) to 

25 improve the ability of employees of the Depart-
8 

•S 572 RS 

1 ment of Homeland Security to identify a bio2 logical commodity or product, livestock, and any 

3 other good that is imported from a suspect lo4 cation; 

5 ‘‘(G) coordinating with the Department of 

6 State to provide the President and Federal 

7 agencies guidelines for establishing a mutual 

8 assistance agreement with another country, in9 cluding an agreement— 

10 ‘‘(i) to provide training to veterinar11 ians, public health workers, and agri12 culture specialists of the United States in 

13 the identification, diagnosis, and control of 

14 foreign diseases; 

15 ‘‘(ii) to provide resources and tech16 nical assistance personnel to a foreign gov17 ernment with limited resources; and 

18 ‘‘(iii) to participate in a bilateral or 

19 multilateral training program or exercise 

20 relating to biosecurity. 

21 ‘‘(2) UNDERSECRETARY FOR EMERGENCY RE22 SPONSE AND PREPAREDNESS.—The Undersecretary 

23 for Emergency Response and Preparedness shall 

24 have responsibility for— 
9 

•S 572 RS 

1 ‘‘(A) not later than 180 days after the date 

2 of enactment of this subtitle, cooperating with 

3 State, local, and tribal homeland security offi4 cials to establish State, local, and regional re5 sponse plans for an agricultural disease or 

6 agroterrorist act that include— 

7 ‘‘(i) a comprehensive needs analyses 

8 to determine the appropriate investment 

9 requirements for responding to an agricul10 tural disease or agroterrorist act; 

11 ‘‘(ii) a potential emergency manage12 ment assistance compact and any other 

13 mutual assistance agreement between 

14 neighboring States; and 

15 ‘‘(iii) an identification of State and 

16 local laws (including regulations) and pro17 cedures that may affect the implementa18 tion of a State response plan; and 

19 ‘‘(B) not later than 90 days after the date 

20 of enactment of this subtitle, establishing a task 

21 force consisting of State and local homeland se22 curity officials that shall— 

23 ‘‘(i) identify the best practices for car24 rying out a regional or State biosecurity 

25 program; 
10 

•S 572 RS 

1 ‘‘(ii) make available to State, local, 

2 and tribal governments a report that de3 scribes the best practices identified under 

4 clause (i); and 

5 ‘‘(iii) design and make available infor6 mation (based on the best practices identi7 fied under clause (i)) concerning training 

8 exercises for emergency response providers 

9 in the form of printed materials and elec10 tronic media to— 

11 ‘‘(I) managers of State, local, 

12 and tribal emergency response pro13 vider organizations; and 

14 ‘‘(II) State health and agricul15 tural officials. 

16 ‘‘(c) GRANTS TO FACILITATE PARTICIPATION OF

17 STATE AND LOCAL ANIMAL HEALTH CARE OFFICIALS.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Office of State and 

19 Local Coordination and Preparedness, in consulta20 tion with the Undersecretary for Emergency Re21 sponse and Preparedness and the Secretary, shall es22 tablish a program under which the Secretary shall 

23 provide grants to communities to facilitate the par24 ticipation of State and local animal health care offi25 cials in community emergency planning efforts. 
11 

•S 572 RS 

1 ‘‘(2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

2 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

3 this subsection $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2006.’’. 

4 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

5 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Homeland Security 

6 Food and Agriculture Act of 2005’’. 

7 SEC. 2. AGRICULTURAL BIOSECURITY. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title VIII of the Homeland Secu9 rity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 361 et seq.) is amended by add10 ing at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘Subtitle J—Agricultural 

12 Biosecurity 

13 ‘‘SEC. 899a. DEFINITIONS. 

14 ‘‘In this subtitle: 

15 ‘‘(1) AGRICULTURAL DISEASE.—The term ‘agri16 cultural disease’ means an outbreak of a plant or ani17 mal disease, or a pest infestation, that requires 

18 prompt action in order to prevent injury or damage 

19 to people, plants, livestock, property, the economy, or 

20 the environment. 

21 ‘‘(2) AGRICULTURE.—The term ‘agriculture’ in22 cludes— 

23 ‘‘(A) the science and practice of an activity 

24 relating to— 

25 ‘‘(i) food, feed, and fiber production; or 
12 

•S 572 RS 

1 ‘‘(ii) the processing, marketing, dis2 tribution, use, or trade of food, feed, or 

3 fiber; 

4 ‘‘(B) a social science, such as— 

5 ‘‘(i) family and consumer science; 

6 ‘‘(ii) nutritional science; 

7 ‘‘(iii) food science and engineering; or 

8 ‘‘(iv) agricultural economics; and 

9 ‘‘(C) an environmental or natural resource 

10 science, such as— 

11 ‘‘(i) forestry; 

12 ‘‘(ii) wildlife science; 

13 ‘‘(iii) fishery science; 

14 ‘‘(iv) aquaculture; 

15 ‘‘(v) floraculture; or 

16 ‘‘(vi) veterinary medicine. 

17 ‘‘(3) AGROTERRORIST ACT.— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘agroterrorist 

19 act’ means an act, committed with the intent de20 scribed in subparagraph (B), of causing or at21 tempting to cause damage or harm (including 

22 destruction or contamination) to— 

23 ‘‘(i) a crop; 

24 ‘‘(ii) livestock; 

25 ‘‘(iii) farm or ranch equipment; 
13 

•S 572 RS 

1 ‘‘(iv) material or property associated 

2 with agriculture; or 

3 ‘‘(v) a person engaged in an agricul4 tural activity. 

5 ‘‘(B) INTENT.—The term ‘agroterrorist act’ 

6 means an act described in subparagraph (A) 

7 that is committed with the intent to— 

8 ‘‘(i) intimidate or coerce a civilian 

9 population; or 

10 ‘‘(ii) influence the policy of a govern11 ment by intimidation or coercion. 

12 ‘‘(4) BIOSECURITY.— 

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘biosecurity’ 

14 means protection from the risk posed by a bio15 logical, chemical, or radiological agent to— 

16 ‘‘(i) the agricultural economy; 

17 ‘‘(ii) the environment; 

18 ‘‘(iii) human health; or 

19 ‘‘(iv) plant or animal health. 

20 ‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘biosecurity’ 

21 includes the exclusion, eradication, and control 

22 of a biological agent that causes an agricultural 

23 disease. 
14 

•S 572 RS 

1 ‘‘SEC. 899b. AGRICULTURAL SECURITY RESPONSIBILITIES 

2 OF THE DEPARTMENT. 

3 ‘‘(a) COORDINATION OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURAL SE4 CURITY.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish 

6 and carry out a program to protect the agriculture 

7 and food supply of the United States from 

8 agroterrorist acts. 

9 ‘‘(2) PROGRAM INCLUSIONS.—The program es10 tablished pursuant to paragraph (1) shall include 

11 provisions for — 

12 ‘‘(A) advising and coordinating with Fed13 eral, State, local, regional, and tribal homeland 

14 security officials regarding— 

15 ‘‘(i) preparedness for and the response 

16 to an agroterrorist act; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) the detection, prevention, and 

18 mitigation of an agroterrorist act; and 

19 ‘‘(B) executing the agriculture security re20 sponsibilities of the Secretary described in 

21 Homeland Security Presidential Directive 7 (De22 cember 17, 2003) and Homeland Security Presi23 dential Directive 9 (February 3, 2004). 

24 ‘‘(b) RESPONSIBILITIES.— 

25 ‘‘(1) SECRETARY.—The Secretary shall have re26 sponsibility for— 
15 

•S 572 RS 

1 ‘‘(A) increasing communication and coordi2 nation among all Federal, State, local, regional, 

3 and tribal emergency response providers and 

4 animal health and plant disease specialists re5 garding biosecurity; 

6 ‘‘(B) ensuring that each Federal, State, 

7 local, regional, and tribal emergency response 

8 provider, animal health specialist, and plant dis9 ease specialist understands and executes the role 

10 of that emergency response provider, animal 

11 health specialist, or plant disease specialist in 

12 response to an agroterrorist attack; 

13 ‘‘(C)(i) ensuring that State, local, and trib14 al officials have adequate access to biosecurity 

15 information and resources at the Federal level; 

16 and 

17 ‘‘(ii) developing and implementing informa18 tion-sharing procedures by which a Federal, 

19 State, local, regional, or tribal emergency re20 sponse provider, animal health specialist, or 

21 plant disease specialist can share information re22 garding a biological threat, risk, or vulner23 ability; 

24 ‘‘(D) coordinating with the Secretary of 

25 Transportation to develop guidelines for restric-
16 

•S 572 RS 

1 tions on the interstate transportation of an agri2 cultural commodity or product in response to an 

3 agricultural disease; 

4 ‘‘(E) coordinating with the Administrator 

5 of the Environmental Protection Agency in con6 sidering the potential environmental impact of a 

7 response by Federal, regional, State, local, and 

8 tribal emergency response providers and animal 

9 health and plant disease specialists to an agri10 cultural disease; 

11 ‘‘(F) working with Federal agencies (includ12 ing other elements of the intelligence community 

13 and the Department of Agriculture) to improve 

14 the ability of employees of the Department to 

15 identify a biological commodity or product, live16 stock, or any other good that is imported from 

17 a suspect location, as determined by the intel18 ligence community; 

19 ‘‘(G) coordinating with the Department of 

20 State to provide the President and Federal agen21 cies guidelines for establishing a mutual assist22 ance agreement with another country— 

23 ‘‘(i) to provide training to veterinar24 ians, public health workers, and agriculture 

25 specialists of the United States in the iden-
17 

•S 572 RS 

1 tification, diagnosis, and control of foreign 

2 diseases; 

3 ‘‘(ii) to provide resources and technical 

4 assistance personnel to a foreign government 

5 with limited resources; and 

6 ‘‘(iii) to participate in a bilateral or 

7 multilateral training program or exercise 

8 relating to biosecurity; 

9 ‘‘(H) not later than 1 year after the date of 

10 enactment of this subtitle, cooperating with 

11 State, local, and tribal homeland security offi12 cials to establish State and regional response 

13 plans for an agricultural disease or agroterrorist 

14 act that include— 

15 ‘‘(i) a comprehensive needs analyses to 

16 determine the appropriate investment re17 quirements for responding to an agricul18 tural disease or agroterrorist act; 

19 ‘‘(ii) a potential emergency manage20 ment assistance compact and any other mu21 tual assistance agreement between neigh22 boring States; and 

23 ‘‘(iii) an identification of Federal, 

24 State, and local laws (including regula25 tions) and procedures that may affect the 
18 

•S 572 RS 

1 implementation of a State response plan; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(I) not later than 90 days after the date of 

4 enactment of this subtitle, establishing a task 

5 force consisting of State and local homeland se6 curity officials that shall— 

7 ‘‘(i) identify the best practices for car8 rying out a regional or State biosecurity 

9 program; 

10 ‘‘(ii) make available to State, local, 

11 and tribal governments a report that de12 scribes the best practices identified under 

13 clause (i); and 

14 ‘‘(iii) design and make available infor15 mation (based on the best practices identi16 fied under clause (i)) concerning training 

17 exercises for emergency response providers 

18 and animal health and plant disease spe19 cialists in the form of printed materials and 

20 electronic media to— 

21 ‘‘(I) managers of State, local, and 

22 tribal emergency response provider, 

23 animal health, and plant disease spe24 cialist organizations; and 
19 

•S 572 RS 

1 ‘‘(II) State health and agricul2 tural officials. 

3 ‘‘(c) GRANTS TO FACILITATE PARTICIPATION OF

4 STATE AND LOCAL ANIMAL HEALTH CARE OFFICIALS.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Office of State and 

6 Local Coordination and Preparedness shall establish 

7 a program under which the Secretary shall provide 

8 grants to State and local governments to facilitate the 

9 participation of State and local agriculture security 

10 experts in community emergency planning efforts. 

11 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBILITY.—For purposes of the grant 

12 program described in paragraph (1), animal health 

13 and plant disease specialists, environmental regu14 lators, farmers, ranchers, and any other individual 

15 the Secretary determines to be knowledgeable in agri16 cultural security practices shall be considered to be 

17 agriculture security experts. 

18 ‘‘(3) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

19 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

20 this subsection $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2006.’’. 

21 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The 

22 table of contents in section 1(b) of the Homeland Security 

23 Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 101) is amended by inserting after 

24 the item relating to section 899 the following: 

‘‘Subtitle J—Agricultural Biosecurity 

‘‘Sec. 899a. Definitions. 
20 

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‘‘Sec. 899b. Agricultural security responsibilities of the Department.’’. 

Calendar No. 224 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 572 

A BILL 

To amend the homeland security act of 2002 to 

Department of Homeland Security. give additional biosecurity responsibilities to the 

SEPTEMBER 27, 2005 

Reported with an amendment