Continued Rapid Ohia Death Response Act of 2023

Subjects: Environmental Protection, Animal and plant health, Forests, forestry, trees, Government studies and investigations, Hawaii, Mammals, Research administration and funding


<html><body><pre>[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 927 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

&lt;DOC&gt;






118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 927

  To require the Secretary of the Interior to partner and collaborate 
 with the Secretary of Agriculture and the State of Hawaii to address 
               Rapid Ohia Death, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 22, 2023

Ms. Hirono (for herself and Mr. Schatz) 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 the Interior to partner and collaborate 
 with the Secretary of Agriculture and the State of Hawaii to address 
               Rapid Ohia Death, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Continued Rapid Ohia Death Response 
Act of 2023''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) the fungus Ceratocystis, known as ``Rapid Ohia Death'', 
        has killed more than 1,000,000 native trees in the State; and
            (2) the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Chief 
        of the Forest Service and the Administrator of the Agricultural 
        Research Service, has provided funding and staff--
                    (A) to identify and detect Rapid Ohia Death;
                    (B) to prevent the spread of Rapid Ohia Death;
                    (C) to identify Ohia trees that are resistant to 
                Rapid Ohia Death; and
                    (D) to propagate trees that are resistant to Rapid 
                Ohia Death in order to restore the native forests of 
                the State.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Rapid ohia death.--The term ``Rapid Ohia Death'' means 
        the fungus described in section 2(1) that has killed more than 
        1,000,000 native trees in the State.
            (2) State.--The term ``State'' means the State of Hawaii.

SEC. 4. COLLABORATION.

    The Secretary of the Interior shall partner and collaborate with 
the Secretary of Agriculture and the State to address Rapid Ohia Death.

SEC. 5. SUSTAINED EFFORTS.

    (a) Transmission.--The Secretary of the Interior, acting through 
the Director of the United States Geological Survey, shall continue to 
conduct research on Rapid Ohia Death vectors and transmission.
    (b) Ungulate Management.--The Secretary of the Interior, acting 
through the Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, 
shall continue to partner with the State and with local stakeholders to 
manage ungulates in Rapid Ohia Death control areas on Federal, State, 
and private land.
    (c) Restoration and Research.--The Secretary of Agriculture, acting 
through the Chief of the Forest Service, shall continue to provide--
            (1) financial assistance, including to the Secretary of the 
        Interior--
                    (A) to prevent the spread of Rapid Ohia Death; and
                    (B) to restore the native forests of the State; and
            (2) staff and necessary infrastructure funding to the 
        Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry to conduct research on 
        Rapid Ohia Death.

SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    For each of fiscal years 2024 through 2034, there is authorized to 
be appropriated $5,000,000 to carry out this Act, including for 
activities carried out by the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary 
of Agriculture, or both.
                                 &lt;all&gt;
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