108TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 273
AN ACT
To provide for the eradication and control of nutria
in Maryland and Louisiana.
108TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 273
AN ACT
To provide for the eradication and control of nutria in
Maryland and Louisiana.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Nutria Eradication
and Control Act of 2003’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following:
(1) Wetlands and tidal marshes of the Chesa-
peake Bay and in Louisiana provide significant cul-
tural, economic, and ecological benefits to the Na-
tion.
(2) The South American nutria (Myocastor
coypus) is directly contributing to substantial marsh
loss in Maryland and Louisiana on Federal, State,
and private land.
(3) Traditional harvest methods to control or
eradicate nutria have failed in Maryland and have
had limited success in the eradication of nutria in
Louisiana. Consequently, marsh loss is accelerating.
(4) The nutria eradication and control pilot
program authorized by Public Law 105–322 is to
develop new and effective methods for eradication of
nutria.
(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to author-
ize the Secretary of the Interior to provide financial assist-
ance to the State of Maryland and the State of Louisiana
for a program to implement measures to eradicate or con-
trol nutria and restore marshland damaged by nutria.
SEC. 3. NUTRIA ERADICATION PROGRAM.
(a) GRANT AUTHORITY.—The Secretary of the Inte-
rior (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’), subject
to the availability of appropriations, may provide financial
assistance to the State of Maryland and the State of Lou-
isiana for a program to implement measures to eradicate
or control nutria and restore marshland damaged by nu-
tria.
(b) GOALS.—The goals of the program shall be to—
(1) eradicate nutria in Maryland;
(2) eradicate or control nutria in Louisiana and
other States; and
(3) restore marshland damaged by nutria.
(c) ACTIVITIES.—In the State of Maryland, the Sec-
retary shall require that the program consist of manage-
ment, research, and public education activities carried out
in accordance with the document published by the United
States Fish and Wildlife Service entitled ‘‘Eradication
Strategies for Nutria in the Chesapeake and Delaware
Bay Watersheds’’, dated March 2002.
(d) COST SHARING.—
(1) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of
the costs of the program may not exceed 75 percent
of the total costs of the program.
(2) IN-KIND
CONTRIBUTIONS.—The non-Fed-
eral share of the costs of the program may be pro-
vided in the form of in-kind contributions of mate-
rials or services.
(e) LIMITATION ON ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—
Not more than 5 percent of financial assistance provided
by the Secretary under this section may be used for ad-
ministrative expenses.
(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For fi-
nancial assistance under this section, there is authorized
to be appropriated to the Secretary $4,000,000 for the
State of Maryland program and $2,000,000 for the State
of Louisiana program for each of fiscal years 2004, 2005,
2006, 2007, and 2008.
SEC. 4. REPORT.
No later than 6 months after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, the Secretary and the National Invasive
Species Council shall—
(1) give consideration to the 2002 report for
the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
titled ‘‘Nutria in Louisiana’’, and the 2002 docu-
ment entitled ‘‘Eradication Strategies for Nutria in
the Chesapeake and Delaware Bay Watersheds’’;
and
(2) develop, in cooperation with the State of
Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and
the State of Maryland Department of Natural Re-
sources, a long-term nutria control or eradication
program, as appropriate, with the objective to sig-
nificantly reduce and restore the damage nutria
cause to coastal wetlands in the States of Louisiana
and Maryland.
Passed the House of Representatives April 8, 2003.
Attest:
Clerk.