H. R. 273
One Hundred Eighth Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE FIRST SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
the seventh day of January, two thousand and three
An Act
To provide for the eradication and control of nutria in Maryland and Louisiana.
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 ‘‘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 Chesapeake Bay
and in Louisiana provide significant cultural, economic, and
ecological benefits to the Nation.
(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 author-
ized 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 authorize the Sec-
retary of the Interior to provide financial assistance to the State
of Maryland and the State of Louisiana for a program to implement
measures to eradicate or control nutria and restore marshland
damaged by nutria.
SEC. 3. NUTRIA ERADICATION PROGRAM.
(a) GRANT AUTHORITY.—The Secretary of the Interior (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 Louisiana for a program to implement
measures to eradicate or control nutria and restore marshland
damaged by nutria.
(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 Secretary shall
require that the program consist of management, research, and
H. R. 273—2
public education activities carried out in accordance with the docu-
ment 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-Federal share of the
costs of the program may be provided in the form of in-kind
contributions of materials 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 administrative expenses.
(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For financial assist-
ance 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 enactment 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 Lou-
isiana’’, and the 2002 document 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 Resources, a long-term nutria control
or eradication program, as appropriate, with the objective to
significantly reduce and restore the damage nutria cause to
coastal wetlands in the States of Louisiana and Maryland.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.