I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1462
To require the Secretary of the Interior to establish a program to provide
assistance through States to eligible weed management entities to control
or eradicate harmful, nonnative weeds on public and private land.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APRIL 4, 2001
Mr. HEFLEY (for himself, Mr. OTTER, Mr. CANNON, and Mr. KENNEDY of
Rhode Island) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Agri-
culture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in
each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic-
tion of the committee concerned
A BILL
To require the Secretary of the Interior to establish a pro-
gram to provide assistance through States to eligible
weed management entities to control or eradicate harm-
ful, nonnative weeds on public and private land.
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 ‘‘Harmful Nonnative
Weed Control Act of 2001’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—
(1) public and private land in the United States
faces unprecedented and severe stress from harmful,
nonnative weeds;
(2) the economic and resource value of the land
is being destroyed as harmful nonnative weeds over-
take native vegetation, making the land unusable for
forage and for diverse plant and animal commu-
nities;
(3) damage caused by harmful nonnative weeds
has been estimated to run in the hundreds of mil-
lions of dollars annually;
(4) successfully fighting this scourge will re-
quire coordinated action by all affected stakeholders,
which may include Federal, State, and local govern-
ments, private landowners, and nongovernmental or-
ganizations;
(5) the fight must begin at the local level, since
it is at the local level that persons feel the loss
caused by harmful nonnative weeds and will there-
fore have the greatest motivation to take effective
action; and
(6) to date, effective action has been hampered
by inadequate funding at all levels of government
and by inadequate coordination.
(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are—
(1) to provide assistance to eligible weed man-
agement entities in carrying out projects to control
or eradicate harmful, nonnative weeds on public and
private land;
(2) to coordinate the projects with existing
weed management areas and districts;
(3) in locations in which no weed management
entity, area, or district exists, to stimulate the for-
mation of additional local or regional cooperative
weed management entities, such as entities for weed
management areas or districts, that organize locally
affected stakeholders to control or eradicate weeds;
(4) to leverage additional funds from a variety
of public and private sources to control or eradicate
weeds through local stakeholders; and
(5) to promote healthy, diverse, and desirable
plant communities by abating through a variety of
measures the threat posed by harmful, nonnative
weeds.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) ADVISORY COMMITTEE.—The term ‘‘Advi-
sory Committee’’ means the advisory committee es-
tablished under section 5.
(2) AGRICULTURAL COMMODITY.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘agricultural
commodity’’ has the meaning given the term in
section 102 of the Agricultural Trade Act of
1978 (7 U.S.C. 5602).
(B) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘agricultural
commodity’’ does not include—
(i) livestock (as defined in section 602
of the Agricultural Act of 1949 (7 U.S.C.
1471));
(ii) insects; or
(iii) any animal- or insect-based prod-
uct.
(3) INDIAN
TRIBE.—The term ‘Indian tribe’
has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the
Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance
Act (25 U.S.C. 450b).
(4) LOCAL STAKEHOLDER.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘local stake-
holder’’ means an interested party that partici-
pates in the establishment of a weed manage-
ment entity in a State.
(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘local stake-
holder’’ includes a Federal, State, local, or pri-
vate landowner.
(5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means
the Secretary of the Interior.
(6) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of
the several States of the United States, the District
of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the
Virgin Islands, Guam, the Commonwealth of the
Northern Mariana Islands, and any other territory
or possession of the United States.
SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.
The Secretary shall establish in the Office of the Sec-
retary a program to provide financial assistance through
States to eligible weed management entities to control or
eradicate harmful, nonnative weeds on public and private
land.
SEC. 5. ADVISORY COMMITTEE.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish in
the Department of the Interior an advisory committee to
make recommendations to the Secretary regarding—
(1) the annual allocation of funds to States and
Indian tribes under section 6; and
(2) other issues related to funding under this
Act.
(b) COMPOSITION.—The Advisory Committee shall be
composed of not more than 10 individuals appointed by
the Secretary who—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), in
consultation with the Advisory Committee, the Sec-
retary shall allocate funds made available for each
fiscal year under section 11 to States and Indian
tribes to provide funding in accordance with sections
7 and 8 to eligible weed management entities to
carry out projects approved by States and Indian
tribes to control or eradicate harmful, nonnative
weeds on public and private land.
(2) ALLOCATION TO INDIAN TRIBES.—Of the
funds made available for allocation under section 11
for each fiscal year, 5 percent shall be—
(A) reserved for allocation to Indian tribes;
and
(B) administered by the Advisory Com-
mittee.
(b) AMOUNT.—The Secretary shall determine the
amount of Federal funds allocated to a State or Indian
tribe for a fiscal year under this section to be used to ad-
dress a harmful, nonnative weed problem in the State or
portion of the State, or on land under the jurisdiction of
the Indian tribe, on the basis of—
(1) the severity of the harmful, nonnative weed
problem;
(2) the extent to which the Federal funds will
be used to leverage non-Federal funds to address the
harmful, nonnative weed problem;
(3) the extent to which the State or Indian
tribe has made progress in addressing harmful, non-
native weed problem; and
(4) other factors recommended by the Advisory
Committee and approved by the Secretary.
SEC. 7. USE OF FUNDS ALLOCATED TO STATES.
(a) IN GENERAL.—A State that receives an allocation
of funds under section 6 for a fiscal year shall use—
(1) not more than 25 percent of the allocation
to make an incentive payment to each weed manage-
ment entity in accordance with subsection (b); and
(2) not less than 75 percent of the allocation to
make financial awards to weed management entities
in accordance with subsection (c).
(b) INCENTIVE PAYMENTS.—
(1) USE BY WEED MANAGEMENT ENTITIES.—
(A) IN
GENERAL.—Incentive payments
under subsection (a)(1) shall be used by weed
management entities—
(i) to encourage the formation of new
weed management entities; or
(ii) to carry out 1 or more projects de-
scribed in subsection (d) to improve the ef-
fectiveness of weed management entities
that are least effective in controlling or
eradicating harmful, nonnative weeds on
public and private land.
(B) DURATION
OF
PAYMENTS.—A weed
management entity may be eligible to receive an
incentive payment under subparagraph (A) for
not more than 5 years in the aggregate.
(C) FEDERAL SHARE.—
(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided
in clause (ii), under subparagraph (A), the
Federal share of the cost of carrying out a
project described in subsection (d) shall
not exceed 50 percent.
(ii) ADJUSTMENT.—The Governor of
a State that makes incentive payments
under subsection (a)(1) may increase, to a
maximum of 100 percent, the Federal
share of the cost of carrying out a project
described in subsection (d) that the Gov-
ernor determines is necessary to meet the
needs of an underserved area.
(iii) FORM
OF
MATCHING
FUNDS.—
Under subparagraph (A), the non-Federal
share of the cost of carrying out a project
described 
in 
subsection 
(d) 
may 
be
provided—
(I) in cash or in kind; or
(II) in the form of Federal funds
made available under a Federal law
other than this Act.
(2) ELIGIBILITY OF WEED MANAGEMENT ENTI-
TIES.—To be eligible to obtain an incentive payment
under paragraph (1) for a fiscal year, a weed man-
agement entity in a State shall—
(A) be recognized by the State;
(B) be established by local stakeholders—
(i) to control or eradicate harmful,
nonnative weeds on public or private land;
or
(ii) to increase public knowledge and
education concerning the need to control or
eradicate harmful, nonnative weeds on
public or private land;
(C)(i) for the first fiscal year for which the
entity receives an incentive payment, provide to
the State a description of—
(I) the purposes for which the entity
was established; and
(II) any projects carried out to accom-
plish those purposes; and
(ii) for any subsequent fiscal year for
which the entity receives an incentive payment,
provide to the State—
(I) a description of the activities car-
ried out by the entity in the previous fiscal
year—
(aa) to control or eradicate harm-
ful, nonnative weeds on public or pri-
vate land; or
(bb) to increase public knowledge
and education concerning the need to
control or eradicate harmful, non-
native weeds on public or private land;
and
(II) the results of each such activity;
and
(D) meet such additional eligibility require-
ments, and conform to such process for deter-
mining eligibility, as the State may establish.
(c) FINANCIAL AWARDS.—
(1) USE BY WEED MANAGEMENT ENTITIES.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—Financial awards under
subsection (a)(2) shall be used by weed man-
agement entities to pay the Federal share of
the cost of carrying out projects described in
subsection (d) that are selected by the State in
accordance with subsection (d).
(B) FEDERAL SHARE.—
(i) IN
GENERAL.—Under subpara-
graph (A), the Federal share of the cost of
carrying out a project described in sub-
section (d) shall not exceed 50 percent.
(ii) FORM
OF
MATCHING
FUNDS.—
Under subparagraph (A), the non-Federal
share of the cost of carrying out a project
described 
in 
subsection 
(d) 
may 
be
provided—
(I) in cash or in kind; or
(II) in the form of Federal funds
made available under a Federal law
other than this Act.
(2) ELIGIBILITY OF WEED MANAGEMENT ENTI-
TIES.—To be eligible to obtain a financial award
under paragraph (1) for a fiscal year, a weed man-
agement entity in a State shall—
(A) meet the requirements for eligibility
for an incentive payment under subsection
(b)(2); and
(B) submit to the State a description of
the project for which the financial award is
sought.
(d) PROJECTS.—
(1) IN
GENERAL.—An eligible weed manage-
ment entity may use a financial award received
under this section to carry out a project relating to
the control or eradication of harmful, nonnative
weeds on public or private land, including—
(A) education, inventories and mapping,
management, monitoring, and similar activities,
including the payment of the cost of personnel
and equipment; and
(B) other activities, the results of which
are disseminated to the public.
(2) SELECTION OF PROJECTS.—A State shall
select projects for funding under this section on a
competitive basis, taking into consideration (with
equal consideration given to economic and natural
values)—
(A) the seriousness of the harmful, non-
native weed problem or potential problem ad-
dressed by the project;
(B) the likelihood that the project will pre-
vent or resolve the problem, or increase knowl-
edge about resolving similar problems in the fu-
ture;
(C) the extent to which the payment will
leverage non-Federal funds to address the
harmful, nonnative weed problem addressed by
the project;
(D) the extent to which the entity has
made progress in addressing harmful, nonnative
weed problems;
(E) the extent to which the project will
provide a comprehensive approach to the con-
trol or eradication of harmful, nonnative weeds;
(F) the extent to which the project will re-
duce the total population of a harmful, non-
native weed within the State;
(G) the extent to which the project uses
the principles of integrated vegetation manage-
ment; and
(H) other factors that the State deter-
mines to be relevant.
(3) SCOPE OF PROJECTS.—
(A) IN
GENERAL.—A weed management
entity shall determine the geographic scope of
the harmful, nonnative weed problem to be ad-
dressed through a project using an incentive
payment or financial award received under this
section.
(B) MULTIPLE STATES.—A weed manage-
ment entity shall not use any incentive payment
or financial award to carry out a project to ad-
dress the harmful, nonnative weed problem in
more than 1 State.
(4) LAND.—A weed management entity may
use an incentive payment or financial award received
under this section to carry out a project to control
or eradicate weeds on any public or private land
with the approval of the owner of the land, other
than land that is used for production of an agricul-
tural commodity.
(5) PROHIBITION ON PROJECTS TO CONTROL
AQUATIC NOXIOUS WEEDS OR ANIMAL PESTS.—An
incentive payment or financial award under this sec-
tion may not be used to carry out a project to con-
trol or eradicate submerged or floating aquatic nox-
ious weeds or animal pests.
(e) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—Not more than 5 per-
cent of the funds made available under section 11 for a
fiscal year may be used by the States or the Federal Gov-
ernment to pay the administrative costs of the program
established by this Act, including the costs of complying
with Federal environmental laws.
(f) REPORT.—As a condition of the receipt of an in-
centive payment or financial award under this Act, not
later than October 30 of each year, a weed management
entity in a State that received such a payment or award
in the preceding fiscal year shall submit to the Advisory
Committee a report that describes, for that preceding fis-
cal year, the purposes for which the payment or award
was used.
SEC. 8. USE OF FUNDS ALLOCATED TO INDIAN TRIBES.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The requirements for the use of
funds allocated to States described in section 7 shall apply
to the use of funds allocated to Indian tribes under section
6(a)(2).
(b) INSUFFICIENT OR EXCESS FUNDS.—
(1) INSUFFICIENT
FUNDS.—If, in any fiscal
year, the funds allocated to Indian tribes under sec-
tion 6(a)(2) are not sufficient to provide incentive
payments or financial awards to each weed manage-
ment entity of an Indian tribe, an Indian tribe may
31, United States Code (commonly known as ‘‘payments
in lieu of taxes’’).
SEC. 10. APPLICABILITY OF OTHER LAWS.
Any activity carried out under this Act shall comply
with all other Federal laws (including regulations), includ-
ing the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531
et seq.).
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