I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1389 
To amend the Plant Protection Act for purposes of mitigating the threat 
of invasive species, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 25, 2021 
Mr. WELCH (for himself, Ms. KUSTER, Mr. PAPPAS, and Ms. STEFANIK) in-
troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agri-
culture 
A BILL 
To amend the Plant Protection Act for purposes of miti-
gating the threat of invasive species, and for other pur-
poses. 
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 ‘‘Invasive Species Pre-
vention and Forest Restoration Act’’. 
SEC. 2. EXPANDING EMERGENCY AUTHORITY WITH RE-
SPECT TO INVASIVE SPECIES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (a) of section 442 of 
the Plant Protection Act (7 U.S.C. 7772) is amended by 
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striking ‘‘noxious weed threatens’’ and inserting ‘‘noxious 
weed directly or indirectly threatens’’. 
(b) EMERGENCY DEFINED.—Section 442 of the 
Plant Protection Act (7 U.S.C. 7772) is amended by add-
ing at the end the following new subsection: 
‘‘(d) EMERGENCY DEFINED.—In this section, the 
term ‘emergency’ means an outbreak of a plant pest or 
noxious weed that the Secretary determines is occurring 
at a time during which insufficient Federal funds are 
available to timely achieve the arrest, control, eradication, 
or prevention of the spread of such plant pest or noxious 
weed.’’. 
(c) DISBURSEMENT OF FUNDS.—Subsection (b) of 
section 442 of the Plant Protection Act (7 U.S.C. 7772) 
is amended by adding at the end the following: ‘‘Any funds 
so transferred with respect to a designation of an emer-
gency under subsection (a) shall be transferred not later 
than 60 days after the date on which such designation 
is made.’’. 
SEC. 3. FOREST RECLAMATION GRANTS. 
Subtitle K of the National Agricultural Research, Ex-
tension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3310 
et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following 
new section: 
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‘‘SEC. 1473H. FOREST RECLAMATION GRANTS. 
‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT
OF
PROGRAM.—The Sec-
retary, for purposes of addressing the critical threat to 
numerous tree species posed by non-native plant pests and 
noxious weeds, shall award competitive grants to eligible 
institutions under which such eligible institutions— 
‘‘(1) conduct research to promote the restora-
tion of affected tree species, including research on— 
‘‘(A) biological control of plant pests or 
noxious weeds threatening native tree species 
heavily damaged by non-native pests; 
‘‘(B) exploration of genetic manipulation of 
plant pests or noxious weeds; 
‘‘(C) enhancement of host-resistance mech-
anisms; and 
‘‘(D) development of other strategies for 
restoring individual tree species; and 
‘‘(2) develop and disseminate to the public tools 
and information based on the research conducted 
under this section. 
‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE INSTITUTIONS.—An entity eligible to 
receive a grant under this section is any of the following: 
‘‘(1) An agency of the Federal Government. 
‘‘(2) A State cooperative institution. 
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‘‘(3) A college or university offering a bacca-
laureate or higher degree in the study of food, for-
estry, and agricultural sciences. 
‘‘(4) A nonprofit entity described in section 
501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (and exempt 
from tax under section 501(a) of such Code). 
‘‘(c) APPLICATION.—Each eligible institution seeking 
to receive a grant under this section shall submit a com-
prehensive forest restoration research program to the Sec-
retary at such time, in such manner, and containing such 
information as the Secretary may require. 
‘‘(d) USE OF FUNDS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible institution re-
ceiving a grant under this section may use funds re-
ceived through such grant only to conduct research 
intended to address specific questions related to the 
recovery of tree species native to the United States 
suffering severe levels of mortality caused by non-na-
tive plant pests or noxious weeds. 
‘‘(2) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—An eligible in-
stitution receiving a grant under this section shall 
provide matching funds from non-Federal sources in 
an amount equal to not less than 20 percent of the 
grant. Indirect costs charged against a grant award-
ed under this section shall not exceed 30 percent of 
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the total Federal funds provided under the grant 
award. 
‘‘(3) MAXIMUM
AMOUNT
OF
GRANTS.—The 
total amount of grant funding a grant recipient is 
eligible to receive under this section shall not exceed 
$400,000 per year. 
‘‘(e) COOPERATION
AMONG
ELIGIBLE
INSTITU-
TIONS.—The Secretary, to the maximum extent prac-
ticable, shall encourage eligible institutions to cooperate 
in setting research priorities under this section. 
‘‘(f) ADMINISTRATION.—In carrying out this sub-
section, the Secretary shall— 
‘‘(1) establish a committee of experts composed 
of representatives of the Forest Service, the Animal 
and Plant Health Inspection Service, the Agricul-
tural Research Service, and State forestry agencies 
to advise the Secretary on criteria appropriate for— 
‘‘(A) defining research topics eligible for 
funding under this section; 
‘‘(B) reviewing grant proposals’ adherence 
to the purposes specified in subsection (a)(1); 
and 
‘‘(C) membership in scientific peer review 
panels to review grant applications; 
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‘‘(2) establish an advisory committee composed 
of representatives of land-grant colleges and univer-
sities and affiliated State agricultural experiment 
stations, the forest products industry, recreationists, 
and conservation organizations to assist the com-
mittee of experts established under paragraph (1) 
with respect to the responsibilities of such committee 
specified in subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C) of such 
paragraph; and 
‘‘(3) submit, beginning one year after the date 
on which the first grant is awarded under this sec-
tion, and annually thereafter, to the Committee on 
Agriculture of the House of Representatives and the 
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 
of the Senate a report on the use of funds under 
this section in the previous year. 
‘‘(g) FUNDING.—Of the funds available to the Com-
modity Credit Corporation, the Secretary shall make avail-
able to carry out this section— 
‘‘(1) $3,000,000 for fiscal year 2022; 
‘‘(2) $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2023; 
‘‘(3) $8,000,000 for fiscal year 2024; and 
‘‘(4) $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2025. 
‘‘(h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section and in section 
1473I, the terms ‘plant pest’ and ‘noxious weed’ have the 
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meanings given such terms in section 403 of the Plant 
Protection Act (7 U.S.C. 7702).’’. 
SEC. 4. FOREST RESTORATION IMPLEMENTATION GRANTS. 
Subtitle K of the National Agricultural Research, Ex-
tension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3310 
et seq.), as amended by section 3, is further amended by 
adding at the end the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 
1473I. 
FOREST 
RESTORATION 
IMPLEMENTATION 
GRANTS. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may award grants 
on a competitive basis under this section to eligible entities 
to support— 
‘‘(1) the implementation of research conducted 
pursuant to section 1473H; or 
‘‘(2) any other solution that the committee es-
tablished under subsection (f)(1) of such section de-
termines to be an effective solution to restore forest 
tree species native to forests in the United States 
that have suffered severe levels of mortality caused 
by non-native plant pests or noxious weeds. 
‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—An entity eligible to re-
ceive a grant under this section is any of the following: 
‘‘(1) A cooperating forestry school. 
‘‘(2) A land-grant college or university. 
‘‘(3) A State agricultural experimental station. 
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‘‘(4) A non-profit, non-governmental organiza-
tion. 
‘‘(c) APPLICATION.—Each eligible institution seeking 
to receive a grant under this section shall submit an appli-
cation to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and 
containing such information as the Secretary may require. 
Such application shall demonstrate to the satisfaction of 
the Secretary that the entity has a program in effect with 
a forest restoration strategy that incorporates a majority 
of the following components: 
‘‘(1) Collection and conservation of native tree 
genetic material. 
‘‘(2) Production of propagules of native trees in 
numbers large enough for landscape scale restora-
tion. 
‘‘(3) Preparation of planting sites in former 
habitats of the native tree species that is the subject 
of the proposal. 
‘‘(4) Planting of native tree seedlings. 
‘‘(5) Post-planting maintenance of native trees. 
‘‘(d) SELECTION CRITERIA.—The Secretary shall se-
lect an eligible entity to receive a grant under this section 
based on the degree to which the entity’s application ad-
dresses the following criteria: 
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‘‘(1) Risk posed to the forests of the State in 
which the work is to be conducted by non-native 
plant pest or noxious weed species present in the 
State. 
‘‘(2) The proportion of such State’s forest com-
posed of species vulnerable to non-native plant pests 
or noxious weeds present in the United States. 
‘‘(3) The non-native plant pests or noxious 
weeds’ rate of spread via natural or human-assisted 
means. 
‘‘(4) The environmental and public health safe-
ty of the proposed project, as demonstrated by sup-
porting research. 
‘‘(e) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—An eligible institu-
tion receiving a grant under this section shall provide 
matching funds from non-Federal sources in an amount 
equal to not less than 10 percent of the grant. Indirect 
costs charged against a grant awarded under this section 
shall not exceed 30 percent of the total Federal funds pro-
vided under the grant award. 
‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section $25,000,000 
for each fiscal years 2022 through 2025. 
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