I 
109TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5900 
To protect, conserve, and restore native fish, wildlife, and their natural 
habitats at national wildlife refuges through cooperative, incentive-based 
grants to control, mitigate, and eradicate harmful nonnative species, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 26, 2006 
Mr. KIND (for himself, Mr. SAXTON, Mr. THOMPSON of California, and Mr. 
CASTLE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Resources 
A BILL 
To protect, conserve, and restore native fish, wildlife, and 
their natural habitats at national wildlife refuges through 
cooperative, incentive-based grants to control, mitigate, 
and eradicate harmful nonnative species, and for other 
purposes. 
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 ‘‘Refuge Ecology Pro-
tection, Assistance, and Immediate Response Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following: 
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(1) The National Wildlife Refuge System is the 
premier land conservation system in the world. 
(2) Harmful nonnative species are the leading 
cause of habitat destruction in national wildlife ref-
uges. 
(3) More than 675 known harmful nonnative 
species are found in the National Wildlife Refuge 
System. 
(4) Nearly 8 million acres of the National Wild-
life Refuge System contain harmful nonnative spe-
cies. 
(5) The cost of early identification and removal 
of harmful nonnative species is dramatically lower 
than removing an established invasive population. 
(6) The cost of the backlog of harmful non-
native species control projects that need to be car-
ried out in the National Wildlife Refuge System is 
over $250,000,000, and the failure to carry out such 
projects threatens the ability of the System to fulfill 
its basic mission. 
(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to encour-
age partnerships among the United States Fish and Wild-
life Service, other Federal agencies, States, Indian tribes, 
and other interests for the following objectives: 
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(1) To protect, enhance, restore, and manage a 
diversity of habitats for native fish and wildlife re-
sources within the National Wildlife Refuge System 
through control of harmful nonnative species. 
(2) To promote the development of voluntary 
State assessments to establish priorities for control-
ling harmful nonnative species that threaten or neg-
atively impact refuge resources. 
(3) To promote greater cooperation among Fed-
eral, State, and local land and water managers, and 
owners of private land, water rights, or other inter-
ests, to implement ecologically based strategies to 
eradicate, mitigate, and control harmful nonnative 
species that threaten or negatively impact refuge re-
sources through a voluntary and incentive-based fi-
nancial assistance grant program. 
(4) To establish an immediate response capa-
bility to combat incipient harmful nonnative species 
invasions. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
For the purposes of this Act: 
(1) ADVISORY COMMITTEE.—The term ‘‘Advi-
sory Committee’’ means the Invasive Species Advi-
sory Committee established by section 3 of Executive 
Order 13112, dated February 3, 1999. 
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(2) APPROPRIATE
COMMITTEES.—The term 
‘‘appropriate Committees’’ means the Committee on 
Resources of the House of Representatives and the 
Committee on Environment and Public Works of the 
Senate. 
(3) CONTROL.—The term ‘‘control’’ means, as 
appropriate, eradicating, suppressing, reducing, or 
managing harmful nonnative species from areas 
where they are present; taking steps to detect early 
infestations on at-risk native habitats; and restoring 
native species and habitats to reduce the effects of 
harmful nonnative species. 
(4) ENVIRONMENTAL SOUNDNESS.—The term 
‘‘environmental soundness’’ means the extent of in-
clusion of methods, efforts, actions, or programs to 
prevent or control infestations of harmful nonnative 
species, that— 
(A) minimize adverse impacts to the struc-
ture and function of an ecosystem and adverse 
effects on nontarget species and ecosystems; 
and 
(B) emphasize integrated management 
techniques. 
(5) HARMFUL NONNATIVE SPECIES.—The term 
‘‘harmful nonnative species’’ means, with respect to 
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a particular ecosystem in a particular region, any 
species, including its seeds, eggs, spores, or other bi-
ological material capable of propagating that species, 
that is not native to that ecosystem and has a de-
monstrable or potentially demonstrable negative en-
vironmental or economic impact in that region. 
(6) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ 
has the meaning given that term in section 4 of the 
Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 
Act (25 U.S.C. 450b). 
(7) NATIONAL MANAGEMENT PLAN.—The term 
‘‘National Management Plan’’ means the manage-
ment plan referred to in section 5 of Executive 
Order 13112 of February 3, 1999, and entitled 
‘‘Meeting the Invasive Species Challenge’’. 
(8) REFUGE
RESOURCES.—The term ‘‘refuge 
resources’’ means all lands and waters, including the 
fish and wildlife species and the ecosystems and 
habitats therein, that are owned and managed by 
the Federal Government through the United States 
Fish and Wildlife Service and located within the Na-
tional Wildlife Refuge System administered under 
the National Wildlife Refuge Administration Act of 
1966 (16 U.S.C. 668dd et seq.). 
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