Title: Plum Island Preservation Act
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources

Summary:
Plum Island Preservation Act
This bill requires the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to submit to Congress a report on alternatives for the final disposition of Plum Island, New York, including transfer to another government or nonprofit entity for education, research, or conservation purposes.
This report must contain, for each alternative, an analysis of:
No action, including any pre-sale marketing activity, may be taken to carry out the requirement under current law for the General Services Administration to sell the property and assets that support Plum Island operations until at least 180 days after such report has been submitted.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2182 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2182

  To require the Comptroller General of the United States to submit a 
  report to Congress on the alternatives for the final disposition of 
  Plum Island, including preservation of the island for conservation, 
            education, and research, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 26, 2017

Mr. Zeldin (for himself, Ms. DeLauro, Ms. Meng, Mr. Engel, Mr. King of 
 New York, Mr. Suozzi, Mr. Langevin, and Mr. Courtney) introduced the 
    following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Homeland 
                                Security

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To require the Comptroller General of the United States to submit a 
  report to Congress on the alternatives for the final disposition of 
  Plum Island, including preservation of the island for conservation, 
            education, and research, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Plum Island Preservation Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Federal Government has owned Plum Island, New York, 
        since 1899.
            (2) Since 1954, the Plum Island Animal Disease Center has 
        conducted unrivaled scientific research on a variety of 
        infectious animal-borne diseases, including foot-and-mouth 
        disease, resulting, most recently, in the development of a new 
        cell line that rapidly and reliably detects this highly 
        debilitating disease of livestock.
            (3) Over 62 years, the Center has had a strong, proven 
        record of safety.
            (4) $23,200,000 in Federal dollars have been spent on 
        upgrades to, and the maintenance of, the Center since January 
        2012.
            (5) In addition to the Center, Plum Island contains 
        cultural, historical, ecological, and natural resources of 
        regional and national significance.
            (6) Plum Island is situated where the Long Island Sound and 
        Peconic Bay meet, both of which are estuaries that are part of 
        the National Estuary Program and are environmentally and 
        economically significant to the region.
            (7) The Federal Government has invested hundreds of 
        millions of Federal dollars over the last two decades to make 
        long-term improvements with respect to the conservation and 
        management needs of Long Island Sound and Peconic Bay.
            (8) In a report submitted to Congress on April 11, 2016, 
        entitled ``National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility Construction 
        Plan Update'' the Department of Homeland Security noted that 
        the new National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility under 
        construction on such date in Manhattan, Kansas, is, as of such 
        date, fully paid for through a combination of Federal 
        appropriations and funding from the State of Kansas.

SEC. 3. REPORT REQUIRED ON FINAL DISPOSITION OF PLUM ISLAND.

    Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this 
Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to 
Congress a report containing the following:
            (1) The alternatives for the final disposition of Plum 
        Island, including the transfer of ownership to another Federal 
        agency, a State or local government, a nonprofit organization, 
        or a combination thereof for the purpose of education, 
        research, or conservation.
            (2) With respect to each such alternative final 
        disposition, an analysis of--
                    (A) the effect such disposition would have on the 
                island's resources;
                    (B) the remediation responsibilities under such 
                disposition;
                    (C) any future legislation necessary to implement 
                such disposition;
                    (D) the possible implications and issues, if any, 
                of implementing such disposition;
                    (E) the costs of such disposition, including any 
                potential costs related to the transition, hazard 
                mitigation, and cleanup of property that would be 
                incurred by a recipient of the property under such 
                disposition; and
                    (F) the potential revenue from such disposition.

SEC. 4. SUSPENSION OF ACTION.

    No action, including any pre-sale marketing activity, may be taken 
to carry out section 538 of title V of division D of the Consolidated 
Appropriations Act, 2012 (Public Law 112-74; 125 Stat. 976) until at 
least 180 days after the report required by section 3 has been 
submitted to Congress.
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