Title: Wildlife Disease Emergency Act of 2018
Policy area: Animals

Summary:
Wildlife Disease Emergency Act of 2018
This bill provides support for responding to wildlife disease emergencies, including by authorizing the Department of the Interior to declare and respond to wildlife disease emergencies, requiring Interior to implement a grant program for addressing wildlife disease emergencies, and establishing a Wildlife Disease Emergency Fund.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7005 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7005

  To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to identify and declare 
wildlife disease emergencies and to coordinate rapid response to these 
                  emergencies, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 28, 2018

 Ms. Shea-Porter (for herself, Mr. Cartwright, Mr. DeFazio, Mr. Nolan, 
 and Mr. Thompson of Mississippi) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to 
   the Committees on Agriculture, and the Budget, for a period to be 
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 
  of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
                               concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to identify and declare 
wildlife disease emergencies and to coordinate rapid response to these 
                  emergencies, 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 ``Wildlife Disease Emergency Act of 
2018''.

SEC. 2. PURPOSES.

    The purposes of this Act are to--
            (1) authorize the Secretary of the Interior to identify and 
        declare wildlife disease emergencies;
            (2) establish a fund through which the Secretary may 
        coordinate rapid response to these emergencies; and
            (3) prepare for, identify, and address wildlife diseases 
        adversely affecting wildlife populations and biodiversity 
        through strategic and coordinated actions between the Federal 
        agencies and State and local agencies, Indian tribes, and 
        nongovernmental organizations.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Committee.--The term ``Committee'' means the Wildlife 
        Disease Committee established under section 6.
            (2) Fund.--The term ``Fund'' means the Wildlife Disease 
        Emergency Fund established by section 5.
            (3) 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).
            (4) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of the Interior.
            (5) State.--The term ``State'' means any State, the 
        District of Columbia, and any other possession of the United 
        States.
            (6) Wildlife.--The term ``wildlife'' means any species 
        native to the United States including nondomesticated mammals, 
        fish, birds, amphibians, reptiles, mollusks, and arthropods.
            (7) Wildlife disease.--The term ``wildlife disease'' means 
        an infectious or noninfectious, pathological condition 
        occurring in a susceptible population of wildlife, that is not 
        zoonotic.
            (8) Wildlife disease emergency.--The term ``wildlife 
        disease emergency'' means the occurrence of a wildlife disease 
        that--
                    (A) is infectious and caused by a newly discovered 
                pathogen or a known infectious wildlife disease that is 
                expanding its geographic range, the species impacted by 
                the disease, or other recognized impacts of the 
                disease;
                    (B) poses significant threats to the sustainability 
                of wildlife; or
                    (C) poses a significant threat to the overall 
                health of a functioning ecosystem.

SEC. 4. DECLARATION OF WILDLIFE DISEASE EMERGENCY.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of the Interior, in consultation 
with the Governor of a potentially affected State or States, may 
declare within such State or States a wildlife disease emergency for 
any wildlife disease that is--
            (1) occurring in the United States; or
            (2) occurring outside the United States with the potential 
        to enter the United States.
    (b) Considerations.--In making a declaration under subsection (a), 
the Secretary shall consider--
            (1) the level of threat the wildlife disease poses to 
        affected wildlife populations, based on the--
                    (A) relative threat to population levels;
                    (B) relative strength of the contagion and spread 
                of the disease;
                    (C) observed rate of morbidity or mortality of the 
                disease; and
                    (D) importance of affected species or ecosystems, 
                including--
                            (i) species and habitats identified as 
                        priorities by the Federal Government, a State, 
                        or local government, or a Federal, State, or 
                        local conservation plan; and
                            (ii) wildlife located on Federal lands;
            (2) the sufficiency of resources available in the Fund;
            (3) the ability of the Department of the Interior and other 
        Federal, State, and local agencies, tribal governments, and 
        other stakeholders to address and coordinate response to the 
        disease through other authorities;
            (4) the request of any State Governor to make such a 
        declaration; and
            (5) the economic consequences of a significant population 
        decline in the impacted species due to the disease.
    (c) Response Coordination.--Upon a declaration of a wildlife 
disease emergency by the Secretary, the Secretary shall lead a 
coordinated response to the emergency that shall include appropriate 
Federal agencies, State and local governments, Indian tribes, 
nongovernmental organizations, or other stakeholders.
    (d) Grant Program.--The Secretary shall develop and implement a 
grant program to provide funding to State wildlife agencies and Indian 
tribes to address wildlife disease emergencies.

SEC. 5. WILDLIFE DISEASE EMERGENCY FUND.

    (a) Establishment.--There is established in the Treasury of the 
United States a separate account, which shall be known as the 
``Wildlife Disease Emergency Fund'' and shall consist of--
            (1) such funds as are appropriated to the Secretary for 
        activities authorized by this Act to address a wildlife disease 
        emergency; and
            (2) any funds received by the Secretary as a donation, 
        gift, or contribution identified by the person providing the 
        funds for use to address wildlife disease emergencies.
    (b) Prohibition.--Amounts in the Fund may not be made available for 
any purpose other than to respond to a wildlife disease emergency 
declared under section 4.
    (c) Annual Reports.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 60 days after the end of 
        each fiscal year beginning with fiscal year 2017, the Secretary 
        shall submit to the Committee on Appropriations of the House of 
        Representatives, the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate, 
        the Committee on Environment and Public Works of the Senate, 
        and the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of 
        Representatives a report on the operation of the Fund during 
        the fiscal year.
            (2) Contents.--Each report shall include, for the fiscal 
        year covered by the report, the following:
                    (A) A statement of the amounts deposited into the 
                Fund.
                    (B) A description of the expenditures made from the 
                Fund, including the purpose of the expenditures.
                    (C) Recommendations of additional authorities to 
                fulfill the purpose of the Fund.
                    (D) A statement of the balance remaining in the 
                Fund at the end of the fiscal year.
    (d) Separate Appropriations Account.--Section 1105(a) of title 31, 
United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(39) a separate appropriations account for the Wildlife 
        Disease Emergency Fund established under section 5 of the 
        Wildlife Disease Emergency Act of 2018, which shall include the 
        estimated amount of deposits into the Fund, and obligations and 
        outlays from the Fund.''.

SEC. 6. WILDLIFE DISEASE COMMITTEE.

    (a) Establishment.--The Secretary may establish a Wildlife Disease 
Committee. The purpose of the Committee shall be to assist the 
Secretary in increasing the level of preparedness of the United States 
to address emerging wildlife diseases.
    (b) Duties.--The Committee shall--
            (1) advise the Secretary on risk assessment, preparation, 
        monitoring, research, and response to wildlife diseases that 
        may significantly impact the health and sustainability of 
        wildlife populations; and
            (2) draft reports, recommendations, plans, or other 
        documents to assist the Secretary in carrying out this Act.
    (c) Membership.--
            (1) In general.--Subject to paragraph (2), members of the 
        Committee shall be appointed by the Secretary from among 
        individuals who are qualified by education, training, or 
        experience in topics such as wildlife health, biology, ecology, 
        wildlife conservation, and natural resource management.
            (2) Inclusions.--The Committee shall include--
                    (A) qualified individuals who are employed by 
                Federal agencies;
                    (B) at least 8 qualified individuals who are 
                employed by a State fish and wildlife agency, each of 
                whom shall be employed in a different region of the 8 
                regions of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service;
                    (C) qualified individuals employed by other State 
                agencies and tribal entities; and
                    (D) qualified individuals who represent public and 
                private organizations.
    (d) Committee Chair.--The Committee shall be chaired by the 
Secretary or a designee of the Secretary.
    (e) Staffing and Assistance.--The Secretary shall make available to 
the Committee any staff, information, administrative services, or 
assistance the Secretary determines is reasonably required to enable 
the Committee to carry out its functions.
    (f) Renewal.--Notwithstanding the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 
U.S.C. App.), the Secretary may renew the Committee beyond the date it 
would otherwise terminate under that Act.

SEC. 7. RAPID RESPONSE TEAMS.

    The Secretary, in consultation with the Committee as appropriate, 
may convene rapid response teams to address any particular wildlife 
disease emergency.

SEC. 8. ADMINISTRATION.

    Nothing in this Act shall be construed to--
            (1) limit the Secretary's authority to respond to wildlife 
        disease events that are not declared wildlife disease 
        emergencies under this Act;
            (2) affect the authority, jurisdiction, or responsibility 
        of the States to manage, control, or regulate fish and resident 
        wildlife under any State laws and regulations;
            (3) grant authority to any public agency to acquire private 
        property or conservation easements or otherwise infringe any 
        use of private property; or
            (4) limit, repeal, supersede, or modify any provision of 
        Federal, State, local, or tribal laws and regulations.
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