Title: Invasive Species Prevention and Forest Restoration Act
Policy area: Public Lands and Natural Resources

Summary:
Invasive Species Prevention and Forest Restoration Act
This bill directs the Department of Agriculture to award competitive grants for the federal government, state cooperative institutions, colleges and universities, and nonprofit entities to address critical threats to numerous tree species by non-native plant pests and noxious weeds.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5519 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5519

To amend the Plant Protection Act for purposes of mitigating the threat 
              of invasive species, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 13, 2018

  Mr. Welch introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                        Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Plant Protection Act for purposes of mitigating the threat 
              of invasive species, 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 ``Invasive Species Prevention and 
Forest Restoration Act''.

SEC. 2. EXPANDING EMERGENCY AUTHORITY WITH RESPECT TO INVASIVE SPECIES.

    (a) In General.--Subsection (a) of section 442 of the Plant 
Protection Act (7 U.S.C. 7772) is amended by 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 adding 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 emergency 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, Extension, and 
Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3310 et seq.) is amended by 
adding at the end the following new section:

``SEC. 1473H. FOREST RECLAMATION GRANTS.

    ``(a) Establishment of Program.--The Secretary, for purposes of 
addressing the critical threat to numerous tree species posed by non-
native plant pests and noxious weeds, shall award competitive grants 
for studies of a two- to five-year duration to eligible institutions 
under which such eligible institutions--
            ``(1) conduct research to promote the restoration 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 mechanisms; 
                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.
            ``(3) A college or university offering a baccalaureate or 
        higher degree in the study of food, forestry, 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 comprehensive forest 
restoration research program to the Secretary 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 receiving a 
        grant under this section may use funds received 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-native plant pests or noxious weeds.
            ``(2) Matching requirement.--Notwithstanding section 1492, 
        an eligible institution 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 awarded under this section shall 
        not exceed 30 percent of 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 $100,000 per year.
    ``(e) Cooperation Among Eligible Institutions.--The Secretary, to 
the maximum extent practicable, shall encourage eligible institutions 
to cooperate in setting research priorities under this section.
    ``(f) Administration.--In carrying out this subsection, the 
Secretary shall--
            ``(1) establish a committee of experts composed of 
        representatives of the United States Forest Service, Animal and 
        Plant Health Inspection Service, Agricultural 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;
            ``(2) establish an advisory committee composed of 
        representatives of land-grant colleges and universities and 
        affiliated State agricultural experiment stations, the forest 
        products industry, recreationists, and conservation 
        organizations to assist the committee 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 section, 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 Commodity Credit 
Corporation, the Secretary shall make available to carry out this 
section--
            ``(1) $3,000,000 for fiscal year 2019;
            ``(2) $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2020;
            ``(3) $8,000,000 for fiscal year 2021; and
            ``(4) $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2022.
    ``(h) Definitions.--In this section, the terms `plant pest' and 
`noxious weed' have the meanings given such terms in section 403 of the 
Plant Protection Act (7 U.S.C. 7702).''.
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