Agriculture Security Preparedness Act

Bill: 108-s-430
Sponsor: Sen. Akaka, Daniel K. [D-HI]
Introduced: 2003-02-24 in the Senate
Policy area: Agriculture and Food
Subjects: Animal diseases
Animals
Crime and Law Enforcement
EBB Terrorism
Emergency Management
Health
International Affairs
Livestock
Plant diseases
Plant protection
Public Lands and Natural Resources
Terrorism
Veterinary medicine

Summary:
action_date: 2003-02-24
text: Agriculture Security Preparedness Act - Amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to direct: (1) the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish an agricultural disease management position in the Federal Emergency Management Agency to act as liaison between the Department and governmental and other entities in the emergency management community; (2) the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a similar animal health liaison position in the Department of Health and Human Services; (3) the Secretary of Transportation to develop guidelines for restrictions on interstate transportation of commodities or products in response to an agricultural disease; (4) the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to consider potential environmental impacts of response activities in planning agricultural disease responses; (5) the Secretary of Agriculture to develop and implement agricultural risk information-sharing procedures among Federal, regional, State, and local entities; (6) the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to establish a task force, consisting of agricultural producers and State and local emergency response officials, to identify best practices for regional and State agricultural disease programs; (7) the Secretary of Agriculture to conduct studies on the feasibility of establishing a national plant disease laboratory, and on international agricultural disease surveillance; (8) the Secretary of Homeland Security to improve the Department of Agriculture's ability to identify agricultural commodities, products, and livestock imported from locations that have experienced agricultural terrorist activities or unusual agricultural diseases; (9) the Secretary of State to enter into mutual assistance agreements with other countries for assistance in the event of an agricultural disease, including training of U.S. veterinarians and agriculture specialists in the identification, diagnosis, and control of foreign agricultural diseases, and to provide resources and personnel to foreign governments with limited response resources; (10) the Attorney General to study the feasibility of establishing a national agroterrorism and ecoterrorism incident clearinghouse; and (11) the Secretary of Agriculture to develop a system to share information during all stages of an agroterrorism act.
Amends Federal criminal law to include attacks against private property, including agriculture- and livestock-related property, among terrorist acts involving weapons of mass destruction.

Legislative actions:
action_date: 2004-09-09
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S9027)
action_date: 2003-09-15
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S11472-11473)
action_date: 2003-02-24
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. (text of measure as introduced: CR S2598-2600)
action_date: 2003-02-24
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S2596-2597)
action_date: 2003-02-24
text: Introduced in Senate