118 HR 6765 IH: Wildlife Disease Surveillance for Pandemic Prevention Act
U.S. House of Representatives
2023-12-13
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EN
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I
118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 6765
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
December 13, 2023
Ms. Porter (for herself, Mr. Grijalva, and Mr. Huffman) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committees on Agriculture, and Energy and Commerce, 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 create a coordinated domestic wildlife disease surveillance framework for State, Tribal, and local governments to monitor and respond to wildlife disease outbreaks to prevent pandemics, and for other purposes.
1.

Short title; table of contents
(a)

Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Wildlife Disease Surveillance for Pandemic Prevention Act”.
(b)

Table of contents
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Definitions.
Sec. 3. Funding for State and Tribal wildlife disease surveillance.
Sec. 4. Grant program.
Sec. 5. Wildlife Disease Surveillance Program.
Sec. 6. Wildlife Disease Emergency Response Program.
Sec. 7. Centers for Study and Diagnostics of Wildlife Diseases.
Sec. 8. Federal One Health Interagency Working Group.
Sec. 9. Wildlife Disease Surveillance Advisory Committee.
Sec. 10. National Wildlife Disease Database.
Sec. 11. Authorization of appropriations.
2.

Definitions
In this Act:
(1)

Advisory Committee
The term “Advisory Committee” means the Wildlife Disease Surveillance Advisory Committee established under section 9.
(2)

Database
The term “Database” means the National Wildlife Diseases Database established under section 10(a).
(3)

Director
The term “Director” means the Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.
(4)

Indian Tribe
The term “Indian Tribe” has the meaning given such term in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304).
(5)

Interagency Working Group
The term “Interagency Working Group” means the Federal One Health Interagency Working Group established under section 8.
(6)

Institution of higher education
The term “institution of higher education” has the meaning given such term in section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)).
(7)

Secretary
The term “Secretary” means the Secretary of the Interior.
(8)

State
The term “State” means each of the several States, the District of Columbia, and each of the United States Territories.
(9)

Task Force
The term “Task Force” means the Disease in Wildlife Trade Task Force established under section 5(b).
(10)

Wildlife
The term “wildlife” means any animal that is not livestock or poultry (as such terms are defined in section 2(a) of the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921 (7 U.S.C. 183(a)).
(11)

Wildlife diseases
The term “wildlife diseases” means any infectious disease of wildlife that can be transmitted, directly or indirectly, from an infected animal, host or vector, inanimate source, or other sources.
(12)

Wildlife Disease Surveillance Program
The term “Wildlife Disease Surveillance Program” means the program established under section 5(a).
3.

Funding for State and Tribal wildlife disease surveillance
(a)

Purposes
The purposes described in this subsection are the following:
(1)
Monitoring wildlife for wildlife diseases.
(2)
Research and development of monitoring methods and technologies to detect and diagnose wildlife diseases.
(3)
Participating in information sharing through the Database.
(4)
The establishment and maintenance of programs, facilities, and workforce development programs to carry out the purposes described in paragraphs (1) through (3).
(b)

Wildlife health action plan
(1)

Submission for approval
A State or Tribe may submit a wildlife health action plan, including each of the following, to the Director in such form, time, and manner as the Director determines appropriate:
(A)
Descriptions of wildlife disease surveillance actions proposed for monitoring wildlife disease in the full array of the State or Tribe’s wildlife and priorities for implementing such actions.
(B)
Plans for adapting these wildlife disease surveillance actions to respond to new information or changing conditions.
(C)
Plans for managing a wildlife disease outbreak, including potential containment measures and appropriate biosafety and biosecurity measures.
(D)
A plan to coordinate with relevant Federal, Tribal, State, and local governments, institutes of higher education, and private organizations.
(E)
Procedures for reviewing such plan not less frequently than every 5 years.
(2)

Approval process
The Director shall, not later than 90 days after receiving a submission under paragraph (1), approve or deny such wildlife health action plan and, in the case of a denial, provide feedback to the submitting entity.
(3)

Pilot funding for wildlife health planning
(A)

Establishment
The Director and the Director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs shall jointly establish a program through which—
(i)
the Director shall provide grants to States with a demonstrated financial need or lack of institutional incapacity to develop a wildlife health action plan under paragraph (1); and
(ii)
the Director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs shall provide grants to Indian Tribes with a demonstrated financial need or lack of institutional incapacity to develop a wildlife health action plan under paragraph (1).
(B)

Use of funds
A recipient may use grant funds received under this paragraph to develop a wildlife health action plan to be submitted under paragraph (1).
(C)

Limitation on amount of funds
(i)

State funds
The Director may not distribute under subparagraph (A) an amount in any fiscal year that exceeds 20 percent of the total amount of funds available for distribution to States under this section in such fiscal year.
(ii)

Funds for Indian Tribes
The Director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs may not distribute under subparagraph (A)) an amount in any fiscal year that exceeds 75 percent of the total amount of funds available for distribution to Indian Tribes under this section in such fiscal year.
(c)

Distribution to States
The Director shall, in each fiscal year beginning after the date that is 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, distribute not less than $15,500,000 to the States with a wildlife health action plan for the applicable fiscal year approved under subsection (b)(1). In determining the allocation of such amount among such States, the Director shall take into account—
(1)
the land area of each such State;
(2)
the population of each such as determined in the most recent census;
(3)
the presence of any source of increased risk or occurrence of wildlife diseases affecting a State; and
(4)
the need to develop capacity to surveil wildlife diseases in each State.
(d)

Distribution to Indian Tribes
(1)

In general
The Director of the Bureau of Indian affairs shall, in each fiscal year beginning after the date that is 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, distribute not less than $3,000,000 to Indian Tribes through a noncompetitive grant program.
(2)

Criteria
The Director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs shall, in consultation with Indian Tribes, establish criteria for the distribution of funds under paragraph (1).
(e)

Participation in information sharing
Each State, Indian Tribe, and grant recipient under this section shall participate in the Wildlife Disease Surveillance Program and contribute wildlife disease data to the Database.
4.

Grant program
(a)

Establishment
The Director shall establish a grant program to provide grants to eligible entities for the purposes described in section 3(a).
(b)

Administrative expenses
The Director may not expend more than 3 percent of the amounts made available to carry out this section for administrative expenses.
(c)

Eligible entities
For the purposes of this subsection, the term “eligible entities” means an entity with expertise in carrying out the purposes described in section 3(a) that is—
(1)
an organization described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and is exempt from taxation under section 501(a) of such Code;
(2)
an institution of higher education (as such term is defined in section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a));
(3)
a part B institution (as such term is defined in section 322 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1061));
(4)
a Tribal College or University (as such term is defined in section 317(d) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1059d(d));
(5)
a partnership of State, local, and Tribal agencies or governments that includes at representation from not less than 2 States or 1 State and 1 Tribe; or
(6)
a partnership between entities described in paragraph (1) or (2).
5.

Wildlife Disease Surveillance Program
(a)

Establishment
The Director, acting through the Wildlife Health Office of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and in consultation with the Director of the United States Geological Survey, shall establish a program to—
(1)
monitor wildlife disease threats to evaluate the risk posed by and impact of such diseases on the United States;
(2)
conduct research and development to create statistically supported sampling frameworks for broad-scale surveillance of wildlife disease threats;
(3)
conduct research on wildlife disease transmission and on effective outreach to stakeholders to help manage wildlife disease;
(4)
conduct statistical modeling to understand and predict wildlife disease movement; and
(5)
develop testing protocols for samples suspected of carrying wildlife diseases.
(b)

Wildlife Trade Task Force
(1)

Establishment
The Secretary shall, not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, establish the Disease in Wildlife Trade Task Force to carry out the following purposes:
(A)
Develop a comprehensive surveillance system of wildlife imports to the United States.
(B)
Perform risk analysis of wildlife diseases.
(C)
Perform data analysis relating to wildlife disease surveillance.
(D)
Provide technical assistance to Federal, State, Tribal, and local governments carrying out wildlife disease prevention and enforcement with respect to the wildlife trade.
(2)

Membership
The Task Force shall be composed of a representative of each of the following:
(A)
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service.
(B)
The United States Geological Survey.
(C)
The Secretary of State.
(D)
The Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development.
(E)
The Secretary of Homeland Security.
(F)
Such State and Tribal wildlife agencies that submit a request to the Secretary to participate in the Task Force as do not exceed 1 State representative per regions of the United States as identified by the Director and 1 Tribal representative per region of the United States identified by the Director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
(G)
The Director of the Centers for Disease Control.
(H)
The Secretary of Agriculture.
(I)
The Secretary of Commerce.
(3)

Report
The Task Force shall, not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, submit to Congress a report on—
(A)
the available quarantine facilities for animals with wildlife diseases, including through public-private partnerships;
(B)
the sufficiency of such facilities to fulfill the purposes of this Act; and
(C)
legislative and regulatory recommendations, determined in consultation with the Advisory Committee, to improve the availability of such facilities for Federal, State, and Tribal users.
6.

Wildlife Disease Emergency Response Program
(a)

Establishment
The Director shall establish the Wildlife Disease Emergency Response Program to—
(1)
provide and coordinate Federal incident command training, operations, and resources specific to wildlife health issues;
(2)
support emergency containment and research activities in response to wildlife disease emergencies; and
(3)
establish and provide training to Federal, State, and Tribal agencies on animal welfare best practices during wildlife disease emergency planning and response activities.
(b)

Federal Wildlife Disease Emergency Response Fund
There is hereby established in the Treasury an account to be known as the “Federal Wildlife Disease Emergency Response Fund” which shall be available to the Secretary for the purposes described in subsection (c).
(c)

Authority
(1)

Declaration of emergency
The Secretary may declare a wildlife health emergency at the request of a Governor of a State or the head of a Tribal Government. During the period of such an emergency, the Secretary may—
(A)
use the authorities and the resources granted to the Secretary under Federal law to support State, Tribal, and local wildlife disease emergency management efforts relating to such emergency;
(B)
coordinate emergency assistance (including voluntary assistance) provided by Federal agencies, private organizations, and State, Tribal, and local governments relating to such emergency;
(C)
provide technical and advisory assistance to affected State, Tribal, and local governments relating to—
(i)
wildlife health and safety measures;
(ii)
issuance of warnings of risks or hazards; and
(iii)
providing public information relating to wildlife health and safety;
(D)
authorize Federal spending from the Federal Wildlife Disease Emergency Response fund established under subsection (b) to carry out the activities described in this paragraph or distributions of funds from such fund to States and Tribes to carry out such activities.
(2)

Federal share
The Federal share of emergency costs for the activities described in paragraph (1) with respect to 1 emergency may not exceed the lesser of—
(A)
80 percent of such costs; or
(B)
$3,000,000, or such amount as the Secretary determines appropriate if the Secretary determines, in consultation with relevant Federal agencies with responsibilities relating to human health, that there is an immediate risk to human health or that no other source of assistance is available to address such emergency in a timely manner.
(d)

Wildlife disease emergency
The term “wildlife disease emergency” means the occurrence of a wildlife disease that has been identified by an appropriate State agency that—
(1)
is caused by—
(A)
a newly discovered pathogen;
(B)
a known wildlife disease that is expanding its geographic range; or
(C)
a wildlife disease that is affecting a previously unaffected population of a wildlife species;
(2)
poses significant threats to the sustainability of wildlife populations; or
(3)
poses a significant threat to ecosystem function, including ecosystem processes or resilience.
7.

Centers for Study and Diagnostics of Wildlife Diseases
(a)

Application
Institutions of Higher Education may submit an application to the Director of the United States Geological Survey in such time, place, and manner as the Director determines appropriate to enter into a cooperative agreement to operate a Center for the Study and Diagnostics of Wildlife Diseases.
(b)

Criteria for evaluation
The Director of the United States Geological Survey, in consultation with the Interagency Working Group and the Advisory Committee, shall establish criteria for evaluation of applications submitted under subsection (a), including—
(1)
including laboratory capabilities;
(2)
strength of veterinary, public health, and ecology programs;
(3)
dedicated expert staff; and
(4)
working relationships with State agencies, Indian Tribes, and other key partners.
(c)

Minimum number of centers
The Director shall, not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, approve not less than 3 complete applications submitted under subsection (a).
(d)

Geographic distribution
In approving applications under this section, the Director shall ensure that the centers are geographically distributed across the United States.
(e)

Purpose
Each center established under this section shall—
(1)
provide technical assistance to States and Indian Tribes to carry out the purposes described in section 3(a);
(2)
establish partnerships with local institutions of higher education to conduct surveillance and treatment of wildlife diseases and research, including relevant ecological research;
(3)
advance wildlife disease surveillance workforce development;
(4)
develop, validate, and deploy diagnostic tests for wildlife diseases;
(5)
provide diagnostic services to Federal, State, and Tribal government agencies.
8.

Federal One Health Interagency Working Group
(a)

Establishment
The Secretary of the Interior, the Director of the Centers for Disease Control, the Secretary of Commerce, and the Secretary of Agriculture shall establish the Federal One Health Interagency Working Group to strengthen One Health collaboration related to the prevention, detection, control, and response for the prioritized zoonotic diseases and related One Health work across the Federal Government.
(b)

Chair
The members of the Interagency Working Group shall rotate serving as Chair of such Unit at a frequency to be determined jointly by such members.
(c)

Determination of agency responsibility
The Interagency Working Group shall determine the responsibilities of each member agency with respect to the surveillance and treatment of and research and development programs relating to wildlife diseases.
(d)

Participation of other Federal agencies
The Interagency Working Group may invite a Federal agency with a mission related to the purposes of this Act to participate as a member in such working group.
(e)

Unit coordinator
Each Federal agency that is a member of the Interagency Working Group shall appoint a dedicated coordinator to coordinate the activities of such agency with such working group.
(f)

Coordinator for Secretary of Interior
The Coordinator appointed by the Secretary of the Interior under subsection (e) shall be a direct subordinate of such Secretary.
9.

Wildlife Disease Surveillance Advisory Committee
(a)

Establishment
The Secretary shall establish the Wildlife Disease Surveillance Advisory Committee within the Department of the Interior.
(b)

Appointment of members
The Advisory Committee shall be composed of—
(1)
representatives of—
(A)
the Chairperson of the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies’ Fish and Wildlife Health Committee;
(B)
the Director of the United States Geological Survey;
(C)
the Director of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service;
(D)
the Director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration;
(E)
the Director;
(F)
each of the regional Associations of Fish And Wildlife Agencies;
(G)
each of the Wildlife Disease Centers; and
(H)
Indian Tribes from each region of the United States identified by the Director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs;
(2)
4 academic representatives from institutions of higher education appointed by the Secretary for expertise in wildlife population health, epidemiology, biology, ecology, conservation, or natural resource management; and
(3)
1 representative of a relevant public or private organization appointed by the Secretary for expertise in wildlife population health, epidemiology, biology, ecology, conservation, or natural resource management.
(c)

Term of appointment
Each council member appointed under paragraphs (2) and (3) of subsection (b) shall serve a term of up to 4 years.
10.

National Wildlife Disease Database
(a)

Establishment
The Secretary shall establish and maintain the National Wildlife Disease Database to centralize data relating to wildlife diseases.
(b)

Required submission of information
Each Federal agency and each recipient of a grant under section 4 with information relating to domestic wildlife diseases shall submit such data to the Database as the Secretary, in consultation with the Advisory Committee, determines appropriate.
(c)

Format of information
The Advisory Committee shall establish a uniform format for data submissions to the Database.
(d)

Diseases included
The Advisory Committee and the Interagency Working Group shall jointly, not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, establish and maintain a list of diseases subject to reporting under this section.
(e)

Federal Agency access
The Secretary shall provide access to the database to—
(1)
the Director of the Centers for Disease Control;
(2)
the Secretary of Agriculture;
(3)
the Secretary of Commerce; and
(4)
such other heads of Federal, State, and Tribal agencies as the Secretary determines appropriate.
(f)

Regulations
The Secretary may issue such regulations as the Secretary determines appropriate to carry out this section.
(g)

Study
The Secretary shall, not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, submit a report to Congress on the most appropriate way to structure the National Wildlife Disease Database to make data as available to the public as possible without disclosing sensitive data relating to Tribal sovereign data, data that poses a threat to national security or public health, or sensitive State or private data.
11.

Authorization of appropriations
(a)

In general
There is hereby authorized to be appropriated for fiscal year 2024 and each fiscal year thereafter the following amounts:
(1)
to the Director—
(A)
$19,505,000 to carry out section 3;
(B)
$15,000,000 to carry out section 5;
(C)
$5,000,000 to carry out section 6; and
(D)
$10,000,000, to remain available until expended, to be deposited in the Federal Wildlife Disease Emergency Response Fund established under section 6(b);
(2)
to the Director of the United States Geological Survey—
(A)
$20,000,000 to be distributed to the Centers for the Study and Diagnostics of Wildlife Diseases established under section 7; and
(B)
$10,000,000 million to carry out section 5;
(3)
to the Secretary—
(A)
$400,000 to carry out section 9; and
(B)
$10,000,000 for the purposes of carrying out section 10.
(b)

Grant program
There is hereby authorized to be appropriated to the Director $27,000,000 for fiscal years 2024 through 2026 to carry out section 4.
(c)

Report
There is authorized to be appropriated $1,000,000 to the Secretary for fiscal year 2024, to remain available until expended, to carry out section 5(b)(3).