SAFE CATTLE Act

New coordination to stop screwworm on federal lands

If enacted, the bill would require the Agriculture and Interior Departments to sign an agreement within 180 days to coordinate preventing, controlling, and eradicating New World screwworm on federal "covered lands." Covered lands would include areas managed by the National Park Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, and Forest Service. The agreement would set joint surveillance and monitoring, coordinate outbreak response and notifications with State wildlife and livestock health officers, and plan eradication steps to protect wildlife and domestic animal agriculture. The Departments would develop science- and risk-based approaches to help keep business running for uninfected animals and non-contaminated areas. They would report to specified House and Senate committees not later than one year after enactment and annually thereafter until the Agriculture Secretary certifies the pest is quarantined south of the Darien Gap in Panama; each report would describe coordination, surveillance progress, any U.S. infestations and federal control activities, and recommendations to improve federal response capacity.