§7721 Plant Pest and Disease Management and Disaster Prevention

Summary

The USDA must set up programs that pay State agriculture agencies to find and stop plant pests and diseases early, before they get established or too big to control. Definitions used here: early plant pest detection and surveillance = finding new plant pests quickly; specialty crop = the term used in the Specialty Crops Competitiveness Act of 2004; State department of agriculture = any State agency that is responsible for pest detection and surveillance. States must apply for cooperative agreements and follow rules the USDA gives about audits, reports, science-based work, and ways pests can enter. Money must be used for approved early detection and surveillance work. States may make subagreements with local governments, and the non-Federal share can be provided in-kind. The USDA must consult with the National Plant Board and others. States that face higher risk because of more international ports, more international travel or cargo, favorable climate or crops, or because a pest is already a Federal concern may get funds first. After finishing an activity paid for by these funds, a State must report its purpose and results to the USDA within 90 days. The USDA must also run a threat identification and mitigation program to assess foreign threats, work with the National Plant Board, and make action plans for the most serious pests and diseases, with a report to the House and Senate Agriculture Committees within 1 year of that plan and every year after, including how funds were spent. The law funds help for specialty crop growers to build audit-based certification and nursery risk systems to prevent and reduce pest risks. The law creates a National Clean Plant Network of clean plant centers to diagnose and remove pathogens, produce clean plant material, and keep pathogen-tested plant blocks available to States and private growers; the USDA must consult with State agriculture agencies and land-grant colleges and use existing facilities when possible. The Commodity Credit Corporation must provide funds as follows: $12,000,000 for fiscal year 2009; $45,000,000 for fiscal year 2010; $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2011; $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2012; $62,500,000 for each of fiscal years 2014 through 2017; $75,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2018 through 2025; and $90,000,000 for fiscal year 2026 and each fiscal year thereafter. At least $5,000,000 of those funds each year must go to the National Clean Plant Network. Indirect costs charged to a cooperative agreement may not exceed the lesser of 15 percent of the Federal funds provided or the recipient’s applicable indirect cost rate.