SLITHER Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3603 To amend the Water Resources Development Act of 1996 to require the South Florida Ecosystem Restoration Task Force to develop a priority list for reducing, mitigating, and controlling invasive species within the South Florida ecosystem, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 5, 2020 Mr. RUBIO (for himself and Mr. SCOTT of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works A BILL To amend the Water Resources Development Act of 1996 to require the South Florida Ecosystem Restoration Task Force to develop a priority list for reducing, mitigating, and controlling invasive species within the South Florida ecosystem, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Suppressing Looming 4 Invasive Threats Harming Everglades Restoration Act’’ or 5 the ‘‘SLITHER Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:55 May 06, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3603.IS S3603 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3603 IS SEC. 2. INVASIVE SPECIES RISK ASSESSMENT, 1 PRIORITIZATION, AND MANAGEMENT. 2 Section 528(f)(2) of the Water Resources Develop- 3 ment Act of 1996 (110 Stat. 3771) is amended— 4 (1) by redesignating subparagraphs (I) and (J) 5 as subparagraphs (J) and (K), respectively; 6 (2) by inserting after subparagraph (H) the fol- 7 lowing: 8 ‘‘(I) shall, using existing amounts appro- 9 priated to the Task Force, develop and update, 10 as appropriate, a priority list of invasive species 11 that— 12 ‘‘(i) reflects an assessment of ecologi- 13 cal risk that the listed invasive species rep- 14 resent populations of invasive plants and 15 animals that— 16 ‘‘(I) are significantly impacting 17 the structure and function of ecologi- 18 cal communities, native species, or 19 habitat within the South Florida eco- 20 system; or 21 ‘‘(II) demonstrate a strong po- 22 tential to reduce, obscure, or other- 23 wise alter key indicators used to 24 measure Everglades restoration 25 progress; and 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:55 May 06, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3603.IS S3603 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3603 IS ‘‘(ii) shall be used by the Task Force 1 and agencies and entities represented on 2 the Task Force to focus cooperative and 3 collaborative efforts— 4 ‘‘(I) to guide applied research; 5 ‘‘(II) to develop innovative strate- 6 gies and tools to facilitate improved 7 management, control, or eradication 8 of listed invasive species; 9 ‘‘(III) to implement specific man- 10 agement, control, or eradication ac- 11 tivities at the appropriate periodicity 12 and intensity necessary to reduce or 13 neutralize the impacts of listed 14 invasive species, to include the use of 15 qualified skilled volunteers when ap- 16 propriate; and 17 ‘‘(IV) to develop innovative strat- 18 egies and tools to prevent future in- 19 troductions of nonnative species;’’; 20 (3) in subparagraph (J) (as so redesignated), 21 by striking ‘‘ecosystem’’ and inserting ‘‘ecosystem, 22 including the activities described in subparagraph 23 (I)’’; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:55 May 06, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3603.IS S3603 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3603 IS (4) in clause (i) of subparagraph (K) (as so re- 1 designated), by inserting ‘‘, including the priority list 2 under subparagraph (I) and the activities described 3 in that subparagraph’’ after ‘‘Task Force’’. 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:55 May 06, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S3603.IS S3603 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS