Aquatic Invasive Species Control Act

Summary#

This bill updates the Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act of 1990. It adds new definitions, new members to the Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force, and exempts the Task Force from the Federal Advisory Committee Act. The bill creates a technology development grant program to fund research and testing of ways to control and remove aquatic invasive species. It requires a competitive, peer-reviewed process for those grants and a report to Congress after 3 years. The bill also creates a rapid response grant program for actions such as eradication, mapping the size and spread of a population, testing response measures, containment, and monitoring. Eligible applicants include States, tribes, universities, interstate organizations, nongovernmental organizations, and some entities already in federal programs. The Task Force must study federal laws and rules that affect rapid response activities and recommend changes within 2 years. The bill requires the Task Force, working with regional panels and States, to develop plans for watercraft inspections and decontaminations, including station siting, an interagency certification system, penalty recommendations, and incentives for manufacturers. It also requires an interbasin and intrabasin monitoring program to track movement of invasive species through canals and major rivers and to report findings every two years. National and regional management plans must be updated within 5 years. The bill adds authorized annual funding levels for several programs through fiscal year 2031 and allows certain coastal mitigation grants to support ballast water systems that meet or exceed international standards.

What it means for you#

• Federal, State, Tribal, regional, local entities, universities, and eligible nongovernmental organizations may be able to apply for new grants for research, rapid response, and state management.
• Boaters and people who use boat launches may see more inspections and decontamination stations at certain federal sites if agencies implement the required plan.
• The bill directs studies and plans that could change how rapid responses are carried out, but it does not itself order specific on-the-ground actions beyond planning, grants, and studies.
• No publicly available information about how widely or quickly inspection stations or other actions would be implemented.

Expenses#

• The bill lists annual authorizations for fiscal years 2026 through 2031:
  • $10,000,000 per year to carry out the program under section 1202(a).
  • $3,000,000 per year for the program under section 1202(l) (monitoring program).
  • $5,000,000 per year to award grants under the rapid response program (section 1210).
  • $1,500,000 per year to fund regional panels.
  • $20,000,000 per year for grants for State management programs under section 1204.
  • $10,000,000 per year authorized for the technology development, demonstration, and verification grant program under section 1105.
• The bill sets deadlines for studies and plans (generally within 2 years) and a report on the technology grant program within 3 years.
• No publicly available information about expected actual appropriations, total program costs over time beyond the authorization figures, or detailed budget implementation.

Proponents' View#

Supporters framed the bill to strengthen prevention, control, and eradication of aquatic invasive species. The bill aims to speed up rapid responses, improve monitoring of key waterways, fund research and new technologies, coordinate regional and federal partners, reduce harm to native species and habitats, maintain ecosystem functions, and avoid or lessen economic harms linked to invasive species.

Opponents' View#

No publicly available information.