This bill would add a new section to the Plant Protection Act to create a fund at the U.S. Department of Agriculture for spotted wing drosophila research and mitigation. The Administrator of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) would set up the fund, decide who is eligible for cooperative agreements or grants, and oversee the funded activities.
The bill aims to support research and actions to reduce harm from spotted wing drosophila, an invasive insect the bill says damages raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, peaches, plums, and cherries. The USDA would run the fund and choose recipients for grants or cooperative agreements. No publicly available information on specific eligibility rules, application steps, or exact recipients.
The bill authorizes $6,500,000 for the fund for the fiscal year in which the act is enacted and $6,500,000 for each of the four fiscal years after that. No publicly available information on total program cost beyond these annual authorizations or on budget offsets.
The bill text states that spotted wing drosophila is an invasive species from East Asia that has caused significant damage to many fruit crops. The bill also cites an Agriculture Department estimate of a combined 20 percent revenue loss across certain berry and cherry crops. Sponsors introduced the bill to provide targeted funding for research and mitigation in response to those findings.
No publicly available information.