110th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1709
To authorize resources for sustained research and analysis to address
Colony Collapse Disorder, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 27, 2007
Mr. HASTINGS of Florida introduced the following bill; which was referred
to the Committee on Agriculture
A BILL
To authorize resources for sustained research and analysis to address
Colony Collapse Disorder, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the `Pollinator Protection Act'.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Many of the crops that humans and livestock consume rely on pollinators
for healthy growth. More specifically, pollination by honey bees adds
over $15,000,000,000 annually to the value of United States crops.
(2) One-third of our food supply depends on honey bee pollination, which
makes the management and protection of pollinators an issue of paramount
importance to the security of the United States food supply system.
(3) Colony Collapse Disorder is the name that has been given to the latest
die-off of honey bee colonies, exacerbating the continual decline of pollinators
in North America. Colonies in more than 23 states have been affected by
this disorder.
(4) If the current rate of decline continues, the United States will be
forced to rely more heavily on imported foods. Thus, American food security
would be destabilized through adverse affects on availability, price,
and quality of the many fruits, vegetables, and other products that depend
on animal pollination.
(5) Enhanced funding for research on honey bees, parasites, pathogens,
toxins, and other environmental factors affecting bees and pollination
of cultivated and wild plants will yield responses to Colony Collapse
Disorder and other factors causing the decline of pollinators in North
America.
SEC. 3. SUSTAINED APICULTURAL RESEARCH AND COLONY COLLAPSE DISORDER WORKING
GROUP.
(a) Agricultural Research Service- There is authorized to be appropriated
to the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Agricultural Research
Service, the following:
(1) $3,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2008 through 2012 for new
personnel, facilities improvement, and additional research at Department
of Agriculture Apicultural Research Laboratories.
(2) $2,500,000 for each of fiscal years 2008 and 2009 for research on
honey bee physiology, insect pathology, insect chemical ecology, and honey
bee toxicology at other Department of Agriculture facilities in New York,
Florida, California, and Texas.
(3) $1,750,000 for each of fiscal years 2008 through 2010 for an area-wide
research program to identify causes and solutions for Colony Collapse
Disorder in affected States.
(b) Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service- There
is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of Agriculture, acting
through the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service,
$10,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2008 through 2012 to fund Department
of Agriculture research grants to investigate--
(1) honey bee immunology;
(2) honey bee biology and ecology;
(5) honey bee bioinformatics;
(6) sublethal effects of insecticides, herbicides and fungicides on honey
bees and other beneficial insects; and
(7) effects of genetically modified crops and their interaction with honey
bees and other pollinators.
END
