Senate Approves Agriculture Appropriations Bill
- Includes funding for battle against invasive pests in California -
July 24, 2000
Washington, DC – The U.S. Senate late last night approved the FY ‘01 Agriculture Appropriations Bill, which includes funding requested by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) to provide additional agriculture inspectors for the San Diego border and to assist growers in the fight against exotic pests such as the Mexican Fruit Fly and the Glassy Winged Sharpshooter.
“I am pleased that the Senate approved this funding for California,” Senator Feinstein said. “It gives the Secretary of Agriculture the ability to fight the exotic pests which have invaded California, including the Mexican fruit fly and the Glassy Winged Sharpshooter. ”
“There is no doubt that we will have to do more in the future to protect California’s agriculture from exotic pests.” Feinstein continued, “I will continue to fight to secure funding for research and eradication of these damaging species.”
The FY2001Agriculture Appropriations Bill includes the following items of interest to California:
• Funding for 17 additional USDA border inspectors at the San Diego ports of entry.
• Language authorizing funds for USDA to pay compensation to growers who were unable to harvest their crops due to San Diego fruit fly quarantine.
• Language authorizing the USDA to compensate growers who have lost crops due to Pierce’s Disease.
• Language directing the USDA to broaden the variety of California fruits and vegetables included in the Women Infants and Children (WIC) program, which provides direct assistance to pregnant women, infants and children who are at risk of inadequate nutrition.
• $20 million for the first construction phase of the new FDA lab in Los Angeles.
• $500,000 to the UC Center for Exotic Pest Research, which was founded in 1994 to develop a systematic methodology for dealing with exotic pests.
• $1.5 million for the CA/NY Viticultural Consortium, which supports East and West Coast competitive grant programs.
• $400,000 for Binational Agricultural Research and Development (BARD). BARD was established as a cooperative program between Israelis and Americans and concentrates its research on a variety of agricultural issues, including irrigated agriculture, disease with fruit tree crops, and viticultural practices.
• $3 million to conduct research into alternatives to Methyl Bromide, a soil fumigant that is widely used to protect California’s high value crops such as strawberries, nursery crops, and tree fruits. Methyl Bromide is scheduled to be phased out by 2005.
• $2.1 million for the management of Red Imported Fire Ants. Fire Ants have been identified in 21 southern California cities, mostly located in Orange County.
• $1.5 million for technology transfers to rural areas.
• $25.5 million for the Fruit Fly Exclusion Program. Fruit flies threaten a variety of California agriculture products.
• $121.3 million for the National Research Initiative, which is the USDA’s primary competitive research grants program and provides research grants to California’s land grant universities.
• $9.5 million for sustainable agriculture research, which funds research into agriculture practices that are economically viable, environmentally sound, and socially acceptable.
• Language encouraging the National Resources Conservation Service to fund the agriculture drainage and manure removal project within the Chino Basin Dairy Preserve from funds made available from the Emergency Watershed Protection Program.
• Language encouraging the Department of Agriculture to give priority consideration for the grant of the Fresno Community Medical Center’s Rural Outreach and Telemedicine Network, which makes health care more available to Fresno residents.
Senator Feinstein requested the funding and related provisions as part of her role as a member of the Appropriations Committee. The legislation will be reconciled with the House version of the bill in Conference Committee in the coming weeks.