EO 13751 Safeguarding the Nation from the Impacts of Invasive Species

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Presidential Documents

Federal Register
Vol. 81, No. 236
Thursday, December 8, 2016

Title 3—

Executive Order 13751 of December 5, 2016

The President

Safeguarding the Nation From the Impacts of Invasive Species
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and to
ensure the faithful execution of the laws of the United States of America,
including the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (42
U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), the Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and
Control Act of 1990, (16 U.S.C. 4701 et seq.), the Plant Protection Act
(7 U.S.C. 7701 et seq.), the Lacey Act, as amended (18 U.S.C. 42, 16 U.S.C.
3371–3378 et seq.), the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (16
U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), the Noxious Weed Control and Eradication Act of
2004 (7 U.S.C. 7781 et seq.), and other pertinent statutes, to prevent the
introduction of invasive species and provide for their control, and to minimize the economic, plant, animal, ecological, and human health impacts
that invasive species cause, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. Policy. It is the policy of the United States to prevent the introduction, establishment, and spread of invasive species, as well as to eradicate
and control populations of invasive species that are established. Invasive
species pose threats to prosperity, security, and quality of life. They have
negative impacts on the environment and natural resources, agriculture and
food production systems, water resources, human, animal, and plant health,
infrastructure, the economy, energy, cultural resources, and military readiness. Every year, invasive species cost the United States billions of dollars
in economic losses and other damages.

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Of substantial growing concern are invasive species that are or may be
vectors, reservoirs, and causative agents of disease, which threaten human,
animal, and plant health. The introduction, establishment, and spread of
invasive species create the potential for serious public health impacts, especially when considered in the context of changing climate conditions. Climate
change influences the establishment, spread, and impacts of invasive species.
Executive Order 13112 of February 3, 1999 (Invasive Species), called upon
executive departments and agencies to take steps to prevent the introduction
and spread of invasive species, and to support efforts to eradicate and
control invasive species that are established. Executive Order 13112 also
created a coordinating body—the Invasive Species Council, also referred
to as the National Invasive Species Council—to oversee implementation
of the order, encourage proactive planning and action, develop recommendations for international cooperation, and take other steps to improve the
Federal response to invasive species. Past efforts at preventing, eradicating,
and controlling invasive species demonstrated that collaboration across Federal, State, local, tribal, and territorial government; stakeholders; and the
private sector is critical to minimizing the spread of invasive species and
that coordinated action is necessary to protect the assets and security of
the United States.
This order amends Executive Order 13112 and directs actions to continue
coordinated Federal prevention and control efforts related to invasive species.
This order maintains the National Invasive Species Council (Council) and
the Invasive Species Advisory Committee; expands the membership of the
Council; clarifies the operations of the Council; incorporates considerations

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of human and environmental health, climate change, technological innovation, and other emerging priorities into Federal efforts to address invasive
species; and strengthens coordinated, cost-efficient Federal action.
Sec. 2. Definitions. Section 1 of Executive Order 13112 is amended to
read as follows:
‘‘Section 1. Definitions. (a) ‘Control’ means containing, suppressing, or
reducing populations of invasive species.
(b) ‘Eradication’ means the removal or destruction of an entire population
of invasive species.
(c) ‘Federal agency’ means an executive department or agency, but does
not include independent establishments as defined by 5 U.S.C. 104.
(d) ‘Introduction’ means, as a result of human activity, the intentional
or unintentional escape, release, dissemination, or placement of an organism
into an ecosystem to which it is not native.
(e) ‘Invasive species’ means, with regard to a particular ecosystem, a
non-native organism whose introduction causes or is likely to cause economic
or environmental harm, or harm to human, animal, or plant health.
(f) ‘Non-native species’ or ‘alien species’ means, with respect to a particular
ecosystem, an organism, including its seeds, eggs, spores, or other biological
material capable of propagating that species, that occurs outside of its natural
range.
(g) ‘Pathway’ means the mechanisms and processes by which non-native
species are moved, intentionally or unintentionally, into a new ecosystem.
(h) ‘Prevention’ means the action of stopping invasive species from being
introduced or spreading into a new ecosystem.
(i) ‘United States’ means the 50 States, the District of Columbia, the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin
Islands, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, all possessions,
and the territorial sea of the United States as defined by Presidential Proclamation 5928 of December 27, 1988.’’
Sec. 3. Federal Agency Duties. Section 2 of Executive Order 13112 is
amended to read as follows:
‘‘Sec. 2. Federal Agency Duties. (a) Each Federal agency for which that
agency’s actions may affect the introduction, establishment, or spread of
invasive species shall, to the extent practicable and permitted by law,
(1) identify such agency actions;
(2) subject to the availability of appropriations, and within administrative,
budgetary, and jurisdictional limits, use relevant agency programs and authorities to:
(i) prevent the introduction, establishment, and spread of invasive species;
(ii) detect and respond rapidly to eradicate or control populations of
invasive species in a manner that is cost-effective and minimizes human,
animal, plant, and environmental health risks;
(iii) monitor invasive species populations accurately and reliably;

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(iv) provide for the restoration of native species, ecosystems, and other
assets that have been impacted by invasive species;
(v) conduct research on invasive species and develop and apply technologies to prevent their introduction, and provide for environmentally
sound methods of eradication and control of invasive species;
(vi) promote public education and action on invasive species, their pathways, and ways to address them, with an emphasis on prevention, and
early detection and rapid response;
(vii) assess and strengthen, as appropriate, policy and regulatory frameworks pertaining to the prevention, eradication, and control of invasive
species and address regulatory gaps, inconsistencies, and conflicts;

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(viii) coordinate with and complement similar efforts of States, territories,
federally recognized American Indian tribes, Alaska Native Corporations,
Native Hawaiians, local governments, nongovernmental organizations, and
the private sector; and
(ix) in consultation with the Department of State and with other agencies
as appropriate, coordinate with foreign governments to prevent the movement and minimize the impacts of invasive species; and
(3) refrain from authorizing, funding, or implementing actions that are likely
to cause or promote the introduction, establishment, or spread of invasive
species in the United States unless, pursuant to guidelines that it has prescribed, the agency has determined and made public its determination that
the benefits of such actions clearly outweigh the potential harm caused
by invasive species; and that all feasible and prudent measures to minimize
risk of harm will be taken in conjunction with the actions.
(c) Federal agencies shall pursue the duties set forth in this section in
coordination, to the extent practicable, with other member agencies of the
Council and staff, consistent with the National Invasive Species Council
Management Plan, and in cooperation with State, local, tribal, and territorial
governments, and stakeholders, as appropriate, and in consultation with
the Department of State when Federal agencies are working with international
organizations and foreign nations.
(d) Federal agencies that are members of the Council, and Federal interagency bodies working on issues relevant to the prevention, eradication,
and control of invasive species, shall provide the Council with annual
information on actions taken that implement these duties and identify barriers
to advancing priority actions.

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(e) To the extent practicable, Federal agencies shall also expand the use
of new and existing technologies and practices; develop, share, and utilize
similar metrics and standards, methodologies, and databases and, where
relevant, platforms for monitoring invasive species; and, facilitate the interoperability of information systems, open data, data analytics, predictive modeling, and data reporting necessary to inform timely, science-based decision
making.
Sec. 4. Emerging Priorities. Federal agencies that are members of the Council
and Federal interagency bodies working on issues relevant to the prevention,
eradication, and control of invasive species shall take emerging priorities
into consideration, including:
(a) Federal agencies shall consider the potential public health and safety
impacts of invasive species, especially those species that are vectors, reservoirs, and causative agents of disease. The Department of Health and
Human Services, in coordination and consultation with relevant agencies
as appropriate, shall within 1 year of this order, and as requested by the
Council thereafter, provide the Office of Science and Technology Policy
and the Council a report on public health impacts associated with invasive
species. That report shall describe the disease, injury, immunologic, and
safety impacts associated with invasive species, including any direct and
indirect impacts on low-income, minority, and tribal communities.
(b) Federal agencies shall consider the impacts of climate change when
working on issues relevant to the prevention, eradication, and control of
invasive species, including in research and monitoring efforts, and integrate
invasive species into Federal climate change coordinating frameworks and
initiatives.
(c) Federal agencies shall consider opportunities to apply innovative
science and technology when addressing the duties identified in section
2 of Executive Order 13112, as amended, including, but not limited to,
promoting open data and data analytics; harnessing technological advances
in remote sensing technologies, molecular tools, cloud computing, and predictive analytics; and using tools such as challenge prizes, citizen science,
and crowdsourcing.

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Sec. 5. National Invasive Species Council. Section 3 of Executive Order
13112 is amended to read as follows:
‘‘Sec. 3. National Invasive Species Council. (a) A National Invasive Species
Council (Council) is hereby established. The mission of the Council is to
provide the vision and leadership to coordinate, sustain, and expand Federal
efforts to safeguard the interests of the United States through the prevention,
eradication, and control of invasive species, and through the restoration
of ecosystems and other assets impacted by invasive species.
(b) The Council’s membership shall be composed of the following officials,
who may designate a senior-level representative to perform the functions
of the member:
(i) Secretary of State;
(ii) Secretary of the Treasury;
(iii) Secretary of Defense;
(iv) Secretary of the Interior;
(v) Secretary of Agriculture;
(vi) Secretary of Commerce;
(vii) Secretary of Health and Human Services;
(viii) Secretary of Transportation;
(ix) Secretary of Homeland Security;
(x) Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration;
(xi) Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency;
(xii) Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development;
(xiii) United States Trade Representative;
(xiv) Director or Chair of the following components of the Executive
Office of the President: the Office of Science and Technology Policy,
the Council on Environmental Quality, and the Office of Management
and Budget; and

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(xv) Officials from such other departments, agencies, offices, or entities
as the agencies set forth above, by consensus, deem appropriate.
(c) The Council shall be co-chaired by the Secretary of the Interior (Secretary), the Secretary of Agriculture, and the Secretary of Commerce, who
shall meet quarterly or more frequently if needed, and who may designate
a senior-level representative to perform the functions of the Co-Chair. The
Council shall meet no less than once each year. The Secretary of the Interior
shall, after consultation with the Co-Chairs, appoint an Executive Director
of the Council to oversee a staff that supports the duties of the Council.
Within 1 year of the date of this order, the Co-Chairs of the Council shall,
with consensus of its members, complete a charter, which shall include
any administrative policies and processes necessary to ensure the Council
can satisfy the functions and responsibilities described in this order.
(d) The Secretary of the Interior shall maintain the current Invasive Species
Advisory Committee established under the Federal Advisory Committee Act,
5 U.S.C. App., to provide information and advice for consideration by the
Council. The Secretary shall, after consultation with other members of the
Council, appoint members of the advisory committee who represent diverse
stakeholders and who have expertise to advise the Council.
(e) Administration of the Council. The Department of the Interior shall
provide funding and administrative support for the Council and the advisory
committee consistent with existing authorities. To the extent permitted by
law, including the Economy Act, and within existing appropriations, participating agencies may detail staff to the Department of the Interior to support
the Council’s efforts.’’

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Sec. 6. Duties of the National Invasive Species Council. Section 4 of Executive Order 13112 is amended to read as follows:
‘‘Sec. 4. Duties of the National Invasive Species Council. The Council
shall provide national leadership regarding invasive species and shall:
(a) with regard to the implementation of this order, work to ensure that
the Federal agency and interagency activities concerning invasive species
are coordinated, complementary, cost-efficient, and effective;
(b) undertake a National Invasive Species Assessment in coordination
with the U.S. Global Change Research Program’s periodic national assessment, that evaluates the impact of invasive species on major U.S. assets,
including food security, water resources, infrastructure, the environment,
human, animal, and plant health, natural resources, cultural identity and
resources, and military readiness, from ecological, social, and economic
perspectives;
(c) advance national incident response, data collection, and rapid reporting
capacities that build on existing frameworks and programs and strengthen
early detection of and rapid response to invasive species, including those
that are vectors, reservoirs, or causative agents of disease;
(d) publish an assessment by 2020 that identifies the most pressing scientific, technical, and programmatic coordination challenges to the Federal
Government’s capacity to prevent the introduction of invasive species, and
that incorporate recommendations and priority actions to overcome these
challenges into the National Invasive Species Council Management Plan,
as appropriate;
(e) support and encourage the development of new technologies and practices, and promote the use of existing technologies and practices, to prevent,
eradicate, and control invasive species, including those that are vectors,
reservoirs, and causative agents of disease;
(f) convene annually to discuss and coordinate interagency priorities and
report annually on activities and budget requirements for programs that
contribute directly to the implementation of this order; and
(g) publish a National Invasive Species Council Management Plan as set
forth in section 5 of this order.’’
Sec. 7. National Invasive Species Council Management Plan. Section 5 of
Executive Order 13112 is amended to read as follows:
‘‘Sec. 5. National Invasive Species Council Management Plan. (a) By December 31, 2019, the Council shall publish a National Invasive Species
Council Management Plan (Management Plan), which shall, among other
priorities identified by the Council, include actions to further the implementation of the duties of the National Invasive Species Council.
(b) The Management Plan shall recommend strategies to:
(1) provide institutional leadership and priority setting;
(2) achieve effective interagency coordination and cost-efficiency;
(3) raise awareness and motivate action, including through the promotion
of appropriate transparency, community-level consultation, and stakeholder
outreach concerning the benefits and risks to human, animal, or plant
health when controlling or eradicating an invasive species;

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(4) remove institutional and policy barriers;
(5) assess and strengthen capacities; and
(6) foster scientific, technical, and programmatic innovation.
(c) The Council shall evaluate the effectiveness of the Management Plan
implementation and update the Plan every 3 years. The Council shall provide
an annual report of its achievements to the public.
(d) Council members may complement the Management Plan with invasive
species policies and plans specific to their respective agency’s roles, responsibilities, and authorities.’’

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Sec. 8. Actions of the Department of State and Department of Defense.
Section 6(d) of Executive Order 13112 is amended to read as follows:
‘‘(d) The duties of section 3(a)(2) and section 3(a)(3) of this order shall
not apply to any action of the Department of State if the Secretary of
State finds that exemption from such requirements is necessary for foreign
policy, readiness, or national security reasons. The duties of section 3(a)(2)
and section 3(a)(3) of this order shall not apply to any action of the Department of Defense if the Secretary of Defense finds that exemption from
such requirements is necessary for foreign policy, readiness, or national
security reasons.’’
Sec. 9. Obligations of the Department of Health and Human Services.
A new section 6(e) of Executive Order 13112 is added to read as follows:
‘‘(e) The requirements of this order do not affect the obligations of the
Department of Health and Human Services under the Public Health Service
Act or the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.’’
Sec. 10. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed
to impair or otherwise affect:
(1) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency,
or the head thereof; or
(2) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget
relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and
subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit,
substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party
against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers,
employees, or agents, or any other person.

THE WHITE HOUSE,
December 5, 2016.
[FR Doc. 2016–29519
Filed 12–7–16; 8:45 am]

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