U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

Invasive Species

 

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Laws and Regulations

Zebra Mussel on a Nat

Zebra Mussel on a Nat

Credit: USFWS

Welcome to the Laws and Regulations page of the USFWS Invasive Species Web Portal. The goal of this subsection is to provide the user with quick access to the laws and regulations under which the USFWS conducts it invasive species activities. Information is also provided on pending legislation as well as a link to where one can search for bills not referenced below.

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  • Existing Legislation and Executive Orders
  • The Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention And Control Act Of 1990 (As Amended Through P.L. 106–580, Dec. 29, 2000.) is the Act under which the USFWS Branch of Invasive Species manages the Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force and its Aquatic Nuisance Species Program.
  • The Lacey Act is the Act under which the Branch of Invasive Species conducts its activities pertaining to listing an organism as Injurious Wildlife.
  • The Executive Order 13112, signed by President Clinton on February 3, 1999, requires that a Council of Departments dealing with invasive species be created to prevent the introduction of invasive species and provide for their control and to minimize the economic, ecological, and human health impacts that invasive species cause.
  • The Brown Tree Snake Control and Eradication Act of 2004 provides for the control and eradication of the brown tree snake on the island of Guam and the prevention of the introduction of the brown tree snake to other areas of the United States.
  • The Nutria Eradication and Control Act of 2003 authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to provide financial assistance to the State of Maryland and the State of Louisiana for a program to implement measures to eradicate or control nutria and restore marshland damaged by nutria.
  • The Alien Species Prevention and Enforcement Act of 1992 makes it illegal to ship plants or animals that are covered under the Lacey Act or the Plant Protection Act through the U.S. mail.
  • The Plant Protection Act of 2000 consolidates and modernizes all major statutes pertaining to plant protection and quarantine (Federal Noxious Weed Act, Plant Quarantine Act) and permits APHIS to address all types of weed issues. It also authorized APHIS to take both emergency and extraordinary emergency actions to address incursions of noxious weeds.

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