(P.L. 108-16)
This law authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to provide financial assistance to the States of Maryland and Louisiana for a program to implement measures to: (1)eradicate nutria in Maryland; (2)eradicate or control nutria in Louisiana and other States; and (3) restore marshland damaged by nutria.
Directs the Secretary to require that the program in Maryland consist of management, research, and public education activities carried out in accordance with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service document entitled, "Eradication Strategies for Nutria in the Chesapeake and Delaware Bay Watersheds."
Limits the Federal share of program costs to 75 percent. Prohibits use of more than five percent of such Federal assistance for administrative expenses.
Authorizes appropriations for FY 2004 through FY 2008.
Directs the Secretary and the National Invasives Species Council to: (1)give consideration to the 2002 report for the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries entitled, "Nutria in Louisiana" and the 2002 document entitled, "Eradication Strategies for Nutria in the Chesapeake and Delaware Bay Watersheds;" and (2) develop, in cooperation with such Department and the State of Maryland Department of Natural Resources, a long-term nutria control or eradication program, as appropriate, with the objective to significantly reduce and restore the damage nutria cause to coastal wetlands in Louisiana and Maryland.