Provides links to other Web sites that contains information on Federal invasive species laws.

• General Legislative Information
• Federal Regulations
• Ballast Water Legislation

General Legislative Information

AgricultureLaw.com
AgricultureLaw.com.

Digest of Federal Resource Laws
DOI. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Federal Laws and Regulations
USA.gov.

FDsys (Federal Digital System): America's Authenic Government Information
United States Goverment Printing Office.
Note: FDsys is the updated GPO's official system of record. GPO Access will become archive-only in 2011. See FDsys FAQ (PDF | 144 KB) for more information.

Regulations.gov
Regulations.gov.
View and comment on Federal regulations and other actions

The National Agricultural Law Center
University of Arkansas. School of Law.

THOMAS - U.S. Congress on the Internet
Library of Congress.

U.S. Code Search
United States House of Representatives.
Note: Good for searching newer laws

U.S. Code of Federal Regulations and Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (e-CFR) (not an official legal edition of the CFR)
Government Printing Office.

U.S. Code Current Edition: Browse and U.S. Code: Search (1994 and 2000, older editions)
Government Printing Office.

U.S. Code
Cornell University. Legal Information Institute.
Note: Locate by titles and sections

Federal Regulations

APHIS' Quarantine 56 Regulations
USDA. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
Effective Aug 16, 2007, APHIS implemented revised regulations pertaining to the importation of fruits and vegetables. Collectively, these regulations are commonly referred to as Quarantine 56 or the Q56 regulations. Overall, the Q56 revisions, which are now in effect, simplify and expedite APHIS' process for approving new imports and pest-free areas while continuing to allow for public participation in agency decisionmaking.

Facts About Federal Wildlife Laws (Apr 2000; PDF | 325 KB)
DOI. Fish and Wildlife Service.
This booklet is a guide to Federal laws that apply to the importation, exportation, trade, and sale of wildlife,
including live and dead animals and animal parts and products.

Federal (and State) Noxious Weeds in GRIN
USDA. ARS. Germplasm Resources Information Network.

Federal Import Orders
USDA. APHIS. Plant Protection and Quarantine.

Federal Noxious Weed List (effective Dec 10, 2010; PDF | 227 KB) / Changes to the Federal Noxious Weed LIst - New Species Added (PDF | 154 KB) and Noxious Weeds Program - Major Authorities and Regulations
USDA. APHIS. Plant Protection and Quarantine.
See also - Noxious Weed Regulations (Electronic Code of Federal Regulations)

Federal Domestic Quarantine Notices - Title 7: Agriculture, Part 301
U.S. Government Printing Office. GPO Access.
Note: Current up to date of Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (e-CFR)

Injurious Wildlife and Injurious Wildlife: A Summary of the Injurious Provisions of the Lacey Act (Jun 2010; PDF | 688 KB) and Laws, Policies and Regulations
DOI. FWS. Division of Environmental Quality.

Invasive and Noxious Weeds - PLANTS Database
USDA. NRCS. National Plant Data Center.
Includes Federal Noxious Weed List and Composite list (summary of noxious status for all listed plants in the U.S.)

Invasive Species and Firewood
USDA. Animal and Plant and Health Inspection Service.
Scroll to view federal quarantine information under Information Resource section.

Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act of 1990 (Dec 29, 2000; PDF | 259 KB)
Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force.

Non-Native Invasive Aquatic, Wetland and Upland Plants in the United States - Federal, Regional, State)
University of Florida. IFAS.

Nursery Stock Restrictions (2011; PDF | 2.9 MB)
USDA. APHIS. Plant Protection and Quarantine. 01/2011-43.
This document summarizes the entry status of regulated plant materials. All items included refer to plants and vegetative parts that are "for or capable of propagation" including buds, bulbs, corms, cuttings, layers, scions, seeds, tubers, and like structures. This update adds new entries from the Federal Noxious Weeds  List of Regulated Material (as per Federal Register 68950), to Chapter 3, List of Regulated Propagative Material.

Pesticide Regulations
Oregon State University. National Pesticide Telecommunications Network.

Plant Laws and Regulations
National Plant Board.

Regulations of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)
U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Title 7, Subtitle B, Chapter III, 2000 edition.

Regulated Pest List
USDA. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

State Noxious-Weed Seed Requirements Recognized in the Administration of the Federal Seed Act (Updated 2012; PDF | 414 KB)
USDA. Agricultural Marketing Service.
This publication (updated annually) contains information about the various State labeling requirements and prohibitions of noxious-weed seeds and shows the scientific names and common names according to the law and regulations of the particular State in which the seed is noxious. See Fair Trading Regulations - Seed Publications for more information and Items of Interest in Seed (publications for seed control officials and seed companies; updated every Apr/Oct).

Ballast Water Legislation

Update -- Coast Guard Issues Standard for Living Organisms in Ships' Discharged Ballast Water (Mar 16, 2012)
DHS. Coast Guard.
The U.S. Coast Guard has finalized its ballast water standards, which are the most stringent to date. "These new regulations will aid in controlling the introduction and spread of nonindigenous species from ships' ballast water," said Jeffrey Lantz, director of the Coast Guard's Office of Commercial Regulations and Standards. "This final rule establishes a ballast water discharge standard that is protective of the marine environment and is also consistent with the discharge standard adopted by the International Maritime Organization in 2004." The Coast Guard's final rule was published on Mar 23, 2012 in the Federal Register, and is effective 90 days after publication, or Jun 21, 2012.

Standards for Living Organisms in Ships' Ballast Water Discharged in U.S. Waters (Dec 20, 2010)
DHS. Coast Guard.
The Coast Guard is proposing new standards for controlling foreign organisms that might hitch a ride to the U.S. in a ship's ballast water (view rule). The proposal also would establish new procedures for approving onboard equipment to clean ballast water before discharge. For the first time, the regulation sets upper limits for the number of organisms per unit of ballast water. The current rules only require vessels to make mid-ocean ballast exchanges, a control technique that has frequently been attacked as inadequate to prevent the introduction of alien species into U.S. waters. The Coast Guard's proposal closely follows recommendations adopted last month by the International Maritime Organization's marine pollution committee.

U.S. House Passes Bill Stripping States of Authority to Regulate Ballast Water Discharges (Nov 2011)
The Council of State Governments.
A proposal passed by the U.S. House Nov 15 would strip states of the authority to establish ballast water standards that are more stringent than those set at the federal level. It would also set a new national treatment standard in line with that of the International Maritime Organization. For more information, see the ballast water provisions in HR 2838, the Coast Guard & Maritime Transportation Authorization Act.

EPA Proposes Updated Vessel General Permit and Permit for Small Vessels/Action Would Help Protect U.S. Water Quality and Lower Invasive Species risk (Nov 30, 2011)
Environmental Protection Agency.
The EPA is issuing two draft vessel general permits that would regulate discharges from commercial vessels, excluding military and recreational vessels. The proposed permits would help protect the nation's waters from ship-borne pollutants and reduce the risk of introduction of invasive species from ballast water discharges. See Vessel General Permit and a brief overview of the two draft permits (PDF | 590 KB) for more information. EPA will take public comment and issue a final plan in Nov 2012.

Vessel Discharges Require Permit (Dec 18, 2008)
Environmental Protection Agency.
A new general permit will reduce releases of 26 types of discharges from vessels operating in U.S. waters. Beginning Dec 19, 2008 (later changed to Feb 6, 2009) approximately 61,000 domestically flagged commercial vessels and 8,000 foreign flagged vessels will need to comply with the Final Vessel General Permit. As a result of a court ruling, vessel owners and operators who have previously been exempt from Clean Water Act requirements for the last 35 years will now require a permit. The permit covers non-recreational vessels 79 feet in length or longer, such as cruise ships or oil and cargo tankers, but excludes fishing vessels of any length, unless they discharge ballast water.

The Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act of 1990 (NANCPA 90) mandated ballast water management for vessels entering the Great Lakes. This law was reauthorized as the National Invasive Species Act of 1996 (NISA 96), which required the development of voluntary ballast management guidelines for all other ships entering U.S. waters. The law also requires all vessels that enter U.S. territorial waters (with certain exemptions) to manage ballast water according to prescribed measures. Additional requirements are in place for the Great Lakes. NISA 96 also required the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) to evaluate the effectiveness of the voluntary Ballast Water Management Program three years after implementation. In 2004, voluntary guidelines were determined to be ineffective, and thus USCG initiated mandatory ballast management for all ships entering U.S. waters from outside the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the United States. The voluntary program has become mandatory under the rules found in 33 CFR 151.

1993-2005 Coast Guard Regulations Under NISA (33 CFR 151)
Government Printing Office.

Federal Ballast Water Regulations (33 CFR 151 Subpart D) (May 17, 1999; PDF | 175 KB)
Federal Register.

Ballast Management: Federal Regulations
West Coast Ballast Outreach Project.

Species Profile - Ballast Water
USDA. NAL. National Invasive Species Information Center.