22.1 Preamble

The continued and increasing spread of invasive species causes severe ecological and economic problems, and poses significant risks for the future. These organisms, whether plants, animals, insects, or pathogens, displace native species and disrupt natural ecosystems, damage our economies, and can pose risks to plant, animal, and human health. It has been estimated that they cost the U.S. economy more than $137 billion annually. Invasive species are implicated in the decline of 46 percent of the species listed in the Endangered Species Act and are indirectly responsible for regulatory constraints that listing poses for human activity. There are more than 6,500 invasive species known to be present in the United States and its territories.

22.2 Principles

• Many nonnative species have had, and will continue to have, beneficial applications for U.S. commerce, particularly in agriculture, wildfire restoration and prevention, aquaculture, recreation, and landscaping. Introductions of potentially harmful species may be legal and desirable, but should take place consciously, not illegally or as a byproduct of other human activities, with understanding of potential consequences and prior consideration by the appropriate federal and state agencies and the private sector of potential economic and ecological risks as well as benefits.
• Invasive species continue to spread into the U.S. and throughout the various states with adverse consequences. Attention and resources to date have been inadequate and must be increased, with emphasis on new approaches to prevention, early detection, and rapid response to address this issue effectively.
• Government at all levels, in cooperation with the private sector, should coordinate actions to control the further spread of invasive species. To help achieve this, the National Invasive Species Council has been established to provide national leadership and oversight on invasive species and ensure that federal agency activities are coordinated, effective, work in partnership with states, and provide public input and participation.
• A blend of cooperative non-regulatory partnership-based efforts and regulatory activities should be the preferred means of managing invasive species, and invasive processes (vector pathways, trophic dynamics, positive/negative impacts on ecosystems, etc.) should be considered in addition to the traditional species by species approach.
• Invasive species are an international threat. As such, in order to prevent the introduction of invasive species through trade and other pathways across U.S. borders, the federal government will need a strong regulatory approach in addition to cooperative, voluntary strategies. Adequate laws and enforcement at points of entry and of ballast water requirements are essential.

22.3 Recommendations for an Improved Federal Role

22.3.1 Prevention.

• The federal government, in partnership with the states and the private sector, should enhance cooperative efforts to prevent the introduction, provide for early detection and, where appropriate, rapid response for invasive species, monitor the distribution, and control the further unintentional or illegal spread of invasive species. The President and Congress should consult with states prior to enacting administrative or legislative proposals to achieve these ends.
• Invasives are an international problem. As such, Governors support a screening and approval mechanism to ensure that organisms that are deemed likely to be spread by human or natural means are kept out of the country.
• Because it is often most efficient to deal with invasive species by preventing their further spread beyond areas where they are already established, the federal government should work with states to establish regional prevention programs to help prevent their spread.

22.3.2 Funding.

• Invasive species significantly threaten the success of federal and state programs for endangered species, wetland conservation, farm and forestry, fish and wildlife management, public road/transportation, and energy/utilities. This significance should be reflected in federal funding supporting these programs for planning for invasive species, early detection and rapid response as well as control of invasive species, and mitigating their harmful impacts, in order to both achieve better environmental results and lessen the regulatory burden on human activity.
• Federal programs such as those administered at international borders and points of entry by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Department of Homeland Security should be appropriately funded given their vital role in protecting U.S. commerce and ecosystems.
• The Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force, led jointly by the U.S. Department of the Interior, the U.S. Department of Commerce, the Interagency Committee on Invasive Terrestrial Animals and Pathogens, and the Federal Interagency Committee for the Management of Noxious and Exotic Weeds, should be appropriately funded given their vital role in protecting U.S. commerce and ecosystems.
• The federal government should provide adequate funding to effectively control existing impacts and prevent the spread of invasive species on public and private property and for scientific research on the basic biology and ecology of invasive species and their economic impact, so that control efforts may be more specific, environmentally benign, cost-efficient, and effective.
• The federal government should budget for invasive species rapid response and/or emergency projects similar to budgeting for wildland fire emergencies to allow prompt treatment and controls to minimize long-term expenses. The federal government should also designate a lead agency in charge of emergency response to new or expanding invasions.

22.3.3 Intergovernmental Coordination.

• The National Invasive Species Act of 1996 should be reauthorized, along with legislation that will address invasive species management for public and private lands and including provisions to provide financial support for both development and implementation of state Aquatic Nuisance Species Plans. Because the problems associated with invasive species are nationwide, a consistent nationwide prevention strategy is more effective than individual state-by-state strategies. Congress should work with states to ensure that any nationwide strategy is collaborative and does not impose any unfunded mandates or take away from the ability of a state to manage species within its borders.
• In those instances where the issue is not already addressed in law, the federal government should engage the states and the private sector, through trade associations and professional organizations, to develop and promote mutually agreed on protocols to guide the international trade in nonnative species so that any potential economic and environmental risks can be adequately addressed before importation takes place.
• The federal government should engage the states and the private sector, through trade associations and professional organizations, to develop and promote mutually agreed on protocols to prevent the incidental introduction of invasive species through interstate commerce and internet commerce. The federal government also needs to work with the transportation industry to identify simple and cost-effective means to prevent the incidental introduction of invasive species as an unintended consequence of increased international trade. In addition, efforts to promote the use of native species where possible should be pursued.
• The federal government may want to strengthen the existing regional Aquatic Nuisance Species Panels, which consist of agency representatives from member states that meet regularly to establish priorities, coordinate efforts, and launch joint activities for invasive species control at the regional level.
• The federal government should assist states in conducting and funding research to develop effective control methods for aquatic invasive species.

22.3.4 Information.

• Congress should remove obstacles resulting from the Federal Advisory Committee Act or other mandates that impede the flexible use of appropriated funds for joint public-private projects to control invasive species.

22.3.5 Ballast Water.

• The federal government should provide appropriate funding for enforcement of existing ballast water control requirements.
• The federal government must determine the best way for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Coast Guard to coordinate the regulation of aquatic invasive species in ships’ ballast water; and that agency must set an environmentally protective discharge standard.
• EPA must implement regulations that require immediate application of best performing ship-board ballast water treatment and hull management (with a set approval period), with continued upward ratcheting of treatment standards as treatment performance improves. Approved treatment must meet the environmentally protective standard by 2011.
• The Coast Guard encourages ships in the "no ballast water condition" to implement best management practices (BMPs). However, the agency must immediately require that ships in the "no ballast on board condition" implement BMPs or treatment practices that are an improvement over current practices.
• Ballast water discharge standards should apply to all ships, including Great Lakes-only or "lakers," in order to prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species within the Great Lakes and reduce the threat to inland waters.

22.4 Recommendations for Improved State Roles

• Through state and local government agencies and academic institutions, states are often likely to be the first to detect invasive species. Governors support the development of efficient and inexpensive mechanisms to share this information promptly with each other and the federal government to allow for the most effective cooperative and rapid response.
• Because they have a greater local presence than do federal agencies, states are often in the best position to educate the public about the potential problems for local communities that may be caused by invasive species and steps that can be taken by local communities to prevent their introduction. The federal government should provide financial support for such state efforts, including the full appropriations for implementation of State Aquatic Nuisance Species Plans (per P.L. 104-362, Section 1204).
• As they consider appropriate, and with adequate federal financial support, states should prepare and implement targeted and integrated management measures for the prevention, early detection, and eradication or control of invasive species, including emergency and rapid response efforts to eradicate the first footholds of invasive species that are not yet firmly established in a region.
• States should pursue regional interstate coordination efforts, as they are more effective in addressing interstate invasive species issues.

Time limited (effective Annual Meeting 2008–Annual Meeting 2010).
Adopted Annual Meeting 1998; revised Annual Meeting 2000, Annual Meeting 2002, Annual Meeting 2004, Annual Meeting 2006, Annual Meeting 2007, and Annual Meeting 2008.