National Invasive Species Council
Executive Order 13112 is the foundation on which much recent federal action against invasive species rests. It established the National Invasive Species Council (NISC) and a committee of experts to advise the council. Additionally, it required NISC to issue biennial national management plans for invasive species, and instructed federal agencies to identify their own actions affecting the status of invasive species and to not authorize, fund, or carry out actions likely to promote or introduce such species in the United States or elsewhere.
These are much-needed improvements. But executive orders are an inherently weak mechanism for establishing new national policy. For example, President Carter's 1977 executive order on invasive species could have had far-reaching, positive effects. But it was never fully implemented by subsequent administrations.
The initiatives set forth in Executive Order 13112 are too important to risk the same fate. Passing a law to authorize, or "codify," the National Invasive Species Council in federal legislation is an important way to put it on firmer footing. Such legislation would also help ensure the timely implementation of the council's first and subsequent National Management Plans and provide the public with a recourse if implementation slows. So far, federal agencies have done little to identify and address their own role in spreading invasive species. Enacting the second part of Executive Order 13112 would increase the pressure on them to comply.
Congress is considering several bills on this topic. To read them, go to the Library of Congress' Thomas website and search for bills S. 507 and H.R. 1593.
Read Executive Order 13112.
