Sponsors (8)
Official title: To amend the Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act of 1990 to provide for the prevention, management, control, and eradication of aquatic nuisance species, and for other purposes.
Introduced May 19, 2026 by Tim Walberg · Last progress May 19, 2026
The bill increases federal investment and coordination to better detect and prevent aquatic invasive species—helping states, ports, and ecosystems—while creating new costs for taxpayers, small operators, potential local infrastructure impacts, and reducing some public oversight.
State, local, and regional managers (and the ecosystems they protect) will get dedicated federal grants plus improved coordinated monitoring, reporting, and Task Force representation to detect and respond faster to aquatic invasive species.
Ports, shipping operators, and coastal communities will have grant support for ballast water management system installation and maintenance, reducing the risk of new aquatic invasive species introductions and lowering long-term regulatory risk for compliant vessels.
Coastal states and local entities gain broader, more flexible grant authorities to address invasive-species threats, giving communities more options to protect fisheries, recreation, and local ecosystems.
The bill increases annual federal appropriations for these programs, raising taxpayer costs and adding pressure to the federal budget.
New inspection and decontamination station requirements (and associated recommended penalties) will impose time and out-of-pocket costs on recreational boaters and small water‑recreation businesses.
Encouraging and funding ballast water system installation may still leave significant upgrade or matching-cost burdens on small shipping operators, and concentrating funding on ballast controls could divert limited Program grant dollars from monitoring, rapid response, or other strategies.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Creates new grant programs, planning requirements, monitoring, and funding to prevent, detect, and rapidly respond to aquatic invasive species, and allows coastal grants to support ballast water systems meeting international standards.
Creates new federal grant programs, planning, monitoring, and coordination to prevent, detect, and respond to aquatic invasive species. It amends the 1990 Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act to add definitions, expand program duties, require regional and national plans and monitoring, strengthen Task Force authority, and provide new funding from FY2026–2031 for state grants, regional panels, rapid response, and technology demonstration. Also expands an existing coastal mitigation grant program to explicitly allow grants that promote installation and use of ballast water management systems that meet or exceed international maritime standards. The bill focuses on improving prevention (inspections, decontamination planning), detection (monitoring and reporting), rapid response capacity, technology demonstration, interstate coordination, and updated national/regional management plans.