Sponsors (5)
The bill provides targeted, multi-year federal funding and coordination to protect fruit and berry crops from spotted wing drosophila—helping growers and researchers—while imposing modest federal costs and risks of increased pesticide use, administrative burdens, and potential diversion of other research funds.
Farmers who grow raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, and cherries will receive targeted federal research and mitigation support to reduce crop losses from spotted wing drosophila, helping protect yields and farm incomes.
Provides predictable, multi-year (five-year) federal funding and APHIS coordination to support monitoring, control programs, and a coordinated response across USDA and state governments.
Researchers and extension programs gain grant funding to develop, validate, and deploy pest management strategies, strengthening agricultural science, extension outreach, and longer-term tools for growers.
Increased pest-control efforts could expand pesticide use, raising environmental and health concerns for nearby communities and farmworkers.
Labeling the infestation as a major economic problem could prompt regulatory responses or more intensive pesticide interventions that increase costs for growers and potentially higher prices for consumers.
Taxpayers fund the program at an estimated $32.5 million over five years, increasing federal spending for this targeted effort.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Creates an APHIS fund to support research and mitigation for spotted wing drosophila, with grants/cooperative agreements and $6.5M authorized annually for five years.
Introduced February 9, 2026 by Gary C. Peters · Last progress February 9, 2026
Creates a new USDA/APHIS fund to support research and on-the-ground activities to control and mitigate spotted wing drosophila, an invasive pest that damages soft fruit crops. The Administrator will award grants or cooperative agreements to eligible recipients and oversee funded projects. Authorizes $6.5 million to be appropriated each year for five consecutive fiscal years to finance the fund, and adds the program authority and multi-year authorization to the Plant Protection Act.