Mississippi Land Conservation Assistance Network

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has developed this document as a tool for state, tribal, regional, and local natural resource managers who are preparing or considering the preparation of rapid response action and/or management plans for aquatic invasive species (AIS). The document provides an overview of EPA authorities that might apply to state or local AIS rapid response and control actions. Note that development of new rapid response or control methods and/or new judicial rulings could alter the applicability of the EPA authorities described here and make other EPA authorities relevant.

This tool does not cover other Federal agencies’ authorities (e.g. the Endangered Species Act and the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act) or state authorities that might apply to AIS rapid response and control actions. This document does not represent final EPA action, is not intended to supplant or replace regulations and/or guidance for the authorities described in this document, and is not intended, nor can it be relied upon, to create any rights enforceable by any party in litigation with the United States.

This document was developed in response to Executive Order 13112 on Invasive Species (EO), signed on February 3, 1999, which orders “each Federal agency whose actions may affect the status of invasive species … to identify such actions [and] use relevant programs and authorities to detect and respond rapidly to and control populations in a cost-effective and environmentally sound manner.”

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