16 U.S.C. § 4723
Section 4723 · Regional coordination
Current version, with additions and removals from the November 29, 1990 version.
Not later than 30 days after October 26, 1996, the Task Force shall request a Western regional panel, comprised of Western region representatives from Federal, State, and local agencies and from private environmental and commercial interests, to—
(1) identify priorities for the Western region with respect to aquatic nuisance species;
(2) make recommendations to the Task Force regarding an education, monitoring (including inspection), prevention, and control program to prevent the spread of the zebra mussel west of the 100th Meridian pursuant to section 4722(i) of this title;
(3) coordinate, where possible, other aquatic nuisance species program activities in the Western region that are not conducted pursuant to this chapter;
(4) develop an emergency response strategy for Federal, State, and local entities for stemming new invasions of aquatic nuisance species in the region;
(5) provide advice to public and private individuals and entities concerning methods of preventing and controlling aquatic nuisance species infestations; and
(6) submit annually a report to the Task Force describing activities within the Western region related to aquatic nuisance species prevention, research, and control.
The Task Force shall—
(1) encourage the development and use of regional panels and other similar entities in regions in addition to the Great Lakes and Western regions (including providing financial assistance for the development and use of such entities) to carry out, with respect to those regions, activities that are similar to the activities described in subsections (a) and (b); and
(2) cooperate with regional panels and similar entities that carry out the activities described in paragraph (1).