National Invasive Species Act of 1996
Public Law 104-332 · H.R. 4283 · 104th Congress · began in the House
Signed by Bill Clinton (D) on Oct 26, 1996 · Environmental Protection
Sponsor: Rep. Steven LaTourette (R-OH-19)
Cosponsors: None
Passage votes
- HouseUnanimous consent
- SenateUnanimous consent
Data notes
The final version of the law, as each chamber passed it. A chamber that passed it by voice vote or unanimous consent has no count. “Method not stated” means the record does not say how the chamber voted. Where the record has a member-by-member vote, the “Who voted for it” section shows who voted yea.
Summary
The Congressional Research Service’s plain-language summary of what the law does.
National Invasive Species Act of 1996 - Amends the Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act of 1990 to mandate regulations to prevent the introduction and spread of aquatic nuisance species into the Great Lakes through ballast water. Authorizes education, technical assistance, and other measures to promote compliance. Mandates voluntary guidelines to prevent such introduction and spread in U.S. waters by ballast water and other vessel operations. Mandates education, technical assistance, and other measures to encourage compliance. Requires mandatory regulations if guideline compliance is inadequate. Provides for enforcement through civil and criminal penalties and revocation of clearance. Encourages negotiations with foreign governments to develop and implement an international program for preventing such introduction and spread. Allows a vessel to not conduct a ballast water exchange if the exchange would threaten the safety or stability of the vessel. Allows a vessel that does not, for that reason, conduct an exchange to discharge ballast in any harbor, except in the Great Lakes. Mandates a study and report to the Congress on the effectiveness of existing shoreside ballast water facilities used by crude oil tankers in the coastwise trade off Alaska in preventing such introduction and spread.
Mandates studies of Lake Champlain, the Chesapeake Bay, San Francisco Bay, Honolulu Harbor, the Columbia River system, other estuaries of national significance, and other waters. Provides for making specified amounts available for research on aquatic nuisance species prevention and control in the Chesapeake Bay, the Gulf of Mexico, the Pacific coast, the Atlantic Coast, and the San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary.
Establishes a clearinghouse of national data on ballasting practices and compliance with guidelines under this Act.
Mandates a ballast water management program for vessels of the Department of Defense and the Coast Guard.
Requires: (1) a ballast water management program to demonstrate technologies and practices to prevent aquatic nonindigenous species from being introduced into and spread through ballast water in U.S. waters; and (2) that the installation and construction of those technologies and practices be performed in the United States.
Modifies: (1) the composition and research priorities of the Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force; and (2) zebra mussel demonstration program requirements.
Mandates research grants regarding environmentally sound methods for controlling the dispersal of aquatic nuisance species. Authorizes appropriations.
Requires research on environmentally sound methods for preventing and reducing dispersal between the Great Lakes-Saint Lawrence drainage and the Mississippi River drainage through the Chicago River Ship and Sanitary Canal. Authorizes appropriations.
Requires the Task Force to encourage the development and use of regional coordination panels and similar entities in regions in addition to the Great Lakes and Western regions.
Provides for interstate (in addition to existing State) aquatic nuisance species management plans, allowing Indian tribes as well as States to participate.
Authorizes appropriations, including for research on the prevention, monitoring, and control of aquatic nuisance species in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island.
Committees
The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.
Data notes
A committee links to its page only where it exists in the current Congress; older and renamed committees are named without a link.
Timeline
From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 17 actions.
- Oct 26, 1996Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 104-332.
- Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- Oct 18, 1996PresidentPresident · Presented to President.
- Oct 3, 1996FloorFloor · Passed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent.
- CommitteeCommittee · Discharged from Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee
- CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee
- CommitteeCommittee · Discharged from Senate Environment and Public Works Committee
- CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Senate Environment and Public Works Committee
- Sep 29, 1996CommitteeCommittee · Discharged from House Natural Resources Committee
- CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Natural Resources Committee
- CommitteeCommittee · Discharged from House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee
- CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee
- Sep 28, 1996FloorFloor · Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
- FloorFloor · On passage Passed without objection.
- FloorFloor · Mr. Boehlert asked unanimous consent to discharge from committee and consider.
- FloorFloor · Considered by unanimous consent.
- IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in the House
Data notes
Shows the introduction, each committee and subcommittee step the source dates (referral, hearings, markup, report, discharge), and the floor, conference, presidential and became-law steps. Calendar placements, messages between the chambers, amendments and committee report numbers are not shown for laws before the 108th Congress. Two entries the source lists twice are shown once.
Official record
The bill’s full text and every action, including introduction and committee steps, are on Congress.gov. Data through Oct 7, 2026.