2.2. MANAGEMENT PLANS AS BLUEPRINTS FOR ACTION 
Congress passed the Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act of 
1990 (NANPCA) to address the national problem of AIS. Section 1204 of NANPCA allows 
governors to submit management plans that identify areas and activities that would benefit from 
technical, enforcement, or financial assistance in order to eliminate or reduce the environmental, 
public health, and safety risks associated with AIS. Once these management plans are approved 
by the Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force, states or regions are eligible to receive federal 
funding to assist with prevention and control activities. To date, 23 state AIS plans have been 
approved by the Task Force and several states have plans in various stages of development 
(MacLean, 2007). In FY 2006, Congress appropriated more than $1,075,000 of cost-share 
funding for states to implement their plans. 
Management plans are often organized into the following categories of action: 
• Leadership and coordination 
• Prevention 
• Early detection and rapid response (EDRR) 
• Control and management 
• Restoration 
• Research 
• Information management 
• Education and public awareness 
In addition to inventorying AlS-related management actions for all 50 states (see 
Appendix A, Aquatic Invasive Species Programs and Activities), we also reviewed completed 
state and regional AIS management plans available at the time of the study and assessed how 
they incorporate climate-change considerations specifically, as well as how they provide for 
adaptation of strategies and actions under changing conditions more generally (see Appendix B, 
State Aquatic Invasive Species Management Plan Summaries and Appendix C, Regional Aquatic 
Invasive Species Management Plan Summaries). Regional plans generally serve to coordinate 
activities among states and their AIS management plans, while state plans outline more specific 
activities. Existing plans are in various stages of both development and implementation, and 
some states operate a multitude of AIS management activities and programs in the absence of a 
plan. However, an assessment of state plans provides a logical starting point for understanding 
how states are anticipating and responding to predicted effects of changes in climate. 
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