ELIMINATING INVASIVE TICKS AND MOSQUITOES: Today, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order to eliminate invasive ticks and mosquitoes in the Federal jurisdiction of Washington, D. C. through safe and effective, non-chemical, and technology-enabled methods, and invest in pioneering approaches to eliminate these pests throughout the country. The Order directs the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Administrator of General Services, along with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, to develop and implement a campaign across Washington, D. C.
to reduce invasive mosquito populations by 90 percent and the tick population by 50 percent by 2028 using safe and effective, non-chemical, and innovative technology-enabled methods. The campaign should remediate tick and mosquito breeding grounds on lands subject to Federal jurisdiction throughout D. C. using commonsense and technical approaches. The campaign will also prioritize the use of commercial capabilities or cooperative agreements to reduce the population of disease-carrying pests in D. C.
The Order directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, with the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of Health and Human Services, to submit a regulatory framework for the planned development and release of advanced, safe, and effective tick and mosquito control technologies. The Order directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to build on the existing Lyme Disease Moonshot initiative through prize competition announcements and additional research and development programs to prevent and treat tick- and mosquito-borne diseases.
The Order also directs the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to issue additional prize competition announcements or direct research programs for the development of non-chemical means to reduce tick- and mosquito-borne diseases. The Order directs the Secretary of Agriculture and the…